Oldest photo of Hollywood sign discovered?

[plugsnpixels]

According to local legend, early Los Angeles photographer C.B. Lewis was transporting his wagon full of view cameras and developing equipment along with selected examples of his finished work through the rough roads of the Hollywood area when his horse was suddenly startled by a low-flying crow. As a result, both horse and wagon ended up in a steep ravine than was not safely accessible at that time.

Last summer, some young boys searching for materials for their treehouse came upon the rotting remains of the wagon and began pulling at the boards when, among other items, a damp wooden crate of photographic prints was found. This image was the only recognizable one to survive.

I was able to procure this image while answering a Craigslist ad for old horseshoes. Presented here as a RP exclusive.

Discussion and rebuttals please.

[Repairman]

Wouldn't the sign be 'Hollywoodville' if it was pre 1945?

[plugsnpixels]

Yes, good start to the discussion! (Actually, "Hollywoodland".) What else?

[Steve13]

"LAND" was removed in 1949, so would have to be after that. Chances are he wouldn't be using a horse and wagon during that time.

[John Wheeler]

I think Repairman and Steve already have the main clues already covered.

Though a little more faint, in the upper right corner you can see the microwave towers and dishes that were not installed until much later than 1949. In fact the image you showed looks suspiciously very much like the one below:

2010-Version.jpg

Also, some of the artifacts that are shown have the telltale signs of fingerprint/thumbprint except the sizes are much too large for the prints that would come from a view camera. More like what you would see on a negative.

So other than that and a very hokey story the only other question I have is did you get the old horseshoes

[Steve13]

Didn't even notice that... went to all that trouble and didn't even "shop" out the tower.

[plugsnpixels]

So you're saying that someone on Craigslist would actually lie to me-? :-)

John, there were only 3 horseshoes because the horse lost a leg in the tumble. Maybe that's why the road is now called Lost Leg Canyon Blvd.

[John Wheeler]

Hi plugsnpixels

The only leg that is missing is one of mine that you have been pulling so hard on. Oh man you are so so full of.....of......of....such great and interesting storeis

[plugsnpixels]

Little known fact: C.B. Lewis lived in one of the area's oldest adobe homes, and his grandson went on to found a software company called – "Adobe"! That's why a horse leg was part of their original logo (taken from the family crest).

I read it on the intertubes so it must be true.

[plugsnpixels]

Using some retouching/restoration tips I gleaned here on RP, I was able to restore the image to something resembling its original state.

Turns out those aren't microwave towers after all; they're part of the original LA Fairgrounds!

[Mike Needham]

I must be a monkeys uncle if this is genuine, no way the detail was pulled out from an image such as the one provided.

[plugsnpixels]

Oh, Mike, you'd be surprised what can be achieved these days. For example, over the last couple of days I made use of the "Southern California Native Nature Hues Swatches Collection" (winter set) and by carefully applying only those tones that would have been visible on the particular day C.B. Lewis shot his original photo (based on his diary, as quoted in "California Unfortunates" [Nelson, 1952]), was able to come up with this nearly color-realistic rendition of the old photo.

This whole restoration has been a bit of a process; I can post the steps if anyone's interested.

PS: I didn't notice this earlier, but if you look in the middle-right area of the photo, you can see the Los Angeles Elks Club's old Hollywood Hills Ski Lift (which brought skiers back to the Fairgrounds).

[Siciliana]

Oh, hahaha, you are funny plugsnpixels. What great yarns you spin!

[CathyH]

Yes, lets see you restore that photo?!?

[plugsnpixels]

Cathy, I found an alternate photo of C.B. and his wagon with no copyright concerns. I'll see what I can do with it.

[plugsnpixels]

OK, if you use a process known as "aggressive reverse tonal identification and substitution", you can almost literally lift the staining from a vintage image, revealing the original image data underneath.

The first photo attached shows the results of this method after one pass. Next, you display that result on your monitor while holding up a yellow/orange gel to the screen (assuming your working copy of the image is in RGB and you have a flat-panel monitor), then make a screenshot of the results. The fully restored image can then be saved, as shown.

These restoration efforts are worth it as a show of respect for C.B. Lewis, who after the horse-leg incident was forced to change careers (ie, no more horse, wagon or cameras). He chose to enter state politics and helped create some of the progressive laws and methods of governance that made California a model for the rest of the nation, even to this day.

[John Wheeler]

That is really amazing Plugs. Should I let everyone know where you are getting your alternate technique from?

[plugsnpixels]

[We're just having fun in this particular thread, John, but not everyone has caught on yet. Shh...]

Uh, yes, John, that is correct! That is an alternate method for sure. Yes indeed.

[John Wheeler]

OK, mum's the word.

[plugsnpixels]

Looks like our fun has played out so I'll reveal my secret: Retrographer. I bet if I had chosen a better source image we could have kept this going longer! ;-) I shot the original from Griffith Park on Winter Solstice day. John's posted Google image shows I wasn't the only one to ever have that idea.

Here's a wider view, where you can see the trail C.B. Lewis took to – never mind...

[creativeretouch]

plugsnpixels, I can't find your horse & wagon

[Tony W]

Nice wind up plugsandpixels

Can imagine that this software will succeed - a new generation of restorers showing how skilful they are in the black arts of bringing images back from the dead

[CathyH]

You are a good story teller, like C"S" Lewis, who didn't live in a adobe house.
:-)

[Mike Needham]

Well I'll be a....

[plugsnpixels]

Originally Posted by Tony W

Nice wind up plugsandpixels

Can imagine that this software will succeed - a new generation of restorers showing how skilful they are in the black arts of bringing images back from the dead

Yes Tony, I'm convinced the wave of the retouching future is to add your own grunge to a clean image and peel it back again layer by layer to the amazement of the client! It's a fail-safe technique that works every time. Why waste computer time struggling with difficult originals? That's so 1800's.

[Repairman]

LOL I know a few retouchers who do that already Plugs! Reminds of when I used to work for Quantel who make broadcast/video graphics systems. For fun the R&D engineers made a video of what the screen would display if an editing system was crashing (the monitor display would start by flickering, loads of noise, rolling images etc and generally display all the signs a major system meltdown). At a critical moment such as just before a major demo or sales pitch a newbie engineer would be assigned the task of 'fixing' the problem. They'd naturally panic as their diagnostics yielded nothing helpful by way of 'repair'. Out would come circuit boards and screwdrivers but we'd let them sweat a bit before hitting the video pause button! Another wheeze was to make giant 'cross hair' cursor as a cut out (I mean about 10 times normal size) and the then call the engineer to fix that. The look on their faces as they moved the huge cursor over the screen was priceless. That joke would only work once of course!

[Steve Conway]

Then there is the one about the auto rail car holding several brand new 1947 Chevrolets recently discovered on a side track in an old unused train shed.

Yup, seems that back in 1947 this rail car was part of a trainload of new 1947 Chevys on the way to the dealers. Along the way it developed wheel bearing trouble and was detached and sidetracked till it could be repaired. To keep the cars out of the weather it was parked in the shed. The shed was rarely used, so the rail car was subsequently forgotten. When discovered it was still holding all those brand new 1947 Chevys.

Sorry, no pics available for this story.

Steve C.

[kav]

Originally Posted by Repairman

LOL I know a few retouchers who do that already Plugs! Reminds of when I used to work for Quantel who make broadcast/video graphics systems. For fun the R&D engineers made a video of what the screen would display if an editing system was crashing (the monitor display would start by flickering, loads of noise, rolling images etc and generally display all the signs a major system meltdown). At a critical moment such as just before a major demo or sales pitch a newbie engineer would be assigned the task of 'fixing' the problem. They'd naturally panic as their diagnostics yielded nothing helpful by way of 'repair'. Out would come circuit boards and screwdrivers but we'd let them sweat a bit before hitting the video pause button! Another wheeze was to make giant 'cross hair' cursor as a cut out (I mean about 10 times normal size) and the then call the engineer to fix that. The look on their faces as they moved the huge cursor over the screen was priceless. That joke would only work once of course!

That is just so silly .

[plugsnpixels]

Boys and their toys...

[plugsnpixels]

Well, they never found the horse leg but they recently found these things in the area shown in these images...