Apologies for the short break while the Bioscope was taking a rest from the hypnotic screen and buying second-hand books in Hay-on-Wye instead…

Mabel Normand Studio, from The Studio Lots

On one of my online travels, I came across the Studio Lots site. This is a collection of contemporary photographs and postcards of studios in Hollywood (and a few other places), with many from the silent era featured. It’s not going to win any design awards, and there are a lot of promises for background texts that haven’t been written as yet. But nevertheless, it’s a very handy selection, and you can see the Hal Roach Studio (8822 Washington Blvd), the Pickford-Fairbanks Studio (7200 Santa Monica Blvd), the Selig Studio (1845 Alessandro) and Culver City (9336 Washington Blvd), among many others. The addresses are useful, and there are backlots and ranches given as well. There’s also a Moving Picture World article from 1917 on the history of motion picture studios in California.

Well worth a wander through.