Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: February 2nd, 2006
Helen at Watts Towers, Los Angeles, 1959
Recognize Helen? Those of you who have seen my Retro Southern California Slide Show you may recall her posing in front of a mint green, satin-finish shower in a sexy semi-see-thru nightie. Here she is again, this time sporting stripes, in front of my all-time, no-question-about-it favorite place in all of Southern California, the Watts Towers.
Soaring majestically nearly ten stories above the community they were named for, Watts Towers transformed a poor working class neighborhood in South Los Angeles into a world-class destination for folk art. One man, Simon Rodia, built the towers by hand in the triangle-shaped yard next to his house between 1921 and 1954. For thirty-three years, until he one day just left and never came back, he fashioned scrap steel pipes and colorful broken bits and pieces of glass and pottery, bottle caps, seashells and even bowling balls into the ultimate Jolly-Green-Giant-scale arts and crafts project. If Gaudi and Eiffel had ever worked together they may have come up something like this. I compare Simon Rodia to them.
By the time Rodia finished working on the towers, they had been discovered as Southern California’s most unusual tourist attraction. In 1959, there was some drama. The City of Los Angeles made grandiose claims that they were unstable and unsafe and would have to be demolished. Fans from far and near protested. Tests proved their durability and miraculously, they still soar today.
Just last week I was there and stood right where Helen stood nearly fifty years before. The towers are timeless. To walk among them is a magical-mystical experience of the highest order. To capture their scale and detail is impossible to do in a single image. They are unphotographable and powerful. Your imagination will be inspired and your spirit will soar!
The Watts Towers are located just 15 minutes south of Downtown Los Angeles at 1761 East 107th St. Tours begin at 11am on Fridays, 10:30 am on Saturdays and 12:30 Sundays. The last tour is at 3pm all three days. For more info call 213-847-4646.
Here’s to Helen, Simon Rodia, his towers, and YOU!
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
February 2006
Sets this Slide belongs to:
Theme Parks
11 Comments on “Helen at Watts Towers, Los Angeles, 1959”
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February 3rd, 2006 at 10:53 am
Oh my gosh! I have always wanted to go there, but have heard it’s kind-of a scary neighborhood…so I didn’t want to go alone. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone who wants to see these like I do. Charles, do you think you’ll ever have a tour there?
February 3rd, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Oh we do remember Helen! And isn’t Helen is a naughty girl. First we have her in a see-thru nightie in front of that fabulous shower curtian and now here she is posing in front of something very phallic…
Hmmm… We can only wonder what other slides of Helen Charles is hiding in his marvelous collection!
February 3rd, 2006 at 3:45 pm
I remember Helen from the book Southern Californialand. I bet the Watts neighborhood was safe then.
February 3rd, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Mr. Charles!
Helen’s confident, toothy grin and her fetching striped shirt made me run right to my _Guide to Photographing Women_ by Robert Halmi (1956). Okay so the whole book is an excuse to make nudie photos of women into a “respectable” project, but no matter the genesis, the book is still useful. Thinking of the apparent difference between Helen in nightie and Helen at the Towers, I came upon this advice:
“There is strength in restraint. The art of achieving pictorial sex appeal is not in dress or undress — but in catching the suble facial expression — the smoky come-hither look in the eyes. I may add that to get a girl into such a mood for purely photographic reason is not easy — but it can be done. Above all, you must win her confidence in you and your camera, persuade her that you are after a first-rate artistic photograph — not a piece of corny cheese cake.”
Oh, Helen! Come hither indeed, you little striped shirted minx! You rejecter of corny cheese cake poses! You can make the Watts Towers sparkle with your smile!
xoxo!
Miss Sharon
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:12 pm
We are delighted to again be receiving your email slides. Our server has a nasty habit of deciding what we should and should not receive. For the past few years we’ve missed out on your amusing commentary. Finally, with your new list-serve, we are once again connected with you.
Thanks for the change.
Emilie and Jeff
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:41 pm
You win, Miss Sharon!
I used to have a “people I fear being trapped on an elevator with” list (Flea, Robin Williams, and Dr.Smith). I now have a “folks I want to drive cross-country with” and you and Charles can sit upfront on the bench seat!
Thanks for your fantastic quips, insights, literary gems, and ability to suss out the true meaning of each slide.
Here’s to Miss Sharon!
PS. Phallic, Elle? No. I’m more seeing Madonna’s bullet-bra… errrr, perhaps in freefall.
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:50 pm
Oh that Helen!
Back in the late 70’s, I had the honor of being an original cast member (Government Clerk #2!) of an original musical about Mr. Rodia’s artistic endeavor entitled “Simon’s Towers” presented at a local community theatre. I still remember my show-stopping (*snort*) number which I performed with Government Clerk #1…Simon comes to our government office to get a building permit, and we, being bureaucratic drones, won’t give him one…and it went something like this:
Permit! Permits!
We issue permits!
For projects of construction,
There are prerequisites!
For some reason, Broadway never called. Imagine! But it’s OK. I’m not bitter.
February 4th, 2006 at 12:49 am
What is that scaffolding near the tower? Was this slide taken around the time the aerospace engineer (I forget his name) tested their strength? It looks similar to what the docent desribed during one of the tours I went on. Just wondering if Helen stumbled into a historic moment.
The towers are my favorite thing in Los Angeles and whenever I go there, about every 6 months, I discover something new. Last time I discovered that certain archways have an animal theme. Worth the drive, and there’s a fantastic shoe warehouse on Figueroa around 140th.
February 7th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
A tour of the Watts Towers is in the works. Stay tuned!
February 10th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Hi Charles-
I was glad to get your slide of the week and to find out that your all time favorite place is the same as mine: The Watts Towers. However, you made the same mistake that everybody makes by attributing the Towers to Simon Rodia. Actually, the artist’s name was Sabato Rodia. Around 1900 he adopted the name Samuel and went by Sam. In 1939 the Los Angeles Times published it’s first story about him and called him Simon Rodilla. Other names reported in articles about him throughout the years included Sam Rodilla, Simon Radilla, Don Simon, Sam Radilla, Sabatino Rodia, and Simon Rodia, which seems to have stuck. The beautiful towers are his legacy, but for some reason, it just drives me crazy that he is still remembered by a name given to him by a bad reporter. Just trying to set the record straight!
Sincerly,
Rosanne
www.jingle-jangle.net
March 21st, 2006 at 11:38 pm
For those who want company when visiting the Watts Towers a good time to do so is the third weekend in September. On Saturday is the Day of the Drum festival and the following day the Watts Tower Jazz Festival.