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Description

Whimsical pictorial map of Los Angeles from Beverly Hills to Olvera Street and Pasadena, centered on the Farmer's Market in the Fairfax area of West Los Angeles.

The map identifies Gilmore Island, which was then toward the end of its decades long run as a point of interest in Los Angeles.  The present incarnation shows the iconic Farmer's Market, as well as Gilmore's Drive in Theater, along with several Gilmore gas stations and Television City, which opened on November 16, 1952 on the site of a former football field and race track, Gilmore Stadium.

In 1880, Arthur Freemont “A.F.” Gilmore borrowed $500 and with a partner bought a 256-acre parcel of land and started a dairy farm. When Gilmore struck oil on the property, he realized he was sitting on a gold mine. He called his newfound oasis Gilmore Island and developed it into a sports and entertainment center in the heart of Los Angeles. The Original Farmers Market is the last remaining vestige of Gilmore Island.

The idea for farmer's market did not come until the mid-1930s, when entrepreneur Roger Dahlhjelm and Fred Beck, who ran who ran a small advertising firm, approached Gilmore with the idea of creating a marketplace for craftspeople and envisioned it as a place where local farmers would sell produce to people living in the surrounding neighborhoods.  Gilmore liked the prospect of farmers selling their produce. He granted Dahlhjelm and Beck permission in 1934 to organize a “famers market” and soon a dozen trucks were parked near the corner of Third and Fairfax.  The early farmers paid 50 cents a day for the privilege of selling their goods at the site. Around that time, the market’s first food vendor arrived. Blanche Magee, a friend of the farmers who owned a food stand in the Grand Central Market, stopped by to serve sandwiches to the farmers. People loved the idea and Magee became one of the Market’s original tenants during its first year.

Condition Description
Minor stains from old fold staples
Reference
Folven, Eight decades of exploring Gilmore Island.