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The new Kino-Lorber Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection 1917-1923 https://www.kinolorber.com/product/view/id/3558 has amazing 'new' footage from The Blacksmith, including this image, at about 8:55 into the film.


Blacksmith New 36 by SilentEchoes57, on Flickr

At back there is a street post, with a seven letter street name. Could some one with the Blu-ray, and a large screen HD TV, check this for me? There's a chance the letters might be discernible on a big enough screen. Even confirming the first letter, or number of letters, would be a big help.

Thanks for any help you can provide - cheers, John

The Blacksmith Blu-Ray is 8.5 feet wide on my projection system. I looked at each frame of the sequence. It is a 7-letter name followed by a 2-letter designator that appears to be ST. None of the letters are crisp, but going by their overall shapes I have the strong impression that the first four letters are either MINN or HINN.

Paul Penna wrote:The Blacksmith Blu-Ray is 8.5 feet wide on my projection system. I looked at each frame of the sequence. It is a 7-letter name followed by a 2-letter designator that appears to be ST. None of the letters are crisp, but going by their overall shapes I have the strong impression that the first four letters are either MINN or HINN.

Thanks Paul - does it look to you like the last letter is a "D"?

SilentEchoes57 wrote:Thanks Paul - does it look to you like the last letter is a "D"?

I did another frame-by-frame, this time with a slightly larger image, optically zoomed. Again, just impressions - A final letter D is plausible, but so would be an N; definitely a "bulky" character, rather than something like an I or T. Something also struck me that the next-to-last letter might be an A, but in other frames, possibly R.

Paul Penna wrote:

SilentEchoes57 wrote:Thanks Paul - does it look to you like the last letter is a "D"?

I did another frame-by-frame, this time with a slightly larger image, optically zoomed. Again, just impressions - A final letter D is plausible, but so would be an N; definitely a "bulky" character, rather than something like an I or T. Something also struck me that the next-to-last letter might be an A, but in other frames, possibly R.

Thank you so much for looking at this Paul. I really appreciate it. It's confusing though, because looking in the 1920s phone books there really aren't any streets that begin with MINN or HINN. Are you fairly certain about two NNs in a row?

Does anyone else want to give this a glance?

Thanks again Paul - I'll keep pondering this. As a seven letter word there are finite possibilities - maybe something will make sense.

Best wishes, John

I looked at a list of LA streets and if N's were S's, MISSION ST would fit the general pattern.

Mike Gebert wrote:I looked at a list of LA streets and if N's were S's, MISSION ST would fit the general pattern.

Thanks Mike - there's a Mission Road, but it's not a likely spot. Any one else with a big screen HD TV want to give it look? Thanks, John

John,

Any chance it's MIRANDA?

My guess is based on an iPad Retina display, a magnifying glass, and a painful squint. MIRANDA ST. appears in an online listing of old (that is, since-changed) street names compiled from a 1904 Chamber of Commerce city map. The entry includes current geographical and zip code information:

http://stevemorse.org/census/changes/Lo ... 2.htm#Macy" target="_blank

Mark Pruett wrote:John,

Any chance it's MIRANDA?

My guess is based on an iPad Retina display, a magnifying glass, and a painful squint. MIRANDA ST. appears in an online listing of old (that is, since-changed) street names compiled from a 1904 Chamber of Commerce city map. The entry includes current geographical and zip code information:

http://stevemorse.org/census/changes/Lo ... 2.htm#Macy" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Thanks Mark - I had checked old city directories for names that might fit, and came upon Miranda as well. I'll dig further, but it is likely not the spot. Miranda was barely one block long, and in 1920 was in a setting already developed with homes.

Do any of the letters on the sign seem a certainty, or is each letter a best guess? Sometimes if helps me to watch in slow motion rather than freeze frame.

I've gotten a headache looking at this, and really appreciate your efforts.

Thanks again - John

I ran the sequence from the Blu-ray both in slow motion and frame by frame (using my Sony's horrendous "Vivid" picture setting). The final two-letter designation ST is clearly readable in at least one frame. Of the seven-letter street name, the first letter looks like M or N in all but the earliest frames, where for a heartbeat it looks very much like K. I'm still tempted to call the second letter I and the third and fourth letters M and/or N. The last three letters are little more than shifting smudges on my set.

Mark Pruett wrote:I ran the sequence from the Blu-ray both in slow motion and frame by frame (using my Sony's horrendous "Vivid" picture setting). The final two-letter designation ST is clearly readable in at least one frame. Of the seven-letter street name, the first letter looks like M or N in all but the earliest frames, where for a heartbeat it looks very much like K. I'm still tempted to call the second letter I and the third and fourth letters M and/or N. The last three letters are little more than shifting smudges on my set.

Thanks Mark - I appreciate it

I took some photos a zoomed-in screen. I was wondering if there is a Hammond St?

Rick

There is, barely apparently as a junction of the 10 and the 5 appears to have wiped much of it out. But very good call.

Rick Lanham wrote:I took some photos a zoomed-in screen. I was wondering if there is a Hammond St?

Rick

Hi Rick - this is intriguing. There is still some of a Hammond Street in E. LA near Prospect Park, but that area is more hilly, and already developed with homes by 1922. But there is also a Hammond St, just east of Doheny, and south of Sunset, in what is now W. Hollywood, that at the time was mostly open undeveloped land. It's going to be difficult to prove or disprove whether this Hammond St is the spot, but it certainly is a promising lead. Some of the other 'new' scenes in The Blacksmith, with Buster driving the car, could have been filmed in this area, so that further bolsters the potential.

That sign is so frustratingly difficult to read. In a way, it's almost gazing at a cloud. Everyone sees something different.

Thanks again for all of the crowd-sourcing ideas - does anyone else have a guess?

Cheers, John