AV. SÃO JOÃO before 1947

Avenida São João in 1919 was a boulevard resembling Paris of sorts.

Seen from Edificio Martinelli in 1937. 

Carnaval 1935. 

1930.

Coletoria Federal bought this building which housed Cinema Central until 1924. 

A rainy day waiting to cross Ave. São João in front of Coletoria Federal, in the 1940s; the sign on the tram car says: 'Evitar acidentes é o dever de todos' (It is Everyone's duty to avoid accidents).

I wonder whether this photo was taken on the same rainy day in the mid 1940s as the one above. 

1916.

Enlargement in 1913.

1925.

1940. 

1943.

1945. 

Rua Líbero Badaró to the left; the whole block was demolished in 1947.

the dark 5-story building a few months before being demolished to give way to Vale do Anhangabaú in 1947.

Cinema Central before the federal government bought the building to make it its Coletoria Federal (Receita Federal) aka Delegacia Fiscal. 

1935.

Rua de São João circa 1912 with Bijou Salão & Bijou Theatre playing 'O mysterio da ponte de Notre Dame' (Mystère du pont Notre-Dame). Bijou Theatre was inaugurated in 16 November 1907; it was owned by Francisco Serrador & Antonio Gadotti. One can clearly see the Conservatorio Dramatico e Musical up on the same side (the tallest building) inaugurated in 1906 and still standing today (2014). Bijou was destroyed by a big fire in 1914 and in its site.

this is the lower part of Avenida S.João where Vale do Anhangabaú stands today.

This beautiful building was built by Companhia Antarctica housed Cinema Central was demolished in 1947 to make way for a big avenue called Vale do Anhangabú.

Erguido pela Cia. Antarctica, o Cinema Central ocupou o mesmo terreno onde estivera antes o Bijou Theatro (considerado o 1o. cinema da cidade) e o Theatro Politheama. Ambos foram destruídos por um incêndio em 1914. Mais tared, a Antarctica criou o Cassino Antarctica, mais abaixo, aproveitando as instalações de um velho café-concerto. Em 1921 o prédio foi ocupado pela Recebedoria de Rendas ou Collectoria Federal - sendo demolido em 1947 para a remodelação do Vale do Anhangabaú.

Coletoria Federal being demolished in 1947, to make room for 'Buraco do Adhemar'.

same area circa 1933.

same building (on the left) in 1940.
seen from behind... this is how this lower region looked like in the early 1930s.

see more here: https://sampahistorica.wordpress.com/tag/delegacia-fiscal/
https://sampahistorica.wordpress.com/tag/sao-joao/

São Paulo seen from an airplane in 1932. 

RADIO EXCELSIOR 1963 - 1965

Radio Excelsior, ZYR-56, Rua 24 de Maio, 208, 2o. andar; Radio Nacional de S. Paulo, Rua Sebastião Pereira, 218 - Organização Victor Costa. 

Circa 1963, when TV Excelsior became the Number One TV station in São Paulo, they started investing heavily on their radio station that existed since the early 1930s and had changed hands a few times. Just like the TV station, Radio Excelsior poached the other major stations and signed the biggest names around. DJ Walter Silva was lured away from Radio Bandeirantes where he had been king of  the 10:00 AM slot with his popular 'Pick up do Pica Pau' (Woodpecker's pick up). Even though Pica Pau had been Walter Silva's nickname due to his big nose, Radio Bandeirantes had patented the programme's title. Walter, then, changed from 'Pick up do Pica Pau' to 'Programa do Pica Pau'.

Henrique Lobo had been a big name in São Paulo radio since the 1950s. Now Mr. Lobo was the station's artistic director.

Humberto Marçal was also poached from Radio Bandeirantes where he was king of the 12:00 AM slot giving away 78 rpms to those listeners who answered the right thing in his '1.000 discos é o limite' (A thousand discs is the limit). 

Come to think of it, Radio Excelsior made a point of emulating Radio Bandeirantes in almost every aspect. Paulo Rogerio started doing a show 'Peça bis para o sucesso' which was a copycat of Bandeirantes's 'Telefone pedindo bis' made popular by Enzo de Almeida Passos at the same time slot. 

17 March 1963 - Radio Excelsior de São Paulo 6790 kilociclos -

Edson Leite, Alberto Saad, Oliveira Netto, Humberto Marçal, Paulo Rogério, José Carlos Romeu, Antonio Aguillar, Maria Aparecida Alves, Mario Moraes, Walter Silva (o Pica Pau do Pick-up), Paulo Pimentel, Luiz Aguiar, Henrique Lobo.

Diáriamente:

22:00 – Correspondente Renner – Paulo Pimentel

21:00 – Saudade também tem hora – Delon Santo
24:00 - Varig é a dona da noite (Henrique Lobo)

Segunda à Sexta:

15:00 – Qual é o disco? - Henrique Lobo 

17:30 – Album musical – Helio de Araujo & José Carlos Romeu

Segunda a Sábado:

8:00 – Você é quem manda – Oliveira Netto

9:30 – 11:30 - Programa do Pica Pau – Walter Silva

11:30 – Você é o limite – Humberto Marçal

Peça bis para o sucesso – Paulo Rogerio

Disco... não se discute – Henrique Lobo

14:30 – O bis é o sucesso – Paulo Rogerio

Encontro com a juventude – Antonio Aguillar.

Radio Excelsior at Cinelândia no.316. 

José Carlos Romeu when he still worked at the record-library at Radio Bandeirantes in 1960.

Radio Excelsior's DJ José Carlos Romeu (wearing a pin-striped suit) having Radio Nacional's Ademar Dutra on his right at Rita Pavone's press conference at Terrazza Martini on Rua Barão de Itapetininga on 22 June 1964. 

11 August 1963 - Just when comedian Chico Anisio was top of the heap at TV Record, Channel 7, with his 'Chico Anisio Show' TV Excelsior made him an offer he couldn't refuse. TV Excelsior poached him off TV Record because they paid more money. As simple as that. 

TV Excelsior became the most popular and best TV station in the country. No one could topple it. The TV management was the best in the country. They were young and they knew what they were doing. The only thing they didn't figure out was the military coup that would happen in less than a year in April 1964. That was the beggining of the end of such an intrepid heart. 

'Melodias' June 1962, with a photo of  a very young Antônio Celso, mellow-voiced speaker at Radio Excelsior who went on to be the Identifying Voice of Excelsior when it turned into a Top-40 radio station 6 years later, in early 1968. 

'Melodias', May 1965 - Radio Excelsior in yet another turning point in its outline: Projeto-65 brought to its microphones the likes of Jacqueline Myrna, Oliveira Neto, Hebe Camargo, Newton Prado, Lourdes Rocha, José Geraldo de Almeida, Virgínia de Moraes, Hugo Santana, Maria Teresa, Chico Anysio etc. 

Sao Paulo art

Vicente Caruso, 1954. 

Rua Casper Líbero with Oscar Niemeyer's Edifício Monroe 1954 skyscraper in the forefront.

Pateo do Collégio.

São Paulo's architecture in 1954: Niemeyer's Monroe building on Rua Casper Líbero; Banco do Brasil building; Edifício CBI at Praça Ramos de Azevedo; Conde Matarazzo's at Praça do Patriarca which would one day become the City's Town Hall; four residential buildings on Rua São Luiz corner with Av. Ipiranga: São Thomaz, Santa Virgília, Santa Rita & Palácio Roosevelt; at Largo do Arouche Academia Paulista de Letras; at Anhangabaú the huge Brasilar building; Edifíco Mara at the corner of Rua Brigadeiro Tobias and Rua Coronel Batista da Luz;

Temples of 1954 São Paulo: Sé Cathedral still under construction; Syrian-Lebanese Orthodox Church on Av. Vergueiro at Paraíso; Christian Congregation in Brazil situated at Brás; Sancta Efigênia's Church: Independent Presbyterian Church at Rua Nestor Pestana. 

Parque Dom Pedro II. 

Praça da Sé. 

Vale do Anhangabaú. 

Cine Dom Pedro II.

Rua Brigadeiro Tobias in 2015.

1960 dysfunctional Sao Paulo

'São Paulo, cidade sem alma' (S.Paulo a city with no soul) is an article that appeared at 'O Cruzeiro', the most popular illustrated Brazilian magazine in 1960. It showed a city that cared little for its poorer inhabitants. A city that gave a shit to those who built their miserable shacks bordering fetid brooks flowing with raw sewage and poison. 

Successive conservative local governments did little to alter this situation through the decades. Have a look at some of these pictures. The worst of all is to realize that after more than 60 years very little has changed.

Pateo do Collegio

1954.

Ladeira General Carneiro in the early 1950s.

Largo do Tesouro, Ladeira General Carneiro and Viaducto Boa Vista in the 1950s. 

Ladeira Porto Geral between Rua 25 de Março & Rua Boa Vista, in 1957.