Neon Bender

Dive! Fashion Show Mall, Las Vegas, June 1995 

J. Tomei Contractor 1928 (Photo taken by me in December of 2020 in Los Angeles).

This one is very confusing. I am not clear if it’s separate from the Tomei Cons Co. I photographed previously. At least I know Tomei Cons Co. is also in the L.A. area, whereas “J. Tomei & Co.” seems to be based in Washington state (Contractor, Volume 23, McGraw Publishing Company, 1916). There is also J. Tomei Construction Co. based in Van Nuys, CA (Construction Methods and Equipment, pg. 58, McGraw-Hill, 1957). And a “J. Tomei & Sons Construction Co.,” described as a “’native-son’ outfit” in southern California (The Excavating Engineer, Volume 49, Excavating Engineer Publishing Company, 1955). J. Tomei and Sons was also based in Van Nuys in 1955 (Pacific Road Builder and Engineering Review, 1955). It’s possible of course that J. Tomei just moved around a lot, as most of these different addresses are also divided by decade.

J. Tomei lost the contract to construct a vitrified pipe sewer system for the City of Brea, California (Western Construction, Volume 1, 1926).

Using the LA Library's databases, I was able to learn that J. stands for Julio, which led me to a lot more information and allowed me to connect a lot of companies with Julio as the throughline! Plus a lot of biographical information now, too. Julio was born May 5, 1885 in Italy and died October 6, 1964 in Los Angeles. His father was also named Julio Tomei. Our Julio had multiple sons, including Victorio John Tomei (1916, Port angeles, WA, USA -2001), Perry Anthony Tomei (1910, Italy -?) (Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, & 1940 U.S. Census), and Edward J Tomei (1915, WA, USA -?) (FamilySearch). His wife, who was three years younger than he was, was named Nazarena Buffono (1890-?). They also had a daughter named Vienna Marie Tomei (1913, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada -1988) (Vienna's 1941 Marriage License). Weirdly in the 1920 U.S. census, the census-taker listed them as "Julius" and "Anna" with children "Paris," "Vianna," Victor, and Edward. One of these Tomei entities was "established back in 1905 by Contractor Julio Tomei, when he was a contractor for the Milwaukee-St. Paul Railroad in Idaho and Montana." It seems Julio moved to the USA in 1905 and his family joined him in 1912. He moved to southern California in 1923 (The Excavating Engineer, Volume 49, pg. 86. Excavating Engineer Publishing Company, 1955) In 1929, Julio was listed at 559 Madison Ave. in Culver City., which connects him to "J. Tomei" and this stamp specifically. He was awarded a contract by the Los Angeles board of public works "for sewer in Fairfax Ave., bet. city boundary and Willoughby Ave." (Building and Engineering News, Volume 26, Issue 1, 1926). As of 1930, he was living in Culver City (Family Search). In 1940, Julio and his family lived at 15449 Camarillo St. in Los Angeles, which today is in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood. He stated he worked 54 hours/week as a contractor in the cement work industry 1940 U.S. Census). In 1941, they lived at 4737 Orion Ave. in Van Nuys (today it looks like this is in Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles) (Vienna's 1941 Marriage License). In 1955, Julio was written up as general manager of Tomei Construction Co., so we can check that company off, too. We learn they were awarded a contract that included "3.7 mi of grading and paving on Palos Verdes Drive between city limits of Palos Verdes and Narcissa Dr. in Los Angeles." He was also involved in "LAX taxi-way extensions"  (Western Construction, Volume 30, King Publications, 1955). Additionally, he was the contractor when Glenoaks Blvd. "was extended through what was known as Whiteman Hill (now Hansen Hill) to get passage to Hansen Dam and Sun Valley. We can see him pictured in this photo amongst earth-moving equipment for the Glenoaks Boulevard extension (Pacoima Historical Society Facebook). In 1963, Julio was President of Tomei Construction Co.; Perry Tomei was VP, "Edw. Tomei" was Secretary, and Victor Tomei was Treasurer. They had a post office box at 1150 E. Rosecrans, P. O. Box 1376, Manhattan Beach, CA 90268. (Constructor, Volumes 45-46, Associated General Contractors of America, 1963).

Johnie’s Coffee Shop (1956). 📸: George Rose

Today is #InternationalWomensDay! In honor of the occasion, we’ve collected some of L.A.’s most influential–if unsung–pioneering women architects, designers, and entrepreneurs, whose contributions to our built environment can still be seen and felt today. 

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RBG spent her life pushing to bend the arc. It is now upon all of us.

Visual artist Katharina Roters has spent over a decade documenting the abstract patterns painted onto post-war homes in Hungary. These structures are coloquially nicknamed Magyar Kocka or“Hungarian Cubes”. Extremely plain, cheap and standardised, these box-like houses would be totally anonymous if not for their custom, one-of-a-kind murals that seem to say “Victor Vasserly was here.” Enjoy: Hungarian Cubes.