At one point in the 1930's during his acting career, Tom Tyler
entered the real estate business with a partner. Willett and Tyler
Realtors had their office located at 771 North Vine in Hollywood. Tom
met Willett (first name unknown) some time in 1934, and by 1935, the
team was placing real estate ads in the Los Angeles Times. One
of their standard classified ads reads as follows: “We specialize
in exchanges, leases, sales. Bring your listings for quick action.
Willett and Tyler, 771 N. Vine, GR4416.” The GR4416 was the phone
number – quite different from the standard ten digit phone number
used by a landline or cellphone. A total of three property listings
appeared in the Los Angeles Times,
which probably does not seem like a whole lot. There was however a
number of ads placed by Willett and Tyler offering their services.
Willett was probably the more experienced of the two men in the field
of real estate; back then, selling real estate was an apprenticeship,
with Tom in this case being the apprentice. The business itself did
not get very far, and Tom Tyler left some time late in 1935. He did
not give up his day job as an actor, which was a good thing as he was
unable to afford to do so.
Following are the real estate ads as
posted by Willett and Tyler in the Los Angeles Times. The
average price for a 5-room bungalow house downtown was $3,950.00 in
1935. A 7-room Spanish style house in Beverly Hills was $5,300.00 –
cheap by today’s standard.
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The Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1934
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| The Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1934 |
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| The Los Angeles Times, July 21, 1934 |
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| The Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1934 |
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| The Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1934
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Today, the address of 771 N. Vine is occupied by RodeWay Inn.
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