What did Charlie see?

If you’re into Old Hollywood, you might have heard the classic tale of how Charlie Chaplin (aka “The Tramp”) would race his horse down Hollywood Boulevard to get to his favorite restaurant, Musso and Frank Grill.

He was such a regular there that he had his own personal booth by the front window, where he would eat lunch with stars like Rudolph Valentino, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. In fact, he and Fairbanks would often have a horse race to the restaurant, with a wager on who would

have to pick up the tab.

All this amazing history had us thinking, what exactly did Hollywood Boulevard look like in the 1920s when Charlie raced along, the wind in his hair, eager for his favorite meal of roast lamb kidneys?

One thing’s for sure, the view out his periphery would have been of a town emerging like a butterfly into the glitz and glamour of a new era. No more dirt roads and citrus orchards. Hollywood Boulevard was transforming into a hub of entertainment, celebrity and a fascination with film.

As for Charlie, he was probably basking in the success of 1921’s The Kid and 1925’s The Gold Rush. He'd built his own Charlie Chaplin Studio in 1917 at the corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, not far from Hollywood Boulevard.

Many successes lie ahead for the budding star. In the end, he would create a filmography of 80 movies spanning from 1914-1967.

Much like the scenery young Charlie would have ridden past, life must have been quite a blur for him back then. He was only in his 20s and already becoming celebrated around the world.

Hollywood Boulevard itself was going through a huge transformation. Charles E. Toberman (“The Father of Hollywood”) spearheaded 36 major real estate projects that included the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the Max Factor Building (on Highland Boulevard) and the Hollywood Masonic Temple. He envisioned creating a thriving theater district.

The Masonic Temple served as an entertainment hub for such famous Masons as Oliver Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks, W.C. Fields, Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith.

It's possible that Charlie rode past the

Masonic Temple during one of its star-studded parties.

In partnership with Sid Grauman, Toberman also opened three important theaters in the 1920s - the El Capitan, the Chinese and the Egyptian.

Around that time, Hollywood began to embrace its love of shopping. The famous and non-famous alike could stop by the J.J. Newberry five-and-dime store or the high-fashion luxury department store I. Magnin and Co.

What only 20 years earlier had been a dirt road with lemon groves and fig orchards, then a residential street of stately Victorian homes, was becoming a hub of celebrities, stores, restaurants, theaters and hotels.

As Charlie traversed the changing landscape, he must have felt caught between two worlds - the simple, unassuming street of the recent past, and the new, thriving center of celebrity elegance.

As he once said, “Making fun is serious business.”

This might have crossed his mind as he passed production shoots going on at buildings like the Security Trust and Savings Bank, where studios filmed because of its close proximity to the studios of Chaplin and comedians Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton.

Galloping down the street, and probably glancing over at his friend Douglas Fairbanks to see if he was catching up, Charlie experienced a moment in history that would see the birth of Tinseltown and change the LA area forever.

As he himself has said, "You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down."

A quick glance at some of the scenery Charlie would have ridden past:

I. Magnin and Co. - 6340 Hollywood Blvd.

Security Trust and Savings Bank - 6381 Hollywood Blvd.

J.J. Newberry five-and-dime shop - 6602 Hollywood Blvd.

Musso and Frank Grill - 6667 Hollywood Blvd.

Egyptian Theater - 6712 Hollywood Blvd.

El Capitan Theater - 6838 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Masonic Temple - 6840 Hollywood Blvd.

Grauman’s Chinese Theater - 6925 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel - 7000 Hollywood Blvd.