Author Bruce Torrence brought old Hollywood to Descanso Garden in June, presenting an interesting slideshow of pictures from his 1979 published book, “Hollywood: The First 100 Years.”

The coffee table book tells the story of Hollywood in hundreds of pictures that date back to the late 1800s through the turn of the 20th century before and after the movie industry turned Hollywood from a sleepy little farm village into a thriving Los Angeles metropolis.

Torrence, his wife and grandson were the guests of the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada at its regular weekly luncheon meeting at Descanso.

Torrence began his collections in 1972 with about 30 photographs. Over the following 33 years he amassed over 12,000 photographs along with hundreds of books, brochures, periodicals and memorabilia of Hollywood. In July 2012, Torrence published another book on a Hollywood legend – The Hollywood Canteen, a place where over the years an estimated 3 million servicemen came on their way to fight in the Pacific during World War II.

The full Torrence collections can be viewed at www.hollywoodphotographs.com.

Contributed by Al RESTIVO