JACK DEMPSEY 1914 - DEMPSEY AND BUSTER KEATON 1928

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY      2012

The task of identifying artifacts and photographs given to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley will always be a significant part of our Community's responsibility.  How and where do objects fit into the history of our valley?  

Here are three photographs recently added to The Museum's archives, yet to be fully vetted. Become a Museum sleuth today.  Volunteer and join The Museum of the San Fernando Valley Associates. Call 1 (818) 347-9665 and you'll be invited to the Associates' upcoming meetings. 

Jack Dempsey c. 1914 by Lehrfoto Studio in Victor, Colorado when he was still being called Kid Blackie. (click on image to enlarge it.)  Photo 5045

Beloved American comic Buster Keaton (left) with Jack Demsey the boxer. Other two men not yet identified.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS AROUND 1914

Viewing Platform at Universal Studios c 1912-1915. Historic postcard - gift of Gary Fredburg 2009 to the Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley (click on image to enlarge)
2009 -
. The Year of Valley History
In the year 1912, Carl Laemmle extended his motion picture business to California. He purchased property once owned by the Lankershim Land and Water Company, at the edge of the Los Angeles River and began making movies right away. He named his San Fernando Valley based operations, Universal City.
The sight, where Universal Studios stands today, was so useful for film making, that between 1914 and 1915, Laemmle moved his headquarters and main studio productions to the Valley.
The cinema-going audience has long been fascinated with how films are made, and Carl Laemmle knew a good thing when he saw it. Platforms were strategically placed around Universal Studios. This was the ancestor of the world famous Universal Studios Tours of today.

The San Fernando Valley, in the heart of the Creative Capital of the World, deserves a great Museum of history and culture.