THE BIG FIRE AT GENE AUTRY'S HOME

BUILDING A GREAT MUSEUM FOR THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

        Art Jacobs, Museum Associate sends this along"

      "When digging through some old magazine's I came across this small article pertaining to Gene Autry and his Studio City home. It was taken out of the Movie Radio Guide Magazine of November 1941."

RODDY McDOWELL VALLEY CONNECTIONS

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY                2013

Roddy McDowell's first American film was How Green Was My Valley done in 1941. In the film, 13-year- old Roddy played Huw Morgan. Elements of this John Ford movie was filmed in Sherman Oaks in the McKinley Home for Boys, the location of which is the present site of the Sunkist building. Much of the outdoor elements of the film was shot in Calabasas at the Fox Ranch. 

Roddy McDowell was a highly regarded child actor. His film, Lassie Come Home, won the hearts of America. His family moved him to America from England at the outset of the Second World War.

Roddy McDowell  1928 to 1998 

Photo autographed "To Ralph, Greetings - Roddy" was among the artifacts belonging to the American trumpet player Ralph Muzzillo Sr. Younger people will recognize Roddy McDowell from his roles in Planet of the Apes.  The beloved actor died in Studio City in 1998. Photograph courtesy of Ralph Muzzillo Jr. 2013.  (click on images to enlarge them.)

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The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

Acquisitions Committee
21031 Ventura Blvd., Suite 419
Woodland Hills, CA 91364-2230

THE MUSEUM’S TELEPHONE
1 (818) 347-9665

THE MUSEUM'S EMAILS
gerald.fecht@TheMuseumSFV.org
info@TheMuseumSFV.org

THE MUSEUM’S BLOG

www.museumsanfernandovalley.blogspot.com

THE MUSEUM’S WEBSITE

www.TheMuseumSFV.org

DON "THE SNAKE" PRUDHOMME FAMOUS SAN FERNANDO VALLEY RACE DRIVER

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY        2013

In the 1950s and early '60s, the San Fernando Valley was the home of some of the most exciting automobile racing in the world. Young males flocked to San Fernando's race tracks, where guys like Don Prudhomme (the Snake) was beginning a lifetime of world-wide racing fame. 

Autographed photograph of Don Prudhomme in Carroll Shelby's AA/Fuel Dragster. Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2013. (click on image to enlarge it.)

Prudhomme was born in the city of San Fernando on April 6, 1941.

MICKEY ROONEY BELOVED VALLEY PERFORMER

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY               2012

One of the most loved performers of his era was San Fernando Valley movie actor, Mickey Rooney. Here is photographed with the great Judy Garland in the film Strike Up The Band in 1942. (If I am right, this was about the same time that UCLA adopted the music Strike Up The Band as its football fight song.)

RICHARD HILTON INTERVIEWS THE TAMARA FAMILY

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY          2012

On Monday, December 8, 1941 two Japanese-American farm kids went as usual to their classes at San Fernando High School. There they heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor and the impending war between the United States and the Empire of Japan. By March of 1942 they would find their lives turned upside down as their families were sent to the U.S. internment camp in Manzanar. 

One of the first things that young Americans of Japanese descent did at Manzanar was to establish a baseball league. One of the teams in the league was the San Fernando Valley Aces. Only two members of that historic team remain in 2012.  (click on images to enlarge them.)

 George Tamura of Mission Hills holds a photograph of his San Fernando Valley Aces team.

As part of The Museum's "Narrating Lives - Oral Histories of the San Fernando Valley, Richard Hilton relaxes after his interview with the Tamura family. Left to right are William Tamura (nephew of George Tamara, whose father was a member of the San Fernando Valley Aces), Miye Tamura, George Tamura and Museum Board member Richard Hilton. Miye and George were married shortly after their families were released from Manzinar.

Miye Tamura was the first of her family to return to their farm house near San Fernando. She became a beautician after her release from Manzanar.

William Tamura holds a photograph of his father and his uncle George Tamura, members of the San Fernando Valley Aces at the Manzinar camp. William is a retired science teacher.

Wall screen in the home of Miye and George Tamura in Mission Hills.

Interested in being part of the Narrating Lives - Oral Histories of the San Fernando Valley project?

CONTACT

Richard Hilton - Chair - Narrating Lives

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley
21031 Ventura Blvd., Suite 419
Woodland Hills, CA 91364-2230

THE MUSEUM’S TELEPHONE
1 (818) 347-9665 PST

THE MUSEUM'S EMAILS
gerald.fecht@TheMuseumSFV.org
info@TheMuseumSFV.org

THE MUSEUM’S BLOG

www.museumsanfernandovalley.blogspot.com/

THE MUSEUM’S WEBSITE

www.TheMuseumSFV.org

HOWARD HUGHES AND THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY          2012

A monumental figure in the history of the San Fernando Valley was Howard Hughes. A film-maker, adventurer, and builder of remarkable aircraft, Hughes left an indelible mark on American aviation and the history of the San Fernando Valley.

 Howard Hughes

From 1941 to 1943, Howard Hughes was engaged in the making of the motion picture "The Outlaw".  The film starred Van Nuys High School graduate, Jane Russell. (click on image to enlarge it.)

 Glendale, California c. 1932. Hughes Aircraft Company built the H-1, a plane that would break the land plane speed record.  In addition to Hughes, there were 12 employees of the company,

In 1936, design engineer Dick Palmer and Howard Hughes built the H1 racer. Hughes flew the craft from Burbank to Newark, New Jersey in just under 7 1/2 hours.


Join Kristine Keller in her efforts to archive and present the history of Aeronautics in the San Fernando Valley for today and for future generations.


Kristine Keller - Chair of the Aerospace Project

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley
21031 Ventura Blvd., Suite 419
Woodland Hills, CA 91364-2230 
Museum messages for Kristine Keller              1 (818) 347-9665

1941 USA ATTACKED - 1943 USA RETALIATES

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY          2012

Kristine Keller has begun her Aerospace Exhibit planning by collecting images and information about flight during the Second World War. Want to help Kristine?  See her contact data below.

 P-38 Assembly line at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank in 1943.  (click on image to enlarge it.)  Booklet gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2012.

 Flying Fortresses Assembly Line - 1943 - Lockheed Aircraft Burbank, California. 

Kristine Keller     Aerospace Exhibit Coordinator

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley
21031 Ventura Blvd., Suite 419
Woodland Hills, CA 91364-2230 
Museum messages for Kristine Keller

1 (818) 347-9665 PST

LUCILLE BALL - THE VALLEY OWN MEGA STAR

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY    2012

In 1941, the great Lucille Ball starred in "Three Girls and a Gob", a Harold Lloyd production.

The film costarred Edmond O"Brien.  Frank Pangborn played the role of a pet shop owner holding a

bird stand. The bird atop the stand is one of the many actors provided to motion pictures by Bird Wonderland of Van Nuys (now, Encino). Lucille Ball and the creatures of Bird Wonderland were just a few movie actors from the San Fernando Valley

Photograph Gift by Joan Putney 2009 - Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

WORLD WAR TWO WAS ONLY WEEKS AWAY

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY    2012

When this store display was created in 1941, few who encountered it would have anticipated in by the end of the year the United States of America and the Empire of Japan would clash in a catastrophic war.

Images such as this original photograph help your Museum volunteers to create the backgrounds for historic events. 

DOROTHY LAMOUR - THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY'S SUPER STAR

Two of the most important film stars of the 1940s made their homes in the San Fernando Valley. The megastar Dorothy Lamour was viewed as the personification of the exotic woman. Here she is shown with Satan the Tiger - the best known tiger in the world during his lifetime.Dorothy Lamour lived in Toluca Lake and Satan in Bird Wonderland in Encino (then Van Nuys).

Dorothy Lamour and Satan the Tiger in Malaya - Paramount Pictures 1941 - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Joan Putney 2011. (click on the image to enlarge it).

Dorothy Lamour lived into her 80s, still much loved by the movie-going public. Her funeral was held at Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic church in North Hollywood. She is buried in Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills.

DOROTHY LAMOUR AND SATAN THE TIGER WERE SAN FERNANDOD VALLEY MEGASTARS

DISCOVERING OUR VALLEY     2011

Dorothy Lamour, who lived in Toluca Lake, was one of America's most famous film stars of the 1940s. The great "Road" films of the era, with stars like Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, were wildly popular. Here the beautiful Lamour poses with the wild animal star Satan the Tiger, promoting the film "The Road to Zanzibar" in 1941. 

Dorothy Lamour and Satan the Tiger in "The Road to Zanzibar"  1941  - Photo gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Jean Putney 2011. Satan the Tiger lived at Bird Wonderland in Van Nuys. Refer to photo 4035 - click on image to enlarge.

Dorothy Lamour helped fund the construction of Saint Charles Catholic church in North Hollywood. Her funeral was held in the landmark church.  

Publicity statement with this photograph:  "Wild Animals I Have Known - proof in pictures by Dorothy Lamour 7.  Satan isn't the first tiger I've ever known, either.  There was King, the huge Bengal tiger which stalked through my first picture, "The Jungle Princess".  Supposedly, I was raised by the tiger from childhood in the story.  So I had to romp with him.  My teeth chattered at the prospects but I soon learned that King was your friend for life if you scratched his ears. He love that and would purr like a kitten ... only the purring was so loud it reminded you of an airplane motor.".

1942 A MISSOURI BOY FIRST ENCOUNTERS THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

DISCOVERING OUR VALLEY   2011

Photographs often tell more than viewers realize.

Family snapshots often tell more history than meets a casual glance. Here are three photographs that were among my brother James Fecht's effects, when he died last year. In three short years he went from a high school altar boy to a United States Marine in combat in the South Pacific. 

Altar servers at Saint Brendan Catholic Church in Mexico, Missouri - 1940.  (click on image to enlarge)  Photo 2853 - l to r: James Fecht, Joe Enslen, Jim Torrance, Don McLaughlin and Bob Phillips.

 In 1941, James Fecht was a recent high school graduate. anxious to make his mark in the world. This photograph was taken in Mexico, Missouri shortly before the outbreak of World War II. His hands were still swollen from an amateur boxing match earlier in the week. He boxed as a Marine recruit at Camp Pendleton the next year.  (photo 2854)

1942 on Elmer Avenue in North Hollywood, California.  (photo 2855) 

On his first leave after boot camp, Jim Fecht and his Marine buddy Webb McKelvey went to Los Angeles, where Webb introduced Jim to his cousin Joye Barnes from North Hollywood. Jim met Joye and several of her friends from Corvallis High School in Studio City, at the USO Cantina in Hollywood. Jim was dazzled. After the war, Jim and Joye were married and made the San Fernando Valley their home.

THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY AND WWII MEMORABILIA

2010 THE YEAR OF VALLEY ADVENTURES

Today while having lunch at Barone's in Valley Glen, the artist Dale Alexander asked if I remembered a German tank or the Japanese zero that were displayed where Van Nuys Boulevard bends to meet San Fernando Road in Pacoima. Dale said that he recalls the vehicles being used to stimulate sales of World War II bonds. This is a part of Valley history, we need to know more about.

Item by item, artifact by artifact, the story of the San Fernando Valley's role in World War II continues to emerge.

Below, a Master Mason in North Hollywood shows The Museum's historic North Hollywood walking tourists, the great Audie Murphy's application to join the Freemasons. The Masonic Temple has many of Murphy's medals in its library. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in the Second World War, including a Congressional Medal of Honor.
Audie Murphy's application to join the Freemasons in North Hollywood.

1943 Historic Postcard - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2010.
The onset of World War II was a very frightening time in the United States. Here in a patriotic postcard a school boy looks on the names of heroes from an earlier war.

Postcard Announcing a Community Dance in Glendale - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2010. (click on image to enlarge)

Postmarked Nov. 18, 1941, this "penny postcard" reveals an interesting part of American history. Sent 20 days before war was declared on the Japanese empire by the United States Congress, a "Defense Tax" was already in place.
One has to wonder how many people who lived in the San Fernando Valley at the time would recall that they had gone to the Glendale Civic Auditorium to dance to the big band of Paul Martin, Saturday night December 6th.

DECEMBER 7th 1941 - A DAY TO REMEMBER

Larry Kent was a swing band leader in 1941. He and his orchestra were the first band whose music was transmitted on a trans-oceanic broadcast that year. Larry's hot band played the night away in the penthouse of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu.
Typical of traveling orchestras, the band wrapped up its performance just before dawn and headed down for breakfast before a warm day's sleep on the magical island of Oahu. The boys in the band wouldn't get much sleep that day!
Just before dawn, Larry told me years later in a high rise office in Woodland Hills, weird noises began to happen. Distant popping sounds screamed into roaring blasts. The American territory of Hawaii had been attacked, by the Empire of Japan.
Horrific booms, siren cries and car horns blasted into the first light of that Sunday morning.
After the war, and returning from his military service, Larry Kent found work in Hollywood as a theatrical agent. Later, he became a master of licensing and marketing. He helped invent the NFL Properties, gave the Super Bowl its Roman numerals and licensed images of the famous cowboy Roy Rogers.
Larry Kent is long gone. Let us hope that the lives of our American servicemen and women, and the civilians who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 won't be soon forgotten.
Jerry Fecht

Report Cards - Chatswoth Park School - Gift to the Museum from Gary Fredburg - 2008 (click on image to enlarge)

Other report cards added to the Museum's education collection are:

Report Card - Chatsworth Park School - February 4, 1938 - A - 4
Teacher: Gertrude N. Ramsdale / Willim Altheuser (principal)

Report Card - Chatsworth Park School - April 20, 1938 - Grade B - 5
Teacher: Constance Lourau

Report Card - Chatsworth Park School - June 23, 1939 B - 6
Teacher: Elizabeth L. Moser

Report Card - Chatsworth Park School - June 1940 - Grade A - 7
Teacher: Lily L. Griffin

Report Card - Chatsworth Park School - December 6, 1940 - Grade B-8
Teachers: Lily L. Griffin / Elizabeth M. Hale (sewing)

Report Card - Chatsworth Park School - January 31, 1941 - Grade B-8
Teachers: Lily L. Griffin / Elizabeth M. Hale (sewing)