A LOVE AFFAIR WITH AUTOMOBILES - A SAN FERNANDO VALLEY STORY

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY            2013

     Cities built on islands or crowded peninsulas seldom have the collective love affairs with the automobile as those existing in the wide open spaces of the American West. This is especially true of the San Fernando Valley, that until very recently has been composed of distant and unconnected suburbs. A dependance on automobiles and buses was cinched when the Los Angeles Railway system was destroyed by what many call a conspiracy of bus suppliers to acquire control of the Railway and dismantle it starting in 1944. By the 1960s, the red cars of the Pacific Electric Railway were just a distant memory. The corporations were General Motors, Chevron, Philips Petroleum, Goodyear and Mack Truck. 

     The car companies' public relations firms immediately set out to romanticize automobiles are essential to the "good life" emerging in the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. 

Commercially produced for Howell Chevrolet in Glendale. Make of antique vehicle unknown. Postcard Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2013. (click on images to enlarge them.) Reverse has a sales pitch for a new Chevrolet. Refer to image 6209.

1917 Velie Touring Car - Commercially produced for San Fernando Valley Motors in the city of San Fernando.  Postcard Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2013. Reverse side has a recommendation for regular maintenance.

1925 Rolls Royce - Commercially produced for Valley Rambler in Burbank.  Postcard Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2013.

Motel Mountain View in Sun Valley - Postcard Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2013.

By the 1960s hotels in the San Fernando Valley, with the exception of areas near the theme parks,  had all but disappeared. They were replaced by motels of differing quality and standards.

 1990 Pontiac new car introduction souvenir postcard. Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Grey Fredburg 2013.  Bob Ruehman Pontiac - North Hollywood.

Hitchhiking on the collectible nature of the antique automobile cards featured above, some car dealerships began to print introductions to their new vehicles via mass mailings or souvenirs of a visit to new car introduction events.

One of the greatest automobile collections in the United States is in the North San Fernando Valley. It also houses one of the largest automotive libraries in the world.
The Nethercut Collection
15200 Bledsoe St  San Fernando Valley, CA 91342

(818) 364-6464

WHEN SUNLAND WAS STILL ROSCOE

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY             2013

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley does not collect artifacts for "collection sake", their potential increase in value, or just for sentimental reasons. The Museum acquires objects as forensic evidence to explain "who we are" and "how did we get where we are today." As guides to our individual and collective future, the objects you Museum collects and preserves can demonstrate important trends.

Here's an example of what can be learned from a "collector's cover" purchased by Al Keat, the proprietor of the Roscoe Super Garage in the 1930s. The commercial sponsor paid for the printing of the envelope's "cover" and received a supply of them in return for his own use. Mr. Keat would have had to purchase the stamps himself.

Anniversary Cover for National Air Mail Week - May 17, 1938. Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2013.  (click on the image to enlarge it.)

Here's some of what this envelope teaches us: This envelope was canceled on the 20th anniversary of the air male class service of the United States Post Office in May of 1918. It has a 6¢ US air mail postage stamp canceled in Roscoe, California. The statement "A health place to live." was the city's unofficial slogan to attract visitors and residents, since it was known for its clean air and curative properties. It bears the signature of Fred Jacobsen as Postmaster.



Most Valley residents recognize the name Roscoe related the Boulevard that crosses the entire area. Originally, the street was a plowed line designating the north and south parts of the Valley. Roscoe was the name of present day community of Sun Valley from 1898 until 1948. Originally the town was called Roberts for a local general store. The name Roscoe was dropped due its use as a racist slur.