SAN FERNANDO VALLEY ON 1932 OLMPICS MAP

2010  THE YEAR OF VALLEY ADVENTURES             Northridge100 (then North Los Angeles)

Porky Johnson, Gary Fredburg and I were looking at this 1932 Olympic Games map to see if it showed any events held in the San Fernando Valley.. no luck, but here are a couple of great details from the map and an historic postcard from July 1932.  (click on images to enlarge)

 Map of Olympic Games Los Angeles 1932 -  July 30 to August 14, 1932

 Priceless detail of the Olympics map showing the major towns in the San Fernando Valley. Woodland Hills was called Girard, Northridge was named North Los Angeles, and Sun Valley was identified as Roscoe. Van Nuys, the cities of San Fernando and Burbank, as well as Canoga Park and Calabasas are shown.

 On Thanksgiving day, we were talking with our relatives from Northern California and Iowa about professional football and the chance that Los Angeles might someday have a pro-team again. My wife's cousin said, "Why don't they tear down the colosium and build a NFL stadium there." The room fell deathly silent!  None of us whose lives are part of Los Angeles could conceive our city without the grand old stadium.

2010 THE YEAR OF VALLEY ADVENTURES

1932 Olympic Games Poster - reproduced as a postcard for 1984 Games - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gerald Fecht 2010.

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley actively collects artifacts and information about the Olympic Games of 1932 and 1984, held in Los Angeles. We also seek and archive information about the training and achievements of Olympians of the San Fernando Valley.

Support your Museum's Olympics Collections:

Museum of the San Fernando Valley 1 (818) 347-9665
21031 Ventura Boulevard Suite 419
Woodland Hills, CA 91364

1932 OLYMPIC GAMES MEDALLION BY HUGO BALLIN

Proposed Medallion for the 1932 Olympic Games - Collection of Phyllis Hansen - Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley - 2008 (click on image to enlarge)

Your Museum's electronic archives grow every day. Here, a newspaper clipping from an early Los Angeles newspaper (c. 1931) shows a medallion by the major California artist Hugo Ballin. The caption for the image reads: "Depicting Pallas Athena, diety of the Olympic Games, a seventeen foot medallion b Hugh Ballin A.N.A. will be hung at the entrance of the stadium."
It is assumed that the "stadium" would have been the Los Angeles Coliseum but it may have also been the swimming venue in Exposition Park.
Those who pay attention to the murals in public buildings in the Los Angeles area should be familiar with the splendid works of Hugo Ballin. His images grace the Griffith Park Observatory, the entrance of the historic Edison Building, the Burbank City Hall and the great Wilshire Temple ....and much more. Ballin came to Los Angeles in 1921 at the urging of Louie B. Mayer to work for MGM. He was trained as a classical painter, demonstrated in this medallion image.

For all of the beauty and sophistication of Bellin's works, there is a funny little mistake in this design. Lady Pallas Athena is the Goddess of the city of Athens (Athena). As such Her image would not have been utilized to represent the ancient Olympic Games that were dedicated to Lord Zeus. (The Gods got a bit jealous over these things.)

Just for ducks.... The artist who created the logo for the American Medical Association made a similar "classic" mistake, when he or she used the caduceus wand of Lord Mercury for the good doctors. Unfortunately Lord Aesculapius is the God of Medicine and his symbol is a forked stick with a snake entwined about it. The God Mercury or Hermes is the Deity of Commerce, Cattle Rustlers and Thieves. (Well, maybe the artist got the right image after all?)

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

PHYLLIS HANSEN GIVES THE MUSEUM AN OLYMPIC GAMES TREASURE

Festival of Nations (detail) 1930 - Painting by A. L. Ewing - Los Angeles Times - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley by Phyllis Hansen 2007 (click on image to enlarge)
This image graces the cover of a special insert section of the Los Angeles Times on January 2, 1931. It is reproduced from a painting done in 1930 by the illustrator A. L. Ewing. Athletes from around the world celebrate at the entrance of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The romantic images of California done in the 1920s and 30s are among the world's great art treasures. This blog image has been slightly color enhanced to restore the newspaper's picture to its likely intensity 77 years ago. The interior of this special insert contains a wonderful painting/illustration by the great Orpha Klinker.

Your Museum collects information and artifacts related to the Los Angeles Olympic Games (1932 - 1984) and Olympic athletes from the greater San Fernando Valley. We also collection the works of the California artist Orpha Klinker, and other works related to the history of the American West. This gift from Phyllis Hansen supports both efforts.

The San Fernando Valley deserves a great Museum of history and culture.