100 YEARS OF VAN NUYS HIGH SCHOOL - TYRONE AVENUE FLOODS 1952

BUILDING A GREAT MUSEUM FOR THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

School year books often have unexpected treasures hidden in them. Here in this 1952 Van Nuys High School book, photographs taken by students of what was then a nearly annual flood of Tyrone Avenue reveal the perfect excuse for missing call but a significant Valley transportation problem as well. 

1952 Van Nuys High School Yearbook - courtesy of Sue Falk 2014- Tyrone Avenue

Van Nuys Junior High School kids

Tyrone Avenue was no joke, as this submerged car demonstrated. 

Sandbags diverting Tyrone Wash 

On Campus of Van Nuys High School during rain storm

Van Nuys High School girls in the rain.

100 YEARS OF VAN NUYS HIGH SCHOOL - ROBERT REDFORD 1953

BUILDING A GREAT MUSEUM FOR THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

As part of our exhibit preparation for the 100th anniversary of Van Nuys High School, Sue Falk of Calabasas loaned historic 1952 and 1953 yearbooks to The Museum Associates. She noted that the to be famous actor Robert Redford was a student at Van Nuys High during that time. 

 ROBERT REDFORD 

11th grade student at Van Nuys High School.

 (Click on images to enlarge them.)

TEACHER FROM INDIA INFLUENCES VALLEY IN 1930s

BUILDING A GREAT MUSEUM FOR THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

Eastern religious thinking was introduced into the San Fernando Valley in the 1930s by teachers such as the world famous Indian guru Paramahansa Yogananda. The followers of the great mystic established the Self Realization Fellowship that still maintain centers in Los Angeles and the San Diego area. 

On April 19th, The Museum of the San Fernando Valley will celebrate the heritage of India with music, lectures and dance in Northridge, California.

 Paramahansa Yogananda

1893 - 1952

Self Realization Lake Shrine - vintage postcard - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gerald Fecht 2014.  (click on images to enlarge them.)

The Santa Inez spring, along side of Sunset Boulevard. once was among the sources that supplied water to the movie lots of Inceville. Early Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan films were made at the site. Years passed and the followers of Paramahansa Yogananda created the present day Lake Shrine at this location. Today, under the lotus arch, stands a Chinese monument wherein there are some of the ashes of Mohandas Ghandi.  Visits to the Shrine at 17190 Sunset Boulevard are free and among the most memorable sites in Los Angeles.

EARNIE'S TACOS IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD from 1952

Ernie's Taco House - business card - 1950s - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2013. (click on image to enlarge it.)

Ernie's Taco House, traditional Mexican eatery in North Hollywood was the 2nd of three locations in the greater Los Angeles area. Founded by Ernie Cruz, the North Hollywood location was opened on the 17th of June 1952.

FAMOUS TRUMPETS BEGAN IN BURBANK

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY           2013

1122 West Burbank Boulevard, Burbank, California - Once the home of world famous Benge trumpets.  Photo by Gary Fredburg 2013.  (click on image to enlarge it.)

     At the onset of the Great Depression Elden Benge, who was fortunate enough to have a job playing trumpet with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, began to experiment to find a trumpet with more sophisticated tones. He continued his trials while playing with the Chicago Symphony from 1933 to 1939. Benge also performed “gigs” on Radio WGN to make ends meet. By the 1950s, he was able to construct some of the finest trumpets in the world.

   On his physician’s advice Elden Benge moved to Burbank, California, to benefit from the warm climate and where he would be able to find work in the film studios. (At that time, the movie studios had their own on-lot orchestras.) In Burbank, Benge perfected trumpets that would find world-wide demand.

     The Benge trumpet was much desired by professional trumpet players such as Ralph Muzzillo Sr, who lived in Encino. Inside of the trumpets’ bells was stamped “resno-tempered” promising the buyer that the Benge trumpet was formed in a one-piece process of heating and hammering.

      The address of the Benge home and workshop garage was 1122 West Burbank Boulevard. 

      Elden Benge died of injuries from a car accident in front of this location. Years have passed and Benge trumpets continue to be made and sold in the American Midwest. The building in Burbank was sold to a winery. An urban legend has it that occasionally, the muffled sound of a solo trumpet is heard in the early morning hours in the Burbank neighborhood.

WHEN TYRONE AVENUE BECAME A RIVER IN 1952

CHERISHING OUR VALLEY    2012

60 years ago, the San Fernando Valley was still drying out and cleaning up after a terrific rain storm. To make life more exciting, streets such as Tyrone Avenue had little in the way of flood control. Inevitably, people on one of Richard Hilton's Museum walking tour of historic Van Nuys will tell a Tyrone Avenue rainy day story.  These images are from the old time Valley Times newspaper.

United States Post Office Van Nuys, California  January 1952 - Sylvan Street just west of Van Nuys Boulevard - photograph taken at dawn.  (Click on images to enlarge them.)

Raging waters pour along Tyrone Avenue at Magnolia Boulevard in historic Van Nuys, January 1952. When Tyrone Avenue was flooded, students had the "perfect" excuse for a day off. Enlarge this image to see the steam coming out of one vehicle.

Sand bags hopefully protected the merchants on Van Nuys Boulevard. January 17, 1952 at the corner of Gilmore Street.

 Automobile trapped in a flash flood at Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys, January 1952.

 Bill Mulvihill at left and Bill Mathews right wade in flood waters on Van Nuys Boulevard - 21 January 1952 - Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

JACKIE THE LION ENDED LIFE IN THOUSAND OAKS

DISCOVERING OUR VALLEY     2011

Eventually there will be a member of The Museum Community or a college student who will write the history of Bird Wonderland in Encino (at the time Van Nuys).  It's the kind of thing that I would like to do, had I the time. In the meanwhile, there are always parts of history's puzzle worth exploring, and sometimes though I am limited in time, I have to investigate..

There are many photographs of Jackie the Lion among the images donated recently to The Museum by Joan Putney. At first, I assumed the famous MGM lion in the collection belonged to the owner of Bird Wonderland Coulson Glick, but it now seems more likely that Jackie was the property of a lion tamer and performer named Mel Koontz. The lion may have been boarded at Bird Wonderland or was there just for the time when Mel Kooze worked there. 

Jackie the Lion - Jungleland Thousand Oaks, California:  vintage postcard - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2011.  (click on image to enlarge)

Jackie was neither the first, nor the last of the MGM lions. He was lion number 2, who ruled the film world from 1929 to the mid 1950s.  He died in Thousand Oaks in 1952.

VAN NUYS JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL Summer 1952

DISCOVERING OUR VALLEY   2011

Museum supporter Richard Holmes writes:

Gerry, I scanned and uploaded to a public folder the VNJHS S'52 Yearbook. It's in Word format--pdf was ten time larger. I can be found at this link:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/133788​68/VNJHS%20S%2752%20Yearbook.d​oc

Van Nuys Junior High School - detail - sent to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Richard Holmes 2011  (click on image to enlarge)

GENERATION GAP?

DISCOVERING OUR VALLEY       2011

It doesn't take long for a new generation of people to become mystified with the actions and artifacts of those who came before. Here's a neat little promotional item given out in 1952 to its customers by a company in Glendale that was involved in the moving and hauling business. Evidently, with its fleet of trucks and moving crews, it could take on big tasks like loading railroad cars or smaller ones like storage and crating.

I read the cartoon on this item, several times and continue to miss the point. If you can figure that the cartoonist meant, let me know. This promotional item is printed on the front of highly absorbent paper --- it's a "blotter."  Yep, an ink blotter was still of enough value in 1952 to end up on a customer's desk.

Try this little experiment. Ask any elementary school child who you know, if he or she knows what an ink blotter is?

Promotional ink blotter - V. L. Bunch Co. Glendale, California - gift to the Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2011. (Click on blotter image to enlarge) 

THE QUIET MAN - REPUBLIC STUDIOS HIT 1952

2010 -- The Year of Valley Adventures -- 75th Anniversary of Republic Studios
The Quiet Man 1952 - Paving tile at the entrance to the administration offices of CBS Studios. Photo for the Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley 2010 by Jerry Fecht
One of the most loved films of its era, The Quiet Man, directed by John Ford was considered a big financial risk for Republic Studios. High action films and western movies were Republic’s bread and butter money makers, and a high profile romantic drama was a significant departure for the studios.
To give The Quiet Man’s investors some security for their investment, the main performers and director of the film were contracted to make a western, the Rio Grande before making the Irish love story.
The Quiet Man was directed by John Fold and starred a beloved cast including: John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen and Ward Bond to name just a few.
The great film composer Victor Young was chosen by John Ford to create The Quiet Man’s musical score. To our family’s everlasting delight, Katherine Fletcher Shreves was Republic Studio’s principal cellist for the film. We have a 78 recording on which the orchestra plays the dear old Irish song, “The Wild Colonial Boy”, after which is ambient sound pause and Victor Young said, “Oh Katherine, that was so beautiful.”
Jerry Fecht
PS – If you haven’t seen The Quiet Man, it has the penultimate fistfight between the actors John Wayne and Victor McLaglen. What a movie!

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GRANADA HILLS - NORTHRIDGE100

2010 The Year of Valley Adventures

The following is a partial list of images and documents contributed by the First Presbyterian Church of Granda Hills for the Northridg100 centennial celebration. These items are now part of the permanent archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley and will be available for scholars, future historians of the Church, and other historical organizations. Photographs have been scanned and archived electronically. Later the documents will be copied and transcribed for historical purposes.
The materials were amassed by Sara Bauer. They were accompanied by an historical timeline and a brief history of the church from its origins the Granada Hills Memorial Church to the present First Presbyterian Church of Granda Hills.
10400 Zelzah Avenue, Northridge, California.

1293 Areal First Presbyterian Ch. Granda Hills 1964 (photograph)
1294 First Presbyterian Church Granada Hills 1967 (photograph)
1295 First Presbyterian Church Granada Hills Dedication 1960
1296 First Presbyterian Church Granada Hills Interior 1960
1297 First Presbyterian Church Granada Hills 50th Anniv. 1997
1298 First Presbyterian Church Granada Hills 1847-1997 (brochure)
Granda Hills Memorial Church – Community Presbyterian
1299 Granada Hills Mem. Church – Bulletin April 13, 1952
1300 Introducing the First Presbyterian Church (between 1954 - 1971)
1301 First Presbyterian Church Granada Hills 25th Anniv. 1972
1302 The Celtic Pres. September 1972 25th Anniv. (Church bulletin
1303 First Presbyterian Church Granada Hills 45th Anniv.
1304 First Presbyterian Church Granada Hills Jan 20, 2010
1305 First Presbyterian Church Granada Hills 40th Anniv. brochure
1306 Granada Hills Memorial Church Church Officers 1951 (photo)
Officers of Granada Hills Memorial Church Feb. 27, 1951
Church officers on the first anniversary of the new church building on Zelzah Avenue.
l-r (front row) Carl Koons, Thomas Decker, Floyd Balding, Maynard Solt, Margaret Rizer, Eleanor Hawkins, Edwin Hardin, and Walter Ott
(second row) Miles Von Heeder, Harvey Schlepp, William Roberts, Rev. Alfred McNair, Albert Green and Thurlow Culley.

BUDWEISER - A MAJOR PART OF VALLEY HISTORY

2009 - The Year of Valley History

In the early 1950s, the Anheuser-Busch Company's decision to build a major brewery in the San Fernando Valley created a major boost to the economy of the Valley and Southern California. Hundreds of construction workers and business suppliers shared in the infusion of over $20,000,000.
Budweiser Plant - vintage postcard - Gift of Gary Fredburg 2009 - The Museum of the San Fernando Valley (click on image to enlarge)

In 1952 popular beers in America were still being made, very much, in European traditions. Companies like Budweiser prided themselves, not only on the quality of their products, but a sense of "family" among their workers.
border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319830669470147138" /> Budweiser Brewing Building - vintage postcard - Gift of Gary Fredburg 2009 - The Museum of the San Fernando Valley (click on image to enlarge)

One of the great traditions of German breweries was the presence of nearby beer gardens. The sports complex next to the Budweiser plant in Saint Louis, Missouri is an example of that tradition. Busch Gardens next to the San Fernando Valley brewery became a major landmark in Los Angeles and remained such until the end of the 1970s. Old timers in the north Valley still tell stories of visits to their backyards of exotic birds on holiday from Busch Gardens.

Busch Gardens - vintage postcard - Gift of Gary Fredburg 2009 - The Museum of the San Fernando Valley (click on image to enlarge)

Fred Berk, Librarian of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley, wants to remind you to donate your vintage postcards of the San Fernando Valley (or, allow The Museum to scan and utilize your collection). Call 1 (818) 347-9665

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