A VALLEY HORS d'OUVRE

DISCOVERING OUR VALLEY    2011

David Keesey shares a memory:
"I still remember going to the S and  H Green Stamp store roaming through the shelves looking for items that we could get with the amount of books we had saved. All that licking and the taste of those stamps. Going to the gas stations to receive them along with drinking glasses. What about getting the towels in your favorite soap boxes.

I still have the spindles for my 45 records which I continue to listen too. The drive-in movies at the Canyon Drive-In and later at Van Nuys Drive-In on Sepulveda Boulevard.

I couldn't wait to ask my grandma if she had any laundry to do as I loved to pull the clothes as they came through the wringer washer! Then put them on the clothesline to dry. Oh, those carefree days of yesteryear.

Who doesn't remember those flocked Christmas trees with the color wheel."

FIRST MUSEUM MEETING DEDICATION GOES TO JOHN BWARIE

2009 - The Year of Valley History
Van Nuys Drive In Theater c. 1948 - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from Gary Fredburg 2009. (click on image to enlarge).
The Museum of the San Fernando Valley's Board of Directors has a simple way of thanking those men and women who make special contributions to the history and culture of our communities, we dedicated our monthly meetings in their honor. Fittingly the first person to be honored in our minutes is John Bwarie.
Because of John's hard work and dedication to Los Angeles and Valley history, L.A. Heritage Day was a huge success. Thanks John for all you do for us.

In the 1940s and 50s, one of the hottest night time places to be in the San Fernando Valley was the Van Nuys Drive In Theater. The film "On An Island With You" gives us a great clue to when this photograph was taken. The movie featuring Ester Williams and Peter Lawford was released in 1948.