4/23/24 - I am very sorry to report that Mike McDaniel passed away this morning in Idaho Falls, ID as a result of a stroke he suffered on Sunday. More here, here, here and here. As must be clear from this content-rich website, his interest in Burbank lore and history was immense. I miss him greatly already.
The funeral for Mike was on Saturday, May 11th at 11 AM. The location was the LDS ward building at 3195 S. Holmes St. in Idaho Falls, ID.
The funeral service was broadcast via streaming video on YouTube and can be viewed here.
Mike's obit - with photos - was also noted on the May 14th MyBurbank.com page here.
Goodbye, Brother.
4/16/24 - Mike McDaniel takes us on a 1991 Tour of Burbank. It was a video he shot for me 33 years ago but never got around to sending until now!
4/11/24 - Susie Ragan's Kid Brother does it again! See Ralphs one and Ralphs two. Notes: This particular Ralphs Market (Victory Blvd @ Buena Vista St., Burbank ) was built on the former site of the “Jim Jefferies Barn” (Dairy Barn: 1909 – 1930, Event Center 1931- 1955) and Turn Two of the “Jefferies Speedway” (1931 – 1933).
After the death of Jim Jefferies, the Estate Managers were in negotiations with a Real Estate Developer to convert the 6.1-acre Jefferies Barn site into a Hotel and Conference Center. When City of Burbank approval was not met for the Hotel, the Ralphs Market Chain offered “all cash” for a 2.5 acre “split” of the Jefferies Barn site in order to build a replacement Market due to the outdated 1935-opened Ralphs Market at 240 South San Fernando Blvd (Burbank).
On November 30, 1961, the “new” Ralphs Market opened to great fanfare and celebration. The highlight of the Ralphs Market at 2500 West Victory Blvd. (Burbank) was the Architectural feature of a Catenary Curve Roof design…the only Ralphs Market building in the chain (at the time of 1961 construction) to employ such a design!
Also, this Ralphs Market included a “Robert Morton” Department (within the Market). This separate In Store Department carried Appliances, Household items, Sporting Goods, Camera’s and other Home items under one roof.
As most Burbankers know, the Ralphs Market at 2500 West Victory has been seen in numerous Television and Movie productions and, was the “Home Market” for many Entertainment personalities during its lifespan.
By the late 1990’s, the original Ralphs Market at 2500 W. Victory Blvd. was slated for demolition…. by 2000, it was a new CVS Drug Store Building.
Sadly (to my knowledge), no accessible Historical Information marker/sign exist at 2500 W. Victory Blvd. to note two very important structures that occupied the corner of Buena Vista St. and Victory Blvd…. Jefferies Barn and Ralphs Catenary Curve Roof Market.
I hope others can contribute memories on both buildings."
2/3/24 - Susie Hodgson has a new article: "Flapper Fever!" It's at the top of Susie's Burbank - take a look!
1/20/24 - Susie Ragan's Kid Brother, also known as Mike Ragan, has some interesting information to share about Dr. David Burbank's ranch home property, here: Here is a clipping from the Los Angeles Times dated Feb. 26, 1892, describing the original 1867 Dr. David Burbank ranch house and support buildings that are described as being “For Sale.”
Possibly the “Seller” was Dr. Burbank himself (Dr. Burbank died in 1895), using the sale of the 50-acre ranch house to fund his “Burbank Theatre” project on Main Street in Los Angeles (which opened in 1893).
The 50-acre Dr. Burbank property had been occupied prior to the construction of the 1867 Burbank ranch house by cattle companies as watering/grazing land. The cattle companies (1835- 1867) constructed various adobe buildings including a “Ranch Home” for the Foreman.
Prior to the cattle companies, during the Mission Period (1797 – 1835) people used the 50-acre Burbank ranch property for cattle production and hide tanning.
Prior to the Mission Period, the Tataviam Band used the 50-acre site for living and hunting along the Los Angeles River.
The agent placing the ad for the 50-acre Dr. Burbank ranch was Otis H. Lockhart, a successful Los Angeles merchant and real estate Investor. Mr. Lockhart eventually purchased the 50-acre Dr. Burbank ranch site and called it “Lockhaven Stock Farms," a high-end cattle, horse ranch farm for the Los Angeles well-to-do.
Eventually, Otis Lockhart sold the 50-acre property to Nathan A. Neer, another Los Angeles land investor.
In time, the original Dr. David Burbank ranch home became the home of the Martin Family. Originally, the Martin Family lived in the Burbank ranch home and used the surrounding grounds to have numerous hog pens.
The Martins were the original garbage collectors in Burbank. The hogs were used to eat the Burbank and Lankershim home and business food/paper scraps that the Martins collected. By 1930, the Martins sold the Burbank Ranch Home property to Warner Brothers and the 1867 Ranch Home was incorporated into the “Back Lot.”
On July 9, 1952, the original 1867 Dr. David Burbank ranch home burned to the ground in a massive back lot fire. Nothing remains today of any Burbank ranch buildings.
1/16/24 - Happy New Year, everyone! Please be on the lookout for any good photos of Bill's Ranch Market or the I A of M Union Hall on Victory. For some weird reason we can't find any good photos of these two now-demolished sites in Burbank. We'd especially like to find interior shots of the union hall because that place was interesting!
12/30/23 - Susie Hodgson has two great new articles: "One of Our Own: The Great Debbie Reynolds," and "Happy New Year!" They're at the top of the list at Susie's Burbank
12/21/23 - I'm thinking about Christmas 1965 for some reason. See the top-most entry in the Burbankers Remember article. Accounts of other childhood Christmases are here.
12/11/23 - I'm playing with Chat GPT, the Artificial Intelligence software. Check this out!
Me: "Write a poem about Burbank, CA"
ChatGPT
In the heart of the Golden State, so fair,
Burbank stands with a quiet, cinematic air.
Nestled 'neath the California sun's warm embrace,
A city that holds both charm and grace.
Burbank, a realm where dreams take flight,
Amidst studios bathed in soft studio light.
The city of screens, where stories unfold,
In the land of silver, and stories of old.
Amidst the palm trees that gently sway,
Burbank beckons, inviting all to play.
The hills of Verdugo, a scenic embrace,
Frame the city with a picturesque grace.
Sunsets paint the sky in hues so divine,
Reflecting off the city's vibrant design.
Streets lined with history, memories to hold,
Where legends walked, and stories were told.
Bob Hope's laughter echoes in the air,
Amidst the studios where talents flair.
Disney's magic, a timeless creation,
Sprinkles pixie dust across the foundation.
Mingling shadows and neon lights,
Burbank wakes to star-studded nights.
The Chandler Bike Path, a serene escape,
Where cyclists weave through a cityscape.
Through Magnolia Park, boutiques align,
A haven for shoppers, a treasure to find.
Burbank, a symphony of cultures to share,
A melting pot where diversity's in the air.
The city pulses with creativity's beat,
From writers' rooms to actors' feet.
In the Media Capital, dreams are spun,
Burbank, a tale that's never quite done.
So here's to you, Burbank, under the sky,
A city that sparkles, never asking why.
In the shadow of mountains, dreams are free,
Burbank, forever a star in California's galaxy.
Me: "Write a poem about the Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, CA"
In Burbank town, where dreams may soar,
Stands a beacon we all adore.
Bob's Big Boy, a timeless star,
A diner that's traveled near and far.
Neon lights in the California night,
Guide us to a place so bright.
Burgers sizzle on the grill,
A taste of nostalgia, time stands still.
Red and white, an iconic hue,
A classic diner, tried and true.
Friendly faces and booths so neat,
Where memories and laughter meet.
Carhops skating, trays in hand,
A vintage vibe across the land.
Jukebox melodies fill the air,
Echoes of an era, beyond compare.
Giant burgers with a secret sauce,
A culinary journey, without a loss.
Milkshakes thick, like days of old,
In Burbank's heart, a tale is told.
Celebrities and locals dine,
In booths that tell stories, intertwine.
Pictures on the wall, a history traced,
Bob's Big Boy, a time capsule embraced.
From the '50s to the present day,
A landmark that will always stay.
Burbank's heart, a nostalgic song,
Where Bob's Big Boy belongs.
So, let's raise a toast to days gone by,
Underneath the California sky.
In Burbank town, where dreams deploy,
Forever shines Bob's Big Boy.
12/5/23 - Scroll to the very bottom of this page and you will see our first entry on 12/5/03, MAKING BURBANKIA TWENTY YEARS OLD TODAY! Mike and I have developed enough material for Burbank for three books and met all sorts of people also interested in Burbank history and willing to share memories. It has been fun, that's for sure. We're not done! As described in the last update we have photos to post... retirement for Mike and I has proven to be unexpectedly busy in non-Burbank ways. But we plan to continue adding to this site as we get material. (Wants: Good photos of the Union Hall on Victory and Bill's Ranch Market, and more photos of Bel-Jeff High School!)
Happy Birthday Us!
11/25/23 - Did you know that the scene in the 1978 John Carpenter classic film Halloween where Annie and Laurie are driving at dusk on their way to babysit was shot on South Parish Place, Parkside Avenue and South Keystone Street in Burbank? I meant to include this tidbit last month for Halloween but forgot to. Sorry.
I'm well aware that this website isn't getting the attention that it used to get. As I related elsewhere, Mike and I are retired now, and Mike no longer lives in Burbank. He is still sorting out things, one of which things is a tub full of old Burbank photos that needs to be scanned, sent to me and posted in the photo album. That will happen eventually - but we don't know when! I have found retirement unexpectedly busy. I'm not just sitting around eating Bon-Bons, and neither is Mike! We have a lot of family and household stuff going on.
It looks like the big achievement for Burbankia in 2023 was my posting of all those directories in January and February. ("I'm done posting the 1969 Burbank City Directory to the Various Burbank City Directories page. This finishes the series. Take a look at these. They are essentially phone books for the various years, except that the street guides can tell you who was near who or what by address, which, I think, is an especially useful tool for researchers...")
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
10/28/23 - Posted the lamentable result and write-up from The Big Game.
10/6/23 - Susie Hodgson has a new article: "Food, Glorious Food!" It's at the top of the list at Susie's Burbank
9/10/23 - Susie Hodgson has a new article: "Sgt. Pepper - Sort of" It's at the top of the list at Susie's Burbank
Also, from this 1999 article: "Bing Crosby and Bob Hope were busted in an illegal gambling sting. Despite the crooner's mild-mannered, be-cardiganed image, Crosby had connections to the mafia. He was a huge gambler, and at least once paid $10,000 to a gangster to cover a debt. It turns out that his Road to ... co-star Bob Hope had similar habits. In unsealed FBI files, one report on a gambling den sting in Burbank, California, said 'approximately 100 patrons, among them Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, were permitted to leave the place.' That wasn't even his closest scrape. In his autobiography Call Me Lucky, Crosby recounts drinking with a gangster who had been involved in the St. Valentine's Day massacre and nearly being gunned down when a rival gang came for retribution." I think the gambling den would have been the Dincara...
8/9/23 - Susie Hodgson has a new article: "What Are You Wearing?" It's at the top of the list at Susie's Burbank
6/8/23 - Susie Ragan's Kid Brother (aka Michael Ragan) notes this: "Very interesting Obit on Wallace ( Wally ) Lee Dean, BHS 1941. Research shows that Mr. Dean lived at 923 E. Fairmount. Mr. Dean’s father was Duff Dean, a former WW1 airplane pilot and founder of an aircraft engineering business called 'Lord Manufacturing' ( 7046 Hollywood Blvd. – the building is still standing in 2023.)"
6/7/23 - Susie Hodgson has a new article - it's at the top of the list at Susie's Burbank! Also, posted the BHS/JBHS Big Game program for 1972. Thanks Rich Morrison!
5/1/23 - Susie Hodgson has a new article - it's at the top of the list at Susie's Burbank!
4/25/23 - Classic TV and movie houses on Blondie Street in Burbank will make way for 16 new soundstages this summer .
4/18/23 - We have some additional information about the Henry family on Freedom Hill. Turns out that in the 1920s it was a nudist colony! Click here and scroll to bottom appendix. Thanks to Tim Conway, who alerted us...
4/14/23 - Try this: Martino's Tea Cakes Copycat Recipe!
4/5/23 - Susie Hodgson has a new article - it's at the top of the list at Susie's Burbank!
3/10/23 - "What’s the deal with Burbank’s gigantic castles?". I noticed this trend with houses more than twenty years ago: The Warlords of Burbank.
3/7/23 - Here is some Burbank lore for you that I am guessing few now know: (1) If you drive by 3813 W. Victory Blvd. and look at the house just left of the driveway above the right-most window you will see a curious white box mounted on the face of the residence. What's that? It used to be a red neon sign which read "Casa de Chaparro." Lois Chaparro was a waitress at the old Sargent's restaurant (now Granada) where my mother worked - a red-headed lady with a very loud and boisterous laugh. She lived there and managed the rental of the two or three one level apartments on the property. She was a widow when I knew her in 1968/1969; I suppose her husband had the sign made. We used to get a kick out of "Casa de Chaparro" when driving by at night. (2) If you go all the way in the back of the Ralph's parking lot on the corner of Victory and Buena Vista - past the plantings - you will see a deterioriating old sign that mentions that trespassing on the property is only with the permission of the Union Hall. That union hall has been gone for decades but the sign remains! My father used to be a Senior Steward with the union at Lockheed. And does anyone have good photos of the building? For some reason we can't seem to find but one.
3/5/23 - Susie Hodgson has a new article - it's at the top of the list at Susie's Burbank!
2/23/23 - I'm done posting the 1969 Burbank City Directory to the Various Burbank City Directories page. This finishes the series.
Take a look at these. They are essentially phone books for the various years, except that the street guides can tell you who was near who or what by address, which, I think, is an especially useful tool for researchers like Susie Ragan's Kid Brother Mike and Corey Fredrickson (We love you, man!). We here at Burbankia World Headquarters are happy to be able to offer this. Now it's time for Mike to scan that tub of photos he has...
2/22/23 - I've uploaded the Buyers Guide and the Classified Buyers Guide of the 1969 Burbank City Directory to the Various Burbank City Directories page. More to come.
2/21/23 - I've uploaded what I have of the 1949 Burbank City Directory to the Various Burbank City Directories page. All there is is the white pages from the beginning to Lamden. Next up: 1969, which will take me a few days.
2/20/23 - I've uploaded the 1942 Burbank City Directory to the Various Burbank City Directories page. Next up: 1949 (which is incomplete).
2/19/23 - I've uploaded the 1939 Burbank City Directory to the Various Burbank City Directories page. Next up: 1942.
2/18/23 - I've uploaded the 1937 Burbank City Directory to the Various Burbank City Directories page. Next up: 1939.
2/16/23 - I've uploaded the 1952 Burbank City Directory to the Various Burbank City Directories page. Next up: 1937.
2/13/23 - 58 years ago today I became a Burbanker when we moved out of Silver Lake in 1965. I've uploaded the 1946 Burbank City Directory to the Various Burbank City Directories page. More coming.
2/12/23 - I've uploaded the 1922 and 1940 Burbank City Directories to the Various Burbank City Directories page. What year next?
2/9/23 - I have created .pdfs for the white pages of the 1970 Polk Burbank Directory. This finishes 1970. Maybe do 1940 next?
2/8/23 - Let's do 1970. I have created .pdfs for the street guide, the buyer's guide classified business pages and what might be called the yellow pages of the 1970 Polk Burbank Directory. More to come.
2/7/23 - I have scanned the classified business pages (yellow pages - except they're not yellow) of the 1936 Burbank Directory. Hm. So what year do I do next?
2/6/23 - I have scanned the street guide of the 1936 Burbank Directory. It shows - by street - who lived next to whom or what. Check it out!
2/5/23 - I have scanned the white pages of the 1936 Burbank Directory.
2/4/23 - I have scanned the yellow pages and the business directory of the 1953-1954 Burbank Polk Directory. I'm finished with 1954! Next up... 1936. Stay tuned.
2/3/23 - I have scanned the white pages of the 1953-1954 Burbank Polk Directory.
2/1/23 - Susie Hodgson has three new articles - they're at the top of the list at Susie's Burbank!
1/31/23 - I have saved the Los Angeles Directory Company's 1921 Burbank City Directory as .pdf files. It is in two parts: Part One and Part Two. I am still working on the 1954 Polk Directory white pages; they're coming right along. 768 pages, so stand by!
1/26/23 - I have scanned the pink pages of the 1953-1954 Burbank Polk Directory... Take a look. It's a tabular snapshot of who lived where and on what street next to each other. Much more to come.
1/9/23 - Check out Bruce Speirs' notes about mines, tunnels and caves in the Verdugos in today's entry in the Burbankers Remember article!
1/2/23 - Happy New Year! Susie Hodgson looks back at 1973 in a new article: Nifty Fifty - Burbank's "Golden" Year.
11/23/22 - Susie Hodgson has a new article: You Auto See It!. All of her prior articles are here.
10/18/22 - I found this video which I couldn't put into my Burbankia YouTube playlist, so I have to link it here: Driving around Warner Bros Ranch.
10/9/22 - Susie Hodgson has three - three! - new articles on her page: (1) Warner Brothers, (2) Joan Crawford, and (3) St. Joseph Hospital. They are here.
9/16/22 - Susie Ragan's Kid Brother (SRKB) Mike Ragan found this interesting article about the Boles-Aero Manufacturing Company in Burbank! Good reading for all trailer fans and those interested in Burbank history and lore. Good find, SRKB!
8/21/22 - Want to see a great little home movie shot in Burbank in 1965/1966? The Spy Who Came in with a Cold! Well done Rich Hunsaker!
8/18/22 - What are you doing Saturday, September 10th? How about attending this?
8/10/22 - Cathy Palmer posted this to the "You Know You're From Burbank..." Facebook group: "Drivers traveling north along Burbank-Glendale section of Golden State Freeway are greeted by unusual sight - faces of five cats leering at them from across Los Angeles River channel. Unknown artist has painstakingly sketched various cat expressions on storm drain tension lids that open into river. Normally closed, lids keep children from crawling around underground pipes and tunnels." - Valley Times photograph caption dated July 29, 1960. Cool! So now we have an approximate date for the beginning of the practice of painting cats on those lids! More from Teri Dunnet: "My Mom is the one who painted these cats. She passed away two years ago at age 90." Thanks, Cathy and Teri!
7/23/22 - More Old Burbank footage, early 1950s, [60fps, Remastered] w/added sound. The Burbank part starts at 6:41. A commenter wrote: "The last part - 100% begins at HOLLYWOOD WAY but on VERDUGO/CAMARILLO - traveling WEST - on the LEFT SIDE (when you see near accident with the truck) - that is OLD WARNER RANCH in its entirety - and the “accident” happens at PASS and CAMARILLO." Lorenzo Boyd added: "At 6:40 - Burbank: Hollywood Way & Verdugo Ave looking east. The fire break in the Verdugo Hills is visible in Google Street today./6:56 - The house at the northeast corner of Verdugo Ave & Maple St is extant on Google Street./7:14 The house at the northwest corner of Verdugo Ave & Maple St is extant on Google Street." Another comment"6:41 - We are facing EAST - but driving WEST - this is the corner of HOLLYWOOD WAY and VERDUGO/CAMARILLO. — the FOUNTAIN GRILL is now the 76 gas station - the gas station on the left of frame is now the 7-11. NOTE THE POWER LINES on WHITNALL - where the proposed WHITNALL HIGHWAY was supposed to be located. We travel west - and the “SWERVE” happens at PASS. on the south side of the screen (or right side in this first pass) is the FULL WARNER RANCH - the final structures you see before the swerve are still there. But the first ones are part of the shopping plaza now."
7/22/22 - Check this out: Burbank, 1940s, Residential Area in color [60fps, Remastered] w/added sound. Pretty cool. This guide is provided in the comments: 0:06 – Victory Blvd & Pepper St – west on Victory/0:24 – Victory & Screenland/0:42 – Victory & Kenwood/0:56 – Right turn on Maple St – north on Maple/2:11– Maple St & Pacific Ave/Break/2:15 – Portal of Folded Wings/Pacific Park – Pacific Ave & Maple St – south on Maple/2:36 – Monterey Ave & Maple St/2:56 – Victory Blvd & Maple St/3:23 – Lockheed P-38 taking off from Lockheed Air Terminal/3:35 – Right turn at Jeffries Ave & Maple St – west on Jeffries/4:25 – Park on Jeffries between Rose St & Valley St Break/5:27 – Repeat previous sequence
7/20/22 - Here's some fun: Los Angeles Street Names (which include Burbank street names). We assisted the webmaster with this effort.
7/11/22 - Susie Hodgson's latest article is Bobbin' for Burgers.
6/11/22 - Susie Hodgson's latest article is The Beautiful Magnolia Theater. Sorry for the lack of new material, but I am buried alive with a household move! Boxes everywhere, I have a storage unit to empty and many bookcases to fill, new insurance to obtain, new driver's licenses, etc. It's chaos. We only got our refrigerator in yesterday. When life settles down I'll be more of a Burbanker, I promise.
5/16/22 - Susie Hodgson's latest article is Oh Mickey, you're so fine... Hey Mickey!, about Mickey Cohen and corruption in Burbank!
4/14/22 I just finished a book you might like, The Boys - A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron and Clint Howard. Lots of good Burbank content in it! My review is here.
4/6/22 Mike found this on a police site: "Chief Adams remained in office for nearly twenty years. During his tenure, allegations of organized crime and connections to gangster Mickey Cohen made the newspapers. There were additional stories of a mob hideout on Orange Grove Terrace, and illegal gambling halls that were hidden along the rancho area." We didn't know about a mob hangout on Orange Grove Terrace!
3/11/22 - Did you know that the Guinness World Record holder for the longest limo ever built - Jay Ohrberg's "The American Dream" - was built in Burbank in 1986? Click here. Now... where in Burbank was this built? Anyone know? That doesn't seem to be coming up on the Internet for me.
3/9/22 - Susie Hodgson is back! Her latest article is Gee, Your Cherry-Almond Lotion Smells Terrific!, about the Andrew Jergens plant. Welcome back!
2/20/22 - Robert Miller sent us this great little report about The Burbank Speedway (on James J. Jeffries property)!
2/10/22 - Mike had another two pages of the Bits of History document, so I added them.
2/9/22 - Mike found this Bits of History in his files.
2/6/22 - Funny story from the IMDb trivia page about the Disney animated film Robin Hood (1973): "A few months before release, the Disney animators needed Sir Peter Ustinov to come back to the Disney Studios to re-record some of his lines as Prince John. The animators made phone calls to New York City, London, Paris, Vienna, and Tokyo, trying to locate Ustinov, only to discover that he was working at the NBC Studios in Burbank that week, a half-mile down the street from them."
1/31/22 - Did you know that there used to be an Ostrich Farm Railway in Burbank? True. Check out this 1887 Providencia Land, Water and Development Company map. There it is, under "Showing town of Burbank." The Ostrich Farm is explained in this short article from America's Suburb website. According to Burbank Historian E. Perry Caswell, the depot was located near Verdugo Avenue and Flower Street. The right-of-way ran along Flower. More is here. And I'd write some sort of metaphor about keeping one's head in the sand but... I got nothing.
1/27/22 - Michael Ragan (aka Susie Ragan's Kid Brother) sent me this interesting bit of Burbank information: "I stumbled upon this excellent article regarding the 1952 Warner Brothers “Back Lot” Fire (written in 1952). Written from the perspective of the Fire Profession Business, the article does highlight the mechanics of the origin, suppression and conclusion of the 1952 WB Back Lot Fire. Pay close attention to the Failure of the Suppression System in Stage 21... If working properly in 1952, it’s a 50% possibility that the original Dr. Burbank Ranch Home could be standing today."
He also writes, "I believe I have identified the Dr. Burbank Ranch Home in a 1949 Warner Brothers Movie... “White Heat” (James Cagney/Virginia Mayo). I believe that in the very beginning of the film, Cagney’s character, “Cody Jarrett” and his gang are taking refuge in a mountain cabin. The exterior shots of the cabin, specifically the front porch and windows, do match the original Dr. Burbank Ranch Home (using historic photos as reference). You could also make the case that when Cody and the gang members are walking outside from the separate garage/barn area to the side of the mountain cabin, the actors do walk up a slight incline. This was a feature of the original Dr. Burbank Ranch Home, where the rear of the ranch home sloped in elevation... enough to create a “cellar” room underneath the Main Ranch House. Again, this is speculation that the “White Heat” movie mountain cabin exteriors are Dr. Burbank Ranch House... but I’m fairly positive!"
I've got that film on DVD. I'll do some screen captures and present what I see here. Good detective work, Susie Ragan's Kid Brother!
1/26/22 - The e-mail subject as of late between me, Mike and researcher Mark Tapio Kines is Burbank's street names. I've captured and edited the chat here: A Discussion about Burbank Street Names. Interesting stuff. Is your street in here?
1/20/22 - Mike and I are still busy with retirement and moving activities, and aren't giving a lot of time to this site. But Mike did come up with something interesting in his files regarding the old Brick Block Building on the corner of San Fernando Road and Olive. You know how everyone - including us in the past - asserts that it's the same as the 1888 building, which still stands? The one with the funny cupola roof? Well - no. Vance Pomeroy did some work on researching that property in 1987 and produced this: The 1887 Brick Block Building Not Remodeled: Replaced in 1929. Sorry, but what we thought was Burbank's oldest building - ain't.
12/24/21 - Merry Christmas from the merry elves working at Burbankia World Headquarters! Life is still busy and hectic (see entry for 1 November).
11/21/21 I got this email: "My name is Robbie, I am an avid outdoor adventurer whether it be hiking, biking, exploring. In being so, I like to peruse google maps for any interesting routes/features. One in particular I came across was a familiar looking rock in a canyon near Brand Park. What looked like a car was confirmed with flying a drone down into the canyon. It's a VW Beetle that, from Google Earth's historical imagery, seems to have been there at least since 2005/2006. I searched for articles relating to "VW, Volkswagen, Beetle, Verdugos, Burbank" and your Verdugo Hills Stories was the closest I could find. My curiosity led me to emailing you and wonder if you knew anything about it! I've attached a couple pictures and the location of the car. Glad I came across your website, there are some good stories there! - Best, Robbie"
Robbie kindly provided two photos: VW Drone Shot and VW in Verdugos. If you want to see this site in Google Maps, click here.
No, sorry, we don't know anything about how this poor Beetle got there! I'm guessing somebody got it to the Firebreak road and then sent it tumbling down the hill. Why? I wish I knew. Doesn't seem very environmentally responsible, does it?
11/4/21 - Check this out: Burbank Marine killed in 1941 Pearl Harbor attack is identified.
11/1/21 - Posted the lamentable result and write-up from The Big Game.
Yes, yes, I know, we haven't done any updates to this page in awhile. It's unusual for us, but there are unusual circumstances. Mike is now retired and working to get his house ready for sale and to do a home move out of the state. I'm mired in the logistics to get my house in Northern Virginia ready for sale; we are also building our next house about an hour south of us in Virginia. These are nearly full-time activities. Sorry, but it can't be helped at the present time.
7/12/21 - Carolyn Alves' Burbank at 110 endcap at the Central Library. Very proud to be represented on it!
7/6/21 - This Thursday night! Burbank at 110 - Author Event! Thursday, July 8, 2021 - 7:00 pm PDT. "Join local Burbank historians and authors, Michael McDaniel and Wesley Clark as they present Looking Back at Burbank. Mike and Wes are the creators of the website Burbankia, where history, lore, images, and stories are collected and stored for the enjoyment of current residents and expatriated Burbankers. They will share some of their favorite stories and anecdotes from our City's past." The link is here. See you then!
By the way, if you want to see where the Golden Mall appeared on an episode of Amazing Stories broadcast in October 1985, click here. (Thanks for the tip, Carolyn Alves!)
6/2/21 - Posted three more of Ron Regalado's clever Burbank watercolor illustrations: Atomic Records, Dino's Pizza, Pinocchio/Monte Carlo. Ron's website is at http://ron-regalado.pixels.com.
5/28/21 - The Zoom/Facebook Live show VIRTUALLY BURBANK: TRUE TALES FROM BURBANK we did last night was a lot of fun! Thanks to Eric Conner and gang for having us on! As it was recorded, you can view it whenever you want. The link is here.
5/25/21 - This Thursday night! VIRTUALLY BURBANK: TRUE TALES FROM BURBANK (Presented with the Burbank Public Library), May 27 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm PDT. The link is here. See you then!
5/11/21 - I recently watched a 1949 film that shows a Lockheed Constellation supposedly making a landing at the Burbank airport, with some chase scenes taking place within and without the facility, but is this legit? Anyone recognize this airport as being Burbank (or elsewhere)? VIDEO. I don't see anything recognizable from our Burbankia Lockheed Airport photo album. I have a feeling it's not the Burbank Airport...
5/5/21 - Posted another one of Ron Regalado's clever Burbank watercolor illustrations: Bob's Big Boy. Ron's website is at http://ron-regalado.pixels.com. Also, posted Suzie's Sunrise, Sunset.
5/3/21 - We want to point out Ron Regalado's clever and whimsical Burbank watercolor illustrations of various past and present sites in town: The Dip; The Safari Inn; Chili John's; Pickwick Theatre; Santoro's Subs.
4/25/21 - If it seems like Mike and I aren't doing a lot of Burbankia work on these pages, yes, you'd be right. And there's a reason for that. Both of us are preoccupied with retirement and near-retirement plans and activities. We are both in the beginning stages of preparing homes for sale and, in my case, working on building a new retirement home. This is taking a lot of time, energy and attention. (I, for one, am spending a lot of time atop a ladder painting wooden trim.) Mike has a bunch of stuff to scan, but this will take time. It'll probably happen, but not soon.
There is one event of interest coming up, however: On the 27th of May at 7 PM we'll be doing a podcast/chat about Burbank cultural history. This is still in the planning stages and we'll publish the where, when and how here when we know. So pencil in that date and time!
4/3/21 - Posted Susie's LOL: Ladies of Lockheed article about the Ladies of Lockheed.
3/6/21 - Posted Susie's DA DOO RON RON, DA DOO RON RON! article about Ron Howard.
2/2/21 - Posted Susie's Fourteen Karat Gold (Golden Mall) article. As part of a retirement plan I have recently moved this web site from one host to another and saved a bunch of money. Let's see if the new hosting company is as reliable...
1/28/21 - Posted the 1945 Survey Susie wrote about below.
1/5/21 - Happy New Year! Posted Susie's 1945 - Survey Says! article.
12/17/20 - Check out this cool 1928 aerial map!
12/5/20 - Posted Susie's Mother, May I? article.
11/2/20 - Posted Susie's John Burroughs article. I also added a bunch of photos to the photo album, which is most of the work going into this website.
10/12/20 - Posted Susie's Wiley Who? article.
9/17/20 - Posted Susie's All About Dick Clark article.
8/4/20 - From reader Lorenzo Boido: "I was reminiscing about Reginald Denny's hobby shop in Hollywood. This led to reading up on him. In doing so, I learned about his connection with Radioplane and Righter Mfg., the producer of engines for those drones. Take a look."
7/31/20 - Posted a new story to Susie's Burbank. If it looks like there isn't a lot going on here - you're right, there isn't. Why not? Mike is preparing to retire from the City and is busy gathering up and sorting decades worth of stuff. A lot of this stuff is in the form of photos and other material that needs to be scanned to be eventally posted here. That will happen, but it's not happening yet. In the meantime, let Susie Hodgson of the Burbank Historical Society tell you about the Lane Sisters and their streets.
7/3/20 - Posted two new stories to Susie's Burbank.
7/1/20 - Posted Burbank Scofflaw, a piece I wrote for an upcoming Harley (Davidson) Owners Group newsletter.
6/29/20 - We got the word that Penny Rivera of the Burbank Historical Society passed away. Very sorry to hear it; her help and knowledge was indispensable when we were writing our three Burbank books. From the BHS Facebook page: "We suffered a profound loss on Tuesday, June 23 -- the passing of Penny Rivera, long-time board member and treasurer. A vital cornerstone of our organization and a precious friend and partner, her absence will be felt for a long time to come. Penny, the daughter of founders Mary Jane and Harry Strickland, joins her parents at their resting place at Forest Lawn of Hollywood Hills. Our heartfelt prayers go out to Penny's husband Tony, their daughter Michelle, and the rest of the Rivera family. Please check out our tribute video to her here."
6/17/20 - Do you know Susie Hodgson? She and her husband work at the Burbank Historical Society; she's a lovely person with a winning personality and an unquenchable desire to know all about Burbank history. In the past she has written articles for various Historical Society publications and now she's allowed us to reprint some of these for your reading pleasure. She tells us, however, that her role here HAS to promote the Historical Society, and we are happy to accommodate this. The Burbank Historical Society/Gordon R. Howard Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 pm - FREE Admission! It's located in George Izay Park, right next to the Creative Arts Center. Phone: (818) 841-6333. Web site: www.burbankhistoricalsoc.org. Email: ghowardmuseum@sbcglobal.net. Folks, here's Susie's Burbank.
5/14/20 - So... lemons. In the United States about 98% of all lemons grown are of the Eureka variety. About 1% are Meyer variety lemons, and about .5% are a curious variety known as Pink lemons. Guess where pink lemons came from. Yep, Burbank, California. One - a spontaneous mutation - was discovered as a mutated lemon among the branches of a tree in town in 1931; all pinks are derived from that one. Shel Weisbach tipped us off about this - thanks! You can buy pink lemons at Trader Joe's! "Highly fragrant, this citrus fruit is less acidic and sweeter than their regular lemon counterparts. The variegated lemon evolved naturally and contains a higher concentration of lycopene, the same compound that makes tomatoes red and grapefruits pink." L.A. Times article from 2 October 1932.
4/30/20 - I posted about 120 new photos to various photo albums. Scroll to the bottoms and look for the images with the captions near the image spaces. Those are the new photos! My personal favorite is this one. Poor Monte just wanted to take Grace for a ride and he gets busted by the BPD. Check out the sour look on his mother's face! What's in store for him. Future young bicyclists will get treated to a viewing of that annoying Jiminy Cricket safety video the BPD used to show to scofflaws on precious Saturday mornings. And yes, I speak from repeated personal experience.
4/22/20 - Posted a new photo album: Olmstead Benmar Development drawings
4/15/20 - Posted Doris Day in Burbank.
4/13/20 - Posted a new photo album for Sacred Films, Inc. Who were they? From True Tales From Burbank: "Filming the Bible in Burbank - In November 1919, Burbank’s first motion picture studio, Sacred Films, Inc., was founded by Episcopal reverend Harwood Huntington. Its specialty was the production of films illustrating biblical stories in a nonsectarian way; hundreds of churches and colleges were reportedly interested in the productions. The plans were ambitious (at least, as announced to the media): the scope of the movies would encompass the Creation in Genesis to Jesus’ ascension in the New Testament and would take four to five years to film, cost upward of $27 million and involve more than 100,000 characters. To authentically reproduce biblical scenes, the studio secured the services of Edgard James Banks, PhD, a noted archaeologist. He oversaw the construction of a Babylonian temple on the studio’s Burbank parcel of land (formerly owned by Oliver J. Stough and reputedly 3,600 acres) used for filming. On May 21, 1922, the Los Angeles Times reported that the studio planned to build an exact replica of the ancient Temple of Solomon, the interior of which would be used for office and auditorium space and the exterior, presumably, used in filmed productions. It was never built. Harwood Huntington died in 1923, and the fate of movies made by Sacred Films is unknown to the authors. Did any survive? A 1922 map shows the headquarters of Sacred Films as being at the intersection of Sixth Street and Myrtle Avenue. Myrtle no longer exists; the closest modern-day spot is the intersection of Sixth and Amherst, not far from the Wonder Years house!"
I can't find that %#^%!$@#%^ 1922 map! I'll keep looking. It's in a Burbank sub-directory somewhere.
4/10/20 - Posted Check out the fireball at the Burbank substation!. This site is where Lincoln Street, the railroad tracks and the Lockheed Wash all meet. I used to play there as a kid. Put pennies on the tracks, led an expedition down the wash, etc.
4/9/20 - Posted Many Stories, One Library (Burbank Libraries from 1913 to 2013. (Great job, Louise!) Also, added more information about the 1921 Burbank Memorial Association Fete.
4/8/20 - I posted a bunch of new fire engine images to the appropriate album (scroll to bottom). Also, thanks to the research skills of Corey Fredrickson (we love you, man), we now have additional information about the 1921 Burbank Memorial Association Fete,which now gets its own photo album.
4/7/20 - I posted twenty new Paul E. Wolfe postcards to the appropriate album. Also, did you know that Doris Day once lived in Burbank? You do now. And did you know that the 1966 Batcycle was created by a couple of Burbankers? You do now.
3/22/20 - Ron Strong has contributed some great newspaper clippings about Burbank's first movie theater, the Rose. I have created a new album on the subject. We now know that in 1914 it was open, was closed for a while in January 1918, was re-opened under new management in April 1918 and by 1920 was closed for good. We also now know that the building was called the Horne Building. (It still stands.)
3/11/20 - Here's an interesting find: The ever-resourceful Linda Mustion has discovered a couple of old newspaper articles describing the sad story of DeWitt Wilbur, brother of WWI vet, photographer and postal carrier DeLos Wilbur. Articles here.
2/27/20 - Posted a new story to the Burbankers Remember article.
2/4/20 - Posted Clark Gable, the Smoke House and the Roadster of Doom.
1/15/20 - Happy New Year! The slideshow Mike and I did last month at the Buena Vista library is here. It was a blast! Also newly posted is Susie 's Kid Brother Mike's account of Atlas Mixed Mortar Company vs. Burbank (1927). I've been adding to the photo albums, especially to the et cetera one. Scroll to bottom.
12/26/19 - Do you want to see what Christmas was like in Burbank in 1948? Then click here. I added a new photo album.
12/25/19 - Merry Christmas, everyone! Do you want to see what Christmas was like in Burbank in 1947? Then click here. I added a new photo album.
12/15/19 - What fun Mike and I had in Burbank last week! It was a truly memorable trip! The slideshows were well-attended and a lot of fun to present, and it was great meeting you folks and just hanging out in town! I have added 16 new videos to the Burbankia YouTube Channel, and, check this out, Mike and I and a couple of other stalwart researchers got a look in the attic above the martial arts business where the Major Theater used to be (next to Ross, formerly J.C. Penney) and took photos of the wall paintings inside the old theater. The photos: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. This is the first time these have been publicly seen since the theater closed in... ? Okay, it's not a glance into King Tut's Tomb. But we think it's cool. More photos to be posted this week, as well as a video of the library slide show presentation.
11/26/19 - We have added a slideshow show... SUNDAY DECEMBER 8 AT 2PM AT THE GORDON R. HOWARD MUSEUM, 115 N. Lomita St. So there are two showings: Sun Dec 8 at the Burbank Historical Society facility and Thurs Dec 12 at the Buena Vista Library! Hope to see you there!
Also... we plan to be at Bob's Big Boy on Friday December 6th for dinner and the car show. Maybe see you there as well?
11/4/19 - HEY BURBANK!
Mike McDaniel and Wes Clark will be back with another Burbank history slideshow entitled
BEST OF BURBANKIA: FUN, FACTS AND FOTOS
We've added 645 images to Burbankia since last year and we'll be highlighting some of these. Also - due to impending retirements this may be the last slideshow we do!
We'll also be selling and autographing our third book "True Tales From Burbank!"
Be there!
Buena Vista Branch Library on Thursday , 12 December, 7 PM. Also, I updated the The Big Game writeup to include 2019's (lamentable) result.
10/3/19 - Sorry for the absence of activity here last month. My wife and I have been preoccupied with settling her father's estate. (See post for 8/7.) This involved a house clean-up/sale, a big garage sale and a drive across the country. I've been distracted! I have been adding photos to the various photo albums here, however, so there's that...
8/14/19 - I posted my own contribution to the Burbankers Remember article.
8/13/19 - It is common knowledge that, because Burbank is the home of Warner Brothers and Disney, some of the greatest and most finely-crafted entertainment ever made is a product of our city. But did you know that a 1978 Christmas Special often called "the worst-ever Christmas Special" is also a product of Burbank? It's true. Happy Life Day, everyone!
8/12/19 - I added three stories to the Burbankers Remember article. Also, see the article that mentions World War II balloon bombs.
8/7/19 - I just returned from Utah; sadly, my father-in-law Don Bilyeu, a Burbanker (BHS Class of 1945), passed away there. He provided witty stories that we incorporated into our three Burbank books. My write-up of him is here. He saved an interesting World War II article that appeared in a 2005 Senior Bulldogs Newsletter; I'll be scanning and posting that once I get organized. Also, note that we got a mention and photo credits in a KCET article about the aviation industry! Finally, an interesting article about James J. Jeffries is here.
7/16/19 - Posted an account of Jane Withers' 15th birthday party (1941) at the Jeffries Barn to the Jeffries Barn page. (Scroll to bottom.) It's an interesting story of when Hollywood's elite youngsters gathered in Burbank. By the way, I've been constantly adding photos and material to the various Burbankia photo albums - too many to list individually. The rule is, just about anything Burbank goes into an album somewhere because you never know if you'll want it or not. Case in point: I recently got an e-mail from a fellow wondering what the name of the chicken pot pie place near the Loma Theater was that his mother used to take him to in the late 1940s. I searched various San Fernando Road images to no avail. What provided the answer was this matchbook cover! It was Rumsey's. Lore remembered - hooray! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Burbankia exists.
7/8/19 - Contributor Barry Epstein found this article about Dudley M. Steele. Who was he? An aviator who, in December 1937, took over the operation of the Union Air Terminal. See the associated article "How To Run An Airport." Thanks, Barry!
6/5/19 - Posted Shootout at Shakey's, Jul 17 1978, LA Times and Burbank bank heist, May 14, 1978, LA Times
5/23/19 - Posted a whole bunch of photos to the various photo albums. (I finally finished the upload of images I got from the October 2018 visit to Burbank!) Check out the Davis Divan for sale at the car dealership at Hollywood Way and Riverside Drive, circa 1950.
5/22/19 - Posted 1926 account of the construction of First National Studios (later, Warner Bros.).
5/13/19 - Due to overwhelming demand from you, the Burbankia-reading public, I have created a new Trash photo album to contain all the exciting action shots of the rubbish being collected as well as the landfill shots.
Okay, okay, nobody asked for this. I just did it.
5/2/19 - I've been posting photos to the various photo albums. Such is our total dedication to everything Burbank that we've included these 1950s images of the trash being picked up with breathless children looking on: One, Two and Three. You are welcome!
4/25/19 - Martino’s Bakery Original Tea Cakes Copycat Recipe. Somebody try it and report back!
4/14/19 - I wanted to alert you to a new Burbank history-related podcast! It's called RememBURBANK and it's at the Burbank InFocus website run by the Burbank Public Library system. The first podcast is, I think, a definitive treatment of the time in 1963 when John F. Kennedy crashed the Burroughs Prom. It's here. Check it out!
4/11/19 - Four more images of the Cranks in action in the Freedom Hill Henry article...
Say. Do any of you have a good vintage photo or illustration of the old AI of M Union Hall on Victory? The only one I have is one I took in 1994. I'd like a better one!
4/9/19 - Thanks to correspondent Bob Kent we were able to add a couple of images of Freedom Hill Henry's "Cranks" in session. They are at the bottom of the Freedom Hill Henry article.
4/7/19 - Okay, I created a new catagorized Photos Index to replace the deleted Google+ index. This one is textual rather than graphical, but I'm pretty sure you can find what you're looking for a lot faster with this than you could with the old uncatagorized Google+ index. This one isn't as pretty but it's more useful!
4/4/19 - PROBLEM WITH BURBANKIA! Yes, I know that the Photo Album link is now not working. What happened is that I set it up using Google+, which was discontinued. So now I have to figure out a way of displaying 5,000+ images in a Google Photos account arranged in 96 categories. (Fortunately the photos are still up!) As they say, "Please Stand By."
4/3/19 - Posted a myth-busting new article: Why Is Lincoln Street So Wide?.
3/28/19 - Posted this for the Burbank Historical Society: Free program about Disneyland, Sat 4/20 from 2 to 3. Hey, I'd go if I were you. It's the Happiest Place on Earth.
3/20/19 - Posted Bonnie Gray: Burbank's Celebrated Cowgirl.
3/18/19 - I'm still loading photos on the various Burbankia photo albums, generally one or two a day... Don't forget to order a copy of True Tales from Burbank! And if you liked it, please leave an amazon review...
2/6/19 - It seems like nothing is going on here, but that's not true. Fact is I've uploaded a bunch of photos to the various photo albums on the site. Look at the ends of the Olive, San Fernando, NBC and et cetera albums. I'm also doing research about the "Lucky Busters" BMX bike site.
Mike points out that this 1922 document is an important artifact in that it establishes a position of City Marshal before there was a proper police force in town. George Cole later became the first Chief of Police.
Finally, at Burbank High there is a Kemp-Kallem Field Dedication Ceremony taking place at 10:30 am on May 4th. From the Facebook page: "The athletic field at Burbank High School has been given formal approval by the BUSD School Board to be named Kemp-Kallem Field, in recognition of the dedicated service of Coach Dave Kemp and Coach Frank Kallem."
1/15/19 - I've been posting a bunch of photos to photo albums. Check out the Ray Sence Commemorative Book. It's a big bound thing the Burbank Historical Library possesses. It was made as a gift to Ray Sence by his Freemason brothers, I think. Good historical photos with captions.
1/10/19 - At a book siging some time ago somebody asked us, "What about the Crystal Cave?" "The what?" we replied. After getting some rudimentary info about it we began to make inquiries. We were told it was off E. Walnut Avenue more or less across from where the Castaway was today. A fellow named Les (who is in his nineties) at the Burbank Historical Society recalls it, and told us that it was sealed up before World War II as it was considered a hazard for kids. In October we made a site investigation and inquired among some city contract workers who are very familiar with the Verdugo Hills; none of them knew anything about any caves, sealed or otherwise. Mike found this from a book about the Verdugo Hills: “Some oldtimers tell about a Crystal Cave which was most likely part of a mine shaft from the 1800’s. It was pretty dangerous so it was sealed up in the 1940’s. For many years children would go in the cave to play and hang out. Rumors that a boy drowned in a cistern near it added to the appeal for the adventurous. When it was rediscovered in the 1998 during construction for a new housing development on Lamer, it was closed up for good.”
Okay, this gives us additional information. Lamer? That's a different part of the hills. And who was involved in the rediscovery as recently as 1998? We will continue to make inquiries.
I posted the Burbank City Charter (1937 version).
12/31/18 - We close the books on 2018 with a statistical list compiled by Burbanker Lorenzo Boyd: Longest Streets in Burbank. Happy New Year!
12/5/18 - BURBANKIA IS FIFTEEN YEARS OLD TODAY! (Scroll down to the end of this page and see for yourself.) "Mike McDaniel and I can now start developing material for it." Boy, have we! This site now has 206 text files, 5,230+ images, 15 complete books and pamphlets and 131 videos! (Pat on backs.)
11/28/18 - As of late, Farmer McDaniel has been harvesting a fine collection of McKeon Canning Company canned fruit labels. Check them out here. And remember: our third book, True Tales From Burbank, makes a wonderful Christmas present!
11/16/18 - Back from vacation! (France and England were wonderful!) If you didn't get a chance to see the "True Tales From Burbank" library slideshow we did on October 16th, fear not! It was recorded, and the link to the presentation is here!
10/31/18 - Here's something scary for Halloween: No updates for a couple of weeks. I'm on vacation and so is Mike. We all deserve vacations!
10/28/18 - Posted Big Game results to the appropriate page.
10/26/18 - Don't forget: the Heavily Biased Bulldog Facebook Play by Play will be held tonight over at the "You Know You're From Burbank If..." Facebook group!
I mentioned that we posted a bunch of Golden Mall photos; these glorious examples are all from the vast collection of the Burbank Historical Society. Looking for images of an older lady in a floral print dress with a handbag posing in front of the Sav-On? Got ya covered. Need her in front of Burcal? Check! Exiting a restroom? Sure! Here's one of her friends deployed in the same area. Here's another - is that the same handbag? - holding it down in front of See's Candies. The mall is more crowded but she's still making the scene (as my dad used to say). She hove into view near the Woolworth's. Waitin' on a fella? Could be! Inspecting the Sence Fountain. Wait - she spotted us! What's all this crap at the base of that tree? Somebody get a clean-up crew out here! You two pose in front of the Mode O'Day and I'll get a photo a block away. The back of the Burcal store... yeah, we need a photo of that.
Seriously - does anyone know who these people are?
10/25/18 - Forget about the Dodgers! The Big Game, Burbank vs. Burroughs, will be held again tomorrow night. This is the 70th match up! For the third year, Michael Mc Daniel and I will be doing the Heavily Biased Bulldog Facebook Play by Play. It works like this: Mike attends the game at Memorial Stadium and texts me a stream of photos and (biased) accounts of the game. From Northern Virginia I relay these to the "You Know You're From Burbank If..." Facebook group (and probably also the BHS Class of '74 group). In the past we have had people who lived near enough to the game to hear the cries of the crowd check Facebook to see why! You flatlanders want to root for Burroughs? Fine, go right ahead. We don't mind!
See? We don't just do history. (Well... that's what the Indians are gonna be when the Bulldogs get done with them.)
10/24/18 - Posted a whole bunch of photos to the photo albums. (San Fernando Road, Golden Mall.) This is ongoing.
10/22/18 - More about renaming David Starr Jordan school, and our suggestion re. Bonnie Gray, from the MyBurbank.com site which Mike contributes to. The text you read here is from our third book True Tales From Burbank. Also, I posted the 1926 Burbank City Charter to the photos. Note on page 21: No pensions! Finally, I posted a lot of photos to the San Fernando Road album (among others) - scroll to bottom. This is ongoing.
10/19/18 - One of the stories in our third book, True Tales From Burbank, describes the amazing career of Burbank cowgirl Bonnie Gray. We will eventually put up a page about her, but in the meantime you can read about her here. By the way, there's a move afoot to rename David Starr Jordan school. We propose it be renamed Bonnie Gray School - after all, her ranch stood where the school now stands! Also, I added a new 66 minute video to the Burbankia YouTube playlist: The Birthplace of Lockheed (1991). Finally, as a result of a few hours productively spent at the Burbank Historical Society earlier this week, I am posting a bunch of new photos to the photo albums. This will take a while to complete.
10/18/18 - I am back home now from the slideshows/book signings! As always, it was fine meeting you and sharing Burbank history via slideshows. Mike and I ate our way from restaurant in town to the other and had a blast!
I posted Lynn Monthaven's comments about Sargents to the Sargents page. Now we know where the name came from! Also, I posted this 1964 episode of the TV series Lawbreakers to YouTube. It contains a story about a boy rescued in the hills of Burbank! And don't forget: you can now order our latest book True Tales From Burbank!
We finally figured out the name of our mystery theater seen in this 1917 DeLos Wilbur photo. This is the Rose Theatre, apparently the first theater in Burbank. How do we know? Because mention of it appears in the advertisers section of the 1916 Ceralbus. That curious shape to the left of "theatre" must have been a rose.
Finally, last year we heard mention of a "Crystal Cave" that kids used to play in up in the hills of Burbank. During this trip we talked to a 92 year-old man who knew of it. He said it was in the hills around Stough Park, but was closed up before World War II by the city because it was an attractive nuisance. No trace of it is left.
10/4/18 - NEXT WEEK! Mike McDaniel and I will be doing slideshows and book signings for our third and final book about Burbank, "True Tales from Burbank," which will be published on October 15th! The schedule is:
Saturday 13 October, 9 to 1 PM: Autobooks Aerobooks, 2900 W Magnolia Blvd, Burbank (book signing).
Saturday 13 October, 2 to 5 PM: Burbank Historical Society, 115 N Lomita St., Burbank (slideshow, book signing).
Monday, 15 October, 6:30 to 8 PM: Bell Cottage, 3322 W Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA (book signing)
Tuesday, 16 October, 7 to 9 PM: Buena Vista Branch Library, 300 N Buena Vista St, Burbank, CA (slideshow, book signing).
Hope to see you at one of these!
And yes, we know some of these dates occur before the 10/15 publication date. WE WILL HAVE BOOKS TO SELL!
Posted Wynn Hammer's photo of the casting pool in the Burbankers Remember article. Also, Mike found this recording of a Sturdy Dog Food commercial. The factory was on Alameda...
8/21/18 - Check out the writeup about Kokos in Burbankers Remember.
8/15/18 - What's new? We are now doing the first copy edit of True Tales from Burbank, that's what. Then comes the proofs (text formatted with images) and an edit of that. Then publication! Here's the amazon.com page - a place holder for now. But soon you'll be able to order from it!
8/1/18 - What have Mike and I been doing recently? Getting interviewed by KTLA, that's what! Burbank was the featured community in their Neighborhood Spotlight: Burbank piece. Check it out! Cool drone shots... Coming in a few weeks: We do the final edit on True Tales From Burbank!
7/26/18 - Mike found a website describing the last days of Amelia Earhart, here. From Mike: "The star here is the newly-located nitrate film of her in Burbank - it even says 'Burbank' on the box the film came in. The video is about ľ of the way down in the article."
7/25/18 - Yesterday Mike and I did an interview about Burbank to be broadcast on KTLA! When we get a broadcast date and time we'll post it here. Also, added mention of James J. Jeffries being posthumously inducted into the National Boxing Hall of Fame: Click here, scroll to bottom.
7/5/18 - Added forty new Lockheed/Airport photos to the Lockheed/Airport photo album. (They are the last forty.)
6/19/18 - It's 1964. While the rest of the country is all gaga screaming, "Yeah, yeah yeah" about the Beatles, sober Burbankers are preparing in case the Russkies push the button down: Nuclear disaster exercise, Bellarmine-Jefferson, 1964 (seven photos, in the "etc." photo album).
6/5/18 - Burbanker Barry Epstein found this: Norm Grabowski at the Bob's Big Boy in Burbank 1957. BBB is still the gathering place for hot cars on Friday nights!
6/1/18 - Mike recently talked to a Burbanker who opined that we've ceased updating this website. Not true! It's like this: We constantly get photos from people (most recently, Barry Epstein) and I diligently put these in the applicable album in the Photos section. In fact, in the past week I've put about twenty or more new Burbank photos in some album or another. What isn't happening is that I am no longer citing each photo with a link here - it's just way too much work!
Also, I am constantly on the lookout for YouTube videos which show Burbank in some way. (Check out our YouTube Burbankia playlist.) In fact, today I linked a clip from the 1949 James Cagney film "White Heat" that shows the San Val drive in theater. A still shot of Burbank from the same film is here.
So, no, this site is far from moribund!
5/24/18 - Our publisher, The History Press, announced the publication date for True Tales from Burbank: 15 October 2018! Watch for announcements of slide show presentations and book signings... Also, the Amazon.com page is up. You can't pre-order... yet.
5/8/18 - Note this comic photo of Candy Candido posing outside of The Akron. (Surfaced by Barry Epstein, a diligent and energetic Burbank researcher.) I never heard of him prior to this, but he was a funny guy with an unusual act and a Mel Blanc-ish sort of voice. We've all heard him before but wasn't aware of it: he was the complaining apple tree in The Wizard of Oz. A Burbank resident from 1949 to at least 1970, he lived on 922 North Clybourne Avenue. Listen to him sing the novelty song "One Meatball."
5/1/18 - Want to learn how they used to make transistors in Burbank? Hydro-Aire article.
4/24/18 - Barry Epstein called our attention to The History of NBC West Coast Studios, convieniently online. NBC in Burbank begins on page 56. Be sure to check out page 85 - behind the famous Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In Joke Wall!
4/23/18 - So what's been happening on Burbankia since 3/28? Nothing? Have I been asleep? Hardly. First of all, I've been posting a ton of old photos to the various photo albums. Scroll to the bottom of the et cetera album for a lot of new stuff. Check out Sylvia Witz' eleven Kodachrome photos of her neighborhood in the early 1950s. Do you remember when Burbank had yellow street signs? Various other albums all have a smattering of new images, too. Also, check out Lamag's Wonder Years Burbank locations page. Finally, I created a new photo album based on a publication Mike found: 1978 Surety Savings Burbank Scene.
3/28/18 - Yesterday we got an e-mail from our publisher (The History Press, Charleston, SC) as to what happens next with Burbank book #3, True Tales from Burbank: "Your book has been delivered to the production department, and they’ll start work on the next stage of the process. They will assign your book a publication date. I’ve requested prior to the October library event you’re hoping to have the book available for. The next thing we’ll be discussing is the cover. When I get the first proof of it from the designer I will send it to you to look over for accuracy and your approval. This usually happens within 8 to 12 weeks."
More from the publisher: "You will go through two rounds of editing, one a broad sweep of your manuscript for grammar, spelling and other issues, during which you can make sure your manuscript is as error-free as possible." I bet, despite about five detailed edits by me and others there are still typos and errors! "The second round will involve you looking over the page proofs, which is a mock-up of what your book will look like when it’s printed so we can make sure everything is in the right place." This is the fun part, seeing what the pages will look like with the photos.
3/21/18 - Here's some more fun! "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" by rocker Freddie Cannon, c. 1969.
Big news about Burbank Stories - the title has been settled upon with the publisher. Our third Burbank book will be named True Tales from Burbank! The publication date is still sometime this September. We are making the very last touches with the manuscript before sending it to the publisher this Friday!
3/12/18 - Here's some fun! "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" by The Curtain Calls, c. 1969. (Thanks for alerting me, Barry Epstein!) Still working on the Burbank Stories manuscript...
3/7/18 - What have we been doing? Getting Burbank Stories ready for the publisher, mainly. We had a few mixups with the images we want to use, but we're almost past that. I've also been adding lots of photos to the various photo albums. And finally, there's Captain Henry Mingay: A search for the truth by Tom Gilfoy. Interesting stuff...
2/27/18 - Burbanker Darryl Eisele found this... Go to this website (http://mil.library.ucsb.edu/ap_indexes/FrameFinder/) and type "burbank, ca" into the search window at the top where it says "Esri World Geocoder." You will then see an image of Burbank with a whole lot of dots. You can use the Timeslider (the clock under the search window) to select maps from specific year ranges. Find a dot that says "Scan: Download" and do so. There are all sorts of maps available here, in large resolution .tif format.
2/26/18 - Oh, dear. It appears that we propagated FAKE NEWS on this page! After some really good research by Mike Ragan it appears that the "Burbank in 1930" footage we thought was shot on Glenoaks wasn't after all, so I have removed the video from the Burbankia playlist. Sorry about that!
2/15/18 - The Burbank Stories images have been mailed to the publisher! Next month: the manuscript.
2/8/18 - Yes, I've been posting more images - here, there and everywhere in the photo albums. But I've also been readying the images for Burbank Stories - they go out next week. Check out this cool aerial shot of my old neighborhood (Lincoln and Victory) in the 1950s.
1/25/18 - Posted a bunch of new photos to the Golden Mall photo album. You can never have too many of those, right? By the way, so far there are 4,572 images in the 91 photo albums associated with this site. More images coming!
Best of all, if you missed our Growing Up in Burbank slideshow presentation on 11/30/17 you can watch it here thanks to the good folks at TheBurbankChannel!
1/24/18 - Posted a new photo album: City Center Redevelopment, c. 1983. (One photo has a poster of a German Expressionist Sculpture show at an L.A. Museum - that, plus the cars, is what allows us to date these images from c. 1983.) By the time the early Eighties rolled around it was obvious that the Golden Mall was becoming blighted (notice that there is little foot traffic). Time for redevelopment! These are photos that no city in its right mind would show as being representative of the place - they show what needs to be replaced or freshened up. And that happened. NOTE: We normally don't do the 1980s on this web site... but here's a rare exception. More images coming!
1/23/18 - Posted new photos to the San Fernando Road album and the Buena Vista Street albums. These are the last ones in these albums. More images coming!
1/22/18 - Posted 50 new photos to the Olive Avenue photo album. These are the last 50 in this album - mostly Olive Rec Center and Olive Park. More images coming!
1/19/18 - Let's show some love to the Burbank Water and Power Department. These seem to all be from the 1950s and 1960s. Some are dated. More images coming!
1/18/18 - I posted 31 more photos to the Verdugo Avenue photo album; these are from the 1930s to the late 1970s. I think we now have the continuum of the Verdugo Park facilities represented adequately. On to other images of other places!
1/17/18 - Posted a link for a nice Growing Up in Burbank book review/interview on MyBurbank.com. Also, I posted 55 new photos to the Verdugo Avenue photo album - these show the August 20 1948 opening of the Verdugo Pool. Debbie Reynolds was in attendance. Note especially the thrilling Fire dive!.
1/12/18 - Posted a bunch of new photos to the Police and Fire Dept. photo album. Also added a Libraries photo album. Take a look! More photos to come.
1/10/18 - Added 1971 Earthquake Damage photos. (Various BHS Bulldogs recall the '71 quake.) More images of other stuff to come while I'm finishing up Burbank Stories!.
1/5/18 - I did a blog entry about those McGinnis photos: Vickroy Park Reverie.
Also, posted some .pdfs: James M. Cain House, Paul Wolfe article, Rowan and Martin and Compton and Glenoaks Barracks Memory Piece. These are from the files of the Burbank Historical Society and are reproduced here with permission! And while we're at it, let's give Burbank pioneer and arrowhead collector Paul Knapp some respect. (Thanks Corey Fredrickson for tracking this one down at the Andres Pico Adobe park in Mission Hills, CA! We love you, man!)
1/4/18 - Got a treat for you! We have all sorts of 1950s photos of Burbank in the photo album, but how about 1950s photos of Burbank IN COLOR? These were taken by Eudell McGinnis on his Graflex 35mm camera with Kodachrome slide film; they were sent to us by his son Bill. Eudell McGinnis Photos. Enjoy!
In our second book, Mike and I ponder the origin of the name "Zodys." Bill writes: "I noticed that y'all were speculating that Zodys was a surname. It's not. I worked there during high school and the owner visited once. He explained to the crew that the store was named after his wife, Sodie. It's been a long time, so, I don't remember the owner's name or if there were any other Zodys stores. But, it just seems like they were a small chain. Anyway FWIW, that's what I remember him telling us." Sure wish we had seen this when we were writing the book, Bill!
1/2/18 - Happy New Year, Burbankers! We got some publicity from the Los Angeles Times: Burbank natives reminisce about their hometown in new book. Cool! ALSO - a YouTube video about Growing Up in Burbank. Also cool!
I am working on finishing up Burbank Stories: Tales from Los Angeles' Most Surprising Suburb (to be published September 2018). We thought the work was finished months ago, but interesting Burbank stories keep coming to light! It's a running gag between Mike and I: Just when we think we've pretty much heard it all about Burbank, something new and fascinating pops up. We're trying to pack as much of this into this third book as we can...
127 years ago today - a Burbank story about the hazards of riding the rails:
2 Jan 1891
L.A. Herald
LOST HIS FOOTING AND FOOT.
The Accident Which Befell a Burbank Boy.
On Wednesday afternoon last, as freight train No. 24 was running through Burbank station at the rate of about ten miles an hour, a thirteen-year-old boy named Tom Ellis attempted to board one of the cars. He missed his footing, however, and was thrown to the ground, several of the cars passing over his right foot, mangling it horribly. The injured limb was temporarily attended to by Dr. Allen, of San Fernando, and yesterday morning the boy was brought to this city and conveyed to the Sisters' hospital, where Dr. Ainsworth, the company's surgeon, successfully amputated the injured limb.
12/8/17 - Here, read about Amable and Clementine Lamer. Also, despite the fact that the Old Trapper's Lodge was technically in Sun Valley about 1/3rd of a mile past the Burbank boundary line, we think it's time to give the site some recognition. So here are some documents on file from the Burbank Historical Society (used with permission) and a photo album of the sculptures on site at Pierce College (in need of new paint).
And now here's the news I promised you - we can announce it since we now have a contract with The History Press:
THERE WILL BE A THIRD BURBANK BOOK PUBLISHED IN 2018! THE TENTATIVE TITLE IS: BURBANK STORIES: TALES FROM LOS ANGELES' MOST SURPRISING SUBURB. THE TENTATVE DATE IS SEPTEMBER 2018. You will love this book, too!
12/7/17 - I posted lots of new videos from the recent trip to Burbank. Check out the Videos Page.
12/6/17 - The slideshows and book signings for Growing Up in Burbank in town last week were great! The response was very positive and it was wonderful to meet you all! I will be posting various links here in the days to come.
11/20/17 - Our schedule for what Mike calls "the Growing Up in Burbank World Tour" is firmed up. See above! We are excited! And wow, Burbank High Football... Bulldogs beat Tustin and South Hills... next Don Lugo. Go Bulldogs!
11/8/17 - The Big Game was held Friday night, and I have accordingly updated the Big Game page. Go, you Bulldogs!
Only two weeks to publication of Growing Up in Burbank, and the 11/30 slideshow at the Buena Vista library is only three weeks away! We're ready!
10/27/17 - Additions to this web site? Sure, I made some while working on the promotional slideshow for Growing Up in Burbank at the same time! I posted a bunch of photos to the photo albums. In general, look in the etc. page. That's where a bunch of them went - towards the bottom.
9/28/17 - Thanks to reader Lyla El-Safy we now have the entire 1936 Buzzer, the yearbook of the Burbank Military Academy. The building still stands but the institution is long gone.
9/20/17 - Mike found a fourteen page 1928 Benmar Hills Pamphlet. Check it out! (Scroll to end.) Annndddd... I made my airplane reservations for November and December. See above for book signing dates and times! We are stoked!
9/5/17 - Corey Fredrickson found this 1930s Burbank Pamphlet. Good work!
9/1/17 - Everyone knows about film director Tim Burton, but how about his father Bill and Uncle Russ? They are in the Burbank Parks and Rec Walk of Athletic Fame.
8/15/17 - I'm not on vacation. Far from it. We are working on something you will like. Just about done. Trust me.
8/4/17 - We know what you feel like looking at: City Hall prisoner graffiti! (Eight images.) This was in the holding cell that has the staircase up to the old court room. This was a jail from 1941 to the early 1960s when the old city hall was torn down and the new police station built.
7/28/17 - I posted some scans from color slides of the Pacific Electric Red Line in 1955 provided to me by my father-in-law Don Bilyeu (BHS '45). The last three shots were taken in Burbank. Also, if the Red Line Trolley is your thing, check out the Glenoaks Boulevard Album. Photos there, too.
7/27/17 - The new book cover is ready. We like it!
7/26/17 - Mike just acquired literally thousands of Burbank images! It'll take quite a while to incorporate all these onto Burbankia... A few have been loaded onto the City Hall, Starlight Bowl and Olive Avenue (old Library) photo albums - scroll to the end, that's where they are. Also, check out Valhalla Memorial Park and Portal of the Folded Wings: The Criminal Beginnings of a Burbank Burial Ground, an excellent article. Thanks Barry Epstein for pointing it out to me!
Last but certainly not least: Growing Up in Burbank is now available to pre-order on amazon.com!
7/6/17 - We just got the notification from the publisher: the publication of "GROWING UP IN BURBANK: BOOMER MEMORIES FROM THE AKRON TO ZODYS" (the follow-up book to our "Lost Burbank") is scheduled for NOVEMBER 27, 2017. We will be in town around then to do slideshows, book signings, etc. Stay tuned!
Posted Marilyn Monroe in Burbank as well as a whole bunch of photos into the various photo albums.
6/16/17 - Yes, I know. It's been quiet here. I am still spending most of my time on a secret project involving Burbank. It's coming along really well. You'll love it! Details much later.
5/31/17 - Posted 1959 Burbank Time Capsule Images. Also posted World War I Burbank Veteran images. I am spending most of my time right now on a secret project involving Burbank. Details much later.
5/9/17 - Did you see the 1/3/17 piece that Forbes.com did on the Debbie Reynolds home? It's pretty good. It's here: Inside Debbie Reynolds' Childhood Home: Then And Now.
5/5/17 - I was going through some old files when I came across the interesting story of Dwain Ray's boyhood on Lamer Street near Lockheed and the railroad tracks in the 1940s. Why did I never include this 1998 tale on Burbankia before? I remedy that by adding it - with photos! - to the latest Burbankers Remember addition. Good reading for a Friday.
And yes, sometimes it takes me nineteen years to get around to things.
5/4/17 - Last night I mailed the manuscript and photos for Growing Up in Burbank: Boomer Memories from The Akron to Zodys to the publisher - four months in advance of the agreed-upon deadline! We are hoping for a 2017 publication date, but we shall see. Right now it's Spring 2018. I shall keep you informed.
5/1/17 - Did you know that Burbank has a sub-reddit? I didn't until my son pointed it out to me. (Reddit calls itself "the Internet's front page"; it's where a lot of the stuff you later see elsewhere appears. "Sub-reddits" are parts of reddit dedicated to individual topics.) The LAMag.com article about Burbank photos which talks about Lost Burbank is mentioned - so are we and this website. Cool. Crunch time this week! I want to get the manuscript and photos out to the publisher for Growing Up in Burbank!
4/25/17 - There are a lot of new photos in the photo albums, here, there and everywhere. And we are almost ready to submit the Growing Up in Burbank: Boomer Memories from The Akron to Zodys manuscript and images to the publisher well in advance of the deadline... that's what's been taking up a lot of our time.
4/11/17 - Hey, check it out! Lamag.com featured our book Lost Burbank on their website! Cool! What?!? You haven't read it yet? You can get your copy by clicking here!
4/6/17 - Lately I've been beating the bushes trying to find the 1,000 foot 1919 short subject A Quiet Day in Burbank, mentioned in the 1975 Burbank history by Jackson Meyers (page 2). So far the UCLA Archive, the Library of Congress, AMPAS, the Eastman Museum and a number of film collectors responded that they do not possess it, or have even heard of it. It also does not appear in the FIAF international film registry. I am quickly coming to the conclusion that if this film ever really existed, it's lost now.
Also, the index for Growing Up in Burbank has been undergoing some tweaking, and we just received some good photos.
And here's a funny Burbank tale from 1891... A Tramp's Trick.
3/29/17 - It's not all book writing. I posted a bunch of photos here, there and everywhere in the photo albums. There is one image I wanted to call your attention to, the 1972 Warner Brothers Loss Leader 2 Lp set "Burbank." I have preserved the interesting liner notes. (Click the "i" for "info" if you don't see the text at right.) Check it out.
3/28/17 - Guess what we've been doing? Yes, working on the next book. We now have a draft manuscript! Mike and I are getting together this week to decide upon what photos go into it, and I am also waiting on extra material from another source. The plan is to get the images and text to the publisher by the end of April. Hopefully this will get us to a 2017 release, but there are no guarantees. Stay tuned!
3/7/17 - Work on the new book is progressing very quickly. We are at about the 70% point by word count! This will be a very different kind of book than the first, which was mainly concerned with history and lore of the city. This book is about personal memories of what Burbank used to be like, the stores, restaurants, schools, experiences, etc. We think you will like it!
2/27/17 - Wow, this book seems to be writing itself! We are at about the 41% point and it's only been, what, 10 days? Also, we got rights approved for the image we want to use as the cover from the copyright holder and 100+ photo candidates. We are roaring right along!
2/17/17 - The paperwork has been signed and so we can now announce it: A SECOND BURBANK BOOK, A FOLLOW-UP TO LAST YEAR'S LOST BURBANK, IS IN THE WORKS! IT WILL BE PUBLISHED BY THE SAME COMPANY, THE HISTORY PRESS, AND THE WORKING TITLE IS GROWING UP IN BURBANK - BOOMER MEMORIES FROM THE AKRON TO ZODYS. The official publication date is Spring 2018, but we are working to see if we can't get it released in time for Christmas 2017. Stay tuned! We are stoked!
2/15/17 - Posted a bunch of photos here, there and everywhere to the Photo Albums.
IMPORTANT NEWS COMING SOON!
2/7/17 - Posted 1948 Annual Report (excerpts) to the Photo Albums.
2/3/17 - Check out Hugo Ballin's Los Angeles (Burbank). I also added images to the et. cetera album, the Car-related album and the Burbank High photo album - look at the last images in the collection. Those are the new ones. Also, if you have seven and a half minutes, check out Mike McDaniel's epic story of the City Hall basement rat who preferred See's nuts and chews.
1/25/17 - Also in the I-Do-This-So-You-Don't-Have-To category, last night I watched another awful film: Blood Sucking Babes from Burbank (2007) out of a professional sense of obligation, being a Burbank cultural historian and all. How bad was it? It made A Polish Vampire in Burbank (1983 - cited below) seem like Citizen Kane in comparison. In a word, it was unwatchable. What's more, I couldn't identify any Burbank locations. There was an Eagle Rock coffee shop in it and a beach, so... any Burbank connection is just in the title, I think. It starts with the preposterous supposition that there are mystical archaeological artifacts in the Verdugo Hills about town, and... and... oh, why continue? I'll post more stuff to this page when I've sufficiently recovered.
1/19/17 - Last night I watched a dismal film because I felt an obligation to: A Polish Vampire in Burbank (1983). Reputedly made for about $3,000 on Super 8mm film, it was as bad as one might expect, given that title. The only Burbank-ish location I could identify were some shots filmed at the Mucho Mas, a Mexican restaurant that is, in fact, just over the city boundary in North Hollywood. There was a lame backyard pool party scene that looked rather like the backyard of the Burbank home in which I grew up, but there was no indication that the location was in Burbank. The "making of" documentary that was included on the Netflix DVD was more interesting than the movie! There. I watched it so now you don't have to. Next up: Bloodsucking Babes from Burbank (2007). The plot: Passionate archaeology students unearth a cursed jewel box in the Burbank mountains that turns the females into blood-thirsty cannibals and the guys into "dinner." Whoo boy.
1/18/17 - I posted some more relevant pages to the Burbank calendars photo album. Anybody have more from old city calendars?
1/17/17 - I posted some more photos here and there to the photos pages. A favorite: 1938 vehicular mishap. (This is from a Burbank Facebook page, a great resource for pictures.) Oops. Burbank gets floods and you have to watch those major potholes, see... Say, have you bought your copy of Lost Burbank yet? My publisher expects me to do a certain amount of nagging, and so this was it.
1/11/17 - I am annoyed. Back years ago when I posted our Debbie Reynolds page I included an excerpt from a 1948 Los Angeles Times article that cited her home as being on 1934 N. Evergreen St. So when it came time to write our book Lost Burbank, we used that address. It's the Los Angeles Times, right? A newspaper of record. However, enterprising reader Mike McGill has provided us with solid evidence that the address was, in fact, 1034 N. Evergreen St. and I have subsequently revised the Frannie article on our page. But the error remains in Lost Burbank. Thanks, Mike, but no thanks to you, Los Angeles Times. Grrrrr...
1/4/17 - Added some Chuck Hicks/old-car-at-BHS photos to the Car-related album. (Scroll to bottom.) Thanks, Jon Funk!
1/3/17 - Happy New Year! I posted about 40 new photos to various albums on the Photos Page. Also, I have created a new album: Produce, foods, canning to contain the images on those subjects.
12/28/16 - Two things, one good, one bad. (1) Did you miss the 11/30 Burbania slideshow Mike and I did? You can see it here on YouTube if you missed it! (2) We are sorry to note that Debbie Reynolds, Miss Burbank of 1948, died today - a day after her daughter Carrie Fisher. Debbie was a prominent Burbanker and shall be missed. Her Burbankia Google Picture album is here.
12/12/16 - I've been working on the Photos page. We now have no less than 3,651 images categorized in no less than 78 albums. I think I'm going to stop uploading images and concentrate on grouping them within photo albums so things make sense. (At least, until Mike dumps a whole lot more images on my hapless head.) Also, I'm told that the Pete Masurlian's professional footage of the 11/30 4 PM Burbankia slide show will be ready at about the end of December. Pete has won Emmys. I can't wait to see it! Naturally I shall link to it here when I become aware of it.
12/9/16 - I uploaded about a hundred photos to the various albums linked on the Photos page yesterday. Where, exactly? Well - here and there. All over. I am especially happy to add a third Vern Sion photo (the one of him crafting a silouette). I love that guy! Does anybody have any more interesting Vern Sion photos to share? It's my intention to have Burbankia become the one stop for Vern Sion photos! I put a lot of photos in the et cetera album. It will take me more time to sort, match and arrange photos in all these albums... be patient. Good things comes to thems wot wait.
12/8/16 - Well, well, well... Look at this: A circa 1855 image of Dr. Burbank's dentist office on Montgomery Street in San Francisco! Is this OUR Dr. Burbank, dentist? Probably. We know he practiced in San Francisco... I have never seen this image in a Burbank book and I'm reasonably sure the Burbank Historical Society doesn't have it. (But they will now.)
12/7/16 - I'm told that this Calisphere (University of California) web site has 4,694 images relating to Burbank somehow. So take a look! Also, I added some genealogical data about the Freedom Hill Henry family on their webpage (scroll to bottom).
12/6/16 - I'm back from Burbank! Wow, I had fun! It was great doing the slide presentation and the book signings and... meeting you! My trip re-cap is here, on my blog entry. There are videos and a photo album. Hanging out with my pal Mike was especially fun! Now I need to get back to work on the Burbankia photo pages...
11/28/16 - I'm leavin' on a jet plane tomorrow for Burbank to do all the events and book signings listed above! Despite my cold - drat the timing! - I'm looking forward to seeing you! I shall bring hand sanitizer, I promise.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend I have made more additions to the various Burbankia photo album pages. Yes, I realize that there are some duplications, pictures out of order, etc. I shall be editing those throughout December. We'll get it sorted out, Gentle Reader, I promise.
11/21/16 - Hey, look what I did. This is a graphical interface for the Burbankia photos collection (now 2,198 images - more to come). I think it's easier to use and more tablet and mobile-device friendly than hypertext links on an old style HTML page.
11/17/16 - I am now done squaring away the History page. Individual photos are now linked there to albums.
11/16/16 - Okay! I am done squaring away the Photos page. Looks a lot better - and now it's alphabetized (a skill I learned at Monterey Ave. School). Next effort: Do the same thing with the History page and then hunt through my Burbankia directory for more photos and add them to the appropriate albums.
11/15/16 - I am continuing to move photos over to Google Photos. Take a look. I'm almost done!
11/7/16 - As a BHS Bulldog I must report my pleasure at updating The Big Game summary with the results of Friday night's match...
11/4/16 - In an attempt to give you, Gentle Reader, the best possible Burbankia experience ever, I am now going over our vast Photos page and linking the grouped photos onto Google Photos albums. (Like this, for instance.) There are several advantages for this, the most obvious being that you can quickly see all of the photos in a group, instead of having to click links one by one, as we have it now. Is this better, ye Burbankers? Sure it is. This will take me some time, but you will see the Photos page getting shorter and shorter and more easily usable.
In my copious spare time I am also finishing up the slides for the Burbankia IV Slide Show on 11/30...
11/3/16 - Posted 1957 Burbank schools newsletter and 1947 Industrial arts booklet.
11/2/16 - Proving yet again that there is no artifact dealing with Burbank ("The Industrial City with the Cultural Heart") too trivial for inclusion in this website, we present: Burbank Symphony cards, Burbank Symphony ticket books and Community Concert cards. Mrs. Carlson was quite the Arts Maven, wasn't she?
10/31/16 - LOST BURBANK IS NOW PUBLISHED AND AVAILABLE FOR ORDER ON THE AMAZON LINK CITED ABOVE! Due to the heavy amount of advertising that's going on, we thought it advisable to add an earlier slideshow/book signing at the BV library on 30 November. It'll be at 4 PM. So there are two shows that day: 4 PM and again at 7 PM.
Added Golden Mall night time color slide 1, Golden Mall night time color slide 2, Golden Mall night time color slide 3. Also added Old Burbank colorful map (c. early 1930s) and Golden Mall night time color slide 1, Air Terminal Sky Room children's menu place mat.
10/24/16 - The people at "What's New in Burbank" posted a Lost Burbank ad in their 10/21/16 broadcast/web page. (This is an excerpt from a longer production.)
10/18/16 - Added the LA County Store book signing date listed above.
10/17/16 - Mike was at the Local Authors Event at the Buena Vista library, selling and signing Lost Burbank books. We did well... it's an encouraging start. He said that it was also nice to see classmates from the '72, '73 and '74 Burbank High classes! (A promotional page about this event from myburbank.com is here.)
Posted Burbank baked beans, Burroughs High cheer, 1950s, Olive Ave. "Back in the Day", 1967 parade on San Fernando with Mickey Mouse and Goofy and Train at Burbank Junction, July 1958.
10/14/16 - Here's a new article: Burbank's Ever Lovin' Light.
9/13/16 - The Lost Burbank publicity campaign is ramping up! The publisher's Lost Burbank youtube promotional video and Lost Burbank Press release.
9/8/16 - Posted the City of Burbank Citywide Historic Context Report (Sept 2009). What is this? Basically, the City of Burbank commissioned a group to do a survey of the historic points of the city. An interesting document. Let's preserve those old neon signs!
I have been posting notice of the pre-order availablity of Lost Burbank to various Burbank-related Facebook pages. Response has been gratifying... thank you! We're sure you will like this book!
9/2/16 - BIG NEWS: You can now pre-order Lost Burbank on amazon.com! Click here! This is the paperback version. A Kindle version will also be forthcoming. October 31st will be here soon... I can smell the pumpkin spice in the air.
8/26/16 - Posted a page about the late, lamented Electronic City on Burbank Boulevard. Did you know that Donald O'Connor founded it? I used to buy transistors from the place when I was in high school electronics shop. Also posted Palm Ave. postcard, Zodys (Dec 1962).
8/17/16 - We posted a more complete edition of Mike's 2013 Burbank Veterans Memorial Book in place of the one I posted on the 11th. This newer one has additional "scrapbook" pictures and data at the end.
8/11/16 - We posted a newer (2013) edition of Mike's Burbank Veterans Memorial Book in place of the 2011 edition we had posted in October 2012. This newer one has additional and more accurate data. It is a labor of love from Mike and Drew McDaniel. There will probably be an update at some point, and when there is we'll link to that as well.
8/9/16 - Posted 1947 and 1953 Bicycle ID and registration slips.
8/5/16 - Crime and corruption in Burbank! Yes, that was a part of Burbank history. We have a couple of documents describing those days in the early Fifties: (1) Bonar Dyer letter, 1953 and (2) Burbank Citizens' Crime Prevention Committee report, 1953.
8/3/16 - Sensitive to a charge that we only post Burbank High School stuff (that's usually all we get), we post this 1953-1954 Burroughs Basketball Schedule. Go Indians! (When they're not playing Bulldogs...)
8/2/16 - There's a new Burbank web site available! It's BURBANKinfocus.org. From their web site: "Burbank in Focus is a digital library of historical Burbank photos hosted by Burbank Public Library. Whether you are interested in browsing by collection, searching for photos of a particular person or event, or even searching by location, this is the place to celebrate the Media Capital of the World and the people who have made it great." Take a look!
7/29/16 - Or should we take in some concert music played by young people? The Burbank Youth Symphony Orchestra is playing in the Burroughs Auditorium. Also, posted Leo Damiani obit.
7/28/16 - Should we take in some concert music, perhaps? The Burbank Symphony Orchestra is playing in the Starlight Bowl.
7/27/16 - It's May 22nd or 23rd, 1965, and you have a hobby or a gadget you'd like to share with your fellow Burbankers and Burbankians. Why not enter it in the Fifth Annual Hobby and Gadget Show?
7/22/16 - Posted Inside the Empire China Company. What was where the Empire Plaza is now before Lockheed? Now you know.
7/14/16 - Posted "Happy Days" postcard (1920s?), Police dog, Post office, 1950s, Residential view.
7/8/16 - Posted City Hall plans, 1940, Empire China Co., 1922, James J. Jeffries and kids, James J. Jeffries, Jeffries Center sign, Magnolia Park, 1927, McCambridge Park Range, 1959 (Caption reads: "October 14, 1959, Mark Berg, kneeling left, and Jack Stern hold new DCM .22 rifles as Morris Fox, standing, runs cleaning rod through bore of unpacked rifle. Alan Mason, rear, Burbank Junior Rifle Club team member hands rifle to instructor Charles Crocker. Rifles are loaned to team. Burbank shooters received 10 Remington M13 rifles for their use at the McCambridge Park range"), Sunset Canyon Dr. and Olive, 1927 and Native Americans erect a teepee. Also, updated Burbankers Remember to include a 1947 BHS student song (thanks Senior Bulldogs Newsletter!).
7/5/16 - Posted some Burbank Lumber images: Burbank Lumber card (35 N. now E. Olive), Burbank Lumber, late 1930s, Burbank Lumber article in Burbank Review, 3/5/1920 and Burbank Lumber c. 1910. Also posted Burbank High, 1920s, Burbank Brick Block building, 1920s, Burbank State Bank (Olive and San Fernando) and Burbank Women's Club (Olive and Seventh).
7/1/16 - Posted some images from a 1950's book about Borrmann Steels that came into Mike's hands: Borrmann Steels (1950s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. Also posted Safari Inn Map (1960s) - 1, 2, 3. This is where you can find me when I'm in town, room 222.
6/30/16 - Posted Studio Drugs (Olive near Warners), C.B. Fischer sign (note that phone number!)
6/29/16 - Posted 1928 Flood: Angeleno below Sunset Canyon Dr., Remains of old adobe home behind the Dr. Burbank ranch house, Benmar Hills tract, 1927, Benmar Hills tract office, 1927. I was reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler and came across this passage: "The rain drummed hard on the roof of the car and the burbank top began to leak." Huh? Why is it a burbank top? The answer is from a haartz.com glossary: "BURBANK - A tightly woven cotton duck cloth made as an uncoated fabric for automotive soft trim. It was sold in various grades for top material, side-curtain material and for seat coverings. Offered as early as 1908, it was a particularly respected brand of top material during the 1920s. Usage diminished in the 1930s probably because automotive standards for waterproof materials exceeded the performance of Burbank. It was very expensive, too. The cloth was made in Great Britain and imported into the United States by Laidlaw & Co. of New York City. The name 'Burbank' also applies to a linen-like embossing pattern used for some vinyls after 1975." So now we know. No connection to the city.
6/22/16 - Posted Emerson School, 1930's and Warner Bros. postcard, 1930's. How excited were Burbankers to see the inaugural day of trolley car service to Los Angeles? One contemporary poetess wrote in the Burbank Review:
Burbank is sure on the map,
When was Burbank born again?
December 27, 1910.
Watch us grow and see things hum.
Whoop! Hurrah! The Trolley'll come!
6/13/16 - A new book (actually, a 1967 doctoral dissertation) has been posted to this site: Burbank: An Historical Geography by Ronald Lockman (25 MB, .pdf). Enjoy!
6/3/16 - Mike and I figured that we'd read all the history books about Burbank, but, as it turns out, we hadn't. He found another one! I am now in the process of scanning it for upload to Burbankia. Be patient, this takes time. Also, today I sent off the final corrected and edited version ("galley proofs") of Lost Burbank to the publisher. Now we wait. October 31st!
5/19/16 - Posted a link to The 1966 Morgan-Browder residence on 1600 Chandler (corner of Sparks and Chandler). Also posted Wooden pig cutting board Burbank Lumber gave to new Burbank residents, c. 1921 and Gas line installation along San Fernando Road, 1910. Finally, posted a couple of Los Angeles Times articles to the ever-growing Jeffries Barn page.
5/18/16 - Posted a bunch of Roberts Drive-In images: Roberts Drive-In, 1940s, Roberts Drive-In, 1940s - detail 1, Roberts Drive-In, 1940s - detail 2, Roberts Drive-In, 1940s - detail 3, Roberts Drive-In, 1940s - bag, Roberts Drive-In, 1940s - menu, front, Roberts Drive-In, 1940s - menu, back, Roberts Drive-In, 1940s - menu, inside 1, Roberts Drive-In, 1940s - menu, inside 2.
5/17/16 - Posted Cornucopia Ice Cream on 1934 San Fernando, 1920's, IAM Union Hall groundbreaking, May 23 1959, IAM Union Hall groundbreaking, LA Times, 17 May 1959, Old Burbank High School, Santa Rosa Hotel, 1924, Waddell Records. Posted the following Luttge Store related images: Luttge General Store, 1905, 1937 newspaper article about Burbank in 1905 (Luttge), People in front of Luttge Store, 1905, Luttge Store, 1905, Luttge Store, 1905 - Detail, Luttge Store, 1905 - Another detail.
5/6/16 - Posted four new images to the Unimart page.
We've heard from our publisher: Lost Burbank will be available for sale on October 31st!
4/21/16 - We've been working on this one for a while... Posted A Colony of Cranks: The Henry Family at Freedom Hill. An interesting story!
4/12/16 - Sorry for the lapse... I had a bad case of bronchitis and sinusitis that laid me up good! But that didn't stop the images from coming in. Let's talk water. Posted Palm Park underground resevoir interior, Palm Park underground resevoir interior, fill 'er up, Water pumping plant at Bel Aire and Grinnell (Friedrick Trainot, manager), Pumping plant at Hollywood Way, Pumping plant at Olive and Buena Vista (Jim Johnson, manager), Sandy Robison's watering wagon, 1913 (to keep the dust down on the streets). Next, reader Kristine Sader contributed these early photos of the area around Warners: The New Deal Inn, c. 1933 - 1, 2, 3, First National soundstage. Thanks, Kristine!
Warning! These next ones are graphic and depict some poor hobo killed near the railroad tracks somewhere near the hobo "jungle" in Burbank (wherever that was in 1938). At the Hobo Jungle, 9/1/1938 - 1, 2, 3, 4.
3/31/16 - Posted James J. Jeffries and Hoyt Jones, early 1930s, Burbank as seen beyond the "Hollywoodland" sign (before 1949), Auto racing at Jeffries Ranch (undated - 1930's?), 3G Distillery "Old Guide Brand" label, BPD article by George Monroe, 1927. The manuscript for Lost Burbank has been submitted to the publisher; it is now in review! We wait...
3/18/16 - Posted Vickroy Park, 1955/1956.
3/17/16 - Just when you think you know it all, something new emerges. Did you know that in the 1950s, animator Bob Clampett proposed putting a Beany and Cecil-themed park in Burbank called "Beanyland?" Details here.
3/16/16 - Posted Brick Block building, 1911, Brick Block building, 1911, detail of man and wagon, Brick Block building, 1911, detail of another man and wagon, Brick Block building, 1911, detail of Grocery, Brick Block building, 1911, another detail of Grocery, Brick Block building, 1911, detail of Post Office.
Still doing Lost Burbank photos. Some of the ones we submitted aren't high resolution enough for the publisher, so we're looking elsewhere...
3/10/16 - Posted Rachael Jones' Burbank High School Football Tickets from the 1920s, Burbank Bakery and Lunch Room, 1911 (in the Burbank Block Building) and The Chief Diner, 1980. Good news! Reader Bill McGinnis is digitizing his father's old Kodachrome negatives and is finding stuff suitable for Burbankia. Here's one: Hoot Gibson, Burbank on Parade, 1950s. More to come...
3/8/16 - Thanks to Gregory May, the Copley newspaper family and the Save Our Heritage Organisation collection, I am able to post 113 1968 Golden Mall construction photos. Thanks!
3/4/16 - I think I'm ready to submit the text of Lost Burbank to the publisher! (They already have the images.) Just some final checks and tweaks...
Posted The Burbank Police Range then and now - It shows the 1000 yard firing line (Thanks, Farrall Smith!). Also posted Burbank Creamery ad, Undated Burbank photo (location unknown), Joseph Lancaster Brent (paper unknown), Valley Ford Center ad (c. 1956).
2/25/16 - Posted Various BHS Bulldogs from the Class of '74 remember the 1971 San Fernando Earthquake. Also posted Cornell Theater, 8/11/61 - 1, 2, The Fun Jump near Cornell Theater, The Fun Jump near Cornell Theater, 8/11/61.
2/23/16 - I'm now finishing up the photos for 2/9/16 - The trip to Burbank last month was very productive; Mike and I got a lot of work done. And we also had fun! (Here's our epic basement exploration video of the new country club building - the current LDS Church building - in search of the Scout Room of fond memory. And here's a video of "The Cruise.") Now I'm busy processing Lost Burbank book images to put on CDs to send to the publisher by the end of the month. That's why I haven't posted anything here in a while. (Well, that and a major snow storm in the D.C. area and subsequent shoveling, a continual fight with some seasonal bronchial infection, my wife's eye surgery, grandkids, etc.) Anyway, be assured that we are making Lost Burbank as good as we can! When the publisher is ready to publish, we'll tell you how to get this book. One more thing: THIS website is the original and best "Burbankia." Accept no substitutes! 1/7/16 - Happy New Year! Thanks to reader Paul Watson I was able to add many more photos of Lockheed in 1941 to the Ansel Adams Visits Burbank page. I also added 1928 Kidnapping Hoax and 58th Anniversary Pioneers (1945). Lost Burbank is coming right along.... I keep adding interesting tidbits I find. Later this month I fly to Burbank to go over photos for the book with Mike - I'm really looking forward to it! 12/16/15 - Mike discovered that Martino's is now producing a tea cake cake, or, if you prefer, a cake-sized tea cake. Here's a photo. How is it? From Mike: "It is FANTASTIC!! I do not say this often but it is very sweet, think of one teacake then add more of the teacake top frosting and then add buttercream frosting in the center and the outside accents. WOW, teacake overload. I want this cake for my birthday this year!" It appears that, sometimes, Christmas wishes do come true! 12/8/15 - We are done with a draft version of Lost Burbank! Right now I'm working on the (somewhat extensive) bibliography. Now that the framework is done the rest of December will be spent finishing the bibliography and adding or removing sections as we think are needed. In January we work out the illustrations to go with the text, and by the end of February the illustrations are due via electronic format to the publisher. By the end of March the text is due. We may be a little ahead of schedule. The publication date for the book is Summer, 2016. I can tell you this: This is a book for Burbankers! It is not a dry history - far from it. While it does contain historical information it is lively and readable. And if you don't learn at least ten new things about Burbank from reading it, well... I'll eat a dozen Martino's teacakes all at once. (You buy.) 11/24/15 - Posted 1937 Tournament of Roses award - Burbank cities schools, Maj. Bong killed, 1945, 1958 Rambler Metropolitan for BPD, 1942 Cabrini postcard (Mother Superior wants cork and linoleum) and Doodles Weaver suicide, 1983. The text of Lost Burbank is now written! Now I have a bibliography to write and the photos to sort out with Mike. 11/10/15 - Updated The Big Game. (Not to my liking.) I'm about 75% finished with Lost Burbank. 10/29/15 - Clearing my directory of photos between writing chapters of Lost Burbank... Posted 1948 Airport map, 1943 alarm clock shortage, Old Drewry Photocolor logo on wall, Magnolia and Screenland, 1927 (thanks, Farrall Smith!), Magnolia Ave. bridge, 1959, Mormon church, side view, Old Trappers Lodge sign, Old Trappers Lodge statues, Pickwick Swim School postcard, San Fernando at Angelino looking north, c. 1927 and Warners starlet Juanita Stark being shown around Disney Studios, 1942. 10/28/15 - Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been writing. I'm about 65% done with the Lost Burbank text - it is moving right along... My plan is to finish the text by Christmas. So now it's time to play catch up with some of the photographs that Mike has been sending me. Quite a tall stack. Posted 1938-1948 Burbank Rifle Club medals, October pumpkin atop Burbank High School building, Burbank Symphony Orchestra program, 1950s - 1 Burbank Symphony Orchestra program, 1950s - 2 Burbank Symphony Orchestra program, 1950s - 3. And now a series of photographs from 1985. Normally the cut-off for this site is 1980, but what the heck. J.C. Penney's, 1985, Golden Mall looking north from Magnolia, 1985, Golden Mall looking south from Palm, 1985, Golden Mall looking up Palm, 1985, Former Killeen Music building, Palm and First, 1985, Newberry's between Magnolia and Palm, 1985, Old John Muir School site across from BHS, 1985, Old school district office building, Magnolia and Third, 1985, Pep Boys (now Fuddruckers), 1985, Story Plumbing, Angelino and Third, 1985. Also posted Magnolia Blvd. bridge, 1959. 10/8/15 - I just came back from a much-needed vacation. While I was gone Mike told me of the passing of Mary Jane Strickland; very sorry to hear of it. She was certainly the Grand Lady of Burbank History and will be missed. We are all indebted to her for her efforts to keep Burbank history alive and documented. I resume writing Lost Burbank this week... 9/18/15 - We're about 1/3rd finished with the text for Lost Burbank! 9/10/15 - Posted Savoy Hotel and the Bottoms Up bar, Savoy Hotel (corner of San Fernando and Verdugo), 1914 alfalfa ranch postcard, Chief Diner(s), 1980, Burgers and hot dogs stand on Victory (now Steve's). I've been writing... A foreword and chapters one and two of Lost Burbank now exist in draft form. I'm about 15% done with text. Hey... writing is work! (Is yet another book about Burbank history needed? Apparently. In July Mike McDaniel wrote an impassioned web site reply to the History Channel, when they aired a piece entitled “Fifty One Amazing Facts About America” and stated as Fact #3 that Burbank, CA bears the name of Luther Burbank. This from the History Channel!) 8/24/15 - The paperwork is all signed and so now I can announce it: Mike McDaniel and I are under contract to write a book about Burbank tentatively entitled Lost Burbank - History and Lore of Burbank, California. The publisher will be The History Press/Arcadia Publishing of Charleston, SC, who specializes in place-centric publications. We have to have the text and images ready by March 2016 for a summer release. Naturally we will include information here about how to purchase it when it's ready. Excited? Yes, we are. Now we have to write this thing! 8/21/15 - Posted Arthur's (1001 S. Victory Blvd.)40's/50's and Arthur's at night, 40's/50's. Also posted these World War II Lockheed cammo cover photos: WWII Cammo cover: fake trees, WWII Cammo cover: Making fake trees, WWII Cammo cover: Over Lockheed, San Val visable, WWII Cammo cover: Airport passenger boarding area. 8/5/15 - Today's photographic topic is the exciting Whitnall Highway, from 1951: Posted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Read about it here. 7/31/15 - Posted Magnolia Park promotional, 1928 - Betty Baker 1, Magnolia Park promotional, 1928 - Betty Baker 2, Magnolia Park promotional, 1928 - Betty Baker 3, Magnolia Park promotional, 1928 - Earl White, Betty Garry, Magnolia Park promotional, 1928 - Betty Garry 1, Magnolia Park promotional, 1928 - Betty Garry 2, Magnolia Park promotional, 1927 - Dorothy Gull, KLEW, Magnolia Park promotional, 1927 - Near Hollywood Way, Magnolia Park promotional, 1928 - Ann Carter, Magnolia Park promotional, 1927 - Billie Barnes 1, Magnolia Park promotional, 1927 - Billie Barnes 2 and Magnolia Park promotional, 1927 - Billie Barnes 3. 7/23/15 - Posted Intersection of Victory and Providencia, 1932: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. 7/22/15 - Posted Southern Pacific RR grade crossing at Verdugo, 1927, Southern Pacific RR grade crossing at Western Ave. - 1, 1927, Southern Pacific RR grade crossing at Western Ave. - 2, 1927, Southern Pacific RR grade crossing at Western Ave. - 3, 1927 and Southern Pacific RR grade crossing at Western Ave. - 4, 1927. 7/21/15 - Posted photos from the 21 May 1952 "Burbank On Parade" event: BHS Historical Hopscotch float, Cabrini float, City Employees Union float, Dick Layland's 40 Girl Batonettes, Girls in Gowns float, Glendale Junior Chamber float, Toyworld (Marv's) float and Homer Garrett's Y Knot Twirlers. 7/6/15 - Posted Alameda St. RR crossing, 1928 - 1, Alameda St. RR crossing, 1928 - 2, 67th Anniversary cake, 1954, BHS c. 1920, Moreland Truck factory, 1929, Incident at Warner Brothers (part of the "Battle of Burbank," Crowded Lockheed parking lot 1942, Everett Sterling Gas Station and Tire Shop, 1939, Various James J. Jeffries images, Matchbook assortment - 1, Matchbook assortment - 2, Matchbook assortment - 3, Matchbook assortment - 4, Matchbook assortment - 5, Matchbook assortment - 6, Military aircraft at United Airport dedication, May 1930, United Airport birdseye view, Victory Place at Burbank Blvd., 1970's and Corner of Warner and Olive. Whew. 6/12/15 - Mike buried me alive with Burbank-related photos and material! So I start with... Unknown chicken restaurant ("The building is still there and is located at the corner of Burbank Blvd and Mariposa. When we were kids, there was something called “Indian Life” in the building and later a series of restaurants. It is currently called “Public House Nowhere”, whatever that is. - Marti Baldwin), Eleanor Lamer obit (note that the family pronounces it "La mare"), Country club golf course, Nixon in Burbank, 1956 - 1, Nixon in Burbank, 1956 - 2, Roberts restaurant, Olive Ave., daytime, The San Val (cammo) and The San Val (nighttime). Also, Larry Maxam: The real meaning of Memorial Day and Recovered footage: Amelia Earhart at Burbank Airport. 5/19/15 - It's Lockheed Day today. Posted Flying Tiger sticker, Lockheed auxiliary guard patch, Lockheed employee badge, World War II Lockheed plant protection patch, Lockheed security officer patch, Lockheed visitors badge, Skyroom Cafe neon sign, Lockheed Starfighter patch, World War II era Vega badge. 5/15/15 - Posted Burbank - Its Place in the Sun (c. 1930). I'm rather surprised to learn that Burbank had such a major underwear manufacturing activity back then! Just when you think you know the place, Burbank surprises you... 5/8/15 - Posted Union Airport, 1930's, from a book, Union Airport, 4/12/1930, recently built, Union Airport, 1930's, aerial shot 1, Union Airport, 1930's, hangar, Union Airport, 1930's, at night, Union Airport, 1930's, aerial shot 2, Union Airport, 1930's, aerial shot 3 and Union Airport, 1930's, hangar groundbreaking. Also, Cinda's Vintage Pix of Burbank and Ansel Adams photos (many of which are of Burbank). 5/7/15 - Posted 1945 bank robbery, Burbank Police Dept. Boys Band, 1930's United airport postcard, 1938 Union Terminal postcard, Sky Room View 1 (1930's), Sky Room View 2 (1930's), Sky Room View 3 (1930's), Sky Room View 4 (1930's), Ticket counter (1930's). 4/24/15 - Posted Burbank Trece Rifa. 4/21/15 - Look what I stumbled across... a 1973 film (shot in 1971) with a three minute scene showing zombies in the Ralph's at the corner of Victory and Buena Vista! 1971 Ralph's Footage from "Messiah of Evil". Hahaha! (If you are unhappy with the video quality you can do a youtube search for "Messiah of Evil" and advance to the 37:04 point of the complete movie.) By the way, be sure to check out my Burbank youtube playlist. Lots of material there. 4/8/15 - The Library of Congress website has an interesting collection of Burbank photos, almost all of which have something to do with Burbank's aerospace industry. The website is here. Also, "Mom's Night Out" at the Cornell Theater (thanks Bob Meza!), The Studio Motel on Olive and a Burbank citrus pennant. 3/25/15 - Did you see the City's Historic Properties in Burbank page? Very nice! 3/17/15 - Posted Burbank builds a radiation shelter, 1960. 3/16/15 - Sorry this website was down for a few days last week. For some reason, either google or MSN Microsoft ate up a bunch of my monthly allowed bandwidth on 2/18 and so I hit my limit for the month, causing the site to be suspended. (How is this not a denial of service attack?) I hope that doesn't happen again! Posted The Most Accident-Prone House in the County. 2/25/15 - Ever hear of Nellie Madison? She was convicted of murdering her husband Eric in town in 1934. It was a celebrated case and got lots of column space in the Los Angeles Times. Here's an assortment of Times columns about her from 1934 to 1942. Also, BPD Officer Andonie in his prowl car, 1969. Finally, an interesting bit of lore about the Lockheed P-38: "The Germans called it 'der Gabelschwanz Teufel' or 'fork-tailed devil' and steered clear of it when they could. Because of its two engines, the Japanese called it two planes with one pilot. American fliers tagged it the 'Round Trip Ticket,' since those two engines are reasonable assurance that they will make the homeward trip from fighting missions. The Lightning has been flown as far as 600 miles back to base, with one engine shot away.” Mike and I love that plane! 2/4/15 - Posted 1916 First Presbyterian Church dish, Blarney Stone card, Debell Golf Course postcard, City Hall Eagle Blueprint (it originally was designed to have the city seal at the middle), San Fernando Valley hand (If you don't like somebody, give 'em a Van Nuys. If you do, give 'em a Burbank. Makes sense.) Also posted Tom Brown leather Chevy dealer key fob, Roland and Reid Dance Studio, Scouts raise new 50 star flag in Burbank, 1960, "Useless Husbands" booklet and Warners postcard, aerial. Finally, posted Prewar Japanese gardens, 1 (Lockheed in background) and Prewar Japanese gardens, 2. 1/15/15 - Posted Burbank in "A Yank in the RAF" (1941). Not a very good film, not a lot of footage. But here it is! 1/14/15 - Happy New Year! Sorry there have been no updates for a couple of weeks, but I've been playing with grandsons. (My home situation has changed somewhat - it's a long story and has nothing to do with Burbankia. But if you have grandchildren you know how fun and distracting they are!) Posted RAF bombers on Lockheed finishing line, 1939, Hollywood Way and Magnolia, c. 1971, Jack McAfee VW dealership, The Lido Venice (postcard), Pickwick Swim School (postcard), Safari Motor Hotel (postcard), Smokehouse menu c. 1959 - 1, 2, 3. 12/31/14 - We end this year with Mike McDaniel's memories of the Golden Mall's Chicken Lady and Paranoid Lady captured in the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! Happy New Year! 12/19/14 - Posted Pacific Manor (senior apartments), 1971. Also, Pacific Bell Central Offices (scroll down for Burbank). Merry Christmas and we'll be back next year... 12/17/14 - Posted Samuels Florist, 1930s, Samuels Florest, 1970s (thanks Donna Smith!), Comptons Shoe Repair (corner of Third and Orange Grove) and San Jose and San Fernando, 1952 or 1953. Also posted Gordon Palmer's home movies of the January 1949 snow. 12/12/14 - Posted Army Air Corps flight, 1930, United Airport opening, The old "Temperance" Fountain at Olive and San Fernando, Moreland Truck Co. endurance drive, Postwar Japanese repatriation trailer park on Hollywood Way. 12/10/14 - Posted 1974 Golden Mall postcard, KNBC postcard, 1970's, NBC postcard, NBC Color TV Studios postcard, NBC Studios night postcard and NBC Studios orange postcard. 11/25/14 - Posted Aerial shot of NBC studios, 1950's, Smut problem to be discussed (Los Angeles Times - 5 Jan 1964) and Toluca Lake postcard (1970's). 11/24/14 - Posted Fantasy Chamber: Funny goings on at the BWP. Whew! 11/21/14 - Posted Old Martino's store on Magnolia, The Corn-Eating Taylors, 1918. Also posted a link to A Story of Murder (Sandra Pyne), 1970. Finally, posted the Burbank Historic Sign Survey. 11/20/14 - Posted a Facebook thread about the trains on Chandler to the Burbankers Remember page. Also, posted Victory Place pedestrian tunnel opens, 1941, San Fernando and Verdugo looking north, early 1950s, Starlight Bowl dressy occasion and Lockheed's tallest and shortest, 1941. 11/18/14 - Posted 1951 Remington ad mentioning Burbank High, 1940's/1950's Bell-Jeff patch, London Butcher Shoppe, corner of Palm and Third, Burbank Peepshow products. E-Bay copy for the peepshow: "Fresh out of an estate is this rare projector with 9 peepshow 8mm films from the Movie Club Guild, Magnolia Park Station, Burbank California dated 1958. The Movie Club Guild offered "startling and dynamic party films" formerly seen only by Hollywood's inner circle of sophisticated producers." They were classified as peep show films. The film in the projector is about two women. The empty box with this lot says "Sisters" so the film in the projector must go in that box. The other 8 boxes have film in them and writing on the boxes are "Seen, Temp, Men, Trap, Lil, Babes, and Moods". One box has nothing stamped on the end and two reels are different from the others. The projector works fine. There is no brand on the projector. 7 of the films have Tayloreel Corporation Rochester New York. The 2 black reels says nothing on them. You hold the projector up to the light and crank the movie with the handle on the side to watch the movie. I have not watched the other movies but the one in the projector works just fine. All the reels and the projector are plastic." Hahahaha! I thought this kind of thing was confined to Van Nuys... 11/12/14 - Linked Phantom Fast Lanes: Whitnall Highway and the Footprint of Best Laid Plans. 11/10/14 - Posted 2014 results to the Big Game Page. Yeah, Bulldogs! 11/4/14 - Posted Ben Franklin School, 1964, Crafts at Olive Rec Center, 1950s, Vickroy Park, 1950's. 10/31/14 - Posted a link for The Story of Bogie's Affair in Burbank. 10/30/14 - Posted Olive Rec Witch Burning, 3. 10/28/14 - Posted Olive Rec Witch Burning, 1, Olive Rec Witch Burning, 2, Christmas at Olive Rec, 1, Christmas at Olive Rec, 2, Major Theater, 1938, Vickroy Park construction, 1920s. Also linked Rene Russo's Escape from Elmwood and Transporting the A-12. 10/6/14 - Hey! We're in a video! Check it out: Burbank on Demand: "Early Burbank". Mike and I appear at the 3:38 point. Is this the fifteen minutes of fame promised to us by Andy Warhol? 10/2/14 - If you like racing cars, here's an interesting one: The Fageol Supersonic, built in Burbank in 1938. Of course there's also the City of Burbank racer - 1, 2, 3, 4. 9/30/14 - Posted Paul Watson's photos of a Army Air Corps A-17 single engine plane crash in town on 9/21/1938. It happened at 1007 Scott Rd.; it killed Maj. Gen. Oscar Westover and his mechanic and set fire to two homes and a parked car. A-17 Plane Crash (9/21/1938) - 1, A-17 Plane Crash (9/21/1938) - 2, A-17 Plane Crash (9/21/1938) - 3, A-17 Plane Crash (9/21/1938) - 4. 9/24/14 - Posted Burbank Home Roofing Co. sign. The story behind it by Elaine Pease: "During restoration in 2006 I removed the stucco from the front of my 1924 house on Kenneth Road. This sign was under the stucco, nailed to the framing. Apparently the sign was put up as an advertisement for the contractor, and the crew had stuccoed over it instead of removing it. The original red tile roof was still on when I re-roofed 82 years later. It seems the roof far surpassed its 20 year life expectancy!" Also posted Southern 4-4-0 train in Burbank, 2/8/1940. I added a couple of Burbank video links: 8mm home movies: Burbank, CA (?) 1940s, RC airplanes and Lockheed Hudson, P-38s - Burbank Airport (1941) . 9/19/14 - Posted the San Val from a viewer's perspective (thanks, Shel!) and Grangetto Winery sign (at Story Tavern). Also posted this resident's web site about the Country Club Drive community. I also posted a link to an article about 1930's-1960's Burbank boat builder Bill Nollenberger. Here are his Mercury brochures. Finally, a mention of Burbanker Claude C. Slate, who was a designer for armaments for Hughes Tool Co. in Houston. Bomb-hoisting, Bombing armament, Ammunition booster. 9/18/14 - Ever since I read that the Verdugo fault is apparent from the cul-de-sac at Churchs Ct. off Sunset Canyon, I've wanted a photo or two. So here they are: Verdugo Fault at Churchs Ct. - 1 and Verdugo Fault at Churchs Ct. - 2. And here's a 1934 drawing of the Burbank (Verdugo) Fault line. My 1974 classmate Matt Swain sent me this photo of Burbank, 1939/1940 and writes, "This is a photo of a photo of Burbank taken roughly 1939 or 1940. As I figure it, it had to be after the 1938 floods, since the channel of the L.A. river has been concreted, and I am sure that this took place following the flood, since the flood caused significant damage to Bette Davis's house which was down near Riverside and Victory. It is also before any major construction at the Disney Studios. This photo is from the Disney library and was given to my dad, who worked for Disney for 42 years, by one of the staff photographers. The photo shows a great view of the western and northern portions of Burbank. Clearly visible on the far side of the valley is the Mussano house, which is the house where Stella Mussano Klinger lived as a girl. The white house was built in 1935 and located at the intersection of Scott Road and Kenneth Road. The house was immediately adjacent to my folks house (hence the reason for it being given to my dad) on Purvis Drive and Kenneth Road (constructed 31 years later). The surrounding acreage was planted in grape vineyards which stretched from the mountains down to around Glenoaks Blvd. Of greater interest to most are many of the other Burbank landmarks. Clearly visible are the San Val drive-in theatre, Lockheed Plant B-1 and John Burroughs High School." Added a couple of new 1938 and 1940 links to the Laura Ingalls page. I have also added Pickwick Riding Academy (1930's), Road to Sylvan Falls/Sylvan Crest, Sylvan Crest zone, View from Sylvan Crest trail. Finally, added View from top of new Country Club Drive, 1964. 9/16/14 - Added photo links to the Fortress Burbank page (scroll to the very bottom). Also posted 1926 Business Directory, Kindergarten room in Burbank (2/1925), The Fillbach funeral home hearse and The Holiday Lodge Motel (1960s). Finally, posted Classic Car Show at Bob's Big Boy (9/5/14), Hee Haw hat guy at the classic car show at Bob's Big Boy (9/5/14) and A totally ridiculous bit of video concerning the pedestrian underpass on Victory Place that will probably disappear soon. (Who says we don't possess a sense of humor?) 9/12/14 - Okay, I've made some more disk space. Here come the photos... Old Country Club cabins, Old Country Club cabins, 2, Old Country Club pool, Old Country Club pool, 2, Pokers car club, Stores on Magnolia, 1960's, TV Guide cover, Laugh-In, Laugh-In bumper sticker, Burbank High, "School's Out" - 1974 (Yeah, Class of 1974! Thanks, Linda Frizzi!), Plaque on the old Story Hardware site, Quonset Hut on Chandler, Quonset Hut on Chandler, other side (Mike and I have been trying to figure out when these were erected. And yes, we know about the BWP one!), Dr. David Burbank sign (photo from the Story Tavern - does anyone know where this wonderful sign is located nowadays?) 9/11/14 - I've given the Burbankia 3 Slide Show its own page, just as I did with the first slide show presentation. Also, included this 1947 Walt Disney publication given to people moving to Burbank. I have some more material, but I have to do some website cleanup in order to make space to fit it in. Give me a day or two, depending upon how long it takes my web site hosting company to get back to me on a technical question. 9/10/14 - The Burbankia 3 Slide Show was great and it was lots of fun to meet you! We had about 240 people in the Buena Vista Library on the 4th... standing room only! Here is the entire presentation in five parts (total running time, 90 minutes): 8/22/14 - Added a link to a Caltech General geology of the Verdugo Mountains page. Note the links at bottom. Do you live near the Burbank fault? 8/20/14 - Added Julie Grimm Gregg's childhood memories to the Burbankers Remember article. 8/1/14 - The death of Walt Disney as reported in the Thursday December 15, 1966 Burbank Daily Review: Disney Death 1, Disney Death 2. He died, of course, in St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank. Also posted Burbank's Big Leagues : At Olive Memorial Stadium, Hapless St. Louis Browns Got Some Respect. 7/31/14 - There was once a time in Burbank when clever, enterprising young men could build hobby aircraft in their backyards! Here's four photos of that, with captions from the back: Backyard airplane 1, Backyard airplane 2, Backyard airplane 3, Backyard airplane 4. A little biography of Joe Pfeifer is here. Apparently he liked to build repro World War I aircraft using car engines! 7/24/14 - Posted Pages Restaurant, 1969 (thanks Corey Fredrickson!), Lockheed Employees Recreation Club (LERC) "Taggin Wagons" patch. 7/23/14 - The intrepid folks who work at City Hall found some sites of interest: The Donna Martin Graduates Protest Site (aka, City Hall in the media), Hollywood Historic photos and Dear Old Hollywood (scroll down for Burbank in the film noir Pushover). 7/22/14 - Posted 1954 Willys-Overland Accident. (Thanks, Jill!) 7/17/14 - I'm done with the Burbankia slides for the presentation on 4 September (hope to see you there) - hooray! Remember, Thursday, 4 September, Buena Vista Library, 7 PM. Posted Jayne Mansfield and two Burbank firemen, 1955 and Early postcard of St. Joseph's Hospital. 6/26/14 - Major article! Fortress Burbank - Ring of Fire: The 121st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion in Burbank. 6/13/14 - Mike and I will be working on some interesting information in regard to the locations of World War II artillery emplacements throughout Burbank. So. Do any of you old-timers have any information to share? Write me! 6/12/14 - One of Burbank's historic sites (1899) is about to disappear! The details are at the bottom of the Turkey Crossing page. 6/10/14 - Added 1949 Hot Dog Show menu, Lockheed employees, 1930's (front), Lockheed employees, 1930's (back), Richard Nixon at City Hall, 1959(?), Old Burbank train station, Burbank post office employees, 5 March 1947, Vega aircraft patch, World War II artillery emplacement location above Palm Park. 5/21/14 - There is only one fault line running through Burbank, and here it is. Added Verdugo Fault line map. (Does anyone have a better depiction of it?) 5/20/14 - Added Al Garcia's Tour of Burbank, Aerial shot, late 40s or early 50s, Burbank High Pride, 1968, Cornell Theatre, 1959, Cornell Theater interior, Movie discount card, 1965, Mustang at night. Yes, I am still working on the Burbankia III slide show! 5/7/14 - Added Last Gasp for Old City Hall, 1, 2, 3. Still working on the Burbankia III slide show! 5/6/14 - Added Airport building, 1930s, Bob's in Toluca Lake at night, Lockheed Constellation assembly line, Don's, Flying Tiger strike, United Airport boarding, 1930's, Unknown gas station on Glenoaks and Western Airlines, 1941. 5/2/14 - Yes, I took a month off for the first time in six years! There were out of state grandchilden to be seen, and then I caught the worst case of bronchitis I've had in decades. And I'm also now working on the Burbankia III slideshow for September. But here's some new stuff: added McCambridge Park from the air, c. 1958, Mountain View Park, 1936, 1, Mountain View Park, 1936, 2, Mountain View Park, 1936, 3, Old City Hall in 1960, just before demolition, Drawing of Old Olive Ave. Library, 1954, Red Line Car, Orange Grove and Glenoaks, c. 1954, Papoo's Hot Dog Show, Roberts Menu and Unimart entrance (1960s). 3/25/14 - Added 1906 San Fernando Rd. postcard, The Blarney Stone, Blarney Stone ashtray, Pickwick Entrance, The Pumpkin Building as hardware store. Last but certainly not least, Weird things from 101 Strings (note where the record was made). 3/12/14 - Sorry I was gone so long! I was preoccupied... 1.) Visiting daughter and granddaughter, 2.) Vacation in Florida and, 3.) Birth of new grandson. Posted Burbank Accident List (13 May 1971), Leonard's Station, Providencia and Glenoaks, 1920's (thanks Fermer Kellogg!), Pickwick Pool, 1929 Airplane Crash, 1, 1929 Airplane Crash, 2, Fawkes Aeriel Trolley Car Company Share (1912) (thanks Nikolas and Marcia Tejeda!) , Jeffries Barn view, James J. Jeffries c. 1910. 2/10/14 - Mike has recently come across a collection of negatives which are apparently from the 1960's; we suspect that they were candidate photos for the 1967 Burbank School District Burbank history book. Here are some of them: Horse drawn fire pumper on the run down Olive Avenue, Burbank Police Department moonshine bust, Olive Ave. as seen from about Kenneth Rd. (note trolley tracks), Olive Ave. 1920's, Burbank Fire Squad, early 1900's, in front of old brick City Hall, BPD in front of old brick City Hall, 1920's, Laura Ingalls shakes Lockheed President's hand in Lindburg plane. Also posted Inspiration Point Burbank postcard, Villa Cabrini entrance, Fawkes Folly (captioned 1907). I also included some new information about early Burbank photographer DeLos Wilbur from his granddaughter (!) and added this to the appropriate page. 2/5/14 - Posted BPD Police Surgeon badge, Burbank Junction train tower, Parallel park like a boss, Burbank State Bank barrel, Burbank Block building 1898, Train wreck, 15 Dec 1966 (Magnolia bridge in background) (thanks, Jack Lagrone), Magnolia Park map, 1925, 1956 Ceralbus inside cover, Don's Place owl keyfob, Xanadu Platinum Palace/Ralph's, and, last but certainly not least, Vern Sion's Burbank beard! 1/27/14 - Posted three artistic images of Burbank by Ramon Alexander Hurtado (with his permission): Brighton and Lincoln, Empire Fog, San Fernando. Also posted Bear State Creamery lid. 1/22/14 - Posted The Old Vickroy Park (1988). A remembrance not only of my son, but of the old neighborhood park I used to play in as a kid. And The Shoe! 1/16/14 - Posted The P-38 Poem. 1/15/14 - Posted Magnolia Drug in 1920 (note Pumpkin Building at right), Pacific Red Car, Glenoaks and Cypress, 1948, Chopper Chick on Glenoaks. Also, a goodbye to long time Burbank business Electronic City, which shut its doors on 31 December 2013. As a BHS high school student in electronics shop, I loved this place and shopped here frequently. A tip of the hat to Burbank business The Old Crow Speed Shop. You know what's really cool about this place? They make race cars out of Lockheed P-38 Lightning belly tanks! Is that cool or what? Finally, the only thing cooler than that... pencil it in: Hope to see you there! 1/7/14 - Posted Scooters in 1946, Nixon in Burbank, 1959, The 3G Distillery on Magnolia. 1/6/14 - Happy New Year! We begin it with a look into the recent Burbank High School past (2002), when they took the campus Mike and I knew and loved and turned it into rubble to make way for the new BHS. Photo album here. 12/11/13 - Posted Closing of Marlindo lanes (1984) (thanks, Don Ray), Map of Channel Island off California (note Burbank and Glendale streets), City of Burbank racer on Salt Flats (?), Al's book bag (1960's?), Women's Club building (1947), and Stough Park pool (1947). 12/5/13 - Posted Duane Thaxton's memories of Sargeant's Restaurant to the Burbankers Remember article. YAY US! Burbankia has now been available on the Internet for ten years! I'd offer you cake and ice cream somewhere (the corner of San Fernando and Olive, perhaps?) if I could, but, this being the Internet, I can't. Ten years is a long time for web sites, which come and go. Mike and I are proud of all the content we've put up here since we started and look forward to adding lots more! 11/26/13 - Posted Hudson bombers buzz Burbank, 1940, Hudson bombers, 1939, Pickwick Drive-In Theatre then and now, First Presbyterian church, 1910, 3rd and Angeleno, Jeffries Barn News (9/30/1944), Glenoaks Red Line station between Palm and Orange Grove, Valhalla Dome of the Aviator (4/14/1925), Cornell Theater lobby, Burbank bus at the corner of Olive and San Fernando. I also loaded a page for Milton "Blackie" Felsen - Burbank Pipe Maker. 11/14/13 - Posted two more old Burbank High photos: BHS Arcade, 1954 and BHS Field and Gym, 1954. Also posted Wartime visit of Lord Halifax to Lockheed and Three G Distillery's Rock and Rye. Finally, posted James Jeffries check and Jeffries Boxing Certificate. 11/13/13 - Here's an interesting tale that I think is mostly forgotten about in town these days: Murder on Lincoln Street! - The 1933 Tom Bay Case. 11/6/13 - Sorry for the delay, but I've had visiting children and grandchildren... and those take precedence! I added some more Burbank High School photos Mike got from old yearbooks (sorry, JBHS and Bell-Jef types, but this is what's coming in...): Remodel drawing, 1956, Rifle Club, 1955, Ceralbus cover showing front, 1955, Blueprint, 1941, South arch, Arcade/Bridge of Sighs, Arcade from 1947 Ceralbus cover. Also, added 1995 BHS feline odor story and BPD Parking Control Volkswagen. Also added a British Pathe short to the Maurice Poirier page (scroll to bottom) and added Ken Taylor's text about the BHS Arcade/"Bridge of Sighs" to the Burbankers Remember article. 10/16/13 - Added some Burbank High School photos Mike got from old yearbooks: Library, 1929, Lawn, 1930, Bridge of Sighs, 1930, Front entrance, 1930, Shaded archway, 1930, Theatre, 1937, Theatre 1937 #2, Theatre, 1929, Graduation, 1929, Dedication, 1937. 10/15/13 - Added some new photos (from France!) to the Maurice Poirier page (scroll to bottom). Also added Lockheed B-1 from 1992 to 1993, Sailees postcard #2 and Warner's aerial postcard. 10/3/13 - Added Foiled by a Lockheed Badge - the 1945 Bank Robbery. Also added Smoke House mailer, c. 1960, NBC Studios, 1950s and Debbie Reynolds (8/21/1948). 10/2/13 - Added Mike McDaniel's alley memories to the Burbankers Remember article. 9/24/13 - Added Burbank's Wild Parrots - there are a number of videos like this on youtube, but this one is representative. Where did these parrots come from? The story is that they were released into the Los Angeles area skies after Busch Gardens closed, but this sounds like an urban legend to me. I don't know; I haven't researched it. Yet. Also posted Frank Hawkins Orchestra at the Moose Hall, 1939. 9/20/13 - Added Golden Mall Parade, 1967, San Fernando Rd. My associate on this page, Mike McDaniel, loves Lincoln Continentals. If he were watching this parade as a twelve year-old I'm sure he wanted to run up, knock Mickey and Pluto off the car, and wrest control of the steering wheel away from the driver to take the Lincoln home. Thanks for the photo, Debbe Bowser Smith! 9/13/13 - Added World premiere of Blazing Saddles (7 Feb 1974), Pickwick drive-in theater. People were encouraged to watch on horseback. The last scene, where the mob spills out onto Olive Ave., is here. Also added Johnny Carson cites Burbank points of interest. 9/5/13 - Added Panorama from Forest Lawn area (c. 1960) and Historical Timeline (from 2013 budget document). 9/3/13 - Stop whatever it is you are doing and listen to a modern olde-tymey performance of Code Morgan's honorific song "In Burbank" here. Video by Vincent Precht - well done! Also, added Arnold McMunn's memories to the Burbankers Remember article. 8/28/13 - Added 1945 Airplane Crash, Michel's Music on the Golden Mall (bag), Tournament of Roses 1921 float (magnet). 8/22/13 - Added "The Plagues of Burbank" (Dead End Kids), William Holden with sons Scott and Wes at the Burbank Rifle Club, DeBell Golf Course Clubhouse, 1960's, Now and Then: 1213 West Verdugo, Red Car Burbank Station, 1955, Warners' New York City Street, 1941. Also added "Snow White Lane" to the Burbankers Remember article. 8/5/13 - Added Burbank Lumber on Olive Ave. and a link to a 1920's Valhalla Cemetery brochure. 8/2/13 - Added Burbank Junction Tower - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Ray Family Photos (Lamer St., 1940's) - 1, 2, 3. (Thanks, Don Ray!) 8/1/13 - Added the Florence Cafe, Chain Beverages, The "Owl" train, 1930's, in Burbank - 2, Sav On, San Fernando Road, 1950's, Horse Crossing. Also added Handy Market Memories to the Burbankers Remember article. 7/17/13 - Did you know a firm named Earthmaster used to manufacture tractors in Burbank? I didn't. Article here. A magazine article is here. Also, posted The "Owl" train, 1930's, in Burbank. 7/16/13 - Added Albin's Drugs, 1960's, The China Trader, Ota, Japan pin and Andrews and Evans, 1950's. 7/12/13 - The topic for today is the Magnolia Theater. Added Magnolia Theater from "Pushover" (1954) - 1, Magnolia Theater from "Pushover" (1954) - 2, Magnolia Theater from "Night Moves" (1973), Magnolia Theater mention, 1964, Magnolia Theater construction card. Also posted Family Life in Burbank, 1953. Thanks to Robert Barry! 7/5/13 - Thanks to longtime Burbanker Fermer Kellogg, I have added Burbank Airport Fire, 1966 - 1, Burbank Airport Fire, 1966 - 2, Burbank Airport Fire, 1966 - 3, Burbank Airport Fire, 1966 - 4, Burbank Airport Fire, 1966 - 5, Burbank Airport Fire, 1966 - 6. Also added Sir George's Smorgasbord House (Magnolia Blvd.) and the Burbank Hospital trowel (22 Feb 1955). Also added mention of Swing Shift dances to the Burbankers Remember article. 6/21/13 - Added Don Ray's comments about the proposed Valley Hotel to the Jeffries Barn article (scroll to bottom). Thanks, Don! Added Old Trappers Lodge sculpture, one, Old Trappers Lodge sculpture, two, Andrew Jergens Co. employees, 1953, The SR-71 lifts off, 1989, Allan Loughead, 1931, The Burbank Hospital, P-38s being assembled and Postcard of the Thrifty Drug Store on San Fernando Road. 6/19/13 - Added Thrifty Drug Store in the 1960's to the Burbankers Remember article. 6/10/13 - Everyone remember those garish Old Trapper's Lodge statues? 5/31/13 - Posted Burbank Rifle and Revolver Club patch. 5/28/13 - Posted Eagle-Picher comms systems, Lockheed aerial showing Turkey Crossing, 1928, Lockheed aerial from 1928, 1966 Lockheed Fire 3, 1966 Lockheed Fire 4, Pacific Ave. from Keystone to Orchard showing Monterey Ave., Olive Avenue, September 1911 Boosters banner (the day the first Pacific Electric car arrived from Los Angeles), Valley Vista Pottery ghost image on Empire - 1, Valley Vista Pottery ghost image on Empire - 2. 5/24/13 - Posted Original Lockheed Plant in 1928 in Empire China Factory, Union Airport from the sky, 1930's - Verdugos in background, Union Airport from the sky, mid-1930's, The Pago Pago on Alameda. More to come. 5/23/13 - Mike found a bunch of great old Lockheed photos! Posted Lockheed under cammo, WWII (note the P-38s), Lockheed front office, 1928, Lockheed shift change, Hollywood Way, 2/3/1943, Lockheed, aerial, 1928 (Detail - What is this building? A church?). More to come. 5/22/13 - Posted Navy and Marines Cine-Globe Theater on San Fernando Rd. and Angelino, 1969 or 1970, Boles-Aero Trailers, 1930 Lockheed Chicago Air Race Team in Burbank, Menasco, 1941, United Airport from the air, mid-1930's, 1966 Airport Terminal fire, "The Burbank Wash" (1952), mentioning "Burbank: The Story of a City" short. (Which can be viewed here.) 5/20/13 - Posted a lot more data to the Laura Ingalls: Aviator, Nazi Agent and Burbank Mata Hari page. Be sure to check out the video link at the bottom of the page (additional links at the right on the stock footage website under "related clips") - they show old newsreel film footage of what is supposed to be Burbank. Also, added more of Jim Voigt's stories to Burbankers Remember. 5/17/13 - Just when you think you know a lot about Burbank history, you stumble across more interesting information! Posted Laura Ingalls: Aviator, Nazi Agent and Burbank Mata Hari. Fascinating! 5/15/13 - Added my Gunny Sack Slide Ride piece to the Burbankers Remember article. 5/13/13 - Added Jim Voigt's Post-war bubble gum article Burbankers Remember. 5/8/13 - She's a girl! She's a bomb! Burbank High Girl Inspires Who Song. (Note: Another BHS girl inspired the Beach Boys' "Be True to Your School." An inspirational bunch, these girls...) Also posted Burbank Choppers. 5/7/13 - Added Bob Marley Starlight Ampitheatre concert, 1978, 1956 24 Hour rally - 1, 1956 24 Hour rally - 2, MASH Sign, Train at Burbank Tower, 2013 Car Classic, 1966 Lockheed Fire, 1924 Country Club postcard. 5/6/13 - Added Jim Peel's Burbank Boulevard Memories (1952-1957) and Jim Voigt's Circus Memories to Burbankers Remember. 5/2/13 - Posted Battle of Cam Lo, a song by "Doc" Ken Walker about Cpl. Larry Maxam, loaded onto a youtube video by Cathy Palmer. The Cpl. Maxam page is here. 4/25/13 - 45 years ago, as I lay on a sofa in my Lincoln Street home watching an evening broadcast of James Cagney as Lon Chaney, Sr. in Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), a murder was taking place in the parking lot of a Grismer Street apartment building. This was the famous Cheryl Perveler Case, which we have unaccountably not covered. I remedy that here. 4/24/13 - Posted Cornell Theatre, 1949. 4/17/13 - Posted a couple of Burbank nighttime shots that are DVD captures from the 1975 film Night Moves: San Fernando Road at night, 1973, Magnolia Theater at night, 1973. (The film is quite good, by the way. A neo-noir, it takes place in Burbank. BTW: It was released in 1975 but shot in 1973.) 4/15/13 - Posted more Burbank Business matchbooks onto the Photos page (scroll nearly to bottom). 4/12/13 - Posted Burbank Paramedic program begins (1975). Also, posted a new section of Burbank Business matchbooks onto the Photos page (scroll nearly to bottom). 4/9/13 - Posted Don Ray's photos of the Media Center Mall Site (taken c. 1984): Media Mall Map, Board of Education building, Community Bank, Looking east on Magnolia Blvd., Ed's Towne Shop, Ed's Towne Shop Out of Business, Harrolds carpets, Harrolds wide shot, Records Haus, Uptown Motel. Thanks Don! 4/2/13 - Posted King Swede Smorgasbord, Pickwick in 1963, Hillside Red Light (7/13/1925), Union Ice Company ad, 1930s. I have also located all those obscure Burbank canyons on that list I posted a few years ago. 3/29/13 - Posted the following clippings from a 2/22/1925 Burbank Daily Review newspaper: Bank of Italy, Daily Review logo, Director's Cup at the Sunset Canyon Country Club, Loma Theatre, Lone Eagle, Victory Theatre Stranded, Wilkinson-Holt Chrysler. 3/28/13 - Posted Blarney Stone matchbook. 3/26/13 - Posted the following clippings from a 1925 Burbank Pathfinder newspaper: Burbank Realty, Danish Dairy, Auto Electric Service, Loma Theatre, W.R. Letton Corp., Burbank Pathfinder information, Snubbers, Security Bank ad, Southern Pacific ad and Victory Theatre ad. 3/21/13 - Posted Fermer Kellogg and grandfather at Arrow Sash on Lake and Olive, 1940's - 1, Fermer Kellogg and grandfather at Arrow Sash on Lake and Olive, 1940's - 2, Barnes Circus in Town, 1925, Burbank house: Fermer Kellogg's mother on porch holding flowers, turn of the last century, Union Ice Co., 1930s and Classic Burbank Things To Do. Thanks to longtime Burbanker Fermer Kellogg for some of these photos! 3/20/13 - Posted The Victory Theatre, 1928 (205 E. San Fernando Rd.). Thanks Don Ray! 3/19/13 - We've been busy! Posted a bunch of advertisements of local interest from a 1926 Burbank Daily Review newspaper: 4th Street becomes Glenoaks, Broadwells, Central Market, Real Estate classifieds, Hugh Kice Chevy 1926, Marcel Shop, Paramount Dairy, Piggly Wiggly (top), Piggly Wiggly (bottom), Quality Market, Now Playing at the Victory Theatre. Also posted Andrew Jergens Co., 1920s, Burbank Auto Wrecking (517 E. San Fernando Rd.), Burbank Paint (corner of San Fernando and Tujunga), Debell Golf Course postcard, Hudson Bomber destined for England, 1940, Night assembly of P-38's, July, 1941, Paramount Dairy (801 Main St.), Various Lockheed badges and Various Lockheed ID cards. Thanks to Don Ray for some of these! Also, posted a bunch of advertisements of local interest from a July 1941 Lockheed-Vega Star employee newspaper: Acme Beer, Various - 1, Various - 2, Airway Pharmacy, Al Sherwin Riding and Sports Shop, Dr. Averbach, Dentist, Bing's Gas Station, Burbank Florist, Dodds the Jeweler, Firestone, Maxwell's Lockheed Wear, McFadden's, Snyder-Lynch - 1, Snyder-Lynch - 2. 3/14/13 - Posted Burbank Airport in the Thirties. 3/13/13 - Posted Tank Destroyer Battalion Starlets (thanks, Justin Rousselot!) and Sid's Tailoring (613 San Fernando Rd.). The 635th Tank Destroyer Battalion is shown here in Burbank. 3/12/13 - Posted Snow "V" in Verdugo Hills (3/20/42 Lockheed and Vega Star), 1944 Lockheed Map and my own memoir about the 1971 Sylmar Quake. 3/11/13 - Posted Adams Airport location, Burbank Nite at Disneyland, 1976, Empire and Hollywood Way, Sept 1941, Larry's Chili Dog sign (Mike likes eating here), Lot 7 (now COSTCO) from Jun 1941, Nash Dealership, Lockheed traffic jam, Burbank as seen over the Hollywood Hills, Starlight Bowl postcard, Starlight Bowl postcard, sign, Disney art on Lockheed planes, Rec Center postcard, 1915 Rose Parade float, Rose Parade Float (unknown year), Smoke House receipt (June 1958 - check out the beer and garlic bread prices), Warner Bros. Fire Dept. 1936. 3/8/13 - Posted St. Joseph Hospital 1951, The Big Game 1957, Burbank Airport 1980s, Captured Zero, 1940s, Empire China Company, 1920's - 1, Empire China Company, 1920's - 2, Flying Tiger at Burbank Airport, Lakeside Apartments, Olive Avenue c. 1910, Pacific Electric Redline Train. Also, Toluca Lake video, 1958. 3/7/13 - Sorry, I've been down with strep throat and bronchitis! (Yay, me.) But I'm back with an especially good addition: Wings for the Eagle. Lockheed, 1942 - cool! 2/22/13 - Posted more postcard images I have received: La Ciudad de Burbank, PSA Grinning Bird and TWA Skyliner. 2/20/13 - Posted postcard images I have received: Historic Wedding Chapel, Lowman's Motor Lodge, NBC Studios, Pacific Evangelical United Brethren Home (old and new), Pepe's, Tonight Show (c. 1980). Also posted Burbank Sign at Barham Blvd. at Warner's (color). And, finally, check out this exhaustive citymelt.com Burbank statistical analysis. 2/14/13 - I've asked for permission to post this image from the creator, but it has now been weeks with no reply. It's just too good not to use, so I'm posting it! (He can complain and then I'll take it down.) Burbank 1928 and now animated gif. Also posted 1933 or 34 Huth Muffler Deuce Coupe at Bonneville Salt Flats. 2/8/13 - Have you seen the Ally Bank "Suitcase" ad? Mike tells me that it takes place in the Market City Cafe and the Gourmet 88 on San Fernando Road and Palm! 2/7/13 - Added Back to the Future shooting locations (some of which are in Burbank). Thanks, Cathy Palmer! 2/1/13 - Added Rosewood Wedding Chapel (thank you Burbank in the 60's Facebook group) and 1909 Burbank Ladies (photo location) - Cool! (Thank you HiddenLA Facebook group.) 1/31/13 - Added Bela's VW Repair, 1909 Burbank Ladies and Night shot from LDS church porch, January 2013. Bela! Hahaha! Great photo! My Dad used to have his '65 Karmann-Ghia serviced there (later, his '68 Porsche 912). Bela used to put in heavy duty clutches, but Dad rode the clutch something awful and wore 'em down. One day Bela followed him as he left the shop, all the way home, and gave him a hard time about riding the clutch! Bela used to have a plaque in his office, "I'm fighting poverty. I'm working." Maybe he still does. 1/30/13 - Added The Gypsy Camp and Leonard's to Burbankers Remember. 1/29/13 - Posted Ye Olde Town Pump ashtray (430 S. San Fernando Rd.) (from the Burbank in the 60's Facebook group), Female Lockheed employee working on a P-38, 1944, Walt Disney, 1943 ground breaking with the Sisters of Providence St. Joseph's Hospital, Vintage Burbank High School (1940s/1950s), Thrifty McDaniel (from the Senior Bulldogs newsletter), Lockheed Water Wings (caption), Paul E. Wolfe Starlight Theatre and Lazzara's Custom Tailoring (Golden Mall). 1/22/13 - I was wrong! There are at least three more quonset huts in Burbank! So I added this information to the bottom of the The Last Quonset Hut in Burbank article. Thanks, Todd! By the way, check out this website for old Burbank postcards. 1/18/13 - Posted The Last Quonset Hut in Burbank and The 635th Tank Destroyer Battalion in Burbank. 1/15/13 - Posted Jack McAfee Key Fob and Mr. Big Burgers (1960's). These come from the "Burbank in the 60's" Facebook group. Also posted Burbankers on Porch, 1909 and Burbank's 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade float entry. The McAfee fob brings back memories: my Dad bought a car from there and so did I. When we did, we got one of these. I also posted an alternate front page I'm testing. The one that's up now has some problems rendering properly on iPads, it seems - this one does not. It may become the new index page. I prefer the days when you could design a web page knowing that everyone used one of two browsers and had squarish monitors! 1/9/13 - Posted 1966 Equestrians - From reader Page Williams. 1/8/13 - Posted Central Library 1, Central Library 2 and Central Library 3. That last one is from the 1/4/13 library newsletter. 1/2/13 - Posted Ashes of Burbank float volunteer to ride on this year's Rose Parade entry. Also added Pig Lady to Burbankers Remember. 1/1/13 - What's new? I'll tell you what's new. A new front page and newly formatted pages that don't scroll across wide monitors so they're more readable! That's what's new! Happy New Year! 12/31/12 - I posted an expansion of the Shoman's Dairy by Bob Thomasson to the Burbankers Remember page. Please note the request for help under this entry... I would really like to nail down this story if I can. 12/28/12 - I need help! I heard some interesting town lore from my father-in-law (BHS '45), and I'd like to track down the facts. Apparently there was a girl or a child who was tragically killed as a hit and run fatality at or near the intersection of Burbank Blvd. and San Fernando Rd., near where Home Savings was. Her mother, sick with grief, afterwards made a practice of dwelling at the intersection where she became rather well-known and wrote down the license plate numbers of all the cars stopped there - apparently in an attempt to find the criminal. My father-in-law is not sure when this took place - 1950's? Has anyone else ever heard this story? 12/19/12 - Posted the 2012 Burbank Public Library Christmas Card. 12/14/12 - Posted Shoman's Dairy by Bob Thomasson to the Burbankers Remember page. This place ring bells for anyone? 12/13/12 - I watched the film Down to Earth last night and found where Burbank is shown. Go to the 1946 Trains page and look at the last link. Interesting! 12/12/12 - Posted Sonic Booms to the Burbankers Remember page. I find I'm getting interesting tales and lore from Facebook. Do a Facebook search for "You know you're from Burbank if...," "Burbank Monterey Ave Grade School," "Burbank High School," "John Burroughs," "Burbankers," "Burbank 1st/2nd Wards 1960-1985" (Mormon) and "Memorial Page for Burbank High School friends that we've lost" for lots of interesting Burbank people, commentary and lore. 12/11/12 - Posted a video link: Lockheed 1940/1941. After an enjoyable hour with Mike on the phone last night going over timings and buildings, I updated the text fields located on the videos linked here: 1946 Trains. We have a couple more to go over and we're done. 12/10/12 - This is pretty neat! Ever wonder what it would be like to hop a freight train, in Burbank, at night, in 1946? Here's what you'd see! Posted 1946 Trains. 12/5/12 - Posted Castaway postcard, 1923 City Hall postcard and 1949 Lockheed Air Terminal postcard. 12/3/12 - Posted an additional story to the Burbankers Remember page. 11/21/12 - Posted three additional stories to the Burbankers Remember page, which is coming along nicely, I think. 11/15/12 - As promised, posted A Collection of Monohan Murder articles from the Los Angeles Times, 1953 and 1954. On a much more positive note, Two Burbank WAVES Remember World War II. 11/14/12 - Posted A Collection of Burbank Murders and Mishaps from the Los Angeles Times 1890-1983. Many of these are quite tragic. It's the result of typing "death" and "burbank" into a L.A. Times search engine and seeing what gets returned. I've been sitting on this data for over a year, now, and wondered what to do with it. Given that I can now format and edit .pdf files, here it is. Coming soon, the 1953 Mabel Monohan murder; that one gets a .pdf of its own. 11/13/12 - Since I learned how to make youtube playlists, I created a Burbank videos playlist. All my Burbank-related youtube videos can be found there. 10/31/12 - Posted the scary tale of the Albino Midgets of Wildwood Canyon to the Burbankers Remember page. Also, added Jean Nitchman's 1949 snow photos to the Snow in Burbank page. Finally, added a nice color shot of the old NBC sign. 10/25/12 - Posted Obama motorcade in Burbank. 10/22/12 - Added Jim Peel's remarks to the Burbankers Remember article. 10/17/12 - Posted Jim Wahler's photo of February 2011 graupel to the bottom of the article about the 1949/1950 snowfall. 10-11-12 - Posted The Platters rock easy in Burbank in 1956, Burbank kills pigeons humanely in 1959 and Mock war at City Hall. Also added Patrice Samko's comments about Roy Rogers' horse "Trigger" to the Richard Dixon Burbankers Remember article. 10/10/12 - Posted Some interesting bits of information from Jackson Mayers' 1975 Burbank History and Burbank's fault line. Also, I posted an interesting account of snow in Burbank to the bottom of the article about the 1949/1950 snowfall. Here's a mystery, from Jackson Mayer's Burbank History (1975): "The old cast-iron sign of Dr. David Burbank was displayed in a three-day celebration in 1948. The sign bore the words: 'Dr. Burbank DENTIST, UP STAIRS.' The 50-pound sign was 26 by 13 inches, with letters of solid bronze fastened with rivets. It was found at the home of Mrs. Charles Emory Wright by Ray Kahl, Burbank pioneer, in May, 1948. Cast in San Francisco, the sign was being used as a footscraper in the backyard. Kahl recalled the sign when he was 12 years of age when it was used as a part of a path to a house." Where is this sign now? Anybody here know? 10/9/12 - Put the Burbank A.B.C. Directory (1942) into a .pdf format so it's easier to read. 10/5/12 - Posted 1977 Burbank Calendar and also the 1978 Burbank Calendar. They featured a lot of cool "now and then" shots. Also put the 50th Anniversary booklet (1961) and the Lockheed Employee Handbook (1950) into a .pdf format so they're easier to read. ...and that may be it for a while. I've now cleared the big pile of Burbankia stuff Mike brought me last time he was here, and I'm taking a break from all the scanning I've done recently! A word about this web site: There is now 437 MB of data on it in about 150 text documents of various kinds and over 2,000 graphical images. Remember, you can most easily find the content you are looking for by using the search box on the Index page as well as the "find" feature on your browser once you are in a text file. Or, if you like using google, you can use that, too - just add "burbankia" into the search terms. That'll lead you here as well. In the last nine years, nearly, that this site has been up we've developed a lot of content and have received many kind comments from readers. Thank you! We are proud to serve our hometown in this fashion. (And Go Bulldogs!) - Wes and Mike 10/4/12 - Posted First Methodist Church before remodel and Front Street, 1940s. Also posted C and P Hudson dealership, 1953 and Monroe and Frankson Hudson. Both items courtesy of Sarah Young at hudsonjet.net as well as the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club and hetclub.org. Also, regarding the Maj. Ed Dyess P-38 crash into St. Finbar, Dec 22 1943 link, Ken Taylor writes, "First, my bona fides: I am BHS '47, my father, Bill Taylor, was Chief of the Burbank Fire Department at the time. I was riding with him in the city car when the radio reported a crash at Myers and Olive. We arrived shortly after receiving the call. There was a small crowd at the scene,(Christmas break, some kids). It was reported there was a "flash fire." By the time we arrived it had gone out. Dyess' P-38 did NOT strike the steeple of St. Finbar's Church. I want to emphasize that observation. It DID impact the apex of the sloping roof of the Church where it had disloged a few of the red tiles covering the roof, maybe only a dozen or so. The P-38 had then impacted the vacant lot on the Myers side of the church, and then skidded across Myers impacting a duplex, nosing directly between the two entrances to the duplex. The twin booms were intact, completely visable, sticking out of the wreckage of the duplex toward the street. The cockpit was completely destroyed. There was no fire. This is what I saw at the scene." Finally, I posted a handsome booklet, the 1950 Annual City Report. I like the hammered gold cover, and the high quality look of the thing. It is clearly the product of a city organization which is proud of its accomplishments. But... there's a problem. 1950 is the start of a bad era in Burbank. On April 21, 1952, the California Crime Commission jolted the city out of its complacency by arguing that "the people of Burbank are virtually without protection against the inroads of organized crime..." A number of the city officials listed in this booklet would be investigated and forced out of office due to corruption and scandal. But you wouldn't know that by examining this handsome booklet! 10/3/12 - Posted 1959 Burbank Time Capsule contents, 1972 Burbank Street Map and 1966-1967 Burbank Unified School District Directory. I also have a 1967 map, but I'm not scanning that one... 10/2/12 - Posted Burbank Pride and Progress pamphlet (1981). 10/1/12 - Burbankia exclusive! The Burbank High School 70th Anniversary Book (1978). This is a 16 MB .pdf, so be patient while it loads. Yes, yes, I know, there is also John Burroughs, Bell-Jeff and Monterey high schools in Burbank. But Mike and I didn't go to those, we went to BHS. (Class of 1974, if you must know.) This is what we can find easily with our contacts. We have absolutely no problem with loading a similar book to Burbankia from one of those other schools. Have one? Mail us. More! Also posted Doris Vick's olde-tymey photos of Sunset Canyon Country Club Grounds. (Thanks, Doris!) Looks like a great place to motor up to in a rickety old car, huh? The Sylvan Falls are no longer there; some years ago the city used them to fill the reservoir tank near Palm Park. And this is the old country club, not the newer one where the LDS Church is now located. Finally, check out Mike's Space Shuttle Endeavour over Burbank photo. Cool! 9/28/12 - I made the pamphlet-length history of Burbank, Ranchos de los Santos - The Story of Burbank (1927) into a .pdf file for easier reading. Still plowing away at scanning that BHS booklet; I should have it uploaded on Monday! 9/27/12 - I made the 1954 history of Burbank - The Story of Burbank from Her Eventful Pioneer Days - by the Magnolia Park Chamber of Commerce, into a .pdf file for easier reading. It's here. Still scanning that BHS history book; it's time-consuming. But this is the price I willingly pay to be True To My School. :) 9/26/12 - Posted NBC Studios, aerial shot, 1 (1960's?), NBC Studios, aerial shot, 2 (1950's, after 1954) and the new Burbank Police Department patch design. I have just started another huge .pdf scanning project, this one a 70th anniversary of Burbank High publication. It'll be ready... I don't know when! 9/19/12 - Posted Of Men and Stars, Chapter 6 - Lockheed at War, Of Men and Stars, Chapter 7 - From War to Peace and Of Men and Stars, Chapter 8 - Jitters and Jets and Of Men and Stars, Chapter 9 - Forward from the Fifties. ...and done - whew! A funny story from the above: The Vega Vurbank. 9/17/12 - Posted Of Men and Stars, Chapter 4 - Lockheed Electra-fies the Airlines and Of Men and Stars, Chapter 5 - Peace, Prosperity and Peril. I also turned Your Burbank Home (1928) into a single .pdf document, rather than a page where you pull up individual .jpgs. It's easier to read that way!
Also (ta daaaaa), a Burbankia Exclusive: A book-length Burbank History (1975) by Jackson Mayers, Ph.D.:Click here.
9/14/12 - Posted Of Men and Stars, Chapter 3 - From Boom to Bankruptcy. I am also working on a big scan job... I plan to make a fascinating major 1975 Burbank history available via .pdfs. Perhaps next week. Stay tuned... 9/13/12 - Posted Of Men and Stars, Chapter 2 - The First Lockheeds. Also posted Maj. Ed Dyess P-38 crash into St. Finbar, Dec 22 1943. (Thanks to Michael Stewart, who provided the book excerpt.) 9/12/12 - The start of a major new document: Posted Of Men and Stars, Chapter 1 - Gross Hitches His Wagon to a Star. This is a detailed illustrated history of Lockheed in nine chapters which the company produced in 1957. We're going to present it in a .pdf format, which is unusual for us, but that seems to be the fastest and most efficient way of doing it. (Converting books into an illustrated .html format is a major pain.) Note: You may need to update your Adobe .pdf viewer to read this. It's free from here, so just do it, okay? 9/11/12 - Posted Atherton Villa apartments, 1921 and Caro's Motel and Cafe, 1940s. 9/7/12 - Posted Richard Dixon's remembrance of his Catalina Street home to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! 9/6/12 - Posted Richard Dixon's remembrance of the Ranch, from 1946, to the Burbankers Remember page. This one has a map! Have a good Burbank story? Write us! 9/5/12 - Posted Richard Dixon's account of his thrilling 1945 childhood excursion into the Warner's Jungle to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! 8/27/12 - Exclusive to Burbankia! Added Your Burbank Home (1928) to the site. It's a 56 page booklet published in 1928 by the Burbank Merchant's Association. The ads are interesting, as are the various articles. Enjoy! 8/14/12 - Added San Fernando Rd. in the 1950's. 8/13/12 - I posted a video mentioning Larry Maxam to my Cpl. Larry Maxam page. I was surprised to come across this video reference while in the National Marine Corps Museum last Saturday... 7/31/12 - I posted my memories of the Ralph's grocery store on Victory and Buena Vista to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! 7/27/12 - Posted a link to Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream which used to be located at the Disney California Adventure theme park. Here at Burbankia we pride ourselves at being focused on the past, so now that this attraction is no longer with us (it closed in 2011), it belongs here in Burbankia! Last time I went to this theme park we ate here. Good ice cream. Not as good as in the Jessup's in town in olden days, but good. 7/20/12 - It's Burbank High School Day! Posted 1911 Burbank High School DeLos Wilbur photo, Aerial shot of Burbank High School, 1922, Burbank High School from San Fernando Road, 1920's; Burbank High School entrance. Also posted Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed plane and Lockheed disguised during World War II (but note the P-38's at the end of Lincoln Street). Finally, posted Corradi music on San Fernando Rd. and Burbank on Parade (San Fernando Rd.), 1950's. 7/10/12 - More 1940's shots of City Hall: Police Department emergency hospital in basement, 1943 - 1, 2, 3; Original courtroom entrance, 1942, Judges' law library, 1942, Judge's office, 1942, Main lobby, 1942 - 1, 2 and West wing from lobby, 1942. Also, Retired Burbank Mayor's badge! Finally, Lockheed Aircraftsman magazine 1943, and Lodestar diagram and P-38 diagram from same. 7/9/12 - I have some 1940's shots of City Hall: Council chambers, 1940's - 1, Council chambers, 1940's - 2, Entrance to council office, 1942, Court room interior, 1942, Council office foyer, 1942, City Manager's office, 1942, City Manager's conference room, 1942, City Hall rear Police parking. More later this week. 7/6/12 - Hello Burbankers! I tore away from posting photos of my new grandson to the Internet for a bit. Time to upload those Burbank City Hall photos I've been sitting on for upwards of two months... we'll do the exterior ones first. It's December... the outdoor temps in town have reached a frosty 67 degrees or so. Dean Martin is singing "Silver Bells." Imagine green. Imagine red. No, don't imagine them at all... imagine black and white because this is the late 1950's or early 1960's, baby! Posted City Hall at Christmas, 1950's/1960s - 1, City Hall at Christmas, 1950's/1960s - 2, City Hall at Christmas, 1950's/1960s - 3. Thrown in for good measure: Aerial shot: City Hall, 1950's. 6/29/12 - Posted Neighborhood Radio Watch patch and Zinc block (look at that price!). By the way, director Paul Galliano tells me that he's currently directing a Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre Show that is set in Burbank in 1953. (This website proved to be a valuable resource for his research.) You can find out more about the show by visiting CoastAnabelleEntertainment.com. "Here's Killing You, Kid" opens tonight and runs through August. (Note: We don't normally run ads for businesses on this site, but as this is a Burbank historical work we'll make an exception... Also, I happen to like film noir!) Sorry for the delay in adding stuff here, but it's been hectic recently. New grandchild - my first! 6/8/12 - Posted The Lovejoy Castle. Thanks for sharing, Brian! 6/6/12 - Posted photos of the destruction of the old City Hall building which took place in the 1960's: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven. 6/5/12 - Today's update/improvement consisted in replacing a couple of inferior images of the Mako bas reliefs outside of the City Hall with better images (here and here) and posting Glenoaks and Orange Grove looking north, 1950s. 6/1/12 - Posted Burbank Bowl (thanks, Linda Mustion!), City Dump scene, Covic Diesel Engines, Burbank Gold Star Mothers portrait, Joslyn Adult Center, Corner of Glenoaks and Orange Grove, 1960s, P-38 production, BPD Target Practice and Lockheed Super Constellation over Burbank, early 1950s. What a beautiful airplane! 5/29/12 - Last group of aerial shots... Disney Studios, 1940s, Lincoln Elementary School, before 1946, Hillside beyond Bell-Jeff tower. 5/25/12 - More aerial shots! Benmar Hills development when new, Airport, late 1950s, Aerial shot of Mingay School/Luther Burbank JHS being built, 1940s and Aerial shot looking south, Jan 20, 1960 and Aerial City Hall, c. 1960. 5/24/12 - Posted Burbank helps keep cats sturdy, Dump truck number 203, The old Burbank Animal Shelter and P-38 Assembly Line at Lockheed, 1940's. 5/23/12 - Posted Thomas Story, first Mayor of Burbank, Charles Forbes, second Mayor of Burbank, Johnny Carson and Mayor Ayers (Carson becomes Burbank ambassador) and Burbank's Police Fleet, January 1950. 5/22/12 - This one is remarkable, I think. When I got it from Mike I could hardly believe the caption: Nuclear Blast as seen from Burbank, Feb. 1955. The caption on the back of the photo explains all. That must have been dramatic! According to a contemporary story in the Los Angeles Times, the glow was also seen from L.A. City Hall. Wow. 5/18/12 - Posted five more aerial photos: Aerial shot looking south, 1970's, Aerial shot of Sunset Canyon Dr., 1951, Aerial shot of Olive Rec Center, 1985, Benmar Homes under construction, May 4, 1951, Olive Rec Center, 1940's. 5/17/12 - Posted four more aerial photos: Aerial shot of Airport, Aug 21 1950 (wide), Aerial shot of Airport, Aug 21 1950 (detail), Aerial shot of Victory and Chesnut (Jack McAfee VW), Future Villa Cabrini area, 1960's. I like the one showing the Jack McAfee dealership because my Dad bought a Karmann-Ghia there in 1968 and I bought a Porsche 914 there ten years later! More to come. 5/16/12 - Posted five more aerial photos: Roosevelt School, 1940s, United Airport, 1939, Weber Aircraft, undated, Warner Brothers, wide shot, 1950s, Warner Brothers, 1950s, detail of back lot. More to come. 5/15/12 - Posted five aerial photos: I-5 looking north from the Burbank Blvd. bridge, 1970s, McCambridge Park, late 1950s, Airport, Feb 9 1951, John Burroughs High, pre-1946, McKinley School, 1940s. More to come. 5/11/12 - Posted five Amelia Earhart images: One, Two, Three, Four, Five. These were taken at Lockheed when she was having her custom Model 10E Electra built. Note that the windows are blanked out. 5/10/12 - Posted three images: Martinos Teacakes (I understand that in some cultures they are used in place of gold), Shakey's Pizza (near Cornell Theater) and Burbank's Hillside "B". 5/9/12 - Two videos! The first is Burbank: Story of a City (1952) (at least I think that's what it's called, and the second is Eve Arden Celebrates Burbank's Vacant Lots (Laugh In, 1968). The first one is for diehard Burbank fans only, I would think. It's pretty dated. In fact, it looks like one of those 1950's civic productions that are made fun of on sketch television. The second one is very much to the point. I lived in Burbank in 1968 and I remember all the vacant lots - it was a real blight. Fortunately that's no longer the case. Enjoy! 5/8/12 - I'm having problems loading that 34 minute film to youtube; perhaps I'll have to split it into two parts. Anyway, here are two panoramas which Mike took from the 18th floor of the Holiday Inn tower recently: North Panorama, Holiday Inn Tower (4/29/12), South Panorama, Holiday Inn Tower (4/29/12). 5/7/12 - Back from Burbank; Mike and I had a blast! I got a bunch of images to post here; I need to process and sort them first. To tide you over until that happens here's A Visit to the Burbank Holiday Inn Tower. Also, I'm working on another youtube upload, a 34 minute civic production from 1952. Stay tuned. 4/25/12 - I got a box from Mike recently; it contained the Centennial Thanks Certificate from Mayor Jess Talamantes Mike and I both got for various efforts involving the 100th; I like it so much I framed it and put it in my office. Our pleasure, Your Honor! Mike also sent a photocopy of a 273 page Burbank History book by author Jackson Mayers (1975) he found. Rare, I think. I will make it available to you. I posted 1932 Adohr Milk Truck and 1937 Talleyrand Float, both from the BHS Senior Bulldogs Newsletter. Also posted Morley Wah pedal, made in Burbank, 1961 Garden Club program and William Rudell card. Last but not least I have posted a Monte Thrasher recollection of the "Burbank Cross" to the Burbankers Remember page. (Have a good Burbank story? Write us!) I will be in town this Sunday to do some Burbankia field work with Mike; I'm really looking forward to it! 4/23/12 - Thanks to the kindness of the current owners, Mike recently took a tour of Burbank's famous Rock House, and I have added those photos here. 4/13/12 - Posted 1952 Warners Fire, Old Burbank dealership license plate frames and Security Trust and Savings Bank tray. 4/3/12 - Thanks to Tony Trotta, who keeps souvenirs, I posted his 1974 Burbank Nite at Disneyland ticket. Look at the price! $4.75! March 1974; my senior year at BHS. How come I didn't go to this and Grad Nite in June? Ah, Disneyland... When you live in Southern California you take it for granted. 3/23/12 - I posted links to Randy Rhodes Wine and 63 year old wallet. Also posted Burbank Gear Lords tee shirt. 3/19/12 - I posted Bicentennial fireplugs (from the 1976 BHS yearbook), Alternate name for I-5 (Did you know this? I didn't...), Magnolia Park radio station KELW antenna and Pup and Taco on Glenoaks and Angeleno. 3/7/12 - I posted Joe Modglin's Burbank parties to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! 3/2/12 - Posted Bicentennial fireplug and San Fernando Road, 1920's. A lull. Sorry for the absence of posts here recently, but, frankly, we're still recovering from all the 2011 Burbank 100th celebrations that went on here at Burbankia World Headquarters. We finally threw out the old pizza boxes and got the confetti swept up from the corners of the offices, and removed the Silly String from the blades of the ceiling fans. Mike tells me that he's going to send a thumb drive chalk full of groovy old Burbank photos, but I haven't got it yet. So be patient... 2/23/12 - I posted The Silver Dollar Cafe to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! 2/21/12 - I posted Fun With Nitrous Oxide to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Stop laughing and Write us! 2/9/12 - Posted Union Terminal sticker. That's it. Bit by bit, little by little we build up Burbankia's unique graphical holdings... 2/7/12 - Posted Big Boy Bob's in Burbank video. Now I'm hungry. 2/3/12 - Posted Country Club (Mormon church) parking lot (1940's?), Burbank booze, Hudson bombers, P-38 nighttime assembly, P-38 production (1944), P-38 production, near Buena Vista Blvd. and Seaver Toy Company catalog. 1/24/12 - Posted P-80 crash (1945), Old Cask Whiskey matchbook, Vintage San Fernando Road postcard and St. Louis Browns sign at Olive Stadium. 1/19/12 - Another Burbankia Exclusive! (As near as I can tell.) The story of Maurice Poirier, Burbank Inventor and Ten Ideas Per Minute Man , wherein this pioneering young inventor is described in magazine articles, newspaper pieces and patent illustrations. He should be better known in town than he is, I think. 1/17/12 - So you thought J.W. Fawkes was the only inventor of note working in Burbank? Not at all, as it turns out. Recently, Mike and I have become aware of a city watchmaker named Maurice Poirier, who invented rockets, proposed radio transmission of power and patented wheel suspension devices; he was primarily active in the 1930's. An article about him is coming, probably later this week. I'm sorting through stuff I've found on various databases now... stand by! In the meantime, check this out. Burbank is a city where the words "McNuggets" and "sex" can appear in the same sentence. 1/13/12 - Holy Cow! More Fawkes! Los Angeles Times entries for 11/24/1898 and 12/4/1898, wherein various judges attempt to pour oil upon troubled waters and get this fractious family to quit suing one another, but fail. Click here and scroll down. Wherever they are now, I do hope they're getting along... 1/12/12 - Posted Nixon in Burbank, 1971, Pacific Electric Car, 1955 and James J. Jeffries signature, 1942. 1/11/12 - Posted LDS Building History. Mike wrote this up back in 1986 for the building dedicatory tours after the major renovation. 1/6/12 - More Fawkes! I found the obit for J.W. Fawkes which ran in the Los Angeles Times yesterday. How did I overlook that?!? So I added it here - scroll down to the bottom (obviously). I also posted Robert Vincent's Burbank N Beyond video coverage of the happenings on San Fernando Road during the Burbank 100th; it's here. Good job, Robert! I looked for Mike and I in this video, but no, we're not in it, sorry to say. 1/5/12 - Lo and behold I found another couple of Los Angeles Times articles from 1898 about the tumultuous Fawkes Family of Burbank, these involving Howard Fawkes. I added them here - scroll down to July and December 1898. Those people loved the courthouse, that's for sure. I also posted a curiosity: the Amos Burbank obituary, from 1920. Note that Amos is given credit as being the founder of Burbank. This is clearly not so as multiple sources confirm that Dr. David Burbank, who arrived in California more than thirty years earlier, was the earlier Burbank land owner and founder. Why the confusion on the part of the reporter? And are these two Burbanks (David from New Hampshire, Amos from New York) related or do they simply share the last name? I do not know. 1/4/12 - Posted Pomeroys at Lincoln Bust and Old Union Terminal postcard. 1/3/12 - Happy New Year! I posted an article about my favorite troublemaker, J.W. Fawkes, from a 1911 Technical World Magazine piece about "Fawkes Folly" (scroll to bottom of article). It has some unique photos and an interesting description of that weird-looking propeller. 12/19/11 - I posted "I Know Who Killed Burbank's Celebrated Breathing Bush" to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! 12/16/11 - Added a Mike McDaniel photo of Mayor Talamantes to the 2111 Time Capsule Contents page. 12/14/11 - The City of Burbank placed a time capsule at City Hall yesterday, to be opened in 2111. 2111 Time Capsule flyer, 2111 Time Capsule Contents. 12/13/11 - Posted Beautiful Downtown Burbank postcard, 100th anniversary celebration image from the City's Economic Development Team's Christmas card (great photo!) and The Wonder Years House. 12/9/11 - Done! I have put the slide show material on its very own page: Burbankia Slide Show, 7/9/11. 12/8/11 - I am 4/7ths done with uploading the videos I have of the 7/9/11 Burbankia slide show. It is taking longer than I thought it would. I should have it ready to link here tomorrow! 12/7/11 - Posted Seaver Co. toy bus and Sunset Country Club postcard. I am in the process of doing youtube uploads of the videos I have of the 7/9/11 Burbankia slide show we gave at the Buena Vista Library. I may have it ready tomorrow! 12/5/11 - I posted Marti Baldwin's mother's recollections as told to Marti to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! 12/2/11 - I posted Fermer Kellogg's recollections to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! 11/22/11 - I posted a number of items owned by a fellow Burbanker Mike talked to, Fermer Kellogg: Union Ice Pick, Burbank Ice Storage Pick, El Camino Real Vase from the Empire China Co., Burbank Lumber Co. pouch and Empire China Factory Workers, 1924. I will be posting some stories from Mr. Kellogg later... Also posted Seaver Toy Company Airplane, A.O. Kendall Department Store (prob. on San Fernando Rd. and Lennan Lights Flashlight, Burbank, 1940s. 11/1/11 - Behold Burbank's Skull Rock in a photo c. 1991, brought to our attention by Facebook friend Jodean Ardizzone Myers. Mike recently drove down the I-5 and saw what's left of it; whatever it was up there, it doesn't look quite this skullish any more. Also posted this Lockheed Air Terminal playing card. 10/31/11 - Trivia question: When was the very last time that John Lennon and Paul McCartney played musical instruments together in a jam session? And where did this happen? New York City? London? The rather surprising answer is in this link. 10/27/11 - Added Aerial shot of Buena Vista and Victory, c. 1968/1969. Detail shots derived from it: Vickroy Park, 1968/1969, Spectors, 1968/1969, 1631 N. Lincoln St., 1968/1969. Why zoom in on 1631 N. Lincoln St.? Because that was my home from 1965 to 1980! The presence of our above ground pool in the backyard and some cars in the large shot enable us to date this photo. Also added Aerial shot of new Country Club (Mormon Church), 1951. 10/20/11 - Added Ranch Show at the Jeffries Ranch, 1932, The Dip, 1970s, Pacific Electric Line at Glenoaks and Alameda, Police break up a still on Scott Road, 1922, St. Louis Browns Spring Training at Olive Stadium, 1949-1952, Glenoaks Baptist Church construction, late 1930's, A 1907 Franklin at City Hall, 1932. Also added Prefab School House (Central School), 1947, City seal 1911, City seal 1931 and City seal 1940s. 10/12/11 - Daughter now married! Added 1947 Mingay School article, 1, 1947 Mingay School article, 2, 1947 Mingay School article, 3 and Burbank pennant (1970's?). 9/22/11 - Yes, I know, I haven't posted anything in a while. I have a daughter getting married next month and I'm changing job responsibilities at work, so I am a bit distracted these days. I'll get it together. In the meantime, check out this youtube video of the Burbank 100th Festivities. I'm sorry to say neither Mike nor I made it into the video. 8/24/11 - Thanks to Sue Baldaseroni of the Burbank Historical Society, we now have some information about an unknown theater and sign on San Fernando Rd. that puzzled Mike and I. (A detail from the DeLos Wilbur photo from Feb. 1917 is here). According to Sue: "This was Burbank's first moving picture theatre and was run by George Wood as an adjunct of his general store which kept open at night. Watland Wood remembers when his father took tickets at the picture show, he also would run to the store to wait on customers, and also squirted gasoline into the gas engine to keep the lights from dousing. It was mainly films of Cowboys and Indians shown in the first years. MJ (Mary Jane Strickland) said the lighted sign was for the store, not sure but thought it was a chicken or rooster but can't remember for sure." So there you are - it's a bird of some kind. I still can't make it out. We've determined by looking at later photos that the building still stands; the theater was where the Fantasia Billiards Hall is now located at 133 N. San Fernando. 8/19/11 - Posted some Knott's Berry Farm Jeffries memorabilia to the Jeffries Barn page (scroll to the very bottom of the page). Also posted The Shadowlawn Cafe. 8/17/11 - Thanks to Sue Baldaseroni of the Burbank Historical Society we have an accurate caption for a photo that we mistakenly thought was something else! This image depicts the house on 466 East Olive Ave. that served as the Burbank Hospital (later, Burbank Community Hospital) in 1907; the lady in the light dress in back is Ethel Thompson Forbes, the lead nurse for Elmer Thompson, her brother, who founded the hospital. The copy of this photo in the City Hall is marked "Grangetto family?" and, indeed, some of the people in the shot look like the Grangettos. But they are not. Thanks, Sue! 8/15/11 - Thanks to reader Joe Campana we now know that 825 N. Santa Anita home shown in the DeLos Wilbur images was his 1926 home. Thanks, Joe! I have updated the list. 8/10/11 - A previously unknown (to us) 1975 book of Burbank history has come to light. In it, a photo that we thought was an aging Dr. David Burbank atop a horse is captioned as being O.J. Stough. We will check on it. We have some doubts on some of our other images as well... The Burbankia Slide Show Part II went well. There were 58 people present and, according to Mike, they had lots of enthusiastic questions. We may be doing this kind of thing again in the future! I am encountering some difficulties with uploading the video of Slide Show Part One to the Internet. Stand by. 8/3/11 - Posted Code Morgan's sheet music for his 1924 foxtrot "In Burbank": One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight. Also posted PAL (Police Athletic League) Swim Party at Pickwick Pool, 1950's (Thanks, Cathy Coyle!), and four shots from the 9 July Burbankia slide show: One, Two, Three, Four. Also posted San Fernando Road, 1905. Remember: Burbankia Slide Show Part II will be held at 2 PM, August 6th (THIS SATURDAY!) at the Burbank Central Library. New content! And, of course, Burbank 100th Commemorative patches will be handed out... My shoulder is in pretty good shape for typing; I'm more or less back to normal, thanks for asking... 7/25/11 - I removed the Marilyn Monroe reference from this site. A caption elsewhere on the web said that she got her start when a photographer saw her working at an airplane factory in Burbank and shot her for the cover of a YANK magazine, but the brother of that photographer told me she was really at a plant in Van Nuys at the time! So as much as I'd like to be able to assertively state that Marilyn Monroe got her start in Burbank - she didn't. Updates might be very few in number in the next few weeks. Tomorrow morning I'm having my shoulder operated on from a rugby injury, so I'm not sure how much typing I'll be able to do. I'm told it's a rather long recovery cycle. 7/22/11 - Debbie! Miss Burbank of 1948! Posted 1951 Debbie Reynolds story, 1, 2 and 3. By popular demand (that is, somebody read on this page that it would be the same slideshow and complained to the librarian!), Mike is now working on a new slideshow for the August Burbankia presentation! He's presently working on a section whose title is taken from an old Talking Heads Lp, "More Songs about Buildings and Food." I don't know if that title will make it intact to the slideshow under that name - but expect more Burbank buildings and mentions of food. 7/21/11 - Posted 1961 Pickwick Pool Dance Party. Thanks, Cathy Coyle! Also posted a Burbank Library Blog entry about the 9 July slideshow we did. 7/14/11 - The 9 July slide show went well; Mike and I were gratified with the response - thanks for coming! The final count was 148 people at the show. A funny note: the Burbank Leader said we were the third best commemorative thing to do that day... I think we were the first. But who am I to argue with the press? :) 7/5/11 - I posted Bruce Foreman's funny write-up about riding a Whizzer motorbike in the snow to the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good Burbank story? Write us! It's almost here! In fact, this will be my last update before I get on the plane to Los Angeles. For the last time, this cool Burbank centennial patch is FREE TO EVERYONE ATTENDING THE SLIDE SHOW this Saturday. Hope to see you there... 7/1/11 - I posted Charles Catlin's family home story on the Burbankers Remember page. Have a good story yourself? Write us! 6/30/11 - The topic for today is City Hall: Burbank's Ready for Any Emergency (3/30/42), Burbank Drive Nets Iron Lung (6/30/42), Police Awaiting Powerful Radio (8/30/42) and New City Hall Thrown Open (2/13/43). 6/29/11 - Posted a Burbankia exclusive: The Photographic Legacy of DeLos D. Wilbur. I didn't think I'd have it up in time for the slide show, but I guess I did. 6/28/11 - Posted Corner of Olive and Verdugo, 1947 - 1 and Corner of Olive and Verdugo, 1947 - 2 (where Genio's used to be; now there's a Social Security office there). 6/24/11 - Posted Tim Burton Summer Reading library (1969). I am now assembling the DeLos Wilbur page; it'll take some time yet. There are 66 images. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE MCDANIEL! 6/22/11 - Still going through the DeLos Wilbur photos for inclusion on their very own page... but I may not have any updates until after the slideshow (life has become hectic). Be patient. 6/17/11 - Okay, I'm finally finished with the slide show for next month and have mailed a CD with the file off to Mike. Hope to see you there! Maybe next week I can collect my wits and return to posting things here... 6/9/11 - Posted 1943 USO Valentine's Day Dance. In addition to working on the slide show (only one month away!) I'm also reformating the DeLos Wilbur photos for a future web page of their own. Mike wants to point out that these Wilbur images are courtesy of his friend Bob Reichelderfer - thanks, Bob! 6/8/11 - Posted some more images: Burbank's Anti-Red Laws (1950), Wahlstrom Pools, Burbank, 1958 ad, Wahlstrom Pools, Burbank, plaque (the Wahlstrom Brothers, Joe Lee and Drew Lee, were in the pool building business in Burbank from 1941 to their bankruptcy in August 1958), Burbank train wreck, July, 1924 (no mention in the L.A. Times), Corradi Music (San Fernando Road) during the May 1948 Parade (Amerio Corradi is the inventor of the famous Martino's teacake), Geo. F. Patterson Cushman Float during the May 1948 Parade, Geo. F. Patterson Cushman Float during the May 1948 Parade (Could that be Debbie Reynolds?), Greg Alaimo and his Burbank Flag in Vietnam, 1968, Greg Alaimo and his Goldie Hawn poster with Burbank bumper sticker, Vietnam, 1968. I'm just about done with the presentation slides for July. LOTS of interesting stuff in there... By the way, Mike just came across a bunch of really great, unknown early Burbank images by WWI soldier and Burbank postman DeLos Wilbur; he is now making scans. I'll start including them as I can - some will end up in the July and August slideshows. 5/27/11 - Posted some images: Stough Park in 1954, Country Club Then and Now, Bob's Big Boy on San Fernando, 1948, Bob's Big Boy on San Fernando, interior, 1948, Giant soldier bayonets Burbank High students (from 1943 yearbook), Richard Nixon at City Hall, 1950s, Old Burbank High building from side, Jeffries Barn from Frederick Street. I'm still working on the presentation slides for July... Please come! If you like this website at all you will love this presentation! Saturday, July 9th, Buena Vista library. (I am aware that some flyers say this is going to be at the Central Library - it isn't. It's at the Buena Vista library.) Andddd... we would like to meet you! 5/20/11 - Somebody made the phrase "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" a registered service mark. Click here to see who! (Scroll to bottom of page.) Still working on the presentation slides for July... 5/17/11 - The City of Burbank Public Works department is certainly getting into the centennial spirit of things. They created commemorative manhole covers and started a contest (FOR CITY EMPLOYEES ONLY) to locate the six new manhole covers. (My guess is that the contest is probably over by now.) Centennial manhole cover and clever poem. No updates here for a while... I am busy working on the Burbankia slide show for July 9th. Lots of slides to make, not a lot of time to make them. The presentation should last somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half, I think. Mike and I will be interacting with the audience during the show. 5/6/11 - Rock guitarist Randy Rhoads' memorial. 5/5/11 - Jay Leno sighting! (1966 Ford Galaxie). 5/3/11 - Mike spotted the snazzy new Centennial marshal's badge and found an old Browns vs. White Sox program. Updates are going to be a bit fewer between now and early July... I am working on the Burbankia slideshow. Did you know there are about 1,900 images, 125+ pages and 5 books on this site? That surprises even me and I administer it... Also, posted The U.S.S. Burbank, Bear feeding (1935), General Patton and other Famous Folk (from the 1977 city calendar) and 1977 City Calendar cover. So General Patton once spoke in front of City Hall - cool! Mike has been trying to track down a photograph of this occasion... 4/26/11 - Posted Officer Smith's 1967 Gun Battle. 4/22/11 - Posted The Burbank-Burroughs Football Rivalry. I had this up before as a link to another website, but the link vanished. The good people at burbanknbeyond.com gave me permission to duplicate this article here on Burbankia. 4/21/11 - More old articles from the Los Angeles Times... Posted Small Burbank Library Room (note mention of a Burbank Family Bible; Mike has been trying to find this but so far has not - it seems to no longer be in the library system), and Romance and Tragedy in the Burbank Clerk's Records. 4/20/11 - I've been looking though old copies of the Los Angeles Times... Before there was a 100th celebration, there was a 40th. (But note this commemorates the founding of the town, not the incorporation.) Posted Burbank's 40th (1927) - One, Burbank's 40th (1927) - Two, Burbank's Mega-TP of 1977 (I got a kick out of their workplace tedium: processing porn films!), The Birth of KROQ (1972) (I used to listen to it all the time), A odd/funny Veteran's Administration death announcement and Tomlin's Lockheed Noon Shift. 4/15/11 - Posted Los Angeles Times obits for the two Burbank brothers, David (1895) and Franklin (Frank - 1903): Dr. David Burbank obit (Jan 22 1895), Frank Burbank obit (Jan 28 1903). I have always wondered why there are no Burbanks living in Burbank - now I know why. As the obit makes clear, the local line of that name died out with Frank... 4/14/11 - Burbankia scoop! Added a tale about a heroic Burbanker I bet you didn't know: The Story of Edward W. Spencer. 4/13/11 - Added some Los Angeles Times derived Pumpkin House lore to the Pumpkin House page (scroll to bottom)! 4/12/11 - Added a new photo to the Pumpkin House page (scroll to bottom). Also, added Lockheed Aircraft Factory School (WWII). 4/5/11 - Added Roberts Drive In. 4/4/11 - Here's another interesting thing Mike, that tireless collector of Burbank items, found: Tom Snyder's Key to the City (1993). I want one! 3/31/11 - Posted the names of Burbank citizens who died in four American wars; these names appear on the Veteran's monument in McCambridge Park. The Burbank Veterans' Committee is working on a book of remembrance - if you have information or pictures about any of these veterans please contact Mike McDaniel! 3/30/11 - It's Big Boy Bob day! Added links for Big Boy Bob hamburgers, 1, Big Boy Bob hamburgers, 2, Big Boy Bob hamburgers, 3, Big Boy Bob hamburgers, 4, Big Boy Bob hamburgers, 5. These are all from the book "The Leisure Architecture of Wayne Mc Allister" By Chris Nichols. 3/29/11 - Added a link to Ross' Retro page on the BurbanknBeyond.com website. Lots of good photos there from Ross A. Benson - check it out! 3/28/11 - Added a Smoke House Restaurant page. (I can hear some of you saying, "It's about time!"). 3/24/11 - Posted The Emmanuel Church Story by Pete Peterson to the History page. Mr. Peterson was my high school American history teacher at Burbank High in 1972/1973. A jolly and always engaging teacher, I was fortunate to have had both his American History and Civil War History classes; he enlivened things considerably by bringing in his slides of the battlefield sites he had visited in the East. His enthusiam for the subject was contagious, and it wasn't long before I, too, became an avid Civil War buff, reading every book on the subject I could find in the library. When I finished college I had to decide where to live, and I found a job in Maryland - right in the heart of Civil War country! After three years I moved to Northern Virginia and have remained here ever since, taking part in Civil War reenacting activities on the major battlefields that I had seen in Pete's slides so many years prior. (So, you see, I am not presently a Burbanker like my pal Mike - but it's a Burbanker's fault!) Thanks, Mr. Peterson, for this wonderful gift of a lifetime interest and hobby! I hope the inclusion of your 1991 church history on this site pleases you. God bless! - Wes Clark 3/18/11 - Added a link to the KABC Web Cam (atop the Disney Building on Alameda). 3/16/11 - Added the following courtesy of Les Copeland of the Burbank Aviation Museum: Four Famous Planes, Lockheed Workers, P-38 at hangar, Riveters and Lockheed at wartime (note detail of ladies eating at the DeLuxe Box Lunch Co. truck). About this last photo, a reader named Lorenzo writes: "I believe that this photo was taken at the corner of Hollywood Way and Thornton, looking southwest. On the Lockheed property is a P-2 Neptune." Also added BPD Marksman award and City Hall lobby floor. 3/3/11 - Added Valley Ford, San Fernando Blvd., early 1960's. 2/18/11 - Added Benmar brochure 1 (1950's), Benmar brochure 2 (1950's), Benmar brochure 3 (1950's), Benmar brochure 4 (1950's). Thanks to Daryl and Penny Forbes, lifelong Burbankers, for the brochure! Also added 1935 American Legion medal and Safety week ends. 2/17/11 - Added James Jeffries' protege "Spider" Mock - 1 and James Jeffries' protege "Spider" Mock - 2 to the Jeffries Barn page. 2/16/11 - Added Safety Week 1948 at Vickroy Park, Youngsters Get Thrill (Vickroy Park, 1948), Old Public Library display for California Centennial and California Centennial Float (parked at old Public Library on Olive Ave.). 2/15/11 - Added Burbank Pioneers (1947), Push button wonder of 1948, Sox Spring Training, Horseshoes (at Vickroy Park, not Glenoaks), BPD Pogs (mid 1990's) and Mathilda Beall Morphy, Burbank's First Woman Letter Carrier. 2/14/11 - Before there was a Burbank 100th anniversary celebration, there was a 75th. Here are some Los Angeles Times articles on the subject: Politics Invade Birthday Party, Burbank Set To Party As Age Issue Is Settled, Burbank To Put The Icing On Its Cake and Burbank Buries Bits of City Life. 2/11/11 - Mike McDaniel found a bunch of photos and articles: Vickroy Park in 1948, Smiley Burnett entertains the kids at Olive Rec Center, 12/47, Debbie Reynolds and her baton, c. 1948, McCambridge Park Rec Center Opening 1957, Red Skelton in Burbank, 1948, Jiggers, 1948 ("Jiggers" is old slang for "Watch out!"), Burbank as Baseball training city, 1947, Union Air Terminal matchbook. More to come... 2/10/11 - Today's contributor is John Boylan: John Boylan's Burbank. Thanks, John! 2/9/11 - Today's contributor is Cathy Coyle: Lockheed demolition, 1995, City Hall mural, Civic Beauty 1 (City hall), Civic Beauty 2 (City Hall), Burbank 75th Anniversary 1986, Sunset atop the Burbank Blvd. overpass, 12/09. Thanks, Cathy! 2/7/11 - Added The Rock House. I didn't know about the Burbank-Henry Ford connection. Cool! 2/4/11 - Added New Burbank Police and Fire Headquarters card and New Burbank Police and Fire Headquarters coin and cartoon, which were sent to me by the ever-awesome Cathy Coyle. Also posted Burbank on Parade (early 1950's) and Burbank Patrolman Badge. 2/3/11 - Added two more pages from Volume One, Number One (18 June 1925) of the Burbank High School High Life: Page three, Page four. 2/2/11 - Added a couple of pages from Volume One, Number One (18 June 1925) of the Burbank High School High Life: Page one, Page two. Note all the misspellings! Also, added Mike McDaniel's scenic Burbank Sunset, as photographed from the roof of his house on Elmwood Avenue! 1/24/11 - Added Paul E. Wolfe Hollywood Way Bungalows and 1981 Johnny Carson Beautiful Downtown Burbank poster and detail. (These were produced by the Greater Burbank Visitors' Guide; this poster is in the Burbank City Hall Reprographics Department.) Also posted a tomato label from the McKeon Canning Company, which was located in Burbank. 1/11/11 - Added my Verdugo Hills Stories. 1/7/11 - According to Mike, when you saw that polka-dotted bag handed to you at a birthday party it was going to be something good: Marv's Toys bag. 1/5/11 - Lockheed at War! (From "Of Men and Stars," 1957): Photo one, Photo two, Photo three, Photo four, Photo five. Also, the City of Burbank has posted their official Centennial Website; it's at www.burbankusa.com/centennial. 1/4/11 - The Burbank Centennial year begins with the 2011 Tournament of Roses Float: Photo one, Photo two, Photo three, Photo four. 12/22/10 - The City of Burbank has officially kicked off its yearlong Centennial Celebration and will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its incorporation date on July 8, 2011! Cost for the centennial book is $30 now but will be $40 after January 1, 2011. Call 818.238.5300 or go here for more info. Also added Lockheed Rose Parade Float Entry, c. 1945 and Rachael Jones' (BHS Senior) various Burbank athletic tickets. Merry Christmas, everyone! 11/13/10 - Remembering James M. McCloud, a World War I soldier from Burbank who was killed in action... 11/3/10 - Early Burbank Promotional (Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr 1887), Early Burbank Promotional (Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep 1887), Work commences on Burbank Villa (Los Angeles Times, 7 May 1887), Vickroy Park opened (Los Angeles Times, 3 Jun 1925), Wrolstad murder (Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec 1965), Burbank pennant, 1920's, Artillery fire base in Vietnam with Burbank sign, c. 1968. 10/20/10 - When organized crime ran Burbank: Small Cities Can Lick Crime, Too! (Coronet, May 1956). 10/14/10 - Today let's switch from Vietnam to World War II. Added Vengeful War Widows Work in Plane Plants (Los Angeles Times, Jul 12 1942) and P-38's Terrify Nazis, Burbank Flyer Asserts (Jul 26 1943). Anything that terrified Nazis is a plus in my book... 10/13/10 - Added Operation Cookie Lift (Los Angeles Times, Feb 23 1967), Gifts Give Thanks to Servicemen in Vietnam (Nov 12 1965). 10/12/10 - Added Boxing News (11/17/1932) - 1, Boxing News (11/17/1932) - 2, Boxing News (11/17/1932) - 3, Ralph's on Victory and Buena Vista, 1960's, Terminal Drive-In (near the airport) and Gold Star P-38. James Jeffries 75th birthday (15 Apr 1950) and James Jeffries (20 Sep 1943), 9/24/10 - Added Starlight Theatre entrance, James Jeffries 75th birthday (15 Apr 1950) and James Jeffries (20 Sep 1943), 9/20/10 - Added a link for Linda Mustion's Burbank High School, Burbank, CA In Memoriam (Burbank High School Deceased Alumni By Class Years) blog. 9/17/10 - Added James Jeffries Playing Card Backs and SCCC Letterhead Logo, 1929. 9/15/10 - You know what's neat about Burbank? Just when you think you have covered all the interesting stuff somebody remembers something else, or you find interesting things in old newspapers, etc. In this case, Mike remembered seeing the Cabrini Chapel atop Mount Raphael when he was a kid. (I never did - Mike is far more observant than I.) Add in some Los Angeles Times research and you have the Cabrini Chapel page. 9/14/10 - Remember when San Fernando Road had all of those car dealerships? Rothe Pontiac, Art Rice Plymouth/Dodge, Atherton Motors (Studebaker), Art Mugg Chevy and further west Burbank Toyota, Tom Neal Oldsmobile? Here are a couple of old car dealership shots: San Fernando at Providencia looking toward Alameda (March 1956) - Street level shot, San Fernando at Providencia looking toward Alameda (March 1956) - Aerial shot. 9/10/10 - Everyone (save those involved) enjoy looking at a good train wreck, right? Here are some dramatic photos of one: Train wreck at Burbank Junction (12/15/1966) - one, Train wreck at Burbank Junction (12/15/1966) - two, Train wreck at Burbank Junction (12/15/1966) - three, Train wreck at Burbank Junction (12/15/1966) - newspaper article. 9/9/10 - Did you know Burbank once had a Junior Badminton League? Posted Burbank Junior Badminton League Boys (1950's?) and Burbank Junior Badminton League Girls (1950's?). Also posted Burbank Moves Into New Era (1964). 9/8/10 - Posted Burbank A.B.C. Directory (1942). Mike and I think this may have been one of those publications that required businesses to pay for listings, so perhaps not all 1942 Burbank businesses are in it. Still, it's an interesting reflection of who was doing business in town back then. For instance, while you couldn't obtain a colonic in Burbank, you could buy a corset. And Martino's is listed! 9/7/10 - Posted Octavia Lesueur obituary. Tomorrow: the Burbank A.B.C. Directory from 1942... 9/3/10 - Posted twelve Paul E. Wolfe Burbank postcards: Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Burbank on Parade, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Shot from the Verdugo Hills, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Donkey baseball, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Olive Rec, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Burbank High graduation, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Aerial view of Burbank, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Main post office, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Main library, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Lockheed Constitution, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Lockheed Shooting Star, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - Burbank Symphony Orchestra, Paul E. Wolfe postcard - City Hall at night. 9/2/10 - I finally finished scanning the 74 images from the Rancho de los Santos history and posted them as a separate gallery. This way users aren't slamming my bandwidth limits whenever they pull up the text, but still have access to the 13 MB of images. Unfortunately, however, the process of scanning the halftone images produced dots on the image. Anyway, the image link is here, with the text, at the bottom of the chapter headings. I'm glad that's done! Also, I posted the Lockheed Employees Handbook, 1950. First day on the job? Worried about how to fill out your timecard, when the breaks are and where the canteen is located? It's all in here. I'm sure my Dad got one of these on his first day at Lockheed (1955), but I didn't (1979)... Finally, I posted a rather breathless 1954 history of Burbank - The Story of Burbank from Her Eventful Pioneer Days - by the Magnolia Park Chamber of Commerce, full of exclamation points and dramatic ellipses. It's here. 8/31/10 - Remember when Burbank had trailer courts? So do we! Here's a series of photos of the Big Tree Trailer Park (1950's), which was located at 141 W. Verdugo Blvd., where the Public Works yard now is. Big Trees Trailer Park (1950's), 1, Big Trees Trailer Park (1950's), 2, Big Trees Trailer Park (1950's), 3, Big Trees Trailer Park (1950's), 4. 8/30/10 - 1903 map of Burbank! I hope you can make out the streets. That railroad spur is the line that goes west along what is now Chandler, you can orient yourself from that. San Fernando Road is called 2nd Street here. 1903 Burbank map, 1, 1903 Burbank map, 2, 1903 Burbank map, 3, 1903 Burbank map, 4. 8/27/10 - No updates because I'm busy scanning all the images in that Rancho de los Santos booklet. That takes time! I'll post them when I finish. While you're waiting take a look at these: San Fernando Rd. (Olive Ave. at right - 1959/1960) and San Fernando Rd. (Orange Grove at left - late 1959/1960). Somebody - Burbank photographer Paul E. Wolfe, perhaps? - assembled a postcard panoramic view of San Fernando Rd. in what appears to be 1959/1960 (based on a Volkwagen rear window appearing in a wider crop of the shot). 8/25/10 - Posted Little Hollywood Way homes and I-5 South (1960's). Also, yesterday I learned that one of the Grand Ladies of Burbank, Genevieve Cowden Sultenfuss (BHS Class of 1928 - yes, you read that correctly) celebrated her 100th Birthday on August 12th. Happy belated Birthday! This is one person I'd really like to interview about Burbank history... 8/24/10 - Posted a pamphlet-length history of Burbank, Ranchos de los Santos - The Story of Burbank (1927). There are a lot of photos, but I didn't reproduce them due to fears about bandwidth usage (I pay for this site myself) and the fact that, being half-toned, they scan oddly. (They have big dots on the image.) But the text is all there! 8/20/10 - Posted Snow in Burbank (1/13/50), Johnny Carson moves (1972), San Val theater (1975), Glenoaks and Orange Grove, 1970s. 8/19/10 - Posted 1940 Valhalla Crash (front), 1940 Valhalla Crash (back), Boeing Airport plans, 1940 Valhalla portal, 1950s. 8/18/10 - Exclusive to Burbankia! We reveal the true 1899 origin of the old intersection name "Turkey Crossing" - Click here. You might know there would be a J.W. Fawkes mention... P.S. The history books citing an accident date in the 1920's are wrong. 8/17/10 - Posted Trash trucks on Olive, 1950s, San Fernando Road (aerial 1950s), Alameda and San Fernando, 1970s, Accordion performance, 1950s/1960s, 80 E. Olive (Community Chevrolet), 1973, SST Schedule, Lockheed Plant Map 1, Lockheed Plant Map 2 and Lockheed Plant Map 3. 8/16/10 - I'm back from leave. Did the Washington D.C. tourism thing with Mike McDaniel and family. Got all sorts of Burbank stuff from Mike to post, in addition to an honest-to-goodness vintage Burbank High School clock to hang in my garage and a box of Martino's teacakes! Watch for new stuff here in the next few weeks... Tim Avery (I saw him in June) adds a memory to the Burbankers Remember page. Do you have Burbank memories? Send them to me for inclusion here! 8/9/10 - Posted Burbank Blvd. overpass opened (L.A. Times, 5/4/1961). 8/6/10 - Posted Starlighters (L.A. Times, 7/21/1958)! 8/5/10 - Posted some Los Angeles Times articles I found to the Debbie Reynolds, Miss Burbank 1948 article. Also posted Burbank's 50th Anniversary Jubilee. 8/4/10 - Posted some Los Angeles Times articles I found to the Fawkes Folly article. Okay, I think I'm done with J.W. Fawkes for the time being... 8/3/10 - Posted Bar's TV at Magnolia and Hollywood Way, 1970's, Magnolia and Hollywood Way, 1970's, Warners Sign, late 1950's, First Flight, 1955, Public Service Department, 1950's and Wanamaker Rents and Burbank Ford, 1960's. Also, here's a link to the Burbank Leader's story on the City of Burbank Centennial Float. 8/2/10 - Posted some new articles I found to the Fawkes Family Follies article. Did that family get the publicity or what? 7/30/10 - Exclusive to Burbankia and another major article: Consolidation Joe. I have some more J.W. Fawkes articles I'll post next week... 7/29/10 - Posted two images of Alameda Ave., 1932: Alameda Ave. in 1932, one and Alameda Ave. in 1932, two. 7/28/10 - Posted Burbank host to war-bound Marines (I KNOW they appreciated Miss Burbank Fire Fighter, Warrene Ott!) and Burbank to buy TVs for Marines. Semper Fi! 7/27/10 - Posted Burbank has a sense of humor about itself, Vickroy Park opened and City Extends California St. into Vietnam. I like that last one... 7/26/10 - Is it "Burbanker" or "Burbankian?" Mike and I weigh in! 7/23/10 - Check this out, exclusive to Burbankia and a major article: The Fawkes Family Follies. We know the name Fawkes from his famous monorail, but in his lifetime he and his family gained a lot more publicity than that. Calling them "dysfunctional" would be putting it mildly... 7/22/10 - Posted Mormon Church Renovates Historical Building (1986). 7/21/10 - I did some research into a helicopter crash I remember which took place in a vacant lot not far from my elementary school when I was nine. At first I thought this was the August 1966 crash that took the life of KMPG reporter Max Schumacher, but became puzzled when I learned that that crash took place over Dodger Stadium, not in Burbank. The Max Schumacher Burbank crash I recall took place earlier in 1966, on 30 January. The article that explains all this is here. As is sometimes the case, the paper got it wrong. The crash didn't happen near the Lockheed Air Terminal (airport); it happened near the Lockheed plant on Empire Ave. 7/19/10 - Posted a link to Cold War Airplane Crash - thanks Cathy Palmer! 7/16/10 - I posted Mike McDaniel's article, "A Short History of the Mormon Church in Burbank". Mike wrote, "Members of the Mormon Church have served and continue to be of service in the Burbank Community through business and community activities..." to which I add, "...and this website!" 7/15/10 - A couple of old photos of the Pacific Electric "Red Cars" that went down Glenoaks. Pacific Electric Red Car on Glenoaks, 1939 and Pacific Electric Red Car on Glenoaks, 1952. 7/14/10 - Today we note Burbank's Finest! Added Police Radar Van, c. 1959 (I'm proud of my detective work with that billboard), The Police Chief's Office and Police and Fire departments, 1930's. 7/13/10 - Added People From Burbank, California (wikipedia). Also, Renee Wirick alerted me to this interesting .pdf file on Burbank's website: City of Burbank - Citywide Historic Context Report (September 2009). 7/12/10 - Added The Curtain Raisers (complete list of productions) to the Golden Mall Playhouse page. Thanks, Walt! 7/9/10 - Mike McDaniel adds a memory to the Burbankers Remember page - "Operation Cookie Lift." Do you have Burbank memories? Send them to me for inclusion here! Also, posted Bombers at Lockheed plant (Fortune magazine, 1941). It's the Lockheed factory on Empire, pre-U.S. involvement. Hudson bombers were flown to the Canadian border, then dragged across with horses into Canada for the flight to Newfoundland then England. U.S. law did not allow planes made for other countries war efforts to be flown out of the US. Thanks to the Burbank Aviation Museum for this and the 7/7 Portal shots! 7/7/10 - Added some additional photos to the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation page (scroll to bottom). Also added a link to the John Burroughs High School Class of 1967. (If the photos look familiar it's because they're taken from this site!) 7/6/10 - Posted Alameda Ave./I-5 Freeway Construction (c. 1956). 7/2/10 - Thanks to an anonymous contributor - I couldn't talk him out of remaining unknown - I have placed three great new image links on the Fawkes Folly page (scroll to bottom of page). I still say I would have liked to have been able to take a ride on that thing! 7/1/10 - Thanks to Mike McDaniel and e-Bay I am able to post a Ben Mar Development page, describing a notable 1920's-1930's Burbank land speculation debacle. 6/30/10 - A reader once suggested that we get some photos of the John Burroughs High Memorial Stadium before it is torn down and refurbished, so we did. Mike McDaniel's photos appear here, in the Memorial Field photos album. There is something moody and evocative about an empty high school athletic field, especially, I'd imagine, for those who played football there, or took part in field meets. Think of the Friday night crowds for the annual Burbank-Burroughs rivalry in days gone by... all the students down through the decades who met there... Anyway, we look forward to seeing the changes implemented. Looks promising. And looking at Mike's photos, one must admit that the facility has become run down with age and use. Also added the Throttle Queens image, which I got from the "So You're From Burbank..." Facebook page. 6/29/10 - Posted Mike McDaniel's photos of Memorial Day in Burbank, 31 May 2010. 6/28/10 - The subject is still Lockheed... Airport, 1939, 1948 Air Force Day at the airport, Camo cover over Lockheed, Joe and Flora Foss at Lockheed. 6/25/10 - Continuing the aviation theme from yesterday... July 1985 "Lockheed Life" article about the B-17, page 1, page 2, page 3. I also posted this 1950's Lockheed Pistol and Rifle Club Patch and a 1931 Red Cross Air Show envelope. 6/24/10 - Restructured the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation page; I added a link to a gallery of Mike's photos. 6/23/10 - More photos: 1930 Army Air Corps Show at the airport, 1963 Olive Rec Center Bicycle Safety, Bob's at San Fernando and Cedar, Burbank Junction on Burbank Blvd., Clerks in the Old City Hall building, Helen Addison Howard in 1966, James Jeffries, Debbie Reynolds and possibly Shirley Temple, late 1940's,1949 Snow on Old City Hall and Villa Hotel (long view). 6/22/10 - Mike has come into a bunch of old Paul E. Wolfe Burbank photos and other material; some of these look like first generation photos, some look like photos of photos. There are a bunch of them and I'll start running them as I can get them formatted. Here are the first three: Olive and San Fernando, Burbank Villa Hotel, 1887 and Flood on San Fernando, 1928. 6/21/10 - Patti Maisner found this one on an e-Bay sale: Added 1951 Electronics Assemblers, said to be in Burbank. It could be in Lockheed. It must have been warm in the facility in which these ladies worked. Either that, or they were trying to see if they could mess up production from the males in the factory. 6/18/10 - Added San-Val with streets. New stuff coming next week... I need time to sort through it... 6/17/10 - Added a page about the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation in Valhalla Park. While the entrance and some of the grounds are technically in North Hollywood, most of the park and the portal are, in fact, in Burbank. Besides, my parents are buried near the portal so it's appropriate. 6/16/10 - Thanks to Walt Gilmore and Julie Dion I added The Golden Mall Playhouse. 6/4/10 - I posted an epic saga: Walking Home From School. 6/3/10 - W. Martin adds a memory to the Burbankers Remember page. Do you have Burbank memories? Send them to me for inclusion here! 6/1/10 - Greg Alaimo is on the Veterans' Committee in Burbank; this is a photo he has taken in Vietnam during the war! 5/28/10 - For some reason I thought of Lockheed's famous Pneumonia Alley, and realized that an account of it had to go into the Burbankers Remember page (along with text from Kathy Falk). Remember - if you have Burbank memories please send them to me for inclusion here! 5/26/10 - By reader request, I added a page about the Memorial Field at John Burroughs High School. 5/25/10 - Eldridge Ballew Keller (via the Senior Bulldogs Newsletter) adds memories to the Burbankers Remember page. Do you have Burbank memories? Send them to me for inclusion here! 5/21/10 - Posted The Patsy Award Pawprints at the Burbank Animal Shelter. 5/17/10 - Posted Lt. Col. Lang's remarks to the Maxam Park page. 5/14/10 - Posted Mike McDaniel's photos from the Maxam Park dedication ceremony last month to the Maxam Park page. 5/13/10 - Posted Union Air Terminal postcard. 5/12/10 - Posted three photos of the Providencia Motel: One, Two, Three. Cathy Nicholls Coyle supplied these. She lived there for seven years with her parents, who owned the business. 5/11/10 - Posted a new little historical reference, A Brief History of Burbank, California (1961). It was published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Burbank's incorporation. 5/10/10 - Joseph Brown, Jim Baldridge and I add memories to the Burbankers Remember page. Do you have Burbank memories? Send them to me for inclusion here! 5/5/10 - Added the 2001 Burbank City Hall Chamber Renovation and Mural Restoration . 5/4/10 - Added the The Dip: Paul Rosen and Gail Ptack. (It goes with this photo.) The Five Points as it used to be. Additional info: I am informed by his son that, sadly, Paul Rosen and his sister Gail Ptack died some years ago. I really liked these two. I used to stop at the Dip on my walk home from BHS to get a malt every day. Paul always treated me like an adult and Gail, a sweet person, moved like a ballerina. 5/3/10 - Added the Pacific Electric Railway map. 4/30/10 - Looks like the City cleaned up the Hillside "B" for the upcoming 100th anniversary. (It looks a whole lot more presentable than it did for a few days in August 2005 when it was vandalized...) 4/27/10 - Douglas White adds a memory to the Burbankers Remember page. 4/26/10 - Darryl Eisele and Michael Reighley adds memories to the Burbankers Remember page. 4/22/10 - Added a new article, which I hope YOU will help me to write: Burbankers Remember. Carol Hill Olmstead starts us off... 4/20/10 - Added links to Cathy Palmer's BHS Class of 1967 and Linda Mustion's blog pages to the Larry Maxam Park Dedication (17 Apr 2010). 4/19/10 - SEMPER FIDELIS! Posted Larry Maxam Park Dedication (17 Apr 2010). Rest in Peace, Corporal Maxam. 4/15/10 - Posted Then and now: the Providencia Motel. 4/13/10 - As long as we're on the subject of odd Burbank buildings... posted Burbank's Mushrooms Eatery, c. 1928. 4/9/10 - Posted Burbank's Pumpkin Building! It's a work in progress... I'm looking for commentary and memories about it. I will update this page as I receive more information. 4/7/10 - Posted Burbank LDS (Latter-Day Saint, "Mormon") Scout Patch. 4/2/10 - Posted Burbank Main Library room in ad, 1964. 3/29/10 - Posted Burbank Symphony Orchestra, c. 1940's and Disney Studios. Thanks Patti Maisner! 3/26/10 - Posted You Know You're From Burbank If..., a piece I adapted from the Facebook page of the same name (if you're on Facebook, search for it). Also, reader Ken Taylor writes, "I note that you do not always indicate that the park now known as McCambridge Park was originally named Glenoaks Park before the City made extensive renovations and renamed it. I worked there as a summer Recreation Supervisor for the Burbank Parks Department when I was going to Glendale College back in the 1940's." We are so advised! Thanks, Ken. 3/25/10 - Posted Warner Brothers Studios, 1940s?, United Air Lines plane, 1934-1936, First Church of Christ Scientist, 1940s, Villa Cabrini, St. Robert Bellarmine, 1940s. Thanks, Tim Loya! 3/8/10 - Posted House on Victory (Jeffries Barn), 1943. (Mike found this photo via a fellow his son knows; we think it's cool that the celebrated Jeffries Barn can be seen in the background). 3/5/10 - Posted Magnolia Theater, 1944 and California Theater, 1950's.
3/3/10 - Can you name all the Canyons in Burbank? 3/2/10 - And now, the rather seedy backside of San Fernando Road (remember when you could enter stores from the back?): Back of the Heidelberg Haus, Back of Lyon's Men's Shop, Behind the Loma Theater, Behind Perren's Deli, Store back behind San Fernando Rd. between Orange Grove and Palm. And... this ends my current crop of photos uploads for now! 3/1/10 - Here are some San Fernando Road photographs from the 1960's: San Fernando Road, 1960s, San Fernando Road at Orange Grove, 1960s, San Fernando Road looking towards Olive, 1960s. Mike and I would like to stop into Perren's Deli for lunch, then check out the cars at the MG dealership... Also, from Cathy Palmer's blog, Remember the Mouseketeers. There's some Burbank lore here. 2/26/10 - Here are some old Olive Avenue photographs: Main Fire Headquarters 353 Olive Ave., 1970's, Olive Avenue bridge, 1960, Olive Rec Center construction, Olive Rec Patio Area - 1, Olive Rec Patio Area - 2, Olive Stadium, 1946 - 1, Olive Stadium, 1946 - 2. A reader asked about Stelling-Hellings. The name immediately invoked a memory of 1960's stickers of a gap-toothed British race car driver with a handlebar mustache, but initially I wasn't sure of the context. Does anyone have an image of this? The only images that comes up when I google the name is this - which reveals that Stelling and Hellings was an automotive parts or speed store on 2000 West Burbank Blvd. But the driver logo isn't quite what I'm remembering... Apparently they're still in existence in La Crescenta. 2/25/10 - Today I posted some McCambridge Park photos: McCambridge basketball, 1940's(?), McCambridge putting green, Original McCambridge park building, 1940's - 1, Original McCambridge park building, 1940's - 2, Old Timer's Picnic, 1961. Also added Mike's hat to the BHS Nixon rally image I posted earlier this week. Also, some sad news: Amerio Corradi, notable Burbanker, passed away earlier this month. 2/24/10 - Today's topic of interest is the Columbia Ranch (now called the Warner Ranch), alongside Hollywood Way - the home of Hazel, the Monkees, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, the Partridge Family and countless movies. I added this great aerial image: Columbia Ranch, 1950's. But be sure to check out this web site: ColumbiaRanch.net. The interactive map will help you make sense of what you're looking at. A very nice site! 2/23/10 - Added 1968 Nixon Rally in front of Burbank High, 1968 Nixon Rally - Rowan and Martin. Also added Burbank in the 1920's, Airport commissioners, 1978, City councilman scratches head, General Eaton speaks, 1962, Burbank Golden Anniversary, 1961 and Empire Avenue Castle, 1974. 2/22/10 - Added Burbank Golden Mall Photos - Construction to Completion to the The Burbank Golden Mall 1967-1989 page. Yes, I know there's a repeat photo here and there. Sorry. Our configuration management is a little sloppy! You will note that we cite Kessler Jewelers as being the last remaining business from the Golden Mall days on San Fernando Road. Or Boulevard... or whatever it really is. (This is a point of contention among readers, it seems.) 2/19/10 - Remember Burbank's trailer parks? Trailer park close to Victory Blvd. (undated), Trailer park view, 1974. And how about Burbank's Little Theatre? Remember that? Little Theatre Construction (undated) and Little Theatre, 1957. Finally, here's the Burbank's original train depot, 1970's. 2/18/10 - Posted circa 1950's Paul E. Wolfe photos of City Hall: Daytime, Nighttime, Council Chamber. Also, Daily Review office on Orange Grove, 1970's and Hancock Gas Station on Orange Grove and Third, 1960's. Note correction below - the bicycle safety course was at Olive Rec, not McCambridge Park. Most importantly, note the Maxam Park flyer. The City of Burbank is renaming Pacific Park in honor of Cpl. Larry Maxam, USMC - Burbank's only Medal of Honor recipient. His Burbankia page is here; it explains why he was awarded the Medal of Honor. 2/17/10 - A series of photos showing 1960's Burbank kids negiotiating a tricky bicycle safety course at the Olive Rec Center back parking lot: One (the girl in the foreground looks like she just blew it - in front of all those boys, yet), Two (she's on her way), Three and Four. I don't see any Schwinn Sting-Rays, so I'm guessing this was before 1964, possibly the 1950's. Did you ever take one of these tests? 2/16/10 - We're back with ninety new-old photographs that I'll be posting in the coming weeks! We start with a series of postcards depicting the construction of the NBC studios back in 1954: 6/10/54, 6/29/54, 7/2/54, 7/21/54, 8/10/54, 10/6/54 (first), 10/6/54 (second), 10/6/54 (third), 10/6/54 (fourth) and 10/6/54 (last). Cool, huh? 2/13/10 - My family moved to Burbank 45 years ago today! 1/28/10 - Patti Maisner (BHS '75) alerted me to these two auction photos: "Color City" (NBC Studios), 1955 and Lockheed blackout, 1941. Thanks, Patti! 1/27/10 - Cathy Palmer, roving investigative reporter from BHS '67, has a cool blog entry about how a Burbank girl inspired the Beach Boys' song "Be True to Your School." She calls it "The Beach Boys in Burbank." Check it out; it is now a permanent link on this page. Her blog and this page are rather like sister sites... 1/15/10 - Posted Collins Radio, The Elizabeth Building and Dr. David Burbank's parents. I also added a link to a Burbank Leader article to the Dr. David Burbank Statue and Dedication page. Annddd... that's it for a while, I think. 1/14/10 - Here's our page on the recent Dr. David Burbank Statue and Dedication. Mike was there with his trusty camera! 1/13/10 - Posted a rare, generally unseen image of Dr. David Burbank with his horse. I do not have a source, date or attributation for this image. I have grouped all the known David Burbank portraits I have on the History page. Also, posted a photo of the late, great Hotel Savoy. I recall visiting the lobby, once, c. 1972. It was remarkably decrepit. It looked like a set for a movie about a skid row district. 1/12/10 - Posted a link for Cathy Palmer's Burbank High School Blog. This is where you can find senior pictures. 1/11/10 - Posted The Burbank Theatre. 1/8/10 - Posted excerpts from the 30 November 1889 Burbank Times. And that's all I have for the Times reprints... Also added Lockheed in Burbank, 1928-1994, Selected Highlights. AND... Five Points Dedication - Dr. Burbank statue unveiling Please join the City of Burbank on Tuesday, January 12 for the Five Points Dedication and Dr. David Burbank Statue Unveiling. The ceremony will be held 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 1075 West Burbank Blvd. (corner of Burbank Blvd. and Victory Blvd.) Don't miss this historical day in the City of Burbank. Enjoy food, giveaways, and more! Limited parking will be available in the Costco parking lot. For more information, please call (818) 238-5300. 1/7/10 - Posted excerpts from the 27 April 1889 and the 16 November 1889 Burbank Times. More coming. Also posted Union Air Terminal, with Lockheed plane, 1930's and Union Air Terminal, 1930's. 1/6/10 - Posted excerpts from the 6 April 1889, the 13 April 1889 and the 20 April 1889 Burbank Times. Be sure to read the editor's little notes. They're interesting and shed light on small town Burbank. For instance, did you know that in 1889 "a gang of Chinamen" were harvesting wild horehound in the river bottom below the Ostrich Farm (wherever that was)? The dried leaves were used as a cough remedy. There were thousands of tons of wild horehound in Burbank, once upon a time. More coming. Also posted July 5th, 1948 fire. A stray firecracker from the day before, do you suppose? 1/5/10 - Posted excerpts from the 30 March 1889 Burbank Times. More coming. 1/4/10 - About the Bus line 29 I posted last month, Kent Barcus writes: "This was the Pacific Electric rail line which ran from the Burbank station west of Olive Ave. on Glenoaks into Glendale and then LA. It also used to run further west on Glenoaks through Burbank and into Roscoe/Sun Valley probably in the 20s and 30s but was subject to derailing due to the downslope from about Bethany to Scott Road--this according to a man I knew who was a Pac. El. conductor as well as my Dad's recollections from growing up in Burbank. What was the Burbank station or car barn behind City Hall became a car wash and I remember seeing the train there in the early 1950s. Docent tours were conducted in the 1980s of the subway facility on Hill St in downtown LA." Added Cathy Nicholls Coyle's comments and photos to the Marine Corps Day in Burbank, 3/23/1968. 12/30/09 - Posted Bus line 29 and Bus line 29-2. 12/24/09 - Posted Marine Corps Day in Burbank, 1968. Also posted Burbank Nite at Disneyland 1975 (I was at the 1976 one) as well as Bel Air Palms Motel postcard, 1950's. And that's it through the holidays! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 12/23/09 - Let's set the controls on the Way Back Machine to 1973 and visit Burbank's fabulous Golden Mall. 1973 Images of the Golden Mall. (Added to the Golden Mall page.) Uhhhh... it doesn't look especially fabulous or golden, does it? 12/22/09 - The good news is that I recently got a bunch of interesting old images of Burbank, as well as nearly 200 images from an 1889 edition of the Burbank Times. The bad news is that it's almost Christmas, I have kids flying in and I'll be preoccupied. Here's Tennessee Ernie Ford at the new DeBell Golf Course, 1959 for you while I'm preparing all these images. 12/17/09 - The Burbank Police Department used to use Nash Metropolitans.. 12/9/09 - Posted You're Seriously Old San Fernando Valley If You.... Thanks, Jim Baldridge! 12/1/09 - Posted Burbank's Oldest Alumni (in 1978). Thanks, Herb Vincent! 11/27/09 - It snowed in the Verdugo Hills in the winter of 1978/1979; here's the proof. As I recall we got some hailstones in the Valley. (Photo taken by the corner of Cypress and Kenneth.) 11/17/09 - Posted The Burbank Branch (part of abandonedrails.com). 11/16/09 - Posted Burbank Villa. I think this is probably from the late 1880's. 11/4/09 - Mike McDaniel found a great old aerial shot of Burbank on e-Bay. I have posted it: 1920s/1930s Aerial Shot of Burbank. Looks like it was taken from a bi-plane, based on the strut in the shot... 11/3/09 - Posted Aging Dr. David Burbank. Also added a link to the findagrave.com gravesite entry for Dr. David Burbank. 10/19/09 - Posted New Country Club in color. Taken circa 1950. Thanks to Wallace King for the photo! (His uncle Hal Bowns was the photographer.) 9/29/09 - Ancient murder on Buena Vista! Posted Knapp's arrowhead collection. 9/14/09 - Posted Lockheed, 1940's, Hollywood Way and Opening of Union Airport, 1930. Thanks, Cathy! 9/11/09 - Finished at last! I have posted the 216 page Burbank Community Book (1944), a major addition to this site. It's a funny kind of thing. The book badly needs editing, has odd sentence construction, uses the word "pretentious" in a positive way, is fond of the phrase "wide awake" and has various spelling errors that, for the sake of authenticity, I didn't fix. But it is certainly an engaging, lively, community-spirited work. I liked the tales about the men in tuxedos fighting the 1927 fire, the story of the doctor who didn't look up and thus saved his life, the little lost girl who made her way from Vickroy Park to Pacoima, the Burbank Official Song, etc. It's highly recommended for those interested in Burbank history and stands as a good companion work to the 1967 History of Burbank published by the school system. Also, I posted a search tool for the website onto the front page. Now you can search for names, places, etc. Don't know why I didn't add that years ago... 9/10/09 - Posted Plane Crash in Burbank? I have fourteen pages left to scan of the Burbank Community Book (1944). I might have it up tomorrow or early next week at the latest... 09/09/09 - Posted an additional photo of Roberts Drive In (which used to be at the corner of Victory and Olive) to the photos page. I'd love to be in one of those old cars, chewing on a burger and downing a malt under the glare of those neon lights... what fun! I am still working on converting The Burbank Community Book (1944) to HTML. I've got another 40 pages left to do plus photos. Be patient. 9/8/09 - Reader James Moloney contributes this to the account of the 1927 fire. 9/4/09 - Added some more old photos taken at the Olive Rec Center: St. Louis Browns at the Olive Rec Memorial Stadium - 1, St. Louis Browns at the Olive Rec Memorial Stadium - 2, St. Louis Browns vs. Cleveland Indians at the Olive Rec Memorial Stadium, Olive Rec Center Memorial Stadium wide angle - 1, Olive Rec Center Memorial Stadium wide angle - 2, Outdoor boxing event at the Olive Rec Memorial Stadium, late 40's/early 50's - 1, Outdoor boxing event at the Olive Rec Memorial Stadium late 40's/early 50's - 2. And that does it for this current batch of photos. Now I'm working on converting the 1944 Burbank Community Book into HTML, a task that will take weeks (it requires optical character recognition and correction). Stay tuned. Seeing as how hillfires are currently in the news, here's an excerpt from this 1944 history I'm working on - an account of when, 82 years ago, Burbankers in tuxedos were drafted to help put out fires: The Big Fire of 1927. Oh, and be sure to check out the City of Burbank's newly revamped website at burbankusa.com - all sorts of stuff there. Have a great Labor Day weekend, folks! 9/3/09 - Added old photos taken at the Olive Rec Center: Olive Recreational Center aerial shot, Olive Rec Center with Navy flag, Memorial Stadium wide angle (pardon my clumsy Photoshopping), Youth boxing at Olive Rec. 9/2/09 - Added old photos taken at the Starlight Bowl: The Burbank Symphony Orchestra in concert, 1946, Starlight Bowl, 1946, Starlight Bowl from stage - center, Starlight Bowl from stage - left, Starlight Bowl from stage - right. Also added KFWB radio concert, late 1940's, 9/1/09 - Added a new photo to the Burbank's Space Capsule of Love page. 8/31/09 - I'm back from vacation. The topic for the day is the casting pool at the former Buena Vista Park (now Johnny Carson Park). Casting Pool, 1952 Dedication, Casting Pool, 1950's, Casting Pool, 1954 Sailboat Regatta, Casting Pool, Sailboat Regatta, Casting Pool, 1950's. 8/18/09 - More photos: Verdugo Pool Dedication, 1948 (Debbie Reynolds?), Movies at Providencia School, Train wreck, Fire Department Station #1, 1950, Burbank Police Motor Officers, 1950's (front), Burbank Police Motor Officers, 1950's (back), Burbank Police Detectives, 1950's (front), Burbank Police Detectives, 1950's (back). More when I return... 8/17/09 - I've got a bunch of new images and an entire book to post, but, sadly, you'll have to wait until I come back from vacation to see them! Here's a taste: 1943 Girls Softball Champions, 1944 Girls Softball, Boys baseball, 1944-1945, Union Air Terminal. 8/10/09 - Posted Ravens Car Club plaque. Thanks, Dan! 7/30/09 - Posted Vickroy Park tetherball, 1950s. 7/29/09 - Posted Helpful Cop on State Route 99 - Feb., 1950 (Front St.). 7/24/09 - Posted What Plane? (Thanks Cathy!) 7/23/09 - Posted some scans of an 1889 issue of The Burbank Times. 7/21/09 - Posted a couple of photographs of an Elks Club rodeo held at the Jeffries Ranch in 1930: One and Two. 7/17/09 - In the market for flare jeans, wide ties, body shirts or sashes? Naturally, it's The Lamplighter Boutique for Men on Magnolia! (Thanks to the Senior Bulldogs Newsletter for this one.) 7/15/09 - Have a desire to drink yourself blind? Do it the Burbank way with Gold Stake Straight Corn Whiskey, made right here in town by the Three G Distillery Corporation! 7/14/09 - Burbank's "Rosie the Riveter" died recently; here's her obit. 7/10/09 - Okay, here's another artist name for you: Bartholomew Mako. He's the artist who carved the bas reliefs on the outside of Burbank City Hall, not to mention that wonderful art deco eagle at the top. Here are some Mako images: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten. 7/9/09 - As you may or may not know, there is an important Hugo Ballin work in the Burbank City Hall, "The Four Freedoms." Here are various Hugo Ballin artifacts pertaining to it: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight. 7/8/09 - Mike McDaniel explains Front Street and Interstate 5 in Burbank. Why does the traffic back up there? Because it curves. Why does it curve? Here's why! 7/7/09 - Posted Golden State motel postcard. 7/6/09 - Posted Vickroy Park opening newspaper clipping and Vickroy Park opening program. 6/29/09 - Today we honor Joseph W. Fawkes: Visionary, Burbank landowner, attempted Disincorporator, painter, Patent-holder and Builder of the World's First Aerial Trolley Car. Based on some new information dug up by Mike and myself, I posted a map and a couple of patent links to the Fawkes Folly page, as well as some personal stuff about him listed at the end of the page. You know, I would have loved to see that thing scuttle down the line, driven by that enormous propeller! The little band plays, a flag is fitted to the car, the prop is revved up and away it goes. Very cool. By looking at old records, Mike figured out what that factory is at the bottom of this detail from a 1940 shot: The General Water Heater Corporation factory roofline. As the name suggests, they built water heaters. Finally, I created a new Burbankia main logo from a 1923 set of maps Mike dug up! 6/26/09 - Posted Burbank from Stough Park, 1940's (which has details: Burbank High, Borrmann Steel, Browns Stadium, City Hall, Light and Power Bldg. and Old Muir School), Debell, Castaway, Starlight Parking construction, Debell construction, Starlight Bowl concert, 1940, Starlight Bowl construction, Starlight Bowl parking lot, 1955, Stough Park BBQ, 1950s, Stough Park wading pool, Stough Park picnic area, Women's softball 1950's and Women's softball 1950's (back of photo). Also posted photos from the second annual (1944) "6-16" (ages six to sixteen) model building contest: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and photos from the third annual (1945) contest: One, Two, Three, Four. Whew! And that's it for a while, all my photos in this batch - 99 of 'em in total. Hope you liked them! 6/25/09 - Posted Aerial view of Burbank, 1983, Bonnywood Place, circa 1956 (this is a good one, lots of detail!), Bonnywood Pl. and Magnolia, 1950's, Lockheed F104 dedication at the Olive Rec Center, First pitch at Olive Stadium, Navy officer speaks at the Olive Stadium dedication, Veteran speaks at the Olive Stadium dedication. Also posted Standard Brands: Paint Central in Burbank. 6/24/09 - Posted Olive Ave. storm drain - 1, Olive Ave. storm drain - 2, Olive Ave. storm drain - 3, Olive Ave. storm drain - 4, Train incident, 1950's - 1, Train incident, 1950's - 2, Verdugo Ave. Train incident, 1950's - 1, Verdugo Ave. Train incident, 1950's - 2. I hope you're enjoying all these old photos - I have more! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE! 6/23/09 - Posted Firestone store on San Fernando Rd. and San Jose, 1985 - 1, Firestone store on San Fernando Rd. and San Jose, 1985 - 2, Firestone store on San Fernando Rd. and San Jose, 1985 - 3, San Fernando Road, 1970's, Moreland Truck Company factory, overhead shot, San Fernando Road near McCambridge Park, 1950's, San Fernando Road near McCambridge Park, 1950's- 2. I also fixed a wrongly attributed photo, which at first Mike and I called "Magnolia and First." A reader wrote in and told us, "That's not First St. That's Front St." Turns out we were all wrong. It's Front Street today, but was Bonnywood Place back then. This clearly appears on a sign sign at the bottom that we somehow completely missed! The newly-captioned photo is here. As other photos came to light it appears that some major regrading was done when I-5 was built that changed all the street designations in that general area. Anyway... as I wrote before, an account of how Bonnywood Place became I-5 is in the works. 6/22/09 - Posted Burbank Blvd., 1953, Burbank Blvd., 1953, 2, Burbank Blvd., 1970's (Home Savings), Burbank Blvd., 1973, Burbank Blvd., Nov. 1972, Burbank Blvd., Sept., 1954. 6/19/09 - Posted Burbank Creamery milk bottle, Burbank Line Bus Tokens, Glenoaks widening 1, Glenoaks widening 2, Glenoaks and Grismer, Riverside Dr. and Pass Ave. 1, Riverside Dr. and Pass Ave. 2, Riverside Dr. and Pass Ave. 3. 6/18/09 - Posted Western Disposal Area, Feb. 1950, Western Disposal Area, Feb. 1950, 2, Marty's Meals, L-1011 Needs Engineers, Hollywood Way and Empire, The Dip, April 1972, The Five Corners, 1973. 6/17/09 - Posted Northwest Park 1, Northwest Park 2, Bill's Ranch Market from the air, Bill's Ranch Market (closer), Victory and Magnolia, Magnolia and 1st, 1954, Magnolia and 1st, 1985, 99 East Magnolia, 1985. The Victory and Magnolia shot is of special interest and will form a visual basis for a little article Mike is working out about how Bonnywood became I-5. 6/16/09 - Posted Flying A station on Olive and 3rd, Asphalt Plant on Clybourne, Fireballs Softball Team, Old Fire Station on 3rd and Olive, The Public Works Yard, 1st St. and Magnolia looking North, BHS tennis courts, 3rd and Delaware, The newer Burbank Country Club, Gibraltar Savings, 1985, Bank of America, 401 Golden Mall, 1985, Aerial shot of Mensaco, High water at Pass and Alameda, Roberts Drive in and Brown Stadium. 6/15/09 - Stand by! I'll be posting a whole bunch of old Burbank photos. Check back daily. Posted Olive Avenue looking West, Original Elks Lodge on Palm, 1985, Big 5 and Standard Brands on Victory Blvd., Burbank Hospital, 1929, Andrew Jergens Co., 1960s and Burbank Safety Council Keeps Score. 6/4/09 - Posted Parked at the Post Office, Postcard: San Fernando West of Olive and 205 S. San Fernando Rd. 5/28/09 - Posted Sailee's Coffee Shop. 5/26/09 - Thanks to readers Dan Waite, Pam Kirkwood, Cathy Palmer and Herb Vincent I have posted a better Burbank Military Academy page. The building still stands! 5/22/09 - Thanks to reader Lyla El-Safy I can post some images from the now defunct Burbank Military Academy's 1936 editon of "the Buzzer," their yearbook. Image one, Image two, Image three, Image four, Image five and Image six. Lyla writes, "There were photos of the dorm rooms, boys doing their activities, etc. I did notice a mention that the Academy was started in 1932. I would guess it was started by Mrs. L.G. DeMonbrun, the Manager-Owner, who is shown after the title page in a photo with Dedication." Does anyone have any more information about the BMA - where it was located, when it closed, etc.? 5/12/09 - Posted a link to the City of Burbank streamliner. Also added some history regarding the design of the Unimart Building. 5/11/09 - Here's John Muir School Creed. 4/20/09 - I think I've finally arrived at the truth about the so-called "Burbank Train Robbery" of 1894 - it was really the Sun Valley Train Robbery. I have updated my page (scroll to bottom). 4/7/09 - Linked to Hugo Ballin's Burbank City Hall Mural. 4/1/09 - I have some doubts about the article I posted yesterday, and have included these at the bottom, in addition to an 1894 citation of a train robbery involving Burbank. 3/31/09 - Added an article about an incident known to Western history as "The Burbank Train Robbery." Does anyone out there have more details? (Or know precisely where to dig?) 3/26/09 - Added a couple of articles by Burbankia guest writer Monte Thrasher: LOVE From Above and UFO Landing Pad. 3/24/09 - Added What Plane? 3/23/09 - Added Hamburger Paradise (Big Boy Bob's in Burbank). 3/20/09 - Added Puzzling Muir pin. 3/18/09 - Added Old Country Club traces. 3/2/09 - Added Warner Bros. Works on the 1959 Time Capsule. 2/20/09 - Added some text (at the bottom) of the Fawkes Folly article. 2/19/09 - Posted some stuff Mike found on the 1953 Mabel Monohan murder: Barbara Graham newspaper clipping #1, Barbara Graham newspaper clipping #2, Barbara Graham newspaper clipping #3, Barbara Graham newspaper clipping #4, Barbara Graham newspaper clipping #5, Mabel Monohan. 2/18/09 - Posted Burbank Police Boys Band, 1955, Sample ballot 1914. 2/17/09 - Posted Aerial view of McCambridge Park shortly after being built (1959?), Easter service at Stough Park, 1938 and Stough Park Inspiration Point, 1936. 2/13/09 - Posted Shepherd's Cottage. 2/9/09 - Posted 1959 Time Capsule Found. 2/4/09 - Burbank 1976! (1976 time capsule). Thanks Cathy Palmer... 2/3/09 - Atomic power, monorails... it's Burbank 2009! (As envisioned in the 1959 Magnolia Blvd. Bridge time capsule). 1/30/09 - Posted Bud's Auto Service. 1/21/09 - Posted Jimmy Gerschler postcard, 1964 courtesy of Cathy Coyle. 1/16/09 - Posted Burbank airport, 1934 courtesy of Tim Loya. 1/14/09 - Posted First National Studios truck. 1/12/09 - Posted Civil Defense in Burbank, 1951. 1/7/09 - Posted Olive Stadium construction, 1, Olive Stadium construction, 2, DeBell Golf Course, early 1960's. 1/5/09 - Happy New Year! Posted Burbank's 1965 Tournament of Roses parade float, "Burbankopoly" (Image one, Image two, Image three, Image four, Image five), and 1969 Valley Greensheet page (Look at those car prices). Also, can any of you Burbank old-timers identify this old Burbank market? The sign seems to say "Goner Market" or "Coner Market" (there aren't enough letters for "Corner Market"). Added a new linked image to the Fawkes Folly page. Finally, Mike's beautiful "Burbank at Night" image, taken from the lot across the street from the Starlight Bowl. You can see why young couples have traditionally found it inspirational. 12/5/08 - Hey, this web site has been up for five years today! 11/25/08 - Posted Bank of America's main branch, 1963, Police Headquarters construction, 1960, Stough Parking Lot construction, The Sylvan Falls (up Country Club Dr.), Sylvan cabin, 1920s, Sylvan Falls visitors, 1920s, Country Club Pool (Johnny Weismuller's) and New Country Club (now LDS church) to the Photo section. The country club photos were provided by Doris Vick, who lived on Country Club Dr. for fifty years. 11/20/08 - Posted Bellarmine-Jefferson High School, June 1962, Warner Brothers, 1961, Warner Brothers, 1958, The Battle of Burbank - 1, The Battle of Burbank - 2, Dwarf cottage and Burbank wildcat to the Photo section. 11/19/08 - Posted Empire China Company, San Fernando Road, 1963, Postwar Trailers and Warner Brothers, 1937 to the Photo section. Also, rearranged photos more or less by category - that page is getting big! 11/18/08 - Posted Curries Ice Cream, 1960 - 1, Curries Ice Cream, 1960 - 2, Grape Pickers, c. 1928, Grape Picker, c. 1928, Landfill View, Owl Drugs, The Burbank Prowlers, Tsuki Teru car club and Shopping Bag to the Photo section. Also, added five new images to the Ansel Adams in Burbank page. 11/17/08 - Posted San Fernando Road, 1946, San Fernando Road, 1947, San Fernando Road, 1951, Public Service Department building, 1951, Warner Brothers, 1928 and Warner Brothers fire, 1952 to the Photo section. 11/14/08 - Posted Burbank's 1938 Tournament of Roses float, Burbank's 1939 Tournament of Roses float, Burbank's 1956 Tournament of Roses float and Burbank in 1916 to the Photo section. 11/13/08 - Posted 1963 Burbank Nazi Party Rally, Lockheed in 1934, James Jeffries funeral, 1953, The construction of I-5 in 1957, and Olive Ave., 1954 to the Photo section. 11/12/08 - Posted Foreman and Clark, Adlai Stevenson visits Lockheed, Cinecolor, Tractor on an airplane wing, and War veteran trailers to the Photo section. 11/10/08 - Posted Ansel Adams in Burbank. 11/3/08 - Added a link to Burbank.com, a site with many, many Burbank links. 10/24/08 - Posted Golden Mall Playhouse Productions. Once again, thanks, Julie Dion! 10/10/08 - Posted Golden Mall Playhouse, mid 70's - 1 and Golden Mall Playhouse, mid 70's - 2. Thanks, Julie Dion! Also posted Burbank High Dance at McCambridge Rec Center, 1943 - 1, Burbank High Dance at McCambridge Rec Center, 1943 - 2 Burbank High Dance at McCambridge Rec Center, 1943 - 3 Burbank High Dance at McCambridge Rec Center, 1943 - 4. Once again, photos from Burbankia's in-house image detective, Mike "Scoop" McDaniel. 10/9/08 - Posted Alameda and Glenoaks, 1958 and Hughes Brothers Gas station, 1940s. Also posted Country Club Drive (date unknown), Country Club Drive, facing down Olive (1963), Old Country Club Drive (date unknown) - 1, Old Country Club Drive (date unknown) - 2. Once again, photos from the intrepid Mike McDaniel. 10/8/08 - Posted some photos from 1942 showing the construction of the Burbank City Hall: City Hall construction, 1942 - 4, City Hall construction, 1942 - 5, City Hall construction, 1942 - 6, City Hall construction, 1942 - 7. All photos from the ever-vigilant Mike McDaniel. 10/5/08 - Posted Mudslide on Country Club Dr., 1962 or 1963 - 1, Mudslide on Country Club Dr., 1962 or 1963 - 2. Also posted some photos from 1942 showing the construction of the Burbank City Hall: City Hall construction, 1942 - 1, City Hall construction, 1942 - 2, City Hall construction, 1942 - 3. All photos from Mike McDaniel. 9/30/08 - Posted Victory Drive-In, thanks to Herb Vincent and the Senior Bulldogs newsletter. See entry for 9/25. Reader Bob Morgan confirmed that yes, there was once a wading pool at Vickroy Park. It was located at the end of Brighton St., where the tennis courts where later built. (I remember those.) The pool was removed between 1961 and February 1965, when I moved to the neighborhood. Mystery solved! 9/25/08 - Mike found an old photo marked simply, "Vickroy Park," which shows a wading pool. I moved into the neighborhood in February 1965, and there wasn't one there by then nor afterwards. Do any of you old-timers recall a wading pool at Vickroy Park, or is this photo mismarked? 9/23/08 - Posted Burbank Girl Inspires Beach Boys Song. 9/22/08 - Posted Burbank promotional films. 9/19/08 - Posted The Moreland Truck Company, 1917-1940 and Burbank's Official Song: "In Burbank". 9/18/08 - I'll give that other high school some mention: posted Burroughs High School 1963 Special Prom Guests. 9/17/08 - Just got back from Burbank, where I attended the Burbank High School Centennial Celebration. I had a blast! Here's my report. 9/4/08 - The BHS 100 poster. 9/2/08 - Posted four photos associated with the old Luttge Store: One, Two, Three, Four. Photos courtesy of the Burbank Historical Museum. 8/11/08 - My son assures me that all the hip and with-it webmasters make their links open new windows when clicked, so I have changed the coding in Burbankia to do that. I hope I didn't screw anything up! 8/1/08 - Just bought my plane tickets; I will be at the various Burbank High 100th anniversary events on 11-15 September. Hope to see some of you there! I'll be the tall goof wearing a label that says, "Class of 1974." 7/11/08 - Posted Gelson's - Then and Now. A big Burbankia thanks to Bob Morgan! 6/26/08 - Posted A Few Words About Perren's Deli. 6/23/08 - Posted Olive Rec Center in the Snow. Also, posted the San-Val Drive-In Theater, 1972: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight. 4/2/08 - Thanks to reader Rosemarie Ellis, I have added a newspaper clipping about Mingay's 100th birthday and a program to the "Henry Mingay page." 3/26/08 - Added "Lockheed Comes to Burbank" and "Burbank Gets a Major Airfield." 3/20/08 - "The Spirit of Soho": You can travel all the way across the Atlantic and still see references to Burbank! 2/10/08 - Thanks to Darryl Eisele I am able to post this souvenir menu from Sargent's: front, menu, back. It's dated December 1959. My mother worked there 1969-1971; as a child I recall how hard the menu was to read! 1/30/08 - The Burbank High School Class of 1967 Blog site. 12/5/07 - Burbankia is four years old today - cool! 11/30/07 - Posted Burbank High School, 100 years! Can you help? 11/13/07 - Just discovered BurbankHistory.com (click here), a clever website about - can you guess? - Burbank history. Check out the page about the celebrated Burbank Breathing Bush. 10/18/07 - Posted Burbank zinc stamps. 10/16/07 - Posted Burbank City Hall, 1950's, Burbank City Hall, Christmas, 1960's, Burbank City Hall, New Year, 1965 and Old Burbank seals. Also, Starlight Bowl 1965 Program and "Oklahoma" at the Starlight Bowl, Sept. 20/21, 1965. 9/24/07 - Posted A Notable Barrel Roll! 9/7/07 - Posted a link to Burbank Autobooks/Aerobooks - Since 1951. Thanks to Jim Baldridge for pointing it out! 9/4/07 - Posted a photo of Barbara Eden at the Golden Mall. Thanks, Ron Green! 8/28/07 - Posted a link to How To Hide An Airplane Factory. 8/14/07 - Posted Compass Tree Park. 7/12/07 - Well, here's something that I didn't know: in 1945 there was a camp (or two) in Burbank for Japanese-Americans who were interred during the war. They were staging places on Winona Ave. and also Magnolia Blvd. for them to live while they were finding permanent housing. I added a very incomplete page here. 7/11/07 - Added What Hasn't Changed in Burbank. 5/25/07 - Added a link to a youtube video: The Coral Cafe Ghost. 5/23/07 - Added some text from a reader to the Burbank's Space Capsule of Love article. 5/8/07 - Posted 1953 Plane Crash! 3/26/07 - Posted Freddie Sanchez Day and A Wartime Encounter! 3/9/07 - Posted Fire at Columbia Ranch! 2/9/07 - Posted A Softer Side of Lockheed and If you live in Burbank you know this is true! 2/1/07 - Posted Steingold's Art Van. 1/24/07 - Posted Elaine Hampton's fine Dartmouth photo to the top of my Snow in Burbank article. 1/22/07 - Posted a article about Burbank's T&A Hobby Lobby of fond recollection. 1/18/07 - RuthAnn Talley adds some historical comments to the Tribute to Burbank's Small Grocery Stores piece. 1/11/07 - Chris Besenty weighs in on The First Real Blackout in Burbank article. (Scroll down.) Was it perhaps really "The Battle of Los Angeles?" 1/4/07 - Here's a good one: what do air raids in Burbank and Elmer Fudd have in common? Added Joe Brown's comments to the The First Real Blackout in Burbank article. (Scroll down.) 1/3/07 - Happy New Year! Added a couple of photos from Sylvia Dodson Novak to the Snow in Burbank article. 12/11/06 - Posted Don Iwerks' photo of the Starlight Hills, early 1960's - thanks, Dan Krattiger! Also, added some commentary to Olive Rec Center built and Burbank Blvd. (before the overpass). 12/8/06 - My father-in-law Don Bilyeu adds some commentary to the The First Real Blackout in Burbank article. 12/7/06 - For Pearl Harbor Day (65 years ago today), Lou Schirm takes us back to the evening of January 24th, 1942, and describes The First Real Blackout in Burbank. 12/5/06 - This web site is three years old today. Cool. 11/27/06 - Posted Burbank Country Club pool view. 11/9/06 - Posted "The Fastest Guys Out There." (I think the SR-71, and not the Tonight Show, was the greatest thing to come out of Burbank.) 10/30/06 - Posted "His Old Haunts" about director Tim Burton returning to Burbank. 10/11/06 - In an unusual step for me, I have posted images from the 1984 "Burbank Champions of the Past" calendar to the History Page. (It's unusual because when I was in junior and senior high school I hated jocks. But having taken up rugby in my middle age I am now somewhat better disposed towards athletes and sports.) 10/4/06 - Posted Burbank Blvd. (before the overpass). 9/15/06 - Posted Lockheed Airport, 1930's, San Fernando Road, c. 1912, San Fernando Road, 1927, San Fernando Road, 1940's, Burbank/Los Angeles annexation stand, Bored Young Men blocking San Fernando Road (for lack of a better title) and Olive Ave. and San Fernando Road, c. 1915-1920. 9/11/06 - Posted Don Ray's article about Genio's. Also posted Palm Avenue, 1950's, Burbank at Night, 1950's and San Fernando Road, 1959. 8/14/06 - Posted Vic Tayback, who was a student of Burbank High School (where Mike and I attended). 7/20/06 - Posted Lockheed during wartime and Pilot's eye view of the Lockheed Airport, 1929. 7/18/06 - Posted Lockheed Plant B-1 changes. Also posted Glenoaks and Cohasset, 1960's and Welcome to Burbank: San Fernando Road, 1950's. 7/17/06 - Posted Welcome to Burbank: Victory and Elm, Welcome to Burbank: Glenoaks and Alameda, Welcome to Burbank: Barham Blvd., Welcome to Burbank: Riverside Drive, Welcome to Burbank: Victory and Clybourne, Welcome to Burbank: Magnolia Blvd., 1968, Olive and Barham, 1960's. 7/14/06 - Posted 30 May 1944: Captain Mingay Day in Burbank to the existing Captain Henry Mingay page (scroll to bottom). Also posted Old Police and Fire Station and Golden Girl Jan Chronert to the Golden Mall page. (Sure, Mayor Compton is in the photo, too, but who's looking at him?) 7/13/06 - Posted "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" postcard #1, "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" postcard #2 and "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" postcard #3. Also posted Olive Rec Center stadium and diamond, Looking up Walnut, 1950, Burbank from the dump, 1949, Burbank from the dump, 1955, Olive Ave. at night, San Fernando Road and Alameda, 1950's and San Fernando Road and Alameda, 1960's. Finally, I address the phrase "Beautiful Downtown Burbank." 7/12/06 - Posted a major new collection of photos that ought to reawaken the dormant memory cells of Burbankers: The Burbank Golden Mall. Also posted the L-1011 Building and San Fernando Road, 1960's. 7/11/06 - Posted Olive Rec Center built, Olive Rec Center baseball stadium and Bonnywood and Magnolia. 7/10/06 - Posted Unimart, Western City Disposal Area and Jerry Colonna and some Burbank baseball players. I also restructed the front page into sub-pages, so it looks less junky. 7/7/06 - Posted The Dip, The back of The Dip, The Five Points, Olive Avenue Bridge being built and Olive Avenue Bridge complete. 6/29/06 - Posted Martinos - A Burbank Bakery Institution. 5/19/06 - Bob Meza explains the The 1968 Jet Crash in Burbank! 4/19/06 - Posted a link to The Battle of Burbank, 5 October 1945 (wikipedia entry). 4/10/06 - Posted a link to Ron Dickson's Aviation History of the San Fernando Valley. 4/3/06 - Posted some photos to the Henry Mingay article. 3/17/06 - Posted Sargents. 3/13/06 - About that 1968 airplane crash in Burbank, Internet correspondent William Stevens has found a page that lists aviation accidents which describes it thus: "09/13/1968 N HOLLYWOOD,CALIF N148E AERO COMDR 1121A FATAL (2)," so it may not be a Burbank thing despite the copy. I'll leave it up anyway - what the heck? Also posted A Tribute to Burbank's Small Grocery Stores. 3/9/06 - Posted two UPI Telephoto images of a 1968 airplane crash in Burbank. Do you remember it? I don't. 1/31/06 - Posted an image of Henry Mingay's marker to the Henry Mingay page. 1/26/06 - Posted some interesting new information to the Henry Mingay page. 12/13/05 - Posted Burbank High School Athletics Ninety Years Ago. 12/2/05 - Posted the Old Burbank Patch. 11/8/05 - Posted a link for The Road Kings of Burbank (est. 1952). 8/24/05 - Posted The Burbank Flag. 7/18/05 - Posted links to Rick Crescitelli's Burbank High and John Burroughs High in memoriam pages (on bottom of main page). 6/27/05 - Posted Monrovia Van de Kamp. 2/23/05 - Posted Burbankia Exclusive! Jay Leno driving a Stanley Steamer in Burbank! 2/9/05 - Finished adding all of the images to the A History of Burbank page. The next time I propose converting an entire book into HTML, somebody slap me upside the head. 2/8/05 - Added 38 more images to the A History of Burbank page. More to come. Also split it up into the three chapters for ease in downloading. 2/7/05 - Added 23 more images to the A History of Burbank page. More to come. 2/4/05 - Added 17 images to the A History of Burbank page. More to come. 11/16/04 - Added Larry Maxam: Burbank's Only Medal of Honor Recipient 8/27/04 - Added The U.S.S. Enterprise - Made in Burbank! 8/9/04 - Added two modern day images of the Jeffries Barn to the Jeffries Barn article. 7/6/04 - Added an image of a similar windmill restaurant to the The Van de Kamp's Windmill Restaurant image. 6/22/04 - Added 1960's Gelson's Ad - I went to Junior High with that little girl in the shopping cart! 6/18/04 - Added A Rare Visit Up the Tower of the Burbank City Hall - You haven't been here before. 6/16/04 - Added John Burroughs High Class of 1955 - just to show how commendably fair-minded a Burbank High graduate can be! 6/3/04 - Added The Mabel Monohan House today. Click here to see who Mabel Monohan was, if you don't know. Many years ago, when I was but a boy, one night as we were driving back home after dinner through the dark residential streets of Burbank my father mentioned that a famous murder had occurred in the town many years ago. One idle afternoon about twenty-five years later I recalled what Dad had told me and started an Internet search, which led to my learning about the 1953 Mabel Monohan murder - and the famous (but historically flawed) movie "I Want to Live!" starring Susan Hayward. Now you know about it! 5/11/04 - Added 1891 Farmhouse Demolition - Make way for yet another graceless condo. 4/22/04 - Added A Lockheed P-38 Returns to Burbank! 3/10/04 - Added Lockheed P-38 watches. 3/5/04 - Added Summer Concert at Stough Park, 1945. 3/4/04 - Added 1949: Snow in Burbank! and Burbank's Space Capsule of Love. 2/26/04 - Added The James M. Cain House. 1/23/04 - Added Mike McDaniel's article/letter The Myth of Neighborhood in the R4 Areas of Burbank. 1/9/04 - Added Grampa Dutch Cronkite's poem. 12/17/03 - Added plaque photos to the Jeffries Barn article and posted Turkey Crossing, 1942. (Thanks, Mike!) Also posted A History of Burbank, 1967. 12/16/03 - Added Turkey Crossing. 12/12/03 - Added an excerpt from a Burbank history to the The Jeffries Barn article, which indicates that Jeffries had an international trade! 12/10/03 - Posted Henry Mingay, Burbank's Celebrated Civil War Veteran. 12/5/03 - Put the website up on the Internet! The framework established, Mike McDaniel and I can now start developing material for it.
Burbankia 3 Slide Show (9/4/14) - Part 1.
Burbankia 3 Slide Show (9/4/14) - Part 2.
Burbankia 3 Slide Show (9/4/14) - Part 3.
Burbankia 3 Slide Show (9/4/14) - Part 4.
Burbankia 3 Slide Show (9/4/14) - Part 5.
History and Lore of Burbank!
Hosted by Mike McDaniel and Wes Clark
Thursday, 4 September 2014, 7 PM
Buena Vista Branch Library
Date: 1/12/2010 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Location: corner of Burbank Blvd. & Victory Blvd.
1075 West Burbank Blvd., Burbank, California
