More photos of Burbank Blvd. east of Buena Vista
Burbank Blvd. east of Buena Vista, transports one to 1955. The streets are scrupulously clean, there is little graffiti, and hardly any mini-malls. The storefronts come right up to the sidewalk.
The mostly one and two story buildings are a museum of the mid-century. There are vacuum sales and repair stores, a hobby shop, barbers, plumbing supply, tool shops, printers, insurance brokers, attorneys and the local MOOSE Lodge.
This is a man’s street. At John’s Chili, the lunch counter was entirely male. There are no stores selling scented candles or funky antiques. This is a business like, industrious, technical, no-nonsense area. Trees are as rare as women along the sun-baked concrete.
The American flag flies proudly over many of the buildings. All of the signs are in English. There isn’t an Armenian, Thai, Spanish, Hebrew, Ko-rean or Arabic sign anywhere. (No wonder people from Tarzana are often lost in Burbank.) And the signs themselves are homely, plain, direct [“Fresh Fish and Chicken”] and often painted right onto the building.
There are also mysterious facades with no signs on them. Blinds pulled down and air conditioning running full blast, with faded pink paint and flagstone trim. Behind these unmarked doors, a great inventor is working on the next wireless radio or perhaps an audio record that can be played by laser instead of a needle!
Here in Van Nuys 