Here in Van Nuys

Here in Van Nuys

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5 comments on 1952: Storm in Sherman Oaks & Studio City

1952: Storm in Sherman Oaks & Studio City


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Photos: USC DIGITAL ARCHIVES

Looking back at these March 15, 1952 photos of a rainstorm in Sherman Oaks & Studio City (Vantage/Ventura) you see the humble, commercial, helter-skelter development of commerce along Ventura Boulevard.

57 years ago, most businesses still had awnings on the windows to keep out the summer sun. Air-conditioning was not widespread.

The gas stations were not the modern covered ones we have today, but were a combination of adobe/Spanish styles from the 1920s and slicker ones from the 1930s.

People ate a lot of ice cream at soda fountains.

And what happened to all those elegant lampposts, the same ones that still grace Wilshire Boulevard?

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5 responses to “1952: Storm in Sherman Oaks & Studio City”

  1. Linda Brown Avatar
    Linda Brown

    The cleaning store on the corner of Vantage and Ventura was my Grandfathers….

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    1. abh1wordpress Avatar
      abh1wordpress

      Both of theirs?

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  2. Michael "Mayor Sam" Higby Avatar
    Michael “Mayor Sam” Higby

    Those are great pictures but I believe the third one, at Vantage and Ventura, is actually in Studio City and that drug store is now a Starbucks and the dry cleaning place next to it is now a yogurt shop. 🙂

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    1. abh1wordpress Avatar
      abh1wordpress

      Michael-
      I will check it out on Google Maps. You are probably right.

      Andy

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  3. Lydia Marcus Avatar
    Lydia Marcus

    these photos remind me of growing up in the valley in the 70s and 80s when drainage was REALLY bad during the rainstorms. lots of streets had no drainage pipes at all or if they did, they were puny. i remember people actually canoeing on Haskell in the late 70’s after one very bad storm. Fortunately the city enlarged the drainage pipes on our street in the late 80’s and it hasn’t been a problem since then.

    but i remember many times driving around water like that in my mom’s 66 buick lesabre and her pumping the drum brakes furiously so the car would come to a stop.

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