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?