Wagons in vintage Street scenes

Wish re was a story for this......

 

I love this photo. I had this one as the background for my desktop for a while.

 

Park Central Mall, Phoenix

 

West Covina Plaza

 

(ca. 1940s)^ – View of Northridge Market, also known as the "Downs" market, located at Zelzah Avenue and Devonshire Street. The building was constructed in 1933. Note the "woodie" station wagon parked in front of the building.



http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_the_San_Fernando_Valley_Page_4.html

 

(1952)#^*^ – View looking toward the west side of the 6300 block of Van Nuys Blvd. Many post war (WWII) businesses opened in this section. On the two corners of Friar are Courdrey’s Drugs, & See’s Candies, then left to right – Shirlee Dress Shop, Town Gift Shop, Standard Outfitters, Whelan Drugs, Dr. R E Elliott, Sun Store, Law Offices of Corman and Hansen (upstairs), Van Nuys Stationery Store (Bush’s), Bill Kemp Sportswear, and Dentist Dr. Sitkin. Photo courtesy Keith Hart



http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_the_San_Fernando_Valley_Page_4.html

 

(1964)* - Photograph caption dated October 6, 1964 reads, "New store - Sculptured three-dimensional panels of concrete emphasize the structural frame of the new Ohrbach's department store, Panorama City, which will open tomorrow." The structure is located at 14650 Parthenia Street. Photo from the Valley Times.


Historical Notes

With the opening of Orbach's department store in 1964. . . Panorama Mall was the ONLY shopping center in the Valley that had 4 major department stores: Broadway, Robinson’s, Montgomery Ward, and Orbach’s.

http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_the_San_Fernando_Valley_Page_4.html

 

(1955)^^^* - View of a Mobil Gas Station across the street from the Valley Plaza Mall. There were only two options: Regular Gas - 27.9 Cents/Gallon and Premium Gas - 31.9 Cents/Gallon, which also included Full Service!



http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_the_San_Fernando_Valley_Page_4.html

 

(1960)* - View of the LA Federal Savings and Loan Building under construction located near the Hollywood Freeway at Victory Boulevard adjacent to the Valley Plaza. Longs Drug Store can be seen in the lower left.


Historical Notes

At 165-feet tall and 35-feet wide, it was the tallest building in the San Fernando Valley when its steel frame and precast wall sections rose out of the Valley Plaza Shopping Center in 1960. In those days its 100 thriving stores and shops made up what was believed to be the largest retail complex west of Chicago.^^^

http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_the_San_Fernando_Valley_Page_4.html

 

(1961)* - View showing the completed Federal Savings Building with Valley Plaza Camera Exchange in the foreground.


Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Federal Savings and Loan Assn. spent $1 million on the building, including land and construction costs. Modernist architects Douglas Honnold and John Rex were hired to give the project the maximum bang for its buck.^^^


http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_the_San_Fernando_Valley_Page_4.html

 

(1960s)* - View of the shopping center across the street from Valley Plaza at Victory and Laurel Canyon Blvd. Thriftmart is seen on the left and Thrifty Drugs at center. This is when an ice cream cone at Thrifty was only 5 cents.


Historical Notes

Until the early 1980s, every Thrifty store featured a tube tester, usually located near the cosmetics display case. Vacuum tubes were still used in a wide variety of consumer electronics such as TVs and radios, and the local Thrifty store was a convenient place to test them and purchase replacements. Thrifty published a brochure helping customers diagnose which tubes might be responsible for various TV malfunctions. The brochure also provided numbered stickers to aid consumers in reinstalling working tubes in their correct sockets.

Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. was a pharmacy holding company that owned the Thrifty Drugs and PayLess Drug Stores chains in the western United States. In 1996, Rite Aid acquired 1,000 West Coast stores from Thrifty PayLess Holdings, creating a chain with over 3,500 drug stores.

Rite Aid preserved the Thrifty Ice Cream brand because it won numerous awards in its history, and remained well-known for its affordable prices, quirky flavors, and iconic cylinder-shaped scoops.*^

http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_the_San_Fernando_Valley_Page_4.html

 

(1955)++# – View looking north on Van Nuys at Victory Boulevard. Legible store signs include (R to L): Moss, Kay Jewelers, Tom McAn Shoes, Sight and Sound, Florsheim Shoes, Oasis, and Hart’s Jewelers.


Historical Notes

Photograph caption dated September 23, 1955 reads, "Special left turn only lanes, known as shadow lanes, are being used in Van Nuys on Van Nuys boulevard from Oxnard to Vanowen streets. This view is looking north on Van Nuys at Victory boulevard. Left turn lane is immediately to the left of normal center line. This is first time in Los Angeles such lanes have been painted on rather than constructed of raised concrete or bars." ++#

http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_the_San_Fernando_Valley_Page_4.html