"Los Angeles is surrounded by valleys, but there's only one Valley..."
Hush Money, by Peter Israel
Crystal Plunge and Andy Devine
I saw your mention of the Crystal Plunge. Did you know it was built by Andy Devine? It was said that he found out the Van Nuys High School (two blocks away) swim team had no place to practice, so he built the plunge. BTW, Andy also personally answered the door to his house (directly across the street from the plunge) on Halloween with a bowl of pennies. Each child was allowed to take as many as they could get in one hand.
Lee Mellinger
Lee Mellinger
For those who don't know Andy Devine, here are his acting credits at Imdb.com. He appeared in 181 movies from 1935 until 1977, the year he died. Devine was a prominent Valley booster and an honorary mayor of Van Nuys. He shows up here at America's Suburb.com in the Valleywood chapter and on the History and Lore page.
The same writer also sent in these "Gone but not forgotten" memories, and a clarification on the location of the Crystal Plunge:
The Cherry House had the very best cherry vanilla hand packed ice cream.
LA Airways also had a passenger terminal in the Tujunga Wash adjacent to what is now the UA theaters next to the Hollywood Freeway at Victory. The freeway follows what was the wash for most of its length on that branch from the Golden State to the Ventura freeways.
Huntsinger Turkey Farm (still in business) eventually moved to Hesperia. The headquarters is in Santa Clarita.
Also gone is the RollerCade on Hart Street just off of Lankershim in North Hollywood. It had HUGE wooden floor. The building is still there, industrial storage I think.
McKinley Home for Boys (website) was across Hazeltine Ave. from where Fashion Square is now, where the Sunkist building is located. As a boy in the YMCA we played basketball with the Home's team in their gym. They have moved to San Dimas now.
Another missing fixture, the Van Nuys Quality Dairy at the corner of Ethel and Sherman Way. Now a KMart.
The Red Barn was started and partially owned by Bill Castagnola, the founder of the Red Lobster restaurants. It specialized in exotic game dishes (hippopotamus is one I remember), mostly from his African safaris, and what I still remember is the best prime rib in California.
Also gone, Sportsman's Lodge Trout Lakes. Rent a rod, buy some bait, drop your line in the pond and it was guaranteed to hook a trout. The bait was liverworst.
Lee
p.s.: The Crystal Plunge was right on the southwest corner of Hart St. and Kester Ave, not between Sherman Way and Hart St.
LA Airways also had a passenger terminal in the Tujunga Wash adjacent to what is now the UA theaters next to the Hollywood Freeway at Victory. The freeway follows what was the wash for most of its length on that branch from the Golden State to the Ventura freeways.
Huntsinger Turkey Farm (still in business) eventually moved to Hesperia. The headquarters is in Santa Clarita.
Also gone is the RollerCade on Hart Street just off of Lankershim in North Hollywood. It had HUGE wooden floor. The building is still there, industrial storage I think.
McKinley Home for Boys (website) was across Hazeltine Ave. from where Fashion Square is now, where the Sunkist building is located. As a boy in the YMCA we played basketball with the Home's team in their gym. They have moved to San Dimas now.
Another missing fixture, the Van Nuys Quality Dairy at the corner of Ethel and Sherman Way. Now a KMart.
The Red Barn was started and partially owned by Bill Castagnola, the founder of the Red Lobster restaurants. It specialized in exotic game dishes (hippopotamus is one I remember), mostly from his African safaris, and what I still remember is the best prime rib in California.
Also gone, Sportsman's Lodge Trout Lakes. Rent a rod, buy some bait, drop your line in the pond and it was guaranteed to hook a trout. The bait was liverworst.
Lee
p.s.: The Crystal Plunge was right on the southwest corner of Hart St. and Kester Ave, not between Sherman Way and Hart St.
Thanks, Lee.
Posted February 1, 2006 05:40 PM
