In the late 1950’s, 1960’s and 70’s, ranch homes and housing tracts were the rage. And so were backyard swimming pools. Private pools were an impressive neighborhood novelty, coveted by those who could afford one and a true measure of middle-class ascendance. Above-ground swimming pools, called Doughboys, were one popular, but more pedestrian, option. However,…
Abert’s Towhee is a bright-eyed visitor to this accidental, man-made, and now essential resting spot for migratory birds traveling along the Pacific Flyway. How the Salton Sea was formed and its melancholy history—particularly as a short-lived, mid-century vacation resort—is worthy of note . . . and perhaps even a little road trip. The lake…
Not many locals know that L.A.’s treasured Griffith Park was once the site of a major public housing project. Well, let’s dial back the clock to post-WWII. Military vets are returning home and a baby boom is just about to begin! From 1946 to 1954, a bustling pop-up village, complete with Quonset-hut homes and gardens…
The 1979 Oil Crisis was an energy crisis characterized by a huge drop in oil production for the second time in the 1970’s, the first being in 1973. In the wake of the Iranian Revolution, Iranian oil refinery employees went on strike in 1978. Iran’s oil refineries went from producing 6 million barrels per day…
In December of 1964, ground was broken on a magical “Land of Oz” playground in the San Fernando Valley. It was a joint venture between the Van Nuys Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department, and the Valley Children’s Play Park Association. The $250,000 park was supposed to recreate areas described…
