I was there (albeit very young) and can tell you, it was truly the Golden State. Open, free, beautiful, perfect climate...someone get me a time machine.
I suppose the answer would vary quite a lot if you would ask this question a) to "whites" or "blacks", to protestants, catholics or jews... b) to males or females c) to people who expierenced the 1950's, almost experienced them (born in the 1960's such as me) or to Gen Z folks d) whether that living would be in sunny California or rural Kansas, posh Kensington or in the former East-Germany... Not an easy question.... There are pro's (aesthetically for example) there are cons (suffocating pressure groups like the church, the KKK, McCarthy-Ray Cohn-Nixon kind of commie-eaters, pollution, far less developped health sciences etc. But I'm definetely happy I'm no Gen Z woke soaked teen today... Blame it on May 1968 and the anti-authoritarian education, that was quite a disaster...
If I had a time machine, I'd go back and just take a few nice long walks in these places. See the sights, hear the sounds, smell the smells. The little things.
I was around 8 years old when this video was shot. It is so incredibly nostalgic for me. I lived in California but not this exact area. Even so, it looks EXACTLY as i remember it. The businesses, the cars, the scenery and landscaping is all very familiar. Great video and colorization...
I lived in California from 2009-2014 and by then the decay had already started. The fifties was the golden age. You are lucky to have lived there when the state only had 15 million people.
@@MrDaydreamer1584Yeah. The rise of the massive corporations shifting manufacturing overseas. Everything for sale under one roof. The beginning of the end of "mom and pop" business. Now it's order from home. The closure of the malls. Even get your car delivered like a pizza. Wealth in the hands of the world's richest billionaires. Peace 🕊️
I'll bet if one could go to the front door of any of the homes seen in this video they would find they were not locked. People in those days didn't lock their doors. Kids in our neighborhood walked into their friends homes to visit. It was a different America for sure....
The second part of this video begins in Woodland Hills on Ventura Blvd going west from Canoga Blvd and continues beyond Royer Avenue, not quite reaching Woodlake Ave. I recognize a few businesses from my childhood in the mid-fifties: Charlie Walters Drug Store is at 4:15, Gager's Liquor at 4:26 with the "Liquor" sign, and the Wishing Well Cafe at 4:30.
The first part of the video was possibly San Fernando Road. But the majority of the video is my hometown Woodland Hills CA. It goes west on Ventura Boulevard from around Canoga Avenue all the way to about Woodlake Avenue and back again. It shows the business area around Topanga Canyon Blvd. . West of there you see the corner of Fallbrook and Ventura. On that corner is the 76Station which was owned by Teasdale and Robert’s. Also nextdoor is Charlie Walter’s Woodland Hills Pharmacy. In those days Woodland Hills was mostly rural. Now it’s a big deal and you wouldn’t recognize it for what it was.
This is before my time, making it that much cooler! I love seeing how southern California looked back in those days and reading the comments of people that lived during that time. My mom was a child in the 1950s, and she often said those "where the days". It's almost hard to believe southern California was once easy to drive through! No waiting in traffic. It's sad that these buildings and all those beautiful trees are gone because of greed. Taking every piece of land space for building is what we see today in most parts of California. Unfortunately, the past wasn't preserved. Which makes this video that much more special. A huge thank you, for sharing a part of history with us long gone.
those were the days. only we didn't know it at the time. Like the song says, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. It is gone. I remember it and I miss it.
My grandma was born in California in 1957. Telling from the cars this was probably 1953-4, but only a few years difference. Now I know what she used to see as a kid. Wish I was there.
I was born in Burbank in 1955 and as a child my Dad used to take us on driving trips around the Valley (San Fernando Valley) every Sunday. This was filmed a little before my time, but a lot of the street scenes are similar to what I saw. The majority of the video seems to be filmed in the West Valley, possibly on Ventura Blvd. Not sure about the first part, could have been another (poorer) part of the Valley. Great video, thank you.
It starts out going west on Ventura Blvd from like Canoga Ave and stops around Woodlake I believe. Then goes back east on Ventura Blvd. You can see a sales office for homes in Hidden Hills. Great film clip.
If we could go into one of those gas stations or knock at the door of one of those homes and just chat. What were they thinking what were there ideas. We from the future just listen.
7:48 Laughed at the old style "Hidden Hills" sign. That gated community in the west San Fernando Valley has homes that today are worth 10's of Millions of dollars. Too bad Grandpa didn't snap up a home there back in the 1950's (Note: For the curious, there is no Google Street View of Hidden Hills (private roads), but you can get a sense of it in the 3D view on the Google Earth website).
Great restoration job! Amazing how sparse the development of the SF valley was back then, looks a lot like CA central valley. My guess on the date is 1955, based on the 1984 DeLorean that can be seen hidden in the shrubbery.
I was 3 in '55 arriving to Van Nuys from Detroit with my parents. The first thing I remember getting out of the car was the fragrance of oranges & the sound of a meadow lark ! Nostalgia Hurts So Good !!!
The railroads of the time heavily advertised to entice people to move to California, "Go into your backyard in the morning and pick some oranges for fresh orange juice!" It''s difficult to remember now an uncrowded with meadows and fruit trees California.
@3:54 into the video, The motel on the right is the Old Woodland Motel and coffee shop @22621 Ventura blvd In Woodland Hills. The time period is spot on ! Thanks Nass for this video of the past. Things sure seemed so much slower and peaceful.
Going just past that motel, I guess that would make the intersection to the left either Ponce Ave if that driver is headed west or Sale Ave if that driver is headed east?
5:16 The signs on the right say “B.M. Hansen Real Estate.” I found a biography online for him and it says he opened a real estate office at 22833 Ventura Blvd. which is just west of Fallbrook Blvd.
@5:28 where the semi with a load of lumbers making a right turn onto Fallbrook Ave.. That's is the intersection of Ventura Blvd and Fallbrook Ave. After the turn, you can see the power grid to the right. That landmark still stands today but with a high beige/cream wall surrounding it now.
This video looks like from about 1952-53, I just turned 70 on October 12. My step Dad had a small auto body shop near Van Nuys in 1971, when I started driving more, I would go out to the Valley and cruise with a few friends, Gas was about 25-30 cents or so a gallon. Man, it looks downright small town Rural here. Wide open land. When California truly seemed to be the "Golden" State of many opportunities. For Anyone who came here from wherever. I lived in WLA growing up in the Pico-Robertson area. Remember driving through either Laurel Canyon or Coldwater Canyon and also, Sepuveda Blvd, my first car was too weak for the Freeway, A 1960 Studebaker Lark 8
I was around 8 at this time and remember well the pre '55 cars, they just weren't as cool back then as they are now, cars really got interesting after '55. This was the start of perhaps the most pleasant/exciting 10 year period in US history, 1955 -1965... People talk of the '50s, '60s and '70s, but to me it's more like 45-55, 55-65 and 65-75, from then on it's regular decades... What an an amazing time to be a young American, so many huge changes just around the corner.
Notice the darken centers upon the roads which became after much use. Many vehicles back then upon aging and lacking wise servicing eventually leaked drops of oil and also they always had vented motor crank cases to allow both oil vaporization and crank case pressure to escape directly into the atmosphere. Changes done by the1970's addressed these issues but caused some new challenges to be remedied later.
I don't have any idea how hard it is to colorize film, but at 6:22, the Coca-Cola truck turning into Mary Costa's Cafe should probably be red. Also it is not entirely certain the double line in the middle of the road would be yellow. Road signage had not been standardized yet. Having said that, growing up in SoCal, I do not remember the double lines being anything but yellow or white. The best clue for where this is on Ventura Blvd is at 7:47 where the sign shows Hidden Hills subdivision 2 miles back the other way. You can see the sign earlier in the video at 2:51, but you cannot read the 2 miles sign in the corner.
I was from north of there, way up the coast near the Oregon state line on the beach. I do have some memories from before I was one which would have been May of 59 blowing out that first candle. To me it all looks depressing now but back then people were happy. Had you known to buy land back then you would now be enormously wealthy. But look at the pollution, the air is cleaner now than it was then with 3 times the population now. I think the Central Valley was in fact a lot poorer back then, it was all agriculture and food was dirt cheap. The gas, 24 cents per gallon, I suppose that would be like $2.40 now. When I started driving the cheapest I ever paid was 35 cents, but it was 1972 and only a few months later the embargo hit and it went to a $1.50 almost overnight. When fuel goes up 425% in a matter of a few weeks you just stop driving, we went from a time when $2 per hour was a good job to a time when $5 per hour just did not cut it in less than a few months. Inflation has never looked back since, now I would not live in my home state on less than $100,000 per year, which by the way $135,000 per year is low income enough in San Francisco County to get subsidized housing.
everything looks so spread out in those days, today 2023 everything looks so crowded out I guess the population loves California to the max, Thank You beautiful footage of the old amazing days!
Sensational!...Another beautiful video from this channel!...It makes me feel like I'm in the tranquility of 1950, just admiring the landscape and far from the turbulence of 2023.
My dad was born deaf in '43 so he lived most of his life throughout so. Cal. due to having to go to Riverside school for the deaf. He would have Absolutely loved to see videos like this so I love to watch in his memory and imagine him telling me exactly what kind and year the cars are and probably if he's ever been to that area. Thanks for making such cool remastered videos of the past putting color to them also seems to bring them to life a lot more too it's just too cool. Great job!
It’s hard to believe this was only around seventy years ago. That was the California my Uncle would have known , when he first emigrated there in the fifties.
The Woodland Hotel that is seen several times in this was at 22621 Ventura Blvd. There is a Holiday In Express there today, but on Pinterest I found a postcard from the hotel seen in this film that was dated to 1952.
The Woodland Hotel stood until about 2000 I think, when it was torn down. By that point it was quite seedy. Based on your geolocation, the hill on the left side of the street at the 3:15 mark is probably where the 101 Freeway overpass is today.
I could be wrong (this is way before my time) but I am guessing that we are driving along Ventura Boulevard. At any rate....wonderful archiving....thank you for posting this great little journey back in time.
This is super cool! This shows what Ventura Blvd looked like in the very early '50s. There's even a billboard advertising real estate in Hidden Hills. Incredible how quickly everything developed along that stretch of the Ventura Blvd in just 10 years.
I was around in those days. Some things were better and some not. I was born in 1945. We didn't have computers or internet and cell phones were unheard of back then. You had to find a pay phone. There have been great strides in medicine since that era. People survive illnesses today that they died of back then. Yes, there were good things back then, but lots of not so good things. Things we take for granted now were unheard of back then. Most people would be unhappy with things as they were back then.
0:00 - 1:53 is one road and (part of) town. Then the entire rest of the video is driving up and back on one street. @1:54 As "we" drive, we are given a front window, whole street kind of view (we are able to see both sides of the street). After the car turns around at 4:43, it's as if we are getting a back window or back seat driver's side view of things, just on the one side of the street now, albeit at a 'better' angle.
Looking close it appears to be Valley Blvd in El Monte. not positive. but I see the word "valley" on some of the addresses. The Y-Not Cafe. now where could it be? it is Valley Blvd and the "Valley Fence" building at 10217 Valley is still there. as are a few other buildings.
Canoga Park and Woodland Hills undeveloped backwater towns- so wild. Sad that it wasn't build up with more thought and planning-- no one thought this city would get as big as it has. It's just not that long ago that this was a rural area. I remember in the early 70s my father being stunned that "They're now building home developments all the way out in Canoga Park." forget about Calabasas, Agoura, Westlake, Thousand Oaks--- there was nothing out there.
This is how most of Southern California looked. I was born in Downey and remember streets in Bellflower looked the same. Fullerton had businesses that looked similar
I can't vouch for the first part of the video, but literally EVERYTHING - including the trees - is gone from the shot of Ventura Blvd as it passes through Canoga Park and Woodland Hills on the west end of the San Fernando Valley. My home. Kind of hurts my heart.
@@LaurenMirandaG The "Valley Fence" building at 1:51" still stands at 10217 Valley Blvd in El Monte. The Valley Liquor locker building as well as Vern's drive in buildings still stand as of May 2024.
WOW they're driving through Canoga Park! I live there now! Lots of old buildings in the midst of lots of build up. I have to figure out where this is later and compare. That would be so amazing if they drove by my house, which was built somewhere else in the 1950s and moved there in 1976. I've always wondered it was an empty lot before that (I think so).
Amazing & fascinating ❤channel of so many vintage film! Thank God there were people who were motivated to do so or else we wouldn’t be watching right now at this amazing footage! Great job on colorizing these also! Just subscribed! 🥰❤️🎥📽️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Most of this was filmed on Ventura Blvd. in the Valley. If anyone noticed the big sign for Chinchillas that wasn’t a restaurant it was a chinchilla ranch where you could buy one. My Mom’s aunt and uncle lived near there about this time.
I was born in 1943 we lived in Santa Ana in 1956 my dad worked helping build Disneyland it opened in 55 I was a trail guide at Irvine Park riding stable we moved back in 59 my dad worked at Disneyland again and I was back at Irvine Park Stables love the smell of orange blossoms I lived at 417 1/2 south broadway went to Lathrope Jr. High School I’m only 80 so don’t have a horse anymore miss those days
Around five minutes in, while they are driving along Ventura, my grandfather’s real estate office is on the north side. B M Hansen, 22833 Ventura Blvd.
That’s so incredible my Grandfathers RealEstate office was on Laurel Canyon between Magnolia and Chandler. He built our family house in the early thirties in Valley Village. Nothing but wide open spaces and farms with orchards.
Everyone agrees the 2nd part is Ventura Blvd. I suspect the first was San Gabriel Valley (Mtns in background). Someplace like Rosemead, Temple City. Things you couldn't get away with now, such as dirt parking lots. Everything was smaller - little stand-alone markets, stores, bars. Very little corporate ownership. Burger stands were......just that. Basically shacks that sold burgers. I'm 65, grew up in Ventura County, and yeah, that's pretty much how things looked then as a little kid.
You are very close. the address of 10143 is the only clue. Auto salvage yards, Trailer courts, and many demolished buildings are visible. Also the San Gabriel Mountains. As it turns out this is in El Monte. The clip begins at Valley and Rowland. Valley Fence is at 10217 Valley and that building is still there.
WOW is this the best zeitgeist ever?! Hellooooo Woodland (Hills) and Canoga Park. Can I go back real quick to buy a couple lots lol. 😂 Omg this was prime time - things changed quick! The cafes and gas stations - even an old “76” that wasn’t even orange yet ha 🟠 Or the quaint modern Woodland Hotel and Cafe?! Max’s Grill, Knudsen ad on the market, wow this one’s a keeper! They filmed some of the old Highway Patrol along there and a couple episodes in the hills and groves around there. That’s a classic show, this video is priceless! ✨
At 2:42-2:44, a sign on the left says, “Woodland Hills,” and one on the right says,”Canoga Park.” So this must mean the film was shot in the San Fernando Valley, but on what street, I don’t know.
Newest car was a 1955 Chevrolet. Thats probably the year this was filmed. I was born in 1949 and my dad had several of the cars and trucks seen in the film. Great job!!!!
Great footage! Oh wow, I think I just recognized Topanga Canyon Blvd but I could be wrong! Part of it definitely seems to be in the west San Fernando valley. I see there were as many liquor stores back then as now.
Excellent material. WOW! XX Century and we are already in the XXI . I was 4 years old in my country of birth 🫢My mistake,now you know my age!🤫 Please do tell anybody🤪 What a valuable materials we are enjoying! Thanks for sharing with us your priceless work👏👏
Very nice work. It reminds me of summers in Canada, with roads alternating with fields and businesses, houses and villages, all in a kind of haphazard mix. Now it's all rationalized, straightened-up and boring.
I beleive the 3rd segment to be what now is the 101 Fwy, between Mulholland and Las Virgenes Rd near Calabasas (the give away was the "Hidden Hills development sign)
Love the Nass restorations, I've watched this one a couple of times and Mary Costa's Cafe always catches my eye. The camera catches it on the way down at 3:40 and again on the way back up at 6:23 just as the Coca Cola truck is pulling in. I know it passes a few establishments ( Little Brown Jug, Chinchillas ) but because Mary Costa's Cafe has her actual name on the outside makes it seem more personal to me, and I start to wonder who she was, working there most days, built up her own business, a whole life of a hard working person that will always remain a mystery to me, and that plays on my mind, all because her name is displayed on the outside of her establishment. I'm from Glasgow in Scotland, so America to me is unseen, never been there, but if anybody watching this video has any knowledge of the area shown here or knows anything about the various establishments along this stretch of road, especially Mary Costa's Cafe, it would be very much appreciated if you could post something here. Thank you. Keep up the good work Nass.
To those of us in the third decade of the 21st century (!), this may seem like a slower pace of life. But to many of the people who lived in the 50s, I dare say, they would have experienced their lives as considerably faster and more hectic than 30 or even 20 years prior to them. What will our future look like?
![Rare unseen California 1940s in color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/COon-l5PM3Q/mqdefault.jpg)
![Rare unseen California 1940s in color [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added](/img/tr.png)
![California 1930s in color, San Pedro, Olympic Blvd [60fps, Remastered] w/sound design added](/img/1.gif)
Do you want to live in the '50s??
Yes I do ,oh I did live in the fifties love them miss those times ❤❤
Maybe the 1960's or 70's thru 80's. I just feel that medical advances and employment opportunities were better than the 50's. I love your channel!
Yes
I was there (albeit very young) and can tell you, it was truly the Golden State. Open, free, beautiful, perfect climate...someone get me a time machine.
I suppose the answer would vary quite a lot if you would ask this question
a) to "whites" or "blacks", to protestants, catholics or jews...
b) to males or females
c) to people who expierenced the 1950's, almost experienced them (born in the 1960's such as me) or to Gen Z folks
d) whether that living would be in sunny California or rural Kansas, posh Kensington or in the former East-Germany...
Not an easy question.... There are pro's (aesthetically for example) there are cons (suffocating pressure groups like the church, the KKK, McCarthy-Ray Cohn-Nixon kind of commie-eaters, pollution, far less developped health sciences etc.
But I'm definetely happy I'm no Gen Z woke soaked teen today... Blame it on May 1968 and the anti-authoritarian education, that was quite a disaster...
If I had a time machine, I'd go back and just take a few nice long walks in these places. See the sights, hear the sounds, smell the smells.
The little things.
Except everyone smoked and you’d have to deal with lead paint in almost every building you walk into.
I was around 8 years old when this video was shot. It is so incredibly nostalgic for me. I lived in California but not this exact area. Even so, it looks EXACTLY as i remember it. The businesses, the cars, the scenery and landscaping is all very familiar. Great video and colorization...
thank you very much
I lived in California from 2009-2014 and by then the decay had already started. The fifties was the golden age. You are lucky to have lived there when the state only had 15 million people.
@@FreddyonAcid The 1970's were great too. The 1980's were the 'turning point', I think
@@MrDaydreamer1584Yeah. The rise of the massive corporations shifting manufacturing overseas. Everything for sale under one roof. The beginning of the end of "mom and pop" business. Now it's order from home. The closure of the malls. Even get your car delivered like a pizza. Wealth in the hands of the world's richest billionaires. Peace 🕊️
I'll bet if one could go to the front door of any of the homes seen in this video they would find they were not locked. People in those days didn't lock their doors. Kids in our neighborhood walked into their friends homes to visit. It was a different America for sure....
What always hits me is the feeling of space and freedom that we don't have now in our densely populated urban hellholes. It's so dream like.
You are idealizing the past..there were other problems and difficulties then,,,
@@jacknox6526 I'd take those problems in a heartbeat over the ones we have today.
Yes!
Yes well what was the population of California then, plus there were much less cars, and less cars per capita or family household.
@@adamspiller4842 Ummm yeah that’s kinda my point 🙄
The second part of this video begins in Woodland Hills on Ventura Blvd going west from Canoga Blvd and continues beyond Royer Avenue, not quite reaching Woodlake Ave. I recognize a few businesses from my childhood in the mid-fifties: Charlie Walters Drug Store is at 4:15, Gager's Liquor at 4:26 with the "Liquor" sign, and the Wishing Well Cafe at 4:30.
The first part of the video was possibly San Fernando Road. But the majority of the video is my hometown Woodland Hills CA. It goes west on Ventura Boulevard from around Canoga Avenue all the way to about Woodlake Avenue and back again. It shows the business area around Topanga Canyon Blvd. . West of there you see the corner of Fallbrook and Ventura. On that corner is the 76Station which was owned by Teasdale and Robert’s. Also nextdoor is Charlie Walter’s Woodland Hills Pharmacy. In those days Woodland Hills was mostly rural. Now it’s a big deal and you wouldn’t recognize it for what it was.
can literally watch these videos and be lost in time.. just simply amazing
It’s amazing that 70+ yrs later we can see this. Thank you.
This is before my time, making it that much cooler! I love seeing how southern California looked back in those days and reading the comments of people that lived during that time.
My mom was a child in the 1950s, and she often said those "where the days".
It's almost hard to believe southern California was once easy to drive through! No waiting in traffic. It's sad that these buildings and all those beautiful trees are gone because of greed. Taking every piece of land space for building is what we see today in most parts of California. Unfortunately, the past wasn't preserved. Which makes this video that much more special. A huge thank you, for sharing a part of history with us long gone.
I watched the orange groves get whacked for homes etc. out in Redlands🥲
those were the days. only we didn't know it at the time. Like the song says, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. It is gone. I remember it and I miss it.
My grandma was born in California in 1957. Telling from the cars this was probably 1953-4, but only a few years difference. Now I know what she used to see as a kid. Wish I was there.
Well done as always NASS. Loved the color and sharpness. Didnt want it to end. Thank you for sharing your talent.
Thank you ;)
I was born in Burbank in 1955 and as a child my Dad used to take us on driving trips around the Valley (San Fernando Valley) every Sunday. This was filmed a little before my time, but a lot of the street scenes are similar to what I saw. The majority of the video seems to be filmed in the West Valley, possibly on Ventura Blvd. Not sure about the first part, could have been another (poorer) part of the Valley. Great video, thank you.
thank you very much
I think that last sign said Canoga Ranch. I think warner brothers bought that land....
@@bobc.5698good catch!
@@bobc.5698 I also thought it was mostly on Ventura Blvd... but since Conoga is further north, I then thought it might be Topangan Canyon Blvd.
It starts out going west on Ventura Blvd from like Canoga Ave and stops around Woodlake I believe. Then goes back east on Ventura Blvd. You can see a sales office for homes in Hidden Hills. Great film clip.
Film and video really is the closest we’ll have to a Time Machine, a Time Machine where you can only look out the window.
❤
I live waiting for my eternity 😊
... Some Nutter Scientist Will Surely Invent a " Total Recall " Type Injection or Pill 💊
If we could go into one of those gas stations or knock at the door of one of those homes and just chat. What were they thinking what were there ideas. We from the future just listen.
7:48 Laughed at the old style "Hidden Hills" sign. That gated community in the west San Fernando Valley has homes that today are worth 10's of Millions of dollars. Too bad Grandpa didn't snap up a home there back in the 1950's (Note: For the curious, there is no Google Street View of Hidden Hills (private roads), but you can get a sense of it in the 3D view on the Google Earth website).
Great restoration job! Amazing how sparse the development of the SF valley was back then, looks a lot like CA central valley. My guess on the date is 1955, based on the 1984 DeLorean that can be seen hidden in the shrubbery.
ha ha.
lol nice one 👌
Thx!!
Late 55' or early 56', 56 Ply 00:42 sec in.
I saw a couple '56 Chevies, and a '54 or '55 Pontiac. I was born in Santa Clara Valley in '45; it was a different world then.@@matrox
I was 3 in '55 arriving to Van Nuys from Detroit with my parents. The first thing I remember getting out of the car was the fragrance of oranges & the sound of a meadow lark ! Nostalgia Hurts So Good !!!
Nostalgia is lifes cruel trick I'm afraid..it does hurt..
WOW!
The railroads of the time heavily advertised to entice people to move to California, "Go into your backyard in the morning and pick some oranges for fresh orange juice!" It''s difficult to remember now an uncrowded with meadows and fruit trees California.
Those videos relax me so much. They bring me back to a simpler and more pleasant era.
❤
The video is a facade of what was a time of some much that was wrong.
@3:54 into the video, The motel on the right is the Old Woodland Motel and coffee shop @22621 Ventura blvd In Woodland Hills. The time period is spot on ! Thanks Nass for this video of the past. Things sure seemed so much slower and peaceful.
Yep, there is a sign at @2:37 saying Woodland Hills. Maybe is Ventura Blvd heading toward Ventura County.
Going just past that motel, I guess that would make the intersection to the left either Ponce Ave if that driver is headed west or Sale Ave if that driver is headed east?
I think the driver is headed west based on the directions of the curves in the road.
5:16 The signs on the right say “B.M. Hansen Real Estate.” I found a biography online for him and it says he opened a real estate office at 22833 Ventura Blvd. which is just west of Fallbrook Blvd.
That’s how I found this location too. The woodland motel is a Wendy’s now 👧
When cars were solid!
I'm watching this on my 50" Screen TV now and it's like I can literally jump right in. Brother, you are amazing!🎖
thank you very much for your comment ^^
@5:28 where the semi with a load of lumbers making a right turn onto Fallbrook Ave.. That's is the intersection of Ventura Blvd and Fallbrook Ave.
After the turn, you can see the power grid to the right. That landmark still stands today but with a high beige/cream wall surrounding it now.
Wow, these old videos are priceless, thanks for posting.
This video looks like from about 1952-53, I just turned 70 on October 12. My step Dad had a small auto body shop near Van Nuys in 1971, when I started driving more, I would go out to the Valley and cruise with a few friends, Gas was about 25-30 cents or so a gallon. Man, it looks downright small town Rural here. Wide open land. When California truly seemed to be the "Golden" State of many opportunities. For Anyone who came here from wherever. I lived in WLA growing up in the Pico-Robertson area. Remember driving through either Laurel Canyon or Coldwater Canyon and also, Sepuveda Blvd, my first car was too weak for the Freeway, A 1960 Studebaker Lark 8
Keep 'em coming..Love this
This restored footage is amazing, wonderful job
thank you very much
I was around 8 at this time and remember well the pre '55 cars, they just weren't as cool back then as they are now, cars really got interesting after '55. This was the start of perhaps the most pleasant/exciting 10 year period in US history, 1955 -1965... People talk of the '50s, '60s and '70s, but to me it's more like 45-55, 55-65 and 65-75, from then on it's regular decades... What an an amazing time to be a young American, so many huge changes just around the corner.
Amazing work. You should do side by side comparisons of these places then and today.
Thank you
@NBrippafan9000 I hear you, but doing so could be too depressing to watch.
@@21stCenturySpaceOdyssey good point lol
Notice the darken centers upon the roads which became after much use. Many vehicles back then upon aging and lacking wise servicing eventually leaked drops of oil and also they always had vented motor crank cases to allow both oil vaporization and crank case pressure to escape directly into the atmosphere. Changes done by the1970's addressed these issues but caused some new challenges to be remedied later.
This is fantastic! I was born in 1949, so I have fond memories of the decade. The cars bring back so many memories.
Interesting trip back in time in California circa 1955 or '56 (based on the cars seen in a few places). Thanks for sharing!
thank you very much
Exactly!
I don't have any idea how hard it is to colorize film, but at 6:22, the Coca-Cola truck turning into Mary Costa's Cafe should probably be red. Also it is not entirely certain the double line in the middle of the road would be yellow. Road signage had not been standardized yet. Having said that, growing up in SoCal, I do not remember the double lines being anything but yellow or white.
The best clue for where this is on Ventura Blvd is at 7:47 where the sign shows Hidden Hills subdivision 2 miles back the other way. You can see the sign earlier in the video at 2:51, but you cannot read the 2 miles sign in the corner.
I was from north of there, way up the coast near the Oregon state line on the beach. I do have some memories from before I was one which would have been May of 59 blowing out that first candle. To me it all looks depressing now but back then people were happy. Had you known to buy land back then you would now be enormously wealthy. But look at the pollution, the air is cleaner now than it was then with 3 times the population now. I think the Central Valley was in fact a lot poorer back then, it was all agriculture and food was dirt cheap. The gas, 24 cents per gallon, I suppose that would be like $2.40 now. When I started driving the cheapest I ever paid was 35 cents, but it was 1972 and only a few months later the embargo hit and it went to a $1.50 almost overnight. When fuel goes up 425% in a matter of a few weeks you just stop driving, we went from a time when $2 per hour was a good job to a time when $5 per hour just did not cut it in less than a few months. Inflation has never looked back since, now I would not live in my home state on less than $100,000 per year, which by the way $135,000 per year is low income enough in San Francisco County to get subsidized housing.
Me same except I'm in Oregon so about the same situation for me price-wise but California cut its own throat by allowing everybody to come in
everything looks so spread out in those days, today 2023 everything looks so crowded out I guess the population loves California to the max, Thank You beautiful footage of the old amazing days!
Sensational!...Another beautiful video from this channel!...It makes me feel like I'm in the tranquility of 1950, just admiring the landscape and far from the turbulence of 2023.
thank you
Thank you for making these video's.👍
Thank you ;)
My dad was born deaf in '43 so he lived most of his life throughout so. Cal. due to having to go to Riverside school for the deaf. He would have Absolutely loved to see videos like this so I love to watch in his memory and imagine him telling me exactly what kind and year the cars are and probably if he's ever been to that area. Thanks for making such cool remastered videos of the past putting color to them also seems to bring them to life a lot more too it's just too cool. Great job!
It’s hard to believe this was only around seventy years ago. That was the California my Uncle would have known , when he first emigrated there in the fifties.
@@iriewaregl very interesting and I’m sure you’re probably right. What’s it got to do with my comment though?
@@chrisblaySorry, I must have responded to the wrong comment which doesn't seem to be on here anymore.
As always thank you for this NASS.....you do important and wonderful work
thank you very much
Make California great again.
I own a 1950 Ford Custom and often drive the the country side in Georgia and imagine it’s 1950. These are great service and help. Thank you.
Gas was 25 cents a gallon.The roads looked brand new. I would think not one of those small diners and businesses still exist. Owners long passed away.
at :20 into the video is 9901-9909 Valley Blvd at the corner of Rowland in El Monte. The building was just torn down. Thank You Sonia.
I think that this is by Victory Blvd & Fallbrook Ave, where Woodland Hills is close to Canoga Park.
Like and Share Please
The Woodland Hotel that is seen several times in this was at 22621 Ventura Blvd. There is a Holiday In Express there today, but on Pinterest I found a postcard from the hotel seen in this film that was dated to 1952.
The Woodland Hotel stood until about 2000 I think, when it was torn down. By that point it was quite seedy. Based on your geolocation, the hill on the left side of the street at the 3:15 mark is probably where the 101 Freeway overpass is today.
I could be wrong (this is way before my time) but I am guessing that we are driving along Ventura Boulevard. At any rate....wonderful archiving....thank you for posting this great little journey back in time.
first two minutes are along Valley Blvd in El Monte near Baldwin Ave.
Beautiful footage! Great look on to classical California spirit!
👍
Fascinating and awesome!!!☀️☀️☀️
Thx!! ^^
This is super cool! This shows what Ventura Blvd looked like in the very early '50s. There's even a billboard advertising real estate in Hidden Hills. Incredible how quickly everything developed along that stretch of the Ventura Blvd in just 10 years.
Another beautiful trip to a certain time, this time to the calm and/or quiet 1950s. Gracias /Thank you @NASS
thank you
I was around in those days. Some things were better and some not. I was born in 1945. We didn't have computers or internet and cell phones were unheard of back then. You had to find a pay phone. There have been great strides in medicine since that era. People survive illnesses today that they died of back then. Yes, there were good things back then, but lots of not so good things. Things we take for granted now were unheard of back then. Most people would be unhappy with things as they were back then.
0:00 - 1:53 is one road and (part of) town. Then the entire rest of the video is driving up and back on one street. @1:54 As "we" drive, we are given a front window, whole street kind of view (we are able to see both sides of the street). After the car turns around at 4:43, it's as if we are getting a back window or back seat driver's side view of things, just on the one side of the street now, albeit at a 'better' angle.
0:00-1:53 is no where near Ventura Blvd in Woodland Hills. It is on Valley Blvd. from about Rowland to Shirley in El Monte.
Looking close it appears to be Valley Blvd in El Monte. not positive. but I see the word "valley" on some of the addresses. The Y-Not Cafe. now where could it be? it is Valley Blvd and the "Valley Fence" building at 10217 Valley is still there. as are a few other buildings.
Canoga Park and Woodland Hills undeveloped backwater towns- so wild. Sad that it wasn't build up with more thought and planning-- no one thought this city would get as big as it has. It's just not that long ago that this was a rural area. I remember in the early 70s my father being stunned that "They're now building home developments all the way out in Canoga Park." forget about Calabasas, Agoura, Westlake, Thousand Oaks--- there was nothing out there.
Spotted: WOODLAND HILLS and CANOGA PARK signs - West End of the San Fernando Valley - Very nice.
This is how most of Southern California looked. I was born in Downey and remember streets in Bellflower looked the same. Fullerton had businesses that looked similar
I'd love to be able to go back in time and spend just a few days driving around LA
How wise and fortunate this movie was made ! 😊
It would be interesting to compare this same area to current day to see how much of this is gone.
google street view works if you can grab a location from the video
I can't vouch for the first part of the video, but literally EVERYTHING - including the trees - is gone from the shot of Ventura Blvd as it passes through Canoga Park and Woodland Hills on the west end of the San Fernando Valley. My home. Kind of hurts my heart.
@@LaurenMirandaG The "Valley Fence" building at 1:51" still stands at 10217 Valley Blvd in El Monte. The Valley Liquor locker building as well as Vern's drive in buildings still stand as of May 2024.
This is amazing-Wow. Watching on a large screen TV. Time capsule-Stunning. Thank you, Nass.
WOW they're driving through Canoga Park! I live there now! Lots of old buildings in the midst of lots of build up. I have to figure out where this is later and compare. That would be so amazing if they drove by my house, which was built somewhere else in the 1950s and moved there in 1976. I've always wondered it was an empty lot before that (I think so).
Anything still standing you recognise ?
Amazing & fascinating ❤channel of so many vintage film! Thank God there were people who were motivated to do so or else we wouldn’t be watching right now at this amazing footage! Great job on colorizing these also! Just subscribed! 🥰❤️🎥📽️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
thank you very much
Most of this was filmed on Ventura Blvd. in the Valley. If anyone noticed the big sign for Chinchillas that wasn’t a restaurant it was a chinchilla ranch where you could buy one. My Mom’s aunt and uncle lived near there about this time.
Мне нравится смотреть такие видео! 👍Спасибо
Cannot wait to watch ! Much love from Texas!!
It's been too long since I've watched one of your videos. Really enjoyed this. Well done.
I was born in 1943 we lived in Santa Ana in 1956 my dad worked helping build Disneyland it opened in 55 I was a trail guide at Irvine Park riding stable we moved back in 59 my dad worked at Disneyland again and I was back at Irvine Park Stables love the smell of orange blossoms I lived at 417 1/2 south broadway went to Lathrope Jr. High School I’m only 80 so don’t have a horse anymore miss those days
1956 and lots of 1930s and 40s cars still on the road.
Most of the footage is Ventura Blvd. Thank you for another great find gem.
Thx ❤
Around five minutes in, while they are driving along Ventura, my grandfather’s real estate office is on the north side. B M Hansen, 22833 Ventura Blvd.
That’s so incredible my Grandfathers RealEstate office was on Laurel Canyon between Magnolia and Chandler. He built our family house in the early thirties in Valley Village. Nothing but wide open spaces and farms with orchards.
Everyone agrees the 2nd part is Ventura Blvd. I suspect the first was San Gabriel Valley (Mtns in background). Someplace like Rosemead, Temple City. Things you couldn't get away with now, such as dirt parking lots. Everything was smaller - little stand-alone markets, stores, bars. Very little corporate ownership. Burger stands were......just that. Basically shacks that sold burgers. I'm 65, grew up in Ventura County, and yeah, that's pretty much how things looked then as a little kid.
You are very close. the address of 10143 is the only clue. Auto salvage yards, Trailer courts, and many demolished buildings are visible. Also the San Gabriel Mountains. As it turns out this is in El Monte. The clip begins at Valley and Rowland. Valley Fence is at 10217 Valley and that building is still there.
Great work.Brings back great memories.Im starting to think you shot it yourself.
Thx :)
WOW is this the best zeitgeist ever?! Hellooooo Woodland (Hills) and Canoga Park. Can I go back real quick to buy a couple lots lol. 😂
Omg this was prime time - things changed quick! The cafes and gas stations - even an old “76” that wasn’t even orange yet ha 🟠
Or the quaint modern Woodland Hotel and Cafe?! Max’s Grill, Knudsen ad on the market, wow this one’s a keeper!
They filmed some of the old Highway Patrol along there and a couple episodes in the hills and groves around there. That’s a classic show, this video is priceless! ✨
❤
Wonderful video that brings back a wonderful time in my young life.
thank you
The cars for sale at the used lot didn't look much better than the carcasses at the junk yard next door. Great video!
Great work!!! Hoping someday some source material comes your way from Rochester NY, where the Kodak film originally came from.
West Side of the San Fernando Valley Mostly on Ventura Blvd. Right @ the 8 minute mark U see a sign that says Canoga Park
At 2:42-2:44, a sign on the left says, “Woodland Hills,” and one on the right says,”Canoga Park.” So this must mean the film was shot in the San Fernando Valley, but on what street, I don’t know.
I think it may be Ventura Blvd heading west?
Edit: Also, at 7:47, a billboard advertising homes in Hidden Hills, which is directly west of Woodland Hills.
25 cents a gallon for gas that's outrageous
Newest car was a 1955 Chevrolet. Thats probably the year this was filmed. I was born in 1949 and my dad had several of the cars and trucks seen in the film. Great job!!!!
This was amazing thank you for sharing Nass
Wonderful stuff. Woodland Motel was on Ventura near Fallbrook.
Great work..I really enjoy these..Thank you..
Thx ❤
Wow..this was fascinating..thanks for sharing.
The good old days. Gone forever.
The cars the music the prices of everything. Man, what a time to grow up in.
I was born in this era, JAN 1957.. Amazing to think that's what everything looked like when I was born.
It was indeed a time to grow up in. I've been mourning the loss of pre-1967 California for half my 78 years.
Beautiful video, thanks Nass! ❤
thanks
Great footage! Oh wow, I think I just recognized Topanga Canyon Blvd but I could be wrong! Part of it definitely seems to be in the west San Fernando valley.
I see there were as many liquor stores back then as now.
another gem!!!
Thx!!!
Excellent material. WOW! XX Century and we are already in the XXI . I was 4 years old in my country of birth 🫢My mistake,now you know my age!🤫 Please do tell anybody🤪 What a valuable materials we are enjoying! Thanks for sharing with us your priceless work👏👏
Thx!!!
Very nice work. It reminds me of summers in Canada, with roads alternating with fields and businesses, houses and villages, all in a kind of haphazard mix. Now it's all rationalized, straightened-up and boring.
This is great! At 2:06 I yelled out “is that guy going to pull out in front?!” 😂
Cali drivers never change.
Today is the era of hate. Wont go away for a long long time.
I beleive the 3rd segment to be what now is the 101 Fwy, between Mulholland and Las Virgenes Rd near Calabasas (the give away was the "Hidden Hills development sign)
Love the Nass restorations, I've watched this one a couple of times and Mary Costa's Cafe always catches my eye. The camera catches it on the way down at 3:40 and again on the way back up at 6:23 just as the Coca Cola truck is pulling in. I know it passes a few establishments ( Little Brown Jug, Chinchillas ) but because Mary Costa's Cafe has her actual name on the outside makes it seem more personal to me, and I start to wonder who she was, working there most days, built up her own business, a whole life of a hard working person that will always remain a mystery to me, and that plays on my mind, all because her name is displayed on the outside of her establishment. I'm from Glasgow in Scotland, so America to me is unseen, never been there, but if anybody watching this video has any knowledge of the area shown here or knows anything about the various establishments along this stretch of road, especially Mary Costa's Cafe, it would be very much appreciated if you could post something here. Thank you. Keep up the good work Nass.
Thx!!
This has to be in the late 1940's. I was in CA in the 1960's and ALL of the vehicles on the road here were gone.
To those of us in the third decade of the 21st century (!), this may seem like a slower pace of life. But to many of the people who lived in the 50s, I dare say, they would have experienced their lives as considerably faster and more hectic than 30 or even 20 years prior to them. What will our future look like?
Something you don't see too much of nowadays is that oily stripe down the middle of each lane.
Enfin des couleurs californiennes 👍🏻 On apprécie d'autant mieux les carrosseries ! Quelques futurs collectors très désirables (Nash, Hudson..).
Merci à toi 👍
Quite good... Thanks again nass..
Saludos desde buenos aires argentina ❤
Thanks!
Looks like early fifties. Cars didn’t start flattening and angling out until the mid-fifties.