 1. Thousands of soldiers returned to Los Angeles after World War II. But the city was not prepared with housing for such an enormous influx of former servicemen and their families. What to do? There’s always Griffith Park! A temporary village of 1,500 Quonset huts for 5,000 residents was quickly created on the north side of Griffith Park where the zoo parking lot is now. The instant subdivision was named Rodger Young Village in honor of a World War II hero. It even had its own grocery store. Four-year-old Peter Aguilar lived at 1098 Rodger Young Village from 1947 to 1954. 1950. (Courtesy Peter Aguilar) |
 2. Los Feliz got its own branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in 1950. It was located in a store front at 1939 1/2 Hillhurst Avenue. Librarian Dorothy C. Smith reported a stock of 3,112 books and an annual circulation of 34,783 books in 1950. (Courtesy Pearl Yonezawa, Senior Librarian) |
 3. Marie Capparelli sold delicious calories at Mrs. Colette’s Bakery inside the popular Hollymont Market on Vermont Avenue in 1950. The Los Feliz Post Office now occupies the site. (Courtesy Rosalie Capparelli) |
 4. Everyone loves a beach party! Peg and her girl friends from Our Mother of Good Counsel enjoyed a sunny day at Santa Monica Beach in 1954. It wasn’t all book learning! (Courtesy Our Mother of Good Counsel) |
 5. One of the popular social activities of the 1950s was the Mrs. America contest. Five housewives entered the Los Feliz competition. The nominees had to demonstrate their prowess by ironing a man’s white shirt, sewing an apron, baking a cake, and surviving an interview. Judges Ida Symms of Burbank and Ralph Rivet of the Los Angeles Examiner didn’t even allow Irene Stiny time to take off the apron she had made before they presented her with a bouquet for winning the Mrs. Los Feliz competition. The judges were so right because Irene Stiny went on to win the Mrs. Los Angeles contest and represented Los Angeles in the Mrs. California competition. There’s nothing like a coconut cake to win over the judges. (Courtesy Irene Stiny) |
 6. “The Franklin Avenue Elementary School Gang” looked pretty innocent when they gathered on the Ambrose Terrace cul-de-sac in 1955, but they became a powerhouse when they got to John Marshall High School. Andrew Quarress (left) became the Winter ’65 Treasurer and Larry Sacks (cowboy hat) was Student Body President at Marshall in 1965. Larry’s little brother Bobby Sacks is next to him with Ellen Friedman. (Courtesy Andy Quarress) |
 7. By the 1950s television had come of age. Nearly every home in Los Feliz had one. The action heroes of the day were the cowboys, and none were more popular than Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Even Nonnie and Rulon Openshaw wanted to be Annie Oakley and Gene Autry for Halloween. 1955 (Courtesy Rulon Openshaw) |
 8. Baller Hardware opened its modern store on Hyperion Avenue in 1959. Check out the fins on those cars! (Courtesy Craig Baller) |
 9. We who lived in the 1950s tend to forget how in many ways life was simpler and in some ways more charming. Remember the newsboy who tossed the paper on the lawn from his bicycle and collected money to pay for the paper at the end of the month? It was the first job for many kids. Our paper boy is Denis LaBonge, Councilmember Tom LaBonge’s brother, who delivered the Los Angeles Herald Examiner on Griffith Park Boulevard and the area around Marshall High School in 1959. (Courtesy Councilmember Tom LaBonge) |
Los Feliz Improvement Association
Because good neighborhoods don’t happen by accident
