Welcome to Retell Seller, an ephemera podcast where I uncover forgotten stories and the ephemera people leave behind. I’m Angie, a reseller of 10 years, and I’ll share one of those snippets with you. Let’s see what today’s find has to say
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I’m determined to organize all of the ephemera I have. I started off organized, and as time has gone on and I’ve acquired more fun stuff, it’s a little chaotic. I purchased early on some archival boxes, and I have some binders. They’re PVC-free, and then there’s archival sleeves of various sizes, and I plan on continually, slowly purchasing these things from the brands that are well-known and trusted for archiving.
Plus, you know, so many of the ephemera I have of varying ages, but some are at least 100 years old and older, and they haven’t had the proper protection, but I’m just happy to now have them knowing that I’ll do my best to bring them forward with a little more protection at least.
I dedicate various amounts of time here and there, um, to organize, and in the midst of my most recent organizing session, I came across a postcard from 1972 with a colorful photo image of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
And if you listened to the very last episode, Traveling Town to Town in 1935, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre was one of a bunch of different places the writer had visited and wrote in her postcard.
And I don’t claim to think it’s anything other than a coincidence, but I do like how it works out like that sometimes.
The card itself has seen better days. It’s got multiple creases with overall yellowing, with at least one corner where the front image side’s paper layer is separating from the back.
And as I said, the card’s imagery is a photograph, and the first thing to stand out was this ornate green and red structure of the theater in the front, with, dare I say, some boring complexes and high-rise apartments or businesses off in the distance behind it.
The marquee on the front of the theater says Hello Dolly was playing with Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau.
The description on the back of the card says, “Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, a fabulous structure representing an Oriental pagoda. Internationally famous for its brilliant Hollywood premieres, this theater attracts thousands of tourists daily.”
The postmark date is barely there, but reads June 10th, 1972. There’s no mention of a city it went through. It only says US Postal Service, CA for California.
The written message reads,
“Hi:
Seems all I write is just cards. Guess it’s better than nothing. Hope you all are okay. All but Pat have colds. Don didn’t feel like going to work today. He’s in bed. Has been hot, but the nights are cool. How is the weather there? Had any rain? Just sprinkled a little couple times last week.What are your plans for the 4th? Don’t know what we’ll do. Want to go to Santa Barbara sometime. Went to see a horse race last Friday. Will write more later. Love, Mom.”
I can’t seem to glean too much off of the card’s written message, at least not much I can fact-check or confirm, except for maybe the weather, the movie, um, maybe the horse race, I thought.
There was an address written in pencil in the upper left-hand corner, though, saying, “16531 Saticoy, Van Nuys, California.” So starting there, I searched the address, and currently a store called At Home in the Valley came up. It’s a warehouse and showroom selling various home decor.
I also looked it up in newspapers.com, wondering if by chance I could see if the address used to be a home that’s no longer there or something else.
And while this article was well before 1972, I found the address in 1949 listed under a section of the paper regarding building permits. It was titled “Building Permits Total $8,018,591”. And that’s in 1949. I put the amount into an inflation calculator, and today that eight million dollars would be well over one hundred and eleven million dollars.
The small little clipping says, “George Montgomery, 16531 Saticoy Street, $14,000.”
And I’m glad I went back as far as I did because in 1951, two pieces came up for the address with one titled, “Actor George Montgomery Plans Factory,” and the other titled, “George Montgomery Opens Furniture Factory Tuesday.“
Here’s how one of those articles reads.
“Actor George Montgomery today will turn his hobby of making early American furniture into a full-fledged business. His Montgomery Furniture Factory will open at 16531 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys. The new factory is a ranch-style building designed by Montgomery, will employ twenty-five men, most of them war veterans, at the start.
As production facilities increase, it is planned for an additional twenty-five men to be hired during the next year. Montgomery and his wife, singer Dinah Shore, will entertain some 500 film figures today at the factory prior to the initial turning latches (meant to say lathes), bench saws, and sanders.”
Also, if you thought, like I did, that maybe this Montgomery was Montgomery Ward, it is not 😄
George also was a landlord, and the furniture in the house that he was renting out was stolen. He only realized it after he’d received a letter from the tenant saying that he was moving, so I’m guessing he went to the house and was like, “Hey, where’s the furniture?”
So back to the marquee on the card, and Hello, Dolly. The movie came out in 1969, and it premiered at the Grauman in December of that year. Since the card was postmarked on June 10th, 1972, I wanted to know what was playing at that time. And wouldn’t you know it, it was another Barbra Streisand movie called What’s Up, Doc?
And if the writer did actually live in Van Nuys, What horse race did she go to? It may not have been local even, I guess, but June 10th, 1972 fell on a Saturday, and she says last Friday she saw a horse race, which would be June 2nd, and I found nothing, at least in Van Nuys.
There was talk of horse racing in Los Alamitos, which searching maps said was about an hour 45 minutes away. The article I found was from Friday, May 26th, just two Fridays before the card, and it said the races weren’t starting until Wednesday, June 7th, which is only three days before the card was postmarked. So the fact that she said last Friday wouldn’t work out, at least based on this article.
So I was bummed out that I didn’t find what race she went to. I definitely could have missed it so there absolutely could have been a horse race going on, just to let you know 😉
She also says that it’s been hot, and the Van Nuys News, on Sunday, June 11th, one day after the card was postmarked, they published a list of the previous week’s temps.
So the Sunday before was 83,
Monday 94,
Tuesday 78,
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 66,
and the day the card was postmarked it was 70.
And those are exactly the temperature swings we have here, going from 94 and two days later it’s 66.
Yeah, that’s just Illinois weather. How’s the weather where you are? Will write more later…
Thank you for joining me as I shared a snippet of the past. I’d love to know if it connected with you in some way. Did it spark a memory or make you see something differently? If so, consider sharing it. Be sure to check out the show notes for additional info, links, and ways to connect. It’s not nostalgia, it’s human.
Until next time, may you find something worth holding onto
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pinny please
