Quips and Quotes about our San Fernando Valley

San Fernando Valley Circa 1950

By: Deena Nissley

Through the years, people have had a lot to say about the San Fernando Valley. These are some selections from the decades of remarks and praises…

“Clark and I have fallen in love with the Valley. This is our home, and we’re here to stay.” Carole Lombard, wife of Clark Gable, in 1942

“Bring us your listings — We need acre and half-acre ranches!” Reseda real estate broker ad in 1941

“Thousands of us commute to town to earn our living and then hurry back to the Valley to enjoy the sort of living we think makes the trip worth while.” Times columnist Bill Henry in 1952

“The invasion of San Fernando Valley is now on! Establish yourself a beachhead. Ranches for sale are as scarce as Germans in Rome.”                 Real estate pitch during World War II

“A major spawning place for what is now universally recognized as the Southern California way of life.”   Art Seidenbaum

“It took God millions of years to get Tarzana and me together.” Edgar Rice Burroughs

“My parents finally found what they were looking for in the San Fernando Valley: 1034 Evergreen in Burbank. The Concord grape farms were only a couple of blocks away. Our own backyard, once farmland too, had asparagus that grew wild by the bushel.”   Debbie Reynolds 1988

“Around the curve the whole Valley spread out before me. A thousand white houses built up and down the hills, ten thousand lighted windows and the stars hanging down over them politely…” Raymond Chandler, The High Window, 1942.

“In a few years San Fernando will be adorned with groves and orchards. It will become the site of a resort of seekers after health.”                  Benjamin C. Truman in Semi-Tropical California, 1874.

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