malady 7, treatment and brother David, 10, make snowballs in the backyard of their modern California ranch-style home planted with tropical shrubs in the West Valley, January 30, 1957. Order #00116874″ width=”800″ height=”638″ /> Marilyn Cohen, 7, and brother David, 10, make snowballs in the backyard of their modern California ranch-style home in the West Valley, January 30, 1957. Order #00116874

Snow in Los Angeles is a newsworthy event. In these recently digitized photos, the Valley Times documented the occasional  storms that turned areas of the Valley into a winter wonderland.

George Brich in front of the Columbia II blimp. Order #00113103

In a story that ran in the Valley Times on January 1, 1964, intrepid staff photographer George Brich rode along with pilot Lee Cermack in the new Goodyear Blimp, the Columbia II, and captured stunning aerial views of the Valley.

Staff reporter Jerry Custis wrote of the experience, “From the air the Valley is an incredibly green, unbelievably broad land. It’s tree-shaded residential areas, jutting buildings, jammed parking lots — even the mosaics of its swimming pools — stretch further than the eye can distinguish. It’s like no other part of the city.”

Check out the images in the gallery below.

A view of the Christmas lanterns and bells that decorated Reseda Boulevard in Northridge by photographer Steve Young, dated December 8, 1964.

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Below, in an image from December 8, 1963 by photographer Bob Martin, Bud Bristol (left) and Ed Morris of the Reseda YMCA unload one the year’s first shipments of Christmas Trees to be sold on lots in mid Valley areas.

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Thanksgiving celebrations from the Valley’s past!

Thanksgiving Day full of meaning for ex-Russian. Triplet daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Agner, 11219 Elkwood Ave., Sun Valley, celebrate their first Thanksgiving. Nine-month-old girls surround their mother as she puts finishing touches on turkey taken piping hot from electric range. November 26, 1959. Order #00114456

Adohr Milk Farms 60-foot concrete silos Order #00113599

This series from October 13, 1948 shows the demolition of the Adohr Milk Farms’ 31 year old  concrete silos,  located at 18000 Ventura Boulevard. The Tarzana landmarks were removed after the land was sold and divided  into city parcels to build low-cost homes for veterans. This is just one of the examples from the collection of the post war boom (no pun intended) and the Valley’s transformation from agricultural center to sprawling suburbs. See the whole demolition process in the gallery below.

“Preview of special entertainment planned for Toluca Lake School PTA fall festival on Saturday is previewed by, left to right, Mrs. Keith Jones, chairman; Mrs. Burton Jay, first vice president; Doye O’Dell, guest star, and Mrs. Jocelyn Ryan, president.” October 20, 1958. Order #00115098

Look at these treats just added to the online Photo Collection — Valley Halloween celebrations!

In this series from October 18, 1960, shot by Larry Paulson, we get a look at the inner workings of the Valley Times as students tour the paper’s North Hollywood offices during National Newspaper Week.

“Students from Winnetka Avenue Elementary School in Canoga Park gaze in awe at huge cylindrical press and watch as white paper roll races between plates and is changed into Valley Times Today. Pressmen later gave paper hats to 37 members of school’s B-3 class who toured newspaper.” Order #00113553

“Wide grins crease faces of young students as they sit in newspaper photographic studio with Mrs. Joelle Green, left, their teacher, and Valley Times Today staff writer Jerry Burns.” Order #00113556

Photo by Jeff Goldwater, October 5, 1957. Order #00115102

Let’s all be inspired by the Toluca Lake Elementary PTA mother’s chorus as they rehearse for a performance at an upcoming association meeting in the school’s cafetorium.

malady a 15-year-old sophomore at Villa Cabrini Academy with Rev. Mother Eulalia M.S.C. Superior, November 4,1960. Photo by Gordon Dean. Order #00108838″ width=”800″ height=”638″ /> Joan Feeney, a 15-year-old sophomore at Villa Cabrini Academy with Rev. Mother Eulalia M.S.C. Superior, November 4,1960. Photo by Gordon Dean. Order #00108838

The Villa Cabrini Academy was a private, Catholic school for girls nestled in the Verdugo foothills in Burbank at 7500 Glenoaks Boulevard. The school was founded by Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini, who was the first naturalized US citizen to be canonized by the Catholic Church. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Mother Cabrini established hospitals, orphanages and schools in both her native Italy and in many American cities, including the Regina Coeli Orphanage in downtown Los Angeles. In 1907, she and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart Order built a preventorium on the Burbank property for children with tuberculosis. After Mother Cabrini’s death in 1917, the Sisters continued to develop the site, creating a boarding school and a summer retreat for orphans during the depression era. The Academy was built in 1944, which expanded into an elementary and secondary school with 22 buildings on a 30- acre campus.

Partial view of the Villa Cabrini Academy, June 6, 1947. Order #00108835

Below are recently digitized images of Villa Cabrini school life in the 1950s and 60s.

The Villa Cabrini Academy closed in 1970 due to lack of religious personnel to maintain the school. After the closure, California Institute of the Arts rented the facilities as an interim campus before moving to Valencia. The following year, half of the school’s buildings were demolished after they were damaged in the San Fernando earthquake. The school site alternated between vacancy and neglect, and occupation by a series of tenants, including the City of Health, the Chiropractic Associated Practices Foundation, and the Lutheran High School of Los Angeles. The former academy is now home to Woodbury University, which purchased the property in 1987. Two of the original structures from Villa Cabrini remain. The main chapel was converted to Woodbury’s library. A smaller chapel built by Mother Cabrini in 1917 that became pilgrimage site for members of the Italian American community, was moved to St Francis Xavier Church located at 3801 Scott Avenue in Burbank.

Closeup of the small chapel built in 1917 at direction of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, then Mother Cabrini, January 31, 1955. Order #00108832

Photograph caption dated December 5, 1958 reads, “Picture taken during fierce 1955 fire in Burbank foothills shows how close brush blaze came to tiny Burbank chapel.” Order #00108833

Photo by Jon Woods, December 5, 1960 caption reads, “More than 5,000 faithful climb hill in Burbank in annual pilgrimage to shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini at Villa Cabrini Academy, 7500 Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank. Shrine was built at spot where St. Cabrini meditated prior to her death in 1917. She was canonized in 1946. Pilgrimage was sponsored by the Italian Catholic Federation.” Order #00108834