Looking Back at Burbank

Have been perusing an interesting website which has many old Burbank photos - CLICK HERE to see - and below are a few of them. Enjoy!


Burbank Hospital, 1909
In 1907 Dr. Thompson opened his Burbank Hospital at Olive Avenue and Fifth Street with sixteen beds. In 1908 Dr. Thompson bought a second-hand Mitchell automobile without top or windshield. As much as 18 miles per hour down Olive Avenue could be made. However, a horse was more efficient on gullied trails. Dr. Thompson was arrested for going 12 miles an hour through the Glendale business district. Then he hired Ben Trout as chauffeur. Trout put a mattress in the rear of the car so that Dr. Thompson could sleep during long trips. Calls for a doctor were usually relayed from neighbor to neighbor. Directions were not by street numbers, which were nonexistent, but by such phrases as 'three houses past the Radcliff ranch.' A lantern hung on the porch meant that help was needed. Dr. Thompson did operations in emergencies on the spot." Back row: Frank Bisbee (left), unknown driver, O.B. Thompson, Ethel Thompson (nurse), Nellie Brisbee, Elizabeth Thompson, Edith Archer. Front row: unknown children, Lucille Thompson Trout, William Archer.


Andrew Jergens Company factory, 1920
The Andrew Jergens Company factory, located at Verdugo Avenue near the railroad tracks in Burbank, 1920. The company was founded in 1882. They began with a single product, coconut oil soap, specially formulated to perform in hard water.


Burbank City Hall, 1921
The first City Hall was built in 1916. The police and fire department were also located in this building.


Burbank City Hall, 1943
View of Burbank City Hall, at 275 East Olive Street, Burbank, in 1943, the year it opened. In 1996, Burbank City Hall was placed on the National Register as well as the California Register of Historical Resources.


Hollywood-Burbank Airport terminal, 1967.
The name was changed from from Lockheed Air Terminal to Hollywood-Burbank Airport in 1967.


Pacific Southwest Airlines stewardesses, 1967-78?
Stewardesses pose for publicity pictures in an L-1011 Tri-Star engine to inaugurate their new uniforms of cotton-candy pink, tangelo red, and pumpkin orange. Uniforms were designed to match colored stripes on "PSA's Smiling Aircraft".