NOTES
CHAPTER 1
1 . What do we call residents of Burbank? “Burbankers” or “Burbankians?” The matter is in some dispute on the various Burbank-related Facebook groups. It is not a matter of world-shaking importance, but the authors are fond of “Burbanker” because it has historical weight. In the Burbank Times of November 30, 1889, we find the following note from the editor: “Gano Henry, Jr., has opened a boarding stable at 110 Upper Main Street, Los Angeles. Mr. H. is an old Burbanker and his friends in this section ought not to forget his place of business when they drive into town.”
2 . The Los Angeles River: The Beverly Hillbillies ’ Jed Clampett once looked down upon it and its cement channel and described it as “Pitiful, pitiful.” Elly May added, “Properly, there ain’t sufficient water down there to moist down a good-sized crawdad, is there Pa?”
3 . There are old-timers who insist that San Fernando, as it runs through the downtown district, is properly a “road” and not a “boulevard,” as maps today have it. We have been reprimanded about this on our Burbankia website. So “road” it is.
4 . Your authors are Burbank High School Bulldogs (class of ’74) and, as such, note with pride that our high school actually predates the incorporated city. Take that, crosstown rival Burroughs High.
5 . This classic Burbank photograph served as an inner-sleeve illustration for Warner Bros. records during the 1970s; the LP label proudly featured a palm tree–lined street and the words, “Burbank, Home of Warner Bros. Records.”
6 . The ubiquitous Disney “Buena Vista” designation for various related companies refers to the street on which the studios are located. All Burbankers are happy to point this out. The street and its name predate the 1939 construction of the studio, by the way.
CHAPTER 2
7 . The first battle was fought more or less in the same place in 1831.
8 . Nearly all of the reference publications cited here are available to view on the Burbankia website.
9 . Mike McDaniel has heard the question more than once, “Why are there airplanes on the tops of the signs?”
10 . It still exists as Rocky’s.
11 . Indeed. Do a Google image search and see for yourself.
12 . Wrestling and roller derby fans may recall his “Whoooaaaaa Nelly!” from local telecasts.
13 . R. Lee Ermey was a memorable recent speaker.
CHAPTER 3
14 . The authors’ search for a copy of this apparently lost film continues.
15 . Wes Clark’s dad’s favorite was one of Alice Cooper, wearing smeary eyeliner, in 1971: “What in the hell is that ?”
16 . Frankie Burke, who absolutely channels James Cagney in this film.
17 . That’s right: Shangri-La is in Burbank. Reflect on that next time you’re at the corner of Verdugo Avenue and Hollywood Way. Do you feel any younger?
18 . If this sounds familiar, it’s because the premise was reworked in 1980 as Xanadu , a film starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly.
19 . “Captain Hook,” which aired on December 17, 1974.
20 . In the 1960s there were plenty of vacant lots in town to be commemorated. The authors used to play in them. Back then, Burbank was known for vacant lots and a curious superabundance of alleys.
21 . Some ripe quotes: “I’m not too thrilled about the [San Fernando] Valley as an aesthetic concept. . . . To me, [it] represents a number of very evil things.” “I’ve always hated the Valley. It’s a most depressing place.”
22 . Forest Lawn is in Glendale or Los Angeles, Johnny.
23 . There are newspaper stories suggesting that this is changing.
CHAPTER 4
24 . The moniker has generally fallen out of use, to be found only in history books like this.
25 . John Burroughs High School was used for exterior shots.
26 . Wes Clark’s father and mother are also buried near the structure.
CHAPTER 5
27 . How’s that for musical diversity?
28 . He was the senior music director at RKO Radio Pictures and earned Academy Award nominations for his work on The Fallen Sparrow, Higher and Higher and None but the Lonely Heart .
29 . An earlier Burbank Municipal Band was organized in late 1923, led by a fellow named Hubert Snow White.
30 . You can see them perform in the Warner Bros. film Wings for the Eagle (1942), scenes of which were filmed in the plant.
31 . Your authors were handed their Burbank High School diplomas at the site during a pleasant June 1974 evening.
CHAPTER 6
32 . Amusingly, a 1910 description of Fawkes’s vehicle incorporates a gas bag for lift and suspension.
33 . Fawkes seems to have had a problem with Burbank existing as a city outside Los Angeles; in January 1912, the year after the city incorporated, he filed a petition before the Burbank Board of Trustees calling for an election to vote on dis-incorporating the city. Nothing came of it.
34 . You can see it on Britishpathe.com .
35 . Being large men, your authors feel a special affection for him.
36 . He carried brickmaking supplies to sites.
37 . Probably reflecting the common anti-Semitism of the times, a short caption mentions that “he is not a member of the House of David.”
CHAPTER 7
38 . However, he lost a 1910 comeback bout, “The Fight of the Century,” with Jack Johnson.
39 . A street in Burbank was named for him.
40 . One of the wrestling stars was Gorgeous George.
CHAPTER 8
41 . It’s a mile south of the home on the 1600 block of North Lincoln Street where Wes Clark was raised.
42 . Shorter’s body was never found, and he was declared legally dead in 1960.
43 . Hayward won the Best Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award for it.
44 . Kubrick’s mother was Paul Perveler’s maternal aunt.
45 . Twenty-four years to the day before the boom sheet murder, it may be noted.
46 . The interior of this casino is depicted in the 2013 film Gangster Squad . The site is memorialized by Dincara Road in Burbank.
47 . He’s called “Elmer Jackson” in the movie Gangster Squad (2013), where he is shown dining with Mickey Cohen at a swank Los Angeles nightclub.
CHAPTER 9
48 . The authors confess to never having heard this phenomenon.
49 . We can no longer go right to the source and ask the horse.
50 . You will recall from the musical chapter that guitarist Randy Rhoads and drummer Drew Forsyth were Burbankers.
CHAPTER 10
51 . Prior to Mike McDaniel’s research, only 163 veterans were officially listed.
52 . The Oklahoma was badly damaged and decommissioned in 1944.