LTL, Kiddylands, and Bowling Alleys

I have some SPECIAL GUEST PHOTOS for you today - something a little bit different, from GDB friend LTL ("Long Time Lurker"). He had emailed me and said that he had some photos of himself at a kiddy park ("Tinkertown", what a great name) which he believes was at the corner of Laurelgrove and Ventura (Boulevard) in the San Fernando Valley - sweet! Amusement parks and Vintage Los Angeles. Right up my alley. But then LTL went down several research rabbit holes!

In regards to his personal photos, he said: The backs are stamped "May 1960".  In one photo, a building adjacent to the lot says "Bowl", so I think it's Kirkwood Lanes (now Pinz) in Studio City.  Based on buildings across the street, it would be the lot to the west of Kirkwood that, temporary, held a little kiddie land. I think these photos were taken at either one of the TWO kiddylands on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City... each next to a Bowling Alley! Here's LTL (aka "B") aboard what might be a little car ride - the boxy shape makes me think it could be a Jeep, but it's hard to say. He looks like he's having a fun time!

This second photo is fascinating to me! In the distance is a row of stores lining Ventura Boulevard - surprisingly, there are stretches of that area street that still appear very much the way it looked 60 years ago. And you can see the "BOWL" sign for what LTL believes was the Kirkland Lanes. It seems that SF Valley history is scant, so I love these - this second one in particular! 

As I mentioned earlier, LTL discovered that there were several "Kiddylands" in the area. My mom, who grew up in nearby Encino, said she remembered one on the south side of Ventura Blvd, but she did not recall its name - this would have been a decade or two before LTL's time.

Here’s a neat historic photo (circa 1948) - the caption reads View looking east on Ventura Boulevard from near Laurelgrove Avenue toward Vantage Avenue (12200 blk of Ventura). The Hollywood Hills behind Universal City can be seen in the background. At lower-left is the Panorama Bowl (out of view).

A historical note says that the photo was taken from atop the next-door Ferris Wheel at Kiddyland. SO COOL!

Looking up info about Kirkwood Lanes, LTL found this photo of a charming woman named Cleo Moore (actress, Miss Van Nuys of 1947-48), and actress. Zoiks! Cleo Moore showing Joe Kirkwood Jr., Ron Waller, Bob Waterfield and Bob Kelley, partners in the Kirkwood Bowling Center, 12655 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, her form in proper bowling prior to the premiere opening tomorrow. The $1,250,000 ultra-modern bowling center will have 32 AMF lanes, automatic pin setters, rathskeller restaurant and cocktail lounge, a kiddyland and nursery section and parking for several hundred cars.

LTL's family lore remembered the little park as "Tinkertown", but upon further research, he found that it was actually called Collins Kiddyland, at 12249 Ventura Boulevard. I honestly drove right past this address earlier today! I asked LTL about the Tinkertown name, and he said My guess (currently) is that our family informally called it "Tinkertown".  My Mom's side of the family came to LA from Upstate New York in the early 1940s... maybe it was just a generic term they used, like Scotch Tape.  Wow, it may have been an actual Upstate New York "regional dialect" (attn. Superintendent Chalmers).

Here's a vintage aerial view (sorry about the watermarks), you can see the amusement park right near the center.

Another aerial view, with part of the incredibly beautiful LA River winding through. To the left, a pedestrian bridge at Laurelgrove crosses the river.

There is now a Wells Fargo in that location, though I believe that the driveway for the bank is more or less where Collins Kiddyland was.

Here's a startling photo! Valley Times, May 20, 1960: "Sherman Oaks resident Eugene Gluhareff holds his son, Andy, whom he intended to send on plane ride, as he looks at wreckage in which two Valley boys were hurt."  Photograph was taken at Kiddieland amusement park located at 12249 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City.

LTL's research continued! Here is an ad from the December 7th, 1946 issue of Billboard magazine... there was a "Tinkertown Amusement Company" for the sale of a kiddy park "in the heart of the San Fernando Valley". Fascinating!

THEN somebody posted this photo (from an old eBay sale) showing a kiddy park at 3640 South Crenshaw Blvd (written on the side of the double-decker bus). Same address as in the ad!

Another ad from Billboard, this time from December 21, 1946:

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Now for some related asides (from LTL's thorough digging)... another San Fernando Valley kiddy park was "Uncle Ben's Kiddyland" at 8439 Van Nuys Boulevard (in Panorama City which is a bit north of where Collins Kiddyland was). There's a Walmart there now. 

Here's a photo that was very tiny, so I enlarged it using witchcraft. If you don't look at the small details, it looks OK.

Check out this vintage newspaper article. Fun. Laughs. Thrills. A house for $14,995, just put $295 down!

I'm not sure where LTL found this amazing color photo from Uncle Ben's Kiddyland, but I love it.

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Also, David Bradley, who ran the legendary Beverly Park (where the Beverly Center now stands) ran another Kiddyland, at 6127 Sepulveda Blvd. LTL found this rare photo:

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! 

Another sidebar explored the bowling alley mentioned in the third photo, referred to as the "Panorama Bowl" - but LTL believes that this is erroneous, and that it is actually Kirkwood Lanes (mentioned in the photo of Cleo Moore). The place started out as the Valley Recreation Center:

It shows up briefly in a 1956 B-movie, "When Gangland Strikes" (featuring Slim Pickens!) - you only have to scroll to 40 seconds in:

And it was later renamed "Bowl-A-Rama". Everything is better with "a-rama" added to the end! I will also accept "a-gogo". LTL found this amazing color scan (from a slide apparently), talk about rare!

And he also found this moody, film-noir night shot:

And finally, here's a vintage postcard showing the general Studio City area, such a great image!

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WHEW! I'm exhausted, and LTL did all the work! But it was also super fun, I love LA history, and trust me, San Fernando Valley history is not plentiful. It's definitely an area that I wish I could visit with a time machine.

I hope I did LTL proud, I tried to include much of what he sent me, though there was more. He can yell at me in the comments if he needs to! THANKS to LTL for doing so much research and sharing it with all of us!!