Nothing can beat Kodachrome photography for clarity and vibrancy of color. In this photo, we can see some lucky girl drive her 1955 Thunderbird (look at that gorgeous blue!) along Ney Street in the beachside development known as Surfridge. Just south of Playa del Rey and on a stretch of prime ocean-side land, Surfridge had the misfortune of being located immediately west of LA International Airport. As the airplanes grew bigger, they required longer runways. So the grounds of the airport stretched farther and farther westward. Eventually, they reached Surfridge and so the poor residents suffered with huge aircraft coming in to land just above their roofs. Day and night! Eventually, it became unlivable and was acquired under imminent domain but from the looks of this photo, it looked like a charming place to live.
From these two satellite photos, we can see where Surfridge was, and how it’s now empty land:
In the 1950’s, I lived a little east of Surfridge in Westchester. We drove through Surfridge on our way to Dockweiler beach. The photo shows a dip in the road behind the T-bird. There were several like that. Get going fast enough, and you had a G-force thrill ride.
God what a gorgeous picture! As a kid grew up on Palos Verdes and this was just what that era, ten years later, was like. Low rise spaciously spread buildings. Also something much missed and almost never see today – all that beautiful flowering iceplant behind the T-Bird. Perhaps the scorched earth destruction of recent fires might have been lessened if places like Malibu had extensive ground cover like that today.
Nothing can beat Kodachrome photography for clarity and vibrancy of color. In this photo, we can see some lucky girl drive her 1955 Thunderbird (look at that gorgeous blue!) along Ney Street in the beachside development known as Surfridge. Just south of Playa del Rey and on a stretch of prime ocean-side land, Surfridge had the misfortune of being located immediately west of LA International Airport. As the airplanes grew bigger, they required longer runways. So the grounds of the airport stretched farther and farther westward. Eventually, they reached Surfridge and so the poor residents suffered with huge aircraft coming in to land just above their roofs. Day and night! Eventually, it became unlivable and was acquired under imminent domain but from the looks of this photo, it looked like a charming place to live.
In the 1950’s, I lived a little east of Surfridge in Westchester. We drove through Surfridge on our way to Dockweiler beach. The photo shows a dip in the road behind the T-bird. There were several like that. Get going fast enough, and you had a G-force thrill ride.
I once suggested turning that property into Grand Prix course.
God what a gorgeous picture! As a kid grew up on Palos Verdes and this was just what that era, ten years later, was like. Low rise spaciously spread buildings. Also something much missed and almost never see today – all that beautiful flowering iceplant behind the T-Bird. Perhaps the scorched earth destruction of recent fires might have been lessened if places like Malibu had extensive ground cover like that today.
Nothing beats the vividness of a Kodachrome photo!