Molly Shore
An airmail stamp cost a nickel in 1930, the year United Airport
opened in Burbank.
The stamp, on a dedication cover envelope issued for the airport's
opening day, is one of many aviation- related artifacts on display
though February at the Buena Vista Branch Library in celebration of
the centennial of flight.
The exhibit, titled "Aviation History at the Bob Hope Airport,"
includes three large display cases in the library's front entrance
that offer a photo and memorabilia timeline from the airfield's
earliest days to the miniskirted PSA stewardesses of the 1960s.
"What blew me away was to see the vacant land all around the
airport during its early years," North Hollywood resident Mike McLear
said while viewing the exhibit this week.
Growing up on Valley Spring Way in Toluca Lake, McLear said, he
often heard about a long-lost neighbor, Amelia Earhart, who lived
four doors down from his family's home.
A copy of Earhart's biography, "Amelia, My Courageous Sister,"
co-written by her sister, Muriel Earhart Morrissey, is one of the
items displayed.
Jeff Cope and his two children, Michael, 13, and Heather, 9, were
intrigued by the display.
"It's nice to learn something about our city," Cope said. "This
exhibit stands out and attracts people's attention."
The exhibit, which opened at the Joslyn Adult Center in November
and moved to the library earlier this month, will remain through Feb.
29, when it will become a permanent exhibit at the airport, Community
Relations Manager Lucy Bergdorf said.
