Glendale History: Albert Einstein at the 1932 Rose Parade

The City of Glendale has a long, rich history of participation in the Tournament of Roses Parade, dating back to 1911. The photograph above, taken after the 1932 Parade, features Albert Einstein greeting Glendale float designer Georgia Chobe and rider Esther Muhlman Garate.

Katherine Yamada's January 5, 2002, article in the Glendale News-Press provides additional information about Georgia Chobe and her contributions to Glendale's successful Rose Parade legacy.

As for this year's parade, while the Glendale entry in the 2010 Tournament of Roses did not win an award (snapping a 4-year winning streak), the City can take pride in knowing the 33-foot float, featuring a soaring bald eagle, was selected by Tournament of Roses officials for the Parade's patriotic finale. See the Glendale News-Press article for a full recap of the parade and photographs of Glendale's beautiful entry.

The photograph above is one of the thousands available to library patrons and researchers at the Special Collections Room in the Glendale Central Library.

The Special Collections Room is currently open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m and 1 to 3 p.m. and by appointment. Please call (818) 548-2037 for additional information.

This Week in Reading Dec. 28, 2008 - Jan 3, 2009

This week is the last Monday-to-Friday week of the year. As you’ve noticed, we now have arranged the lists to which we link you from This Week in Reading as if there were only four weeks in a month. As we have now completed the year of authors whose books are in our library, next year the blog post referring to the list may show up only four times a month as well. We will work on correcting and adding any other authors who have been left off or who newly receive some level of prominence.

That said, the main event to read about this week, of course, is the coming of the New Year. It starts off colorfully enough with the always dependable Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl wherein we expect a dependable ninth straight Pac 10 victory. And, like many of us, London’s Samuel Pepys, who ought to be the patron saint of bloggers, began his famous diary on the first day of the year, in his case 1660, but unlike most of us he kept it going for ten years thus creating a wonderful historical resource for later readers. If you start a diary this year, why not make it into a daily record of your reactions not just to what you see and hear but also to what you read? Who knows what you may end up with, material for a book of your own, of for a blog, or comments to share with others?

It's another week big on initials for big authors, some of whom we’ll revisit next week (because they're in January), include 1907 Nobelist Rudyard Kipling, E. M. Forster, J R. R. Tolkien, Mortimer Adler, Isaac Asimov, and J. D. Salinger with novelists Robert Ruark, William Gaddis, and Nicholas Sparks.

This Week’s Question: J.D. Salinger, notoriously shy of publicity, will turn ninety this year and many will try to get him to say something publicly about his work which hasn’t been seen in years. Some are even suggesting he may have written novels he does not intend to publish in his lifetime. If that were true, last week’s posthumous Pulitzer may not be the only one. In addition to his ground breaking book, the adolescent anthem A Catcher in the Rye, he has written a series of novels and stories about a particularly quirky family which includes a prodigy which may or may not be reflective of his own peculiarities. What is the name of that family?

Answer to Last Week’s Question: The stylist who did not believe in style was controversial novelist, Big Sur denizen Henry Miller.

Happy New Year!

Photo Displays Feature Glendale's Past

The Glendale Central Library currently has two displays featuring Glendale's past.

On the second level, there is Glendale Rose Floats on Parade, a selection of photographs featuring Glendale's Rose Floats from 1934, 1960, 1972, 1982 and 2008.

On the ground level are photographs from the Rockhaven Sanatorium in the Montrose area. The historic site is under consideration for future use by the city, possibly a library branch.










To find out more about Glendale's past check out these recent books by city employees and others.
Early Glendale by Juliet M. Arroyo
Glendale by Juliet M. Arroyo, Katherine Peters Yamada, and George Ellison
Glendale 1940 - 2000 by Juliet M. Arroyo
Grand Central Air Terminal by John Underwood.