While I was looking for things to do closer to us I discovered a Pop Culture museum (open Saturdays and Sundays) near the Van Nuys airport. Located in two small hangars, the Valley Relics Museum is dedicated to the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas. A funky group of “one-off” collections, this small museum stands up to any other small museums we have seen across the country. I absolutely loved it and totally recommend if you find yourself in the area.
It doesn’t look like much from the outside but once you walk in there is an explosion of color from all the neon signs.
It also has these great little collections, many donated by people and it takes awhile to see all of that. Many of the film industry personalities have connections to the valley.
There was a very large section with monster costumes and another section with from a local stuntman. All of the exhibits had little signs saying where the item came from and in many cases it was donated by a family member or the person themselves.
There was also a large collection of motor cross stuff from a local legend. I don’t care that much about motor cross but if your a fan you will probably like this area. Much more than what I am showing.
I liked that about the museum that it not only had things from famous people but lots of things from the towns. Signs of businesses, ashtrays, and menus were really cool and a couple of things brought back waves of nostalgia.
One of Lee’s favorite things was a wall of TVs from a police station AND the Adam-12 sirens. He loved Adam-12 as a kid and I think he got goosebumps.
I loved the section that had a bunch of old lunchboxes. I remember most of these from my childhood, but there were a few I had never seen. Lee went crazy for the 007 lunchbox. He’s a big James Bond fan.
The absolute best area though was back in the back which had tons of neon and some old pinball machines and video games you could play for free. That was super fun and we enjoyed it immensely.
Like I said, super fun and a bargain for $15. Just remember they are only open for limited hours on the weekends so you need to plan ahead. Also don’t forget to see the killer Bonneville that is parked outside the museum. I almost missed it but it was owned by a tailor who worked on Western clothes and it was super fancy.
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