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Published on 01/19/1998 All articles from this issue

Pages of the Past

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25 years ago in the Town Crier

As reported in the Jan. 31, 1973, issue of the Town Crier, a significant West Coast electronics collection of exclusive historical properties made its debut at Foothill College on Feb. 2, 1973, when the college's electronic museum opened on campus.

The 12,000-plus-square-foot "hands-on" museum completed the community college's space science center of a planetarium, observatory and amateur research center. It was notable, in part, for its ownership of two priceless collections - several thousand electronic artifacts of Douglas McDonald Perham, peninsula electronics pioneer, and the Lee deForest collection of photographs, writings, citation awards and other memorabilia.

The museum is no longer located at Foothill College but can be reached by phone at its office on Main Street in Los Altos.

The lure of the open road proved irresistible to David William Martin and Scott Wayne Parcel, two sophomores at Awalt High School, now named Mountain View High. They hoped to leave Feb. 3, on a 14,000 mile, seven-month trip via tandem bicycle that would take them around the perimeter of the United States.

After submitting detailed arguments about the trip's educational benefits, they obtained their parents' permission and the approval of their principal and the high school district superintendent with the understanding that they would receive credit under the independent study program at Awalt.

50 years ago in the Los Altos News

According to the Jan. 29, 1948, issue of the Los Altos News, California Governor Earl Warren issued an invitation of centennial hospitality. It read: "On this, the 100th anniversary of Marshall's epochal discovery of gold, we invite friends throughout the world to join with us in celebrating California's Gold Discovery Centennial.

Californians Inc., a group of public-spirited citizens, sponsored the hospitable invitation, the focus of an eye-catching advertisement in the Los Altos News commemorating the gold discovery on Jan. 24, 1848.

The local 20-30 Club announced it had received copies of General George Marshall's "Victory Report" on World War II in Europe and the Pacific. The report contained an added section detailing Los Altos' contributions toward winning the war.

Copies of the report, in booklet form, were placed on sale at local news and book stands and the proceeds were used by the 20-30 Club for community projects.

- Ellen Shaw of the Los Altos History House Association