JACK-IN-THE-BOX @ CALIFORNIA & HUNTINGTON

There was a Jack-in-the-Box that looked similar to this one, located on the southeast corner of California and Huntington Drive in Monrovia before it was replaced with a Jim's Hamburger.  I always liked the color scheme of Jack-in-the-Box.  It may be one reason why I love the shot below of the Chinese chain store, 168 Market, located in San Gabriel at Earle Street and Las Tunas Drive.

NEWSPAPER ROUTE

When I was 12 I had my first paper route, delivering the LA Herald Examiner.  One of the areas on my route was this mobile home park there to the right on Bradbourne Street. 

BE A LOCAL HISTORIAN

That takes years of training for most historians, and few of them ever write much.

Start with a local event at least three decades ago. Read all the newspaper accounts. Then rummage through old documents in the courthouse. Interview locals. Set up a website. Start analyzing the accuracy of the documents. Build up an inventory of documents online. Then start writing chapters on the event. Get feedback from locals. Then revise. Invest at least a year.

Then do it again on another topic. You will get on to how it's done.

Or read 20 to 30 books on one narrow topic. Read at least four book reviews of each book in scholarly journals. Take notes (Evernote.com). Then write book reviews of each book. Then write a summary article of at least 10,000 words on the major themes and how they have been handled. Then write your version.                      

NORTHVIEW JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, DUARTE, 1962

This is a photo of a 1962 class.  The instructor standing at the right is a Mr. Weaver.  I do not think that he was still teaching there when I arrived in 1969. You can see the original picture and a story by the owner of the picture who is in the photo.  

The only other two photos related to Northview that I can find are these:  

This yearbook note was penned by Rick Larsen inside my Northview yearbook, guessing that the year was 1970.  It's one of those things that meant so much to me because Rick was a neighborhood friend.  But we weren't really friends.  It was just that friendships extended beyond who you knew, but that friendship extended to anyone related or connected to one person you knew or liked.  And Joe and Keith were pretty good friends.  Will never forget how Keith emptied his dad's garage of all things or most things and then watered it down to mimic the effect of a speedway track so that when we each rode our bikes up the driveway as fast as we could and hit the water-downed garage, we'd glide in a speedway pose.  It was great summer fun.  Rick was a treasure.  He was mature.  He'd moved to La Canada.  We missed him then.  He and his brother along with his mother were a source of great entertainment.  But that 50 years ago now.  There are not enough moments in a lifetime.  You'd wished that we could have had more.  

We lost Rick early in 2018.  Rick Larsen (April 26, 1957-May 17, 2018).  And for some strange reason, I always remembered Rick's birthdate, April 26th.  I didn't realize how sick Rick was.  His daughter, Kate Larsen, wrote this:  

I am deeply saddened to announce the death of my father, Rick Larsen. Some of you may know that he struggled with chronic illness, most recently undergoing chemo for myelodysplastic syndrome.  After a week-long unexpected stay at Sutter Roseville Medical Center, and with the help of amazing family and friends, my brother and I brought him home to family on hospice. He passed peacefully this morning in my brother’s home, surrounded by his loved ones.

It felt like we were close early because my brothers and I spent so much time over at his house, playing basketball, swimming, and goofing around.  I'll never forget Ken Wadding getting a hold of Rick's dad's pistol after he'd just gotten out of their pool and Ken running out of the front door all wet, slipping, both hands clutching the gun as he pointed it at the group of us standing out front.  We dispersed immediately.  

I do love this picture from Eric Bergquist, who may have shot the picture, out in the desert.  

Here is Eric Bergquist's caption with comments from others: 

Watermelon feast after a race—Dad and Jack Froelich on Tailgate.  Jack’s son, Larry, behind him.  Lynn and Lou Froelich, too.  My brother Steve, closest on the left, my dear friend, the little guy on the right front, grew up to be a Speedway motorcycle star, Keith “The Snakeman” Larsen, and his older brother, Rick Larsen is on his right.  Good Times.  J

. . . and the Cardinal yearbook cover designed by Steve Hardy.

The only reason I am posting this aerial photo of the Big Sky Drive-In is that the picture captures a sliver of Northview's sports field.  At the bottom right corner of the photo, you can see some of Northview's classrooms and a section of its sports field.  It was in that corner where I used to watch my brother, Tom, practice with his little league baseball team.  Their games were played at DYA or Duarte Youth Acres.  

BAY THEATER & S. CHARLES LEE, 1948-1949

Again, a little outside the city limits of Duarte, and you begin to see the glory and beauty that was and is Los Angeles of mid-century.  These shots are of the lobby of the beautiful Bay Theater, located at 15140 West Sunset Boulevard, Pacific Palisades. The theater, the building, and lobby were designed by Simeon Charles Lee. 

 Esther Williams on opening night of the Bay Theater, 1949.

 The Ladies' Lounge.

S. Charles Lee is at the right.  I do not know who the gentleman standing at the left is.  I will find out. 

VERN THEATER

This is a little out of the city limits of Duarte, but I couldn't pass an opportunity to post something about the gorgeous architectural designs of S. Charles Lee.  I learned of this architect today through a Facebook post on the Rosemead Theater in Rosemead.  Lee designed a lot of theaters in the Southern California.  The Vern Theater is one of his masterpieces.

LA PUENTE, CA

This was a beautiful tribute to a young family moving from the east coast in 1957 to the newly built town of La Puente.  To see more of this family's life in Southern California, see here.

Here are a few more landmarks of La Puente that I missed growing up.  The only reason I had to visit La Puente was because of a young woman named Danette Martinez.  I thought she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.  But then my friend, Dave Moore, began dating her.  Dating is a euphemism.

The Star Theater, La Puente, CA.  You'll find a picture of its interior here.

According to cinematreasures.org (a great site with info on tons of old theatres), this theatre, located at 145 N. First St. in La Puente, CA, "was designed by S. Charles Lee in the Quonset Hut style and opened as the Puente Theatre in late 1947.

It was renamed the Star and during its later years, it ran adult films before being used for live Mexican performances.

It became once again used as a first-run movie theater, operated by an independent operator, but was closed in 2007."

See the color photo of the same theater:

Classic 1963 scene from La Puente.  The photo belongs to Gary Cliser.  I haven't seen that neighborhood since 1978 when my good friend Sean Moore died.  We used to visit a few of his Bishop Amat friends in La Puente, but that was about it.