Hey FT, I had a pair of Birdwell Britches, in 1962. They were the nylon boxer length. They were good for the beach and for me. It was ok until I had to sit down on my board while waiting for the next set. The nylon became a little tight and a slightly uncomfortable. But, they worked well, stayed strong without any tears or rips and felt flexible, surfing. They lasted a long time. Birdwell Britches in action Huntington Beach Pier, 1962. The Birdwell Britches matched my 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery in color. To go one step further, my board had two red/orange stripes down the middle. "Hey, it's the guy from the red 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery..." Image was everything...back then. In 1965, I switched to an old Hang Ten cotton pair with a white stripe across the middle. Those were very comfortable and slightly loose in the fit. There was no binding. Finally, in 1966, I got a pair of Katin’s new, nylon shorts cut a little shorter in the legs and those were great. I had to be a little modest while sitting on my board. But, the funny thing was, of all of the three pairs of board shorts, the cotton Hang Ten red shorts with a white stripe held its value many years later. A friend of mine wanted those shorts and I gave him the Hang Ten Shorts in exchange for a new 6’8” tri-fin surfboard plus a little money. It was way below the mfg. cost to make the board. They even had the slight rusty marks from the time the surf board shaper borrowed the shorts when he was a little kid. (He used a metal safety pin to make the waist thinner.) Jnaki Those were some great So Cal traditions in the surfing industry. They can still be had, today. The last time I wore board shorts in surfing was in 1971. From that time on, it has been the lightweight 1 to 2 mm spring suits for spring and summer. Then in the fall/winter, a 3 to 4 mm suit with boots and gloves. Birdwell Britches at San Miguel, Baja…photo James Nak 1964 Hang Ten with white stripes in a Kauai secret pool: photos v nak The last wave in 2002, but the look was familiar from 1972 to 2002. Flame photo 2002
Cool pics LBCD! My folks took me on the Rainbow pier when I was very small in their '54 Chevy so I don't remember it, but it's nice to know I was on it. It's amazing how many cool things were in LB when my mom was a kid, the pier, The Pike, which I remember well, the Plunge, surfing (mom wasn't old enough to remember the breakwater not being there) Model T hill climb which we went to every year...lots of stuff to do. The Auditorium at Rainbow pier was free to use if you booked it for an event, new car show, elks convention, anything to bring in business to LB and it was free of charge. 'Course now it's the LB Arena.
SAMs in Seal Beach burnt down once. An Edison pole transformer blew up... I think they were involved with the $$$ to rebuild it. We had a lot SCE retirement parties there.
A hundred year old establishment in Long Beach,CA is closing in April ! 1957 photo on 10th and American Ave. (currently called Long Beach Blvd.) The store has survived the Great Depression, the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, two World Wars, the Los Angeles Riots, a total loss fire, and five major economic recessions. Hello, In 1955, our mom and dad surprised us at Christmas. In the morning, out rolled two Schwinn full size bicycles. One was black and the other, red. We had been asking our parents for full size bikes for several years. Now, that we were in our first real house from 1949-53, there were plenty of places we could ride and have fun, including school just a few blocks from our house. We had seen these bikes at a toy store in Long Beach. But, my dad knew of the Jones Bicycle shop on American Ave. which was a short distance away from our house. Our stock bicycles: mine was red, my brother’s was black. We have all seen bicycles given on Christmas morning and this one was a similar, big surprise. Parents were/are sneaky, they just wanted to see the looks on our faces when the bikes made their appearances. We liked the features on those Schwinns. The best part was the girder front forks to allow better suspension over curbs and bumpy roads. The simulated motorcycle gas tank and girder front forks made these bikes look like old choppers we saw cruising around. Of course, with the early hot rodding ideas, things came off from the stock configuration. The chrome fenders, rear bike rack, no nighttime riding, so the front fender came off and we got mud streaks up our backs and fronts of our white T-shirts. Now, the girder front end really helped in our rough house off road dirt lots in the neighborhood. Jnaki Sorry, purists, we should have left them stock. But, who knew back then that these bikes left in stock configuration would bring big bucks later on in life? No one back then saved stuff for that purpose. The purpose was to ride them to death and have fun while doing crazy preteen/teenage stuff. On a sad note: We used the front forks/hub for the front of our Doodlebug, to make it handle well over curbs and dirt fields. Yes, there goes the value... But, we gave the complete other bike to our cousins. "Jones Bicycles, an institution in Long Beach for more than 100 years and a Belmont Shore anchor, will close next month. Owners John and Lisa Genshock made the announcement Wednesday. A closing sale will begin Monday, April 2. F.S. Jones opened Jones Bicycles in 1910 on American Avenue (now Long Beach Boulevard). The shop opened a second location in Belmont Shore in 1964, and has been selling bikes, accessories and more ever since. The Gensocks bought the store in 1994 as only the fourth owners since 1910. Jones Bicycles has been established as a specialty bike shop in Long Beach, CA since 1910.. Much has changed since 1910, especially in the area of internet shopping. The Genshocks stay competitive by offering the vast knowledge and experience of their friendly staff to customers who value old-fashioned customer service and quality products. Their tri-level store, located two blocks from the beach in the community of Belmont Shore, is filled with antique bicycles and collectable skateboards, artwork, old-fashioned coin-operated games from the Long Beach Pike as well as curiosities tucked in every nook, cranny and corner. Belmont Shore 2nd Street Moon Discs? or custom milled Titanium solid wheels? early Jnaki
Hello, I just saw this flyer about the old Santa Fe Theater on the corner of Santa Fe and Hill Street in the Westside of Long Beach. It was one of our places to go, even when they closed it and made it into a bowling alley. Jnaki It was a true neighborhood movie theater...as we could walk to it from our last Westside house for the movies.
Another bicycle store, Aviation Cyclery, on Aviation Blvd, at 11th Street in Manhattan Beach, had history back to 1963, but closed in late 2017. Very sad. I bought a bike there in 1970.
I was living in ElCajon and working for Steve at G&L auto salvage....a 55-57 chevy yard. Steve also bought used and wrecked hot rods and parted them out....prolly met some of you guys back then. Some days I'd deliver parts with the company truck...a light green 60 ElCamino. Delivered to Phil's auto wrecking one day and Phil hired me away from G&L...Still lived in ElCajon but worked in Chula Vista...hated that drive! I was prolly the only guy in southern Cal with no 55-57 chevy. No, I drove a "late model"...a white 66 Impala with factory 220 HP 283, column shift 3 speed and a 3.31, 12 bolt posi rear. The Mexican guys would always ask if it was for sale and when they saw the manual trans, they changed their minds....they always wanted powerglide cars.
Hell LBCD, I've never even heard of the Sky Room. Usually when I head in that direction from home it's to go to Joe's...I need to get out more.
Reno room I know, Bukowski I know too. In fact a guy I use to lap swim with was very good friends with him, he was a English teacher at cal state for 40 years and is the most published poet in America. After he retired they let him keep his office on campus, he goes there every day. BIG drinker back in the day hence the Buk connection. I know he wrote one maybe 2 books on Bukowski and their journeys.
A great “What do you see out of your windshield” photograph. A very narrow, but fast surface street for East/West travel. Hey LBCD/FT, During our early college years, we were involved with the whole pool table scene. But, growing up having a Westside Long Beach neighborhood bar with pool tables in a separate wing allowed us to play pool on the off hours when the place was empty. (Near Mickey Thompson's shop and the huge welding shop) The Reno Room on the corner of Redondo and Broadway was in our “circuit” during 1962-64.. We know of this intersection well. A girl I knew well, worked in a dental office a block away. It was part of our early college, pool playing extravaganza circuit. Broadway and Redondo was a fairly busy intersection, but when traveling East/West from one side of Long Beach to the other, Broadway was narrow, but the fastest street to get to your destination. Sure, Ocean Blvd has the views, but the traffic was usually crowded at all hours. We would start at the Annex (no pool tables, but a mean shuffleboard group) and hit all of our favorite places with pool tables, all the way down to Belmont Shore. Java Lanes above the Traffic Circle, the 49er Tavern, Joe Jost’s, The Acapulco Inn on 2nd street. Great bar food plus the semi rowdy atmosphere of a pool table with friends was the big draw. Finally, if we wanted just a pure pool playing competition without the interference of a bar atmosphere, it was the Lakewood Family Billiards in 64. Jnaki The problem with pool tables in bars was: The accuracy went down, but the bravado went up as more places were visited on the “Big Tour.”
LBCD, I never see this banner unless I'm in the garage with the door closed so other night when I was out there I saw it and remembered this post of yours. That was a cool little show, too bad they don't do it again. When I was a kid in the early 70s, 14-16, my dad put his '56 ford pickup in the shows the arena as part of a display for the club he was in. On the floor were the cars, trucks and boats but on the upper level were all the custom bikes, so you could check out the bikes and also look over the little wall and see the car show from above. In one of the rooms up stairs they'd show 'On Any Sunday' over and over and over. We were into dirt bikes too so that was pretty fun.
Hello, It has been drizzling for the past two or so weeks in the So Cal-Los Angeles basin. Maybe not enough to create a massive trash build up in the mouth of the Los Angeles River which empties into the Long Beach Harbor. But, it is/was enough to build up all along the nooks and crannies of the wild river environment from the valley to the ocean. Just waiting for the big flush... When we were little, it was a few blocks walking to the banks of the L.A. River. The bottom in some portions is all concrete lined, but over the years, white sand, plants and animals have made the river wash home. There were a few years that the heavy winter rains were so strong as to create a fast flowing, raging river out to the ocean. In the 60's, the tall banks were nearly topped and the whole neighborhoods on both sides of the river were given an evacuation notice to move to higher ground. (higher ground is Dominguez Hills, San Pedro, Or Signal Hill. Everything else is a historic, flat, alluvial plain from back in the Sabre Tooth Tiger days.) No one in our local neighborhood moved or evacuated. It was finally announced that the LA River had 2 more feet to flow over the top… Of course, we had to see the river flowing for our selves, but the authorities would not let us down to the top of the bank to get a close up look. On these types of heavy, winter rains, the river sends out massive quantities of “stuff” to the harbor bay. It sits near the Queen Mary until the “stuff” can be moved or cleaned up. Jnaki So, how polluted is this water? After the rains, anytime of the year, there is a beach closure in Long Beach…smart. But most of the year, the trickle of LA River water still brings pollution from everywhere, starting with the beginnings in the valleys. For you boaters, Shoreline Marina is known by boat, bottom cleaners as not “Ray Bay,” but, “Sick Bay.” For the non-rainy days, Long Beach harbor and city is a cool place to cruise your hot rods and enjoy the day…as well as the old history of the area. The cruising area west to east, leads to the long running Belmont Shore Car Show in the Alamitos Bay area for the last 29 years. That comes up in September. P.S. Panama Joe’s has the best burritos in town… get there early. SEE THE SHOW, THEN EAT AT JOE'S
When I joined the Long Beach Model T club back in the late 90s there were a few member's in their 80s-90s that were born and raised in Long Beach. They told me stories of riding horse back to the LA river, heading up a few miles above the brackish water and then they'd fish for trout. In the 80's we'd water ski before work, or after...whatever worked, and now and then we'd ski the river up to the train bridge. Once we saw a VW floating down the thing! Couches, shopping carts all kinds of trash finds its way to that river. We'd ski the hot water channel too, always dicey getting around the surfers.
Hey FT, Ahhhh, those older guys and their stories…ha ! Some guys down in the OC also say the San Juan Creek has Brown Trout and tell about hiking back to catch them. They must have been in the dinosaur days as no one else tells the same story. Ha…those old(er) guys are a funny part of So Cal lore. The L.A. Rivermouth was a good place to water ski, but we only ventured just past the Ocean Blvd. Bridge. The Howard hull, Ford big block, powered inboard did not like the loose muddy bottom. My long board (even reversed) skeg did not like the muddy bottom, either. So, we stayed mostly on the ocean side of the bridge. Once my longboard skeg hit the bottom on a turnaround. I went flying headfirst into the shallow water and came up with a muddy face and hair look. That was awful, but gave my friends in the boat a good laugh. It happened in calf deep water. We did not know it was that shallow. Multiple doses of prescription medicine kept the bacteria in check and we remained relatively healthy. The small skegs of normal water skis did not have the depth of the longboard fins, so they were OK. High tide was necessary at either place. About a 50 yard spot on the ocean side of the bridge was a shallow sand berm that created a good ride-able, wave during South swells that bounced off of the breakwater. It was fun running to the nose for those quick tubes of brownish water from the LA River going out to the ocean. Jnaki The Howard Hull was towed to the parking area by a 63 black Ford Galaxie with a 406 motor. That was fast, but not as fast as my modified 58 Impala during this time period. "Teenage trials and tribulations…" What we would not do for a speed addiction...despite the dangers of bacteria. Although, the area in front of the Queen Mary seemed like deep, dark, blue ocean. Toes on the nose of a 10 ft. longboard, going straight was quite something exciting, while being towed. (a little different than on a booted, single ski)
Was Howard Boats based in Hawaiian Gardens? I worked at a gas station off Carson and the 605 and the owner would gas up his boat pulling truck. I remember him being a nice guy....Edit: Maybe it was Anthony Boats......
you're right Mike, Tony was a friend of my dad's and they worked together until he peeled off and started his own shop in HG. Howard was on LKWD blvd just above Rosecrans. His first shop though was behind Genes Chrome and Muffler on LKWD and the same time Watson rented space there too.
Regarding the original topic: 1954..Northern Cal....Eureka. I was only 6 but was already a car kid. My parents both had jobs so I had a babysitter and she had a boyfriend who was a car guy. I remember he drove a stock 51-52 chevy in original metallic green but I think it was his parent's car. One day he showed up in a bright red 48 Olds convertible. He pulled it in the driveway and ran the top up and down about 10 times to impress his girl. The car had a white top and wide whitewalls....black painted wheels with no hubcaps and it sat low. The straight 8 had noisy exhaust so I think he deleted the muffler. He's pull out and race that bomb around the block, squealing the tires at every turn to impress the girl. I don't know about her but I was impressed. My dad had an olds too but ours was a white with blue top 41, 4 door with flat head 6/Hydro trans. Not sure he could have gotten enough speed in a block to squeal the tires around a corner with it. No photos...I was 6 with no camera.
GOVERNMENT HOUSING IN EARLY LONG BEACH extra large 1947 large 1947 We lived in the smallest, a 10 ft by 15 ft small version with rounded corners and ends (above left with pop out windows) Hello, Back in 1946, our family moved back to Long Beach near the L.A. River. It was in a housing project on PCH 101, just off of the high banks of the River. The property was located alongside PCH on the north, Oregon Ave. on the East, and San Francisco Ave and Esther St. on the West. The trailer court was the U.S. Government Housing (trailers), specifically built and constructed for the war relief effort . It housed the LA-LB area, aircraft industry workers, as housing was difficult during the war. After the war, most of the original renters moved out to normal housing all over So Cal. So, in 1946, it was the only low cost rental living areas available in Long Beach. There were at least 3 sizes of trailers that I can remember. We lived in a small one bedroom version. My brother and I slept on the dining table converted to a fold out bed. My parents slept in their own room at the other end of the small trailer. It had a bed that took up the whole space and a locking door. The bathroom and kitchen were across from each other in the middle. At the time, my dad and mom needed a place for our family and be close to relatives in Terminal Island/San Pedro. A lot of our relatives also moved into these government trailers, as it was one of the lowest cost housing in the area. We all stayed in this government trailer park until some “real homes” opened up for sale a few years later, on the Westside of the LA River. The trailer neighborhood had a couple of small grocery stores nearby and a corner café that was the epitome of a 50’s diner on the lower floor of an office building and motel. The inside of the restaurant seating was typical 50s diner mode, including red and white Naugahyde upholstery with fancy metal buttons on the edges. The tables were red flecked Formica table tops with chrome edging. This restaurant was very popular with the whole neighborhood. Cooking in those small trailers was not the ideal thing and the food at the 50s diner was excellent and inexpensive. (Mom's recollections...) By 1948-49, we were able to move to a real 2 bedroom, Craftsman House with a white picket, fenced-in, large yard. This old house was on the farthest, western location on the Westside of Long Beach. The property backed up to the Terminal Island Freeway. We stayed there until 1953. The house had a huge yard with a 3-4 car garage that my dad never used. Access was down a dirt back road with little clearance to get his big Buick sedans in and out easily. So, the battle against the falling palm tree stuff in the front of the house was a daily occurrence. This house location was very close to the shut down, sand berm end of the Lions Dragstrip built later on, in 1955. We could have walked to the drag strip if it were built when we lived in this Craftsman House. The location is now an elementary school. Jnaki This Craftsman house has/had a ton a memories. It was the place where I would meet my dad down the block as he drove home from work. By 1950, he would then put me on his lap and let me steer all the way to the house. After a few months, he let me park along the curb pointing the wrong way. It was easier to see if the Buick was going to hit the curb. Everyone in the neighborhood used this same parallel parking technique. (The neighbors were not letting me steer their cars, of course.) But, those small trailers were our first Long Beach area home for a few years. Our small trailer would be a "traveling, camping trailer" by today's standards. We would all see it being pulled by some truck or station wagon. Back then, it was a permanent home for a young couple and two small kids. It would also be considered "living in small spaces..." by today's popular, home improvement TV shows.
Hey Guys, In the world, officially, the 60s did not end until the last midnight of Dec 1969. As odd as it sounds, the "shine" had gone out from 1967 on, in So Cal as well as the USA. (So it can be said that the 60s were over in 1967...it did seem like it.) With all of the assassinations, riots, deaths, Vietnam escalating, "The Summer of Love" era was gone or at least going. We were growing up right in the middle of this big change over. So, we decided what the heck, we might as well be married and be together to absorb the nastiness in the world. We got married in 1968, what a turbulent year for the whole nation. But, we were in our own little world on the coast of So Cal, trying to get along in our place of society. The 65 El Camino, the 61 Corvair, the local friends, surfboards, traveling away from So Cal, all played a part of getting along, etc. Our full time, college days were over except in the minds of those that continued to make something of themselves. But, a lot of the people were the ones still left with hot rods, surfing, girls on the beach, movies and all sorts of stuff, to try and make things better for all, or at least trying. Jnaki Sad to say, but at the end of 1969, the whole world changed or was about to be changed for a lot of people. Hot rods weren't as important as getting along in our society with others. It would take a few more years to get things back to some normalcy.
I have an odd memory of the 60's. I started high school in the Fall of 1968 and graduated in June of 1972. Obviously during that time a LOT of "stuff" happened. MLK and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, the Detroit and other riots. The Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the "police riot" as it has been called. Kent State, Viet Nam protests and on and on. I distinctly remember thinking some time in my first year of college that, "nothing ever happens anymore". You see, I'd grown to maturity during some of the most tumultuous times of the century so a more "ordinary" time felt dull. Not that it was of course - Watergate was in full flare during my college years.
Hey Guys, How about a small storefront in the heart of Bixby Knolls (on “the” main cruising street) displaying several different looks of the car culture scene from the “good old days?” The Historical Society of Long Beach is presenting a first for So Cal. This is not a car museum or car only place of business. It is a place of the City of Long Beach History and somewhere you can go to find out about your historical photos/information from the area. Research through files and photos is available from the HSLB. http://hslb.org/ But starting on July 14, 2018, running through March 2019, this place will be jammed with old car photos, movies, drag racing scenes, cruising, car clubs, hot rod fanatics from way back, etc. There are plans to have a big localized event in front to coincide with different themes of the hot rod culture. For example: a “Legends of Lions” day with the displays centering on drag racing from 55 to 72 and the cars, teams, drivers/owners that were involved back then. Back in February, they started to collect memorabilia from those fun days past. Now, it is the set up and organization to make the event popular with the local enthusiasts. The Long Beach Historical Society is located at 4260 Atlantic Ave. in Bixby Knolls will be showing an exhibit called “Chrome! Cruising Clubs and Drag Strips.” It fits right into the old days of cruising down Atlantic Ave in our hot rods and cruisers... Anyone remember the great hamburger restaurant called Russell's, just down the block from Grissingers and up Atlantic Ave. from the HSLB storefront? Call for exact details and dates of specific events. (562) 424-2220
JNaki, I agree with your asessement of the sixties. The early to mid sixties was the hey day of hot rodding, cruising and street racing. Your right by saying by 67 it was over. Gary
Hey G, It wasn't as if the whole 60s scene just stopped or was over, it was the feeling that people started to get as the 67-68 years were coming into play. There were still hot rods and drag racing (lots of them). But, they had to compete with the "Summer of Love" and all of the paraphernalia that went along with that scene. What a scene it was. Golden Gate Park, The Haight, rock concerts, Berkeley, etc. It was Northern Cal central. Even in So Cal, there was the Hollywood scene, Sunset Strip, more concerts, and Laguna Beach to the south as examples, being highlighted in history. It was hard to keep your mind and activities on hot rods/custom cars when the whole world was experiencing this social changeover. It did survive and moved into the funky 70s, but so did we all. If our 1965 El Camino could talk, it would have a ton of stories and experiences to lay out during this hectic time period of our social history, from love to war... Jnaki In looking back to our old photos that were preserved in our files, that era was really something for a couple of 20 somethings. Out of college, separated from our families, on our own, what a time that was to experience this whole, world wide phenomenon. It certainly seemed like it was centered in California, but everyone experienced that time period. It just hit us differently out West. (We still were able to get ourselves a 2nd 40 Ford Sedan Delivery to try and stay in touch.) We can all read about it in publications, but it was this feeling that did not go away as we got older. Growing up impressionable in that time period lingers to today's attitude. "What’s Going On" by Marvin Gaye does a great job of summing it up... "Mother, mother There's too many of you crying Brother, brother, brother There's far too many of you dying You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today, eheh Father, father We don't need to escalate You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today, oh oh oh..." So, events like the "Chrome" exhibit in Bixby Knolls (above thread post June 11th) try to keep it alive... however large or small portion of the population it affects.
Mattei's Tavern in Los Olivos Hey LBCD, Summer is on and college will start in September or October up there in SB and SLO. So, you still might be able to get by to see and dine at Mattei's Tavern in Los Olivos. The last time we were up there in 2017, it was closed. We were planning a summer vacation drive and thought it would be cool to stop here again. They have some old cottages for rent, but a little on the high side. This is what I found online. It is closed for a massive remodel. Since it has been around for many years, an update was probably needed. A fall 2018 re-opening is planned. Since that area from Santa Barbara to San Simeon is one of our favorite places to visit, (relatives in Cayucos) We always stop to see if Mattei's is open. Hopefully, the Wisteria covered patio out in the back area will still be around. That was one cool place to dine during the hot summer/fall months, on several visits. Jnaki That San Marcos Pass Road (154) always seems a lot nicer than rolling on the 101 North/South. I am sure those Ventura, Santa Barbara area hot rodders use this scenic 154 drive a lot. Also, that Cachuma Lake area is quite nice and quiet. Plus, according to friends in Santa Barbara, that area is So Cal Wine Country with some of the favorites within miles of each other along Highway 154.
The Jalopy Journal
