Recently in Reminiscin' Category
It was on Aug. 3, 1968 -- 40 years ago today -- that Montclair Plaza opened for a sneak preview, prior to an Aug. 5 opening.
That's the subject of today's column -- which you knew already, right?
Lots of you must have memories of the Plaza. Stores and restaurants you enjoyed over the years (Bob's Big Boy, the Hollander Cafeteria...). Shopping trips from childhood. Movies you saw back when the Plaza had a couple of theaters. Features of the mall you liked -- the big clock, for instance. If you're old enough, you might have been around to know what life was like before the mall, or what opening day was like.
So post away and we can create a sort of informal history of Montclair Plaza.
A fair-sized crowd turned out Thursday evening for the Charles Phoenix slide show at Fairplex's NHRA Museum. I was told that 60 or 70 people, or more than half, had reserved spots after seeing a mention in Wednesday's column, which was nice to hear. Nobody glared at me afterward so they must have had a good time.
Phoenix narrated vintage slides from his collection of various Pomona and Ontario landmarks. Among them: Tate Cadillac, Sears, Vince's Spaghetti, the Fox Theater, Betsy Ross, the Agitator Shop, the Valley Drive-In, Donahoo's Chicken and L.A. County Fair attractions such as the Fun Zone, the Flower and Garden Pavilion, the Clock Tower, the Garden Railroad, the Grandstand and the Monorail.
Ah, yes, the Monorail. It was built in 1962 -- "Richard Nixon rode on it," Phoenix said -- and removed in the 1990s. It hung from an overhead track and plied the fairgrounds. The original design was by sculptor John Svenson, of all people.
A success? Not exactly.
"They forgot one thing. There was no air conditioning," Phoenix said. "And the windows didn't open." As Quizno's likes to say: "Mmmm...toasty."
Anyone ever ride the fair's monorail? And do you know if the ski lift replaced it and follows the same route?
Sid Robinson has joined the blogosphere. A Claremont High grad who may be best known for his years as L.A. County Fair spokesman, Sid has been blogging for a few weeks now.
I just discovered his blog this week when he wrote about "Things that aren't here anymore," kindly noting yours truly's role as a collector of such ephemera.
Sid wrote a post sharing memories of places he enjoyed growing up like Thriftymart, Value Fair and Magic Tower Burgers. Oh, and a Keds shoe store run by midgets. Good reading, and he even has a few photos.
Reader Develyn Sperling left this comment on the "things that aren't here anymore" thread, but let's put it here for you nattering nabobs of nostalgia:
"Does anyone remember a little place called the Tiger Cafe on Holt Blvd in Ontario? My Uncle Tommy owned it. It stayed open after all the Blvd. bars closed. People lined up to get his Sober You Up Chili before driving home.
"What was the name of the tiny diner across the street from it? How's this: On the corner of Holt and Campus. The Bamboo Hut.
"Next door was a liquor store with great penny candy. Next to that was Goldie's variety store. It had great, cheap toys. But she was a mean old bird and kids were actually afraid to go in there.
"Or, the Dairy Queen on Holt, just east of Campus."
Ah, memories. I like the idea of hangover-prevention chili. Anyone want to add details about any of these places?
Following up on her hard-hitting Stinky's query, Mary Simon socked me with another set of recollections and questions for the readership:
"I have another question or two, one of which I KNOW that no one but me will remember." [Don't be too sure, Mary. -- DA]
"When I was 4 or 5 years old (late 1950s), there was a pony-ride place called Woolery's. I'm pretty sure it was on Euclid, in south Ontario. There were two paths you could ride in -- the walking lane or the trotting lane. As young as I was, I always chose the 'walking' lane.
"In later years, I showed hunters and jumpers through southern/central California. I trained at a place in Pomona -- the Parnell girls academy. It was a residential school for girls, but also a riding school where peasants like myself could take lessons. Does anyone remember Parnell?"
I'm not sure which one Mary assumes no one will remember. Just to be safe, let's try to dredge up anecdotes about each, OK?
Reader Mary Simon, who calls herself "an old Upland girl now living in Lexington, Kentucky," writes:
"Does anyone remember a nasty little dive called Stinky's on the corner of Mountain Avenue and Foothill Boulevard in Upland? It was a little stone building with picnic tables inside, all carved up by decades of miscreants. But they had the most sinfully messy and delicious hamburgers!
"When I was 10, my 16-year-old sister and I were broadsided in a pretty awful car accident at the intersection of Foothill and Mountain before there was a traffic signal. I was the only one hurt (concussion) and I recall staggering with my sister over to Stinky's to call our parents. They offered me a hamburger, but for once in my life, I wasn't in the mood.
"I know it was there through the 1960s; it was later torn down and replaced by a Bank of America. Isn't progress wonderful? A crummy restaurant called El Gato Gordo was also put up right next to it."
If it's any consolation, Mary, El Gato Gordo has been torn down. I know many people remember Stinky's because it's been brought to my attention numerous times over the years. Anyone want to share memories?
What I'm especially curious about is that I've also been told of a place named Stinky Stevens that used to stand at Mountain and 8th in Upland. Two restaurants named Stinky in the same town?
So, while we're on the topic, can anyone enlighten us about Stinky Stevens?
I got an e-mail from ex-Ontarian Bill Gunn the last time the Ritz Theater was mentioned here. Now that the Ritz is on the blog again, here's Bill's note, as timely as ever:
"I was wondering what the Ritz Theatre was all about until I realized you were talking about the California. What about the Park? It was toward Holt from the Ritz about four doors. It was Ontario's third theater."
Ontario's leading theater was the Granada, still standing on the west side of Euclid Avenue at 305 but used now as a church. The Park and the California, later named the Ritz, were on the east side of Euclid. The California/Ritz, at 136 N. Euclid, burned down.
The Park is the most obscure of the three, not least of which because it went through multiple names. It seems to have had the Park name from 1948 to about 1962. Here's what I found out Tuesday from the Ontario Library's Joanne Boyajian:
The theater was built in 1913 at 122 N. Euclid. First it was the Isis, owned by Jacob Lerch. In 1915 it changed hands and became the Euclid when the competing theater across the street, the Euclid Photoplay, took it over and relocated.
The new Euclid theater had more than 500 seats and up-to-date stage and dressing rooms to accommodate "any road show that comes to the city," according to the Daily Report. Owner H.E. Milling's stated specialty was "high-class moving picture dramas and only the better class of vaudeville." Inferior acts were "strictly barred." But of course.
The Euclid remained through at least 1928. It was known to be vacant in the mid-1930s, in the depths of the Depression. (The California and Granada theaters apparently closed in the Depression as well before being reopened in 1933 by Jack Anderson.)
From 1937-1938 the Euclid was resurrected as the Forum Theater and it remained under that name until 1948 when it was named -- finally! -- the Park Theater, owned by the Anderson brothers.
But by 1962, it was a pawn shop, Euclid Loan and Jewelry Co. Today Euclid Loan is still operating, but the pawn shop is slated to relocate across Euclid so the building can be demolished for the great downtown project that at this point isn't looking so great.
Whew!
Anyone have any memories of the Park?
Almost five months after comments were made here about Ontario's old Ritz Theater, previously known as the California Theater, a new comment came in. Except at this late date, reader Dave Linck was unable to append the comment to the entry, and neither was I.
So, here it is:
"When the California became the Ritz in 1961, my Dad, Ontario Postmaster Charles Linck Jr., became a minority investor. He was a huge movie fan and it was a dream come true for him.
"I was in heaven with my 6-year-old twin, Dan...we immediately got free popcorn privileges, not to mention that we got to work behind the candy counter! We got in free with our friends! We knew the guy who played the birthday clown personally! Every kid's dream, right?
"Anyway, the Ritz had trouble booking A films, as the Granada got all of them due to its affiliation as a Fox West Coast Theatre chain member. The Ritz got a few moneymakers, like 'Pocketful of Miracles' with Glenn Ford and Bette Davis, but most of them were along the lines of '13 Ghosts' and 'Six for Texas.'
"Eventually, the majority owners went bankrupt and my dad was stiffed. Someone else bought it, they went belly up, and then the X-rated guys came in. By that time, I was way too old (14) to care about seeing '13 Ghosts' and the Ritz became a memory.
"But I can still see the theatre's interior...walls covered in faux lava rock with sparkly ceilings...new seats unfilled. And there's my brother and I, racing up and down the empty auditorium aisles, 6-year-old 'owners' of our own theatre!!!"
Oh, to be 6 and have the run of a movie theater.
Today's column is drawn from "The Diamond Mine," a self-published memoir by Gerry Whitehead, a.k.a. Jim Diamond, a radio jock from Bakersfield who grew up in Ontario. The first 80 pages or so are about Ontario in the 1950s and '60s and his radio habits as a youngster.
Back then, the valley, while small, had several radio stations. Here's what Whitehead tells us in his book.
In the late 1950s Ontario had KOCS-AM (1510), which simulcast on KEDO-FM (93.5). Both were owned by the Ontario Daily Report and located at 222 E. B St., next door to the newspaper's office.
Whitehead writes: "The station call letters KOCS did stand for something. O-C-S stood for Ontario City Service. The AM station, KOCS, signed on in 1946 with a mighty 250 watts and was originally a 'day-timer,' which means that it was licensed by the FCC to operate only from local sunrise to local sunset."
The station, if I understand correctly, was sold in the '60s and became KASK-AM. It broadcast from 8729 E. 9th St., Cucamonga, from a ranch-style house with three tall towers behind and a huge wooden cask in the parking lot.
Pomona, meanwhile, had KKAR-AM (1220) and KWOW-AM (1600). (KWOW was originally KPMO.) And San Bernardino had KMEN-AM (1290) and KFXM-FM (590).
This is all courtesy of Whitehead, who seems to know what he's talking about. Anyone want to offer corrections, clarifications, lore or favorite memories of local radio?
A couple weeks back I saved this snippet from a "Hal Linker" note -- since there've been about 97 since then, I can't remember which one -- because it's about a place that comes up frequently: The Midway.
Celebrated in Kem Nunn's novel "Pomona Queen," the Midway was a bar on Foothill Boulevard between Claremont and Upland in the 1960s and 1970s. Various readers have told me about it over the years, calling the place a dive, but in a fond way. Here's what "Hal" had to say:
"It was somewhere between Central and Monte Vista on the south side of the road. It was at the approximate location of some current tattoo, piercing and massage businesses.
"The Midway was a rock structure building with at least one, maybe two, fireplace(s), sawdust on the floor, a couple of pool tables, pinball machine and a damn fine jukebox selection. The parking lot was dirt and large rocks -- as nature intended.
"It was a college / biker hangout when I was around. They served minors without much fear since they were outside of any city's limits. After a new owner took over, there was a fire sometime in the late 1970s and the place went kaput.
"They used to have bumper stickers which read 'Meet Me at the Midway.' Anybody got one?"
And anybody want to share Midway memories?
And you thought "Hal Linker" was done. (Or not.) Here's the comment he left the other day in response to a comment by Bob House, who had inquired about the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood in what is now Chino Hills. Hal's comment was so long I saved it for its own post. Take it away, "Hal":
With regards to Sleepy Hollow and the La Vida Mineral Springs resort, all I can tell you is what I know from my limited personal experiences.
The La Vida complex was a resort that goes back quite a few years. At some point the hotel closed (perhaps due to a fire) but the structure remained till the 1990's, although essentially abandoned and neglected. It was bulldozed in the mid-1990's sometime after it was discovered that unsavory types were manufacturing speed inside the old building.
The mineral springs and swimming pool were kept open for quite a while after the hotel ceased to exist. Even before the hotel closed, people could pay to get access to the pool and such, without staying at the resort. Since no one had a pool where we lived, my parents used to drive us to La Vida on weekends or during summer to go swimming (dodging tarantulas and rattlesnakes on the, then, much narrower and more treacherous Carbon Canyon Road). This would be in the 1950's and 1960's. They also had one of those things called a Swingin' Gym which was kind of an enclosed cage that two people could manipulate to sway back and forth. It was like a ride at the fair which you had to power with your body movements. At some point, perhaps the late 1970s - early 1980's, the pool and mineral spings were also closed down.
This left only the La Vida Cantina Restaurant. A variety of folks ran the place and it became a pretty cool biker hang-out with a few pool tables. The place had indoor and outdoor stages which catered generally, though not exclusively, to blues music. During the mid-1990's Edgar Winter, Georgia Satellites, Rick Derringer, Lee Rocker (formerly of The Stray Cats), Coco Montoya, Buddah Heads (that's their spelling, not mine), James Harman, Guitar Shorty, Walter Trout and a latter day version of the Jefferson Starship (with Paul Kantner) played the venue. The crowds were always small because the place just didn't hold that many folks. Even the outdoor stage seating was extremely limited. There was a band called Three Blind Mice that opened shows a lot.
The food wasn't as bad as you might think. For diner / dive type fare it was OK. The place was what it was! I felt comfortable there, though some might have found the regular biker clientele a bit threatening. When I say biker, I mean true biker. Not these weekender doctor / lawyer types. These people were the real deal. The waitresses were generally really hot biker chicks.
They had all-you-can-eat spaghetti for a dollar mid-week. On that same day they also offered all-you-can eat lasagne for 2 bucks - and this was in the 1990's!! It was a hell of a deal!! You never have seen such a funny sight as the tables full of senior citizens enjoying the bargain pasta at a hardcore biker dive (and of course they ordered pitchers of free water as their beverage). For the money, the food was great. It was surprisingly good. Also on weekdays they had a cheap taco day and an all-you-can-eat rib day (4 bucks). The cook was an ex-con named Don who also worked at the old Canyon Corral in Chino Hills (corner Peyton Dr. and Chino Hills Parkway).
I remember a comical suituation once when I arrived at the La Vida Cantina with my wife, "Hadla," for an early dinner. No waitresses had showed up, so a big bellied biker, wearing oily Levi's and a leather vest with no shirt underneath, became our server. It was great because we could tell he didn't enjoy his new unwanted temporary job at all. I ordered a New York Steak dinner which came with a salad. The biker asked me what kind of dressing I wanted. I asked if they had Italian dressing. He replied, "Whattya think dis is ... de (expletive) Ritz Carlton or somethin'?!?!"
Just the sight of this guy, his attitude, and the whole situation made both my wife and I convulse with laughter. I have often said that if I could duplicate that scene in a movie it would make a great moment. I guess you really had to be there. I settled for the Bleu Cheese after laughing my ass off.
There was also a bar in the Sleepy Hollow area called Jack Tater's. It was a hangout. Sleepy Hollow attracted a lot of counterculture types during the 60's, 70's, 80's and maybe later, but I can't say from personal experience. I liked it there despite my older brother's warnings that there were a bunch of "acid freaks" living up there. There were a few musicians who lived there. At one time there were two small markets in the village. One closed quite a while back and was converted to a home. The other is still there, I think. It was a Party House Liquor Store for a time. The store had a covered picnic table area next to it. Locals would buy their beer and such and congregate at the tables and enjoy the company and libations.
Another cool feature of the liquor store was that many of Sleepy Hollow's female residents' photos were posted on a large bulletin board near the register. Since Sleepy Hollow was a "free spirited" community, most of these photos were topless shots of the local gals. For instance, a guy like myself could be in the store buying a six pack, admiring the photos and then realize that two of the women behind him in the store were also in the photos. This was store policy right through the 1980's with fresh pictures always being posted. It gave the store and the community a personality.
It ended when the City Of Chino Hills incorporated and they used their newfound authority to go on a moral crusade. The first things the City Of Chino Hills did upon founding were to get the pictures out of the Sleepy Hollow liquor store and disallow the partying at the tables next to the building. It really ended the loose sense of community in the area.
Immediately after the City Of Chino Hills did that, their top priority was becoming the first city to outlaw smoking. The city also adopted a very harsh attitude toward bar owners, specifically the Canyon Corral and Graziano's. But that's a complicated story for another time.
In the mid-1960s there was also a short-lived fake ski business on one of the hills in the canyon. Some "genius" thought it would be a great idea to have people ski down a hill on some fake plastic or teflon snow. They even built a small resort complex for the fake skiing folks to stay. It didn't last. Perhaps they got sued by skiers who hurt themselves, I don't know. Eventually counterculture types moved into the "fake ski resort" accommodations (turned rentals) and the area was known affectionately as The Purple Haze.
There was also a great tire swing near this area that hung over the creek which runs alongside Carbon Canyon Road. "The Swing" at The Purple Haze was a hangout for many people in the community.
The only unanswered question: What would Washington Irving have to say about Sleepy Hollow?
What was the Green Mist? Sounds like a Stephen King novel or a John Carpenter movie, but the Green Mist was actually a Chino Hills phenomena.
Here's what the indefatigable "Hal Linker" has to say:
"In Chino there was also the legendary Green Mist. This was before Chino Hills was called Chino Hills and decades before incorporation. The Green Mist was located out on old Aerojet Road, a narrow winding two-lane affair. It was said that the headlights of the cars traveling on the old 71 Expressway created an effect of a Green Mist against the hills.
"As with all legends, there are variations to the story, some more spooky than others. Needless to say, it was an enticing way for guys to get girls to go to a remote location with them in pursuit of the mysteries of life. It wasn't coasting uphill, but it was usually edifying."
Anybody else want to weigh in?
As the crazy man in the sandwich-board sign could tell you, The End is Near. Today ends the serialization of the mammoth e-mail from reader "Hal Linker." Well, except for a single-topic piece that's worth its own entry, sometime next week.
Based on the number of comments, a lot of you have enjoyed this string of recollections of the valley in the 1960s and 1970s. This last section might be my favorite, as "Hal" talks about the early years of Montclair Plaza:
I remember when the Montclair Plaza opened in the single-level format. My mom and older sisters would go shopping for dresses and stuff and I went along, being as I was still (barely) not old enough to drive. I would ditch the women and drool over records and stereos.
We used to park on the Broadway side of the mall. I can still remember the smell of leather and patchouli and the stereos with light boxes playing Smith's "Baby It's You," or Crosby Stills & Nash's "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" blasting out of the record department in JC Penney's, or Jethro Tull's "New Day Yesterday" resonating in the May Company record department.
Thunderclap Newman was making a joyful noise at Pedrini The Music Merchant amidst all the pianos and organs. It was Creedence, Three Dog Night, Steppenwolf, Abbey Road, CSN&Y, Ten Years After, Jimi Hendrix, Sly & The Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane time, baby. Almost everything being released on record was great (at least from my perspective).
That's what was happening when the Plaza opened. It was the advent of the black lite poster, the strobe light era. The counterculture becoming the over-the-counter culture and hitting the mainstream. But the tunes held up pretty well. Sadly, everyone forgot about the Pomona Mall and Pomona hit some bad times.
Yes, the Hollander and the Jolly Roger were the places to eat in the mall. Jolly Roger, dimly lit with great burgers, served me booze when I was 15. Yes! (Nobody cared then. It was in many ways a much cooler time, with much less government control and brainwashing.) I don't remember the Slob's Big Boy someone mentioned being in the Plaza. Must be a memory block, maybe it came later or maybe that person is wrong.
Orange Julius was near See's Candies past JC Penney and served dogs. Across Moreno was Van De Kamp's which much later became Tiny Naylor's for a bit. Eventually, the Hollander moved outside of the mall into a space previously occupied by Dugan's Music. That was the death of the Hollander -- bad move, but they might not have had any choice.
Speaking of Dugan's, next to it, with an adjoining door, was Discount Record Center. This was a rather small long narrow store but its selection was amazing. I loved to browse there and was awed with their full catalogs on most of my favorite artists. They even had all of Zappa and the Mothers' stuff which, even then, was an extensive catalog.
I actually worked there for about two months before realizing it was a dead-end career. I dug the tunes but seemed I was demonstrating bongs to more people than selling records. Those girls from the adjacent Marinello's Beauty School kept coming in there and buying bongs so I followed one of cutest of them to Venice where she opened up a salon and we lived happily, but not ever after.
Was this succinct enough for you? They don't call me enormo-mail for nothing. But, dammit, this blog deserves it!
Very kind of you, "Hal." Everybody give him a hand for a job of memory-plumbing well done.
Sonorous announcer: When we last left "Hal Linker," he was reminiscing about restaurants. As we resume today, he is still reminiscing about restaurants. But first he mentions a clothing store:
Robert Hall's was the cheap suit place that my parents took me to because I would grow out of them so fast. Located east of Central on Holt.
Re: Betsy Ross: Who didn't love the place! Wolfing down a Gettysburger with a chocolate malt or coke and then getting a Paul Revere (their version of a banana royale) to top it off. The red, white and blue-themed restaurants only had five locations. Pomona Valley Center opened 1955, Foothill near Mountain in Upland opened 1964, Foothill near Griswolds opened 1959, Grand Avenue Glendora opened 1969; 969 East Holt 1958. There was also an original location on Garey which was ice cream only.
Another couple of historic Chino restaurant locations:
* The Big W on the NW corner of Riverside Drive and Benson. The Big W is long gone, torn down in the 1960s. A 7-Eleven now sits at its approximate location.
* The Pizza King, also on the NW corner of Riverside Drive and Benson. The Pizza King was in the approximate location of Flo's No. 2.
* Gold Rooster restaurant on Central just south of Mission. Building still stands but is now Players or something like that, a pool playing bar. The Gold Rooster was an affordable restaurant with delicious chicken and halibut and steak at a good value.
Will Hal find love? Will he stop eating out? What does he remember about Montclair Plaza? And what about ... Naomi? (Sorry, a little "Electric Company" humor.) Tune in tomorrow for the final (?) installment of "As the Valley Turns."
As "Hal" continues disgorging the entire contents of his brain, minus the parts he's leaving on these entries as comments, he focuses on more restaurants:
In the 1970s I remember a lunch only place on Foothill in Claremont called Soup's On. Anybody ever go there? I went once or twice and it was very popular.
The Laugh Stop was also happening around the Griswold's area in the late 1970s.
Anybody remember Baja Pete's in Chino? Obviously it was a Mexican place in the 1970s and 1980s. I used to really dig the enchilada suizas there -- the rest of the food was OK but nothing super fantastic. Never have found a restaurant that could match those suizas since (though Las Casueles in Palm Springs comes close). The building still stands but got gutted of its atmosphere. It's now called Plaza Guadalahara and is a non-waitress, counter order joint. I don't like it.
There was a small taco stand on either Mission or Holt in Ontario called La Fonda. It was fantastic. Then one day they moved to a strip mall portion of a grocery store center on Euclid and Francis and they started sucking.
My faves were Orlando's, Espiau's and The Arbor, which had a hotel adjacent to it which made for some super long dinners and happy hours.
Another Tastee Freeze location was on Euclid adjacent to a Circle K on the west side of the road somewhere between Francis and Mission. The building's still there but it's a Loco Pizza or something now -- the Circle K is no longer a Circle K either. I think someone mentioned the location on South Garey in front of the old Alpha Beta market with the A-frame latter-day design.
Someone mentioned Ozzie's Oasis in Montclair on Central near Kingsley. There was also a location in Chino on Riverside Drive and Ninth. One of the few burger joints that served sloppy Joes. When they closed, the building was remodeled and became Pearl City, a Chinese restaurant which lasted about a decade. Not sure what's there now.
There was also a Tastee Freeze on East Mission east of Garey in the A-frame style that's now a Bamboo Express. Next: yet more restaurants, in the penultimate excerpt. The end is in sight, folks.
As we continue serializing what was originally intended as a comment on the "Things That Aren't Here Anymore" thread, "Hal" (in quotes since we now know this is a pseudonym) is yakking about teen clubs of the late 1960s:
How about the Pacesetter? The building still stands and I think is called Mi Hacienda (last I checked). The Pacesetter was a teen club which opened circa 1967. The Standells, The Seeds and many other bands played the venue which also had the obligatory Battle Of the Bands competition.
(Someone told me Pink Floyd played there when Syd Barrett was still a member. I find that very hard to believe, because I would have gone! At any rate, it couldn't have been any good given Barrett's mental state on that disastrous 1st U.S. tour.)
My band was in a battle of the bands at the Pacesetter and did place second, but the two of us who were on the basketball team got kicked off for participating in a worldly activity. Ah, the joys of going to a parochial school. Now they have rock bands in their churches.
Not in the Inland Empire but just over Kellogg Hill was the Carousel Theater in West Covina. Great place for rock 'n' roll shows in the mid to late 1960s. These were held on dark days from their typical musical stage shows. Doors, Rascals, Simon & Garfunkel, Animals, Dave Clark Five, Buffalo Springfield, Byrds, Seeds, etc. all played there. Wallich's Music City also had a store location in the same general area. It later became the short-lived Big Ben's Records. Both buildings torn down.
Cal Poly hangouts were the Pic and Pan and The Library on West Holt.
Next time: more restaurants.
Thus begins Week 2 of the Hal Linker papers, which could have been donated to Chaffey College but instead were sent via e-mail to me. Resuming where we left off Friday, today he focuses on burgers, fried chicken and tacos:
Let's not forget The Towne House, a burger hangout on Towne and Holt from eons ago.
Also A&W in Chino, on Riverside Drive and Wright. Too bad about the Ontario A&W carhop location closing in 2006. Bummer! But they weren't serving the old cuisine of Mama, Papa, Teen and Baby Burgers anymore anyway. Still they had Coney Dog Tuesdays. Damn! The Chino location still stands and is an Andy's Burgers -- no carhop service though.
With regard to other Ontario eateries, on Mountain Avenue there was the extremely short-lived Minnie Pearl's Chicken which became The House Of Omelettes which also didn't last long -- too limited on the cuisine maybe? I think the building is still there but I don't know who's operating out of it currently. I think Mexican food, maybe.
With regard to Mexican food: I dug Mingo's on Mission and Reservoir where I would always order the Gringo Burrito and Colorado Kool-Aid among the dangling pinatas. Also in Chino on Central near Riverside Drive was Mr. Taco, a takeout joint with no drive-through. They used to have a fire pit out front, back in the fearless days. Sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s it was renovated and turned into a KFC. They had the bomb burritos back when we didn't use that slang.
Whatever happened to the many Winchell's Donut locations? Chino had one on the SE corner of Central and Riverside Drive (torn down for street widening). There was also one on Euclid in Ontario around Francis which is now a Juan Pollo.
There was a Pup 'N' Taco on Mountain and Philadelphia which got absorbed into Taco Bellsville.
Everybody remembers Henry's -- It was THE hang out. I used to cruise it with my older brother and sister. Those were the days! Souped-up cars and leaded high-octane gas at about 25 cents a gallon. Only drawback -- smog as thick as molasses. Musta been the factories -- couldn't have been the cars. And that Googie space age architecture! Yeah!
Other chicken joints were Unruh's on N. Garey and Litte Bill's on S. Garey just up the street from Pomona Lanes on the opposite side of the street.
Next time: teen clubs.
Let's read what Hal has to say about bars in the fifth excerpt from his e-mail, which the Guinness people may want to measure for a world record:
Narod's in Chino (on Central between Washington and Walnut) had some nightlife and reasonable food, and they had very attractive waitresses, two of whom I dated, circa the cocaine era. I just didn't dig the overall redneck nature of the clientele. The building survives and is occupied by Godfather's.
The Little Club on Central in Montclair pretty much fit the same description. It became a Latino bar for a long time. Might be a sports bar now. I'd hate to own a bar now with the current climate towards drinking. Everybody's pretty much legally drunk just because they walked into the place.
(I used to milk cows and finished work about 3:30 a.m. I can't tell you how many times I was pulled over while driving home, not because I was drunk, but because I was out on the street at that hour. It really sucks to be perfectly sober and get pulled over, get forced to do a sobriety test, have a warrant check run on you, just because you are driving around at a weird hour.)
For more interesting nightlife there was The Broadside on West Mission in Pomona. The Mothers played there before fame; later it was Walter Mitty's, and Van Halen played there before being famous.*
But let's face it, if you really wanted quality entertainment you had to head for Hollywood: The Whisky, Troubadour, The Roxy (after 1973), Gazzari's/Billboard Live/now the Key Club, Classic Cat -- all of which except the Classic Cat (best strip joint of the late 1960s/early 1970s) still stand, although only shadows of their former glory.
Who mentioned The Green Door? Central in Montclair. Some name acts played there in the 1980s. Located near the old Holiday Skating Rink and the wonderful Holiday Liquor which supplied kegs for so many of my parties, in the days when everyone cut everyone some slack. Anybody remember the
huge parties which were thrown on Arrow near Central with live bands and scores of kegs? And that rundown motel on the property too.
I have a story that ties all of these locations together, but it's best not told here.
Fair enough. On Monday: burgers, fried chicken and tacos.
* While the Mothers did come into being at The Broadside, the bar's location was on Holt east of Towne. And Van Halen played at Harvey Wallbanger's on West Mission, musician John Harrelson informs me. He muses: "I think it's interesting that he didn't mention Saints and Sinners on East Mission near the airport. And why not the Test? The Posh? The Sahara?"
Day 4 and we're barely one-third of the way through his e-mail. Don't worry, we'll take a break this weekend for the Restaurant of the Week and "Pomona A to Z." Here's what Hal has to say about movie theaters and a fondly remembered restaurant:
I remember the opening of Cinema I and II and their SMOKING SECTIONS and ashtrays. The Montclair Theater on Holt began life as a single-screen theater in the late 1960s before becoming a tri-plex by the 1970s with, yes, smoking sections -- from back in the days when we had nothing to fear but fear itself.
Pre-Cinema I & II you could find me at The Fox, United Artists in Pomona or the Village in Claremont. What gorgeous theaters these were. Unfortunately, the last thing I ever saw at The Village Theater was a Cheech and Chong movie and the place really was Up In Smoke. At some point a restaurant was opened at the old theater and later shops. I think the restaurant was called Square One or Harvard Square. Maybe it's still there.
I used to love the corn chowder soup at The Old Montclair Peanut Company. My date got sick once there after consuming too many Rusty Nails. I warned her that Drambuie was bad stuff and shouldn't be messed with! All I got for my cautions was puke on my shoes and pants.
Isn't that how it always is? And yes, Harvard Square Cafe is still in the old theater space and goin' strong.
Next time: bars and nightclubs.
The third section of Hal Linker's epic e-mail, picking up from his comments about the Wherehouse and Pacific Stereo at Indian Hill and Holt Avenue circa 1970:
Also in this strip was Xochomilcho's Mexican restaurant which I think is still there. I loved Xochomilcho's back in my youth, not so much for the food, but because the waitresses were young and hot and served alcohol to minors like myself (the statute of limitations is long up, right?).
Anybody remember Muntz Stereo Pak on Holt just west of East End a bit? That was the place for eight track tapes and car units. Another place was Foster's Tapes on Mission just east of Central. I think it's the Maylly Oriental Massage Parlor now. That's progress for ya.
Anybody remember The Wild Cat on West Holt just up the street a bit from Orlando's? Best topless bar in the area. Great place to shoot some pool too.
Speaking of barely clothed women, The Ritz Theater in Ontario devolved into a XXX house by the late 1960s, eventually changing its name to the Pussycat and then being torn down.
I've never heard the Pussycat name, although it's possible. The place burned in a fire in 1978 and was torn down. As for Xochimilco, it went out of business circa 2005.
Next up from Hal Linker: Movie theaters.
More from Hal Linker's epic note, this section about music:
I was kind of a Beatle / hippie kid and really dug music, so I remember Rudy Pock's in Ontario. An old-school music store -- meaning that it sold musical instruments, stereos, transistor radios, sheet music and records.
I bought my first few Beatles and Stones records there. Bought my first Dave Clark Five record at Fedway in the Pomona Mall -- saw "A Hard Day's Night" movie at United Artists Theater in Pomona just up the street from The Fox.
David Platt Music was also on Euclid. And Ontario Music, where I got my initial guitar and drum lessons, still stands on G Street! It blows me away that they have survived all these years!
And who could forget White Front, which was located on Mountain in Ontario just past the cemetery a bit. Back in the 1960s you could buy three albums with 10 bucks and still have change -- most LPs were $1.97 unless they were doubles. And even some of the doubles were $1.97 when specially priced.
As a record buying enthusiast, White Front was tough to beat -- a lot of my collection of vinyl was bought there. And just up the road was a House Of Pies for munchies afterwards. (For those interested, there is still a House Of Pies in the Los Feliz area of L.A. near the Greek Theater.)
Pacific Stereo on Indian Hill near Holt (across from Boys Market). They opened in the early 1970s. And I spent a great part of my youth and money putting together different stereo systems. They even had a record department in Pacific Stereo for a short while -- it was managed by the same guy who had worked the White Front record department, and also worked at the Wherehouse in Pomona -- was his name Mike Parra? Not sure.
In the same strip complex was The Wherehouse which opened circa 1970 -- I think it might be a karate studio now. I actually bought bootlegs in the back room there when this dope-smoking Dutch draft dodger named Jan (Yawn) was managing the place. Jan later had a short-lived record store on Foothill called Atlantis Records in the late 1970s.
More soon.
A reader named Hal Linker, and his wife, Hadla, found this blog recently and left a comment in the "Things That Aren't Here Anymore" thread. And what a comment! It may be the length of two, or three, or even four of my columns, full of memories of our various cities.
Rather than bury it back there in that thread, I'm going to run it here up front, serialized in manageable chunks over a week. Or two. Or three. We'll see. Take it away, Hal:
David,
I'm a bit late with these comments but just stumbled onto this blog when Yahoo-ing "DiGangi's." My wife and I were just remembering how great their grinders were. We were shocked to see something came up on the search. So, sorry if we're beating a dead horse.
My family moved to Chino (from Bellflower) in 1956 when I was just a tot. My dad had a dairy farm. Chino had very little in the way of civilization at that time. It was a prison town. Getting groceries in the 1950s was a weekly family event for which we all got in dad's DeSoto and headed for the Market Basket on East End and Holt. It was like going into town for supplies / vittles.
At that time Chino had nothing close to a supermarket. This would change in the 1960s when Alpha Beta opened a location on Central and Walnut (now defunct -- torn down and converted into offices -- though some of the adjacent buildings still stand -- including the old Alphy's Restaurant which is now a medical building, but prior to that, had been a restaurant called Bailey's).
Next time: record stores.
Among the Seven Wonders Past suggested by readers was the Kapu-Kai in Rancho Cucamonga.
This Polynesian paradise consisted initially of the Kapu-Kai Coffee Shop with an attached bowling alley. As I understand it, the bowling alley also boasted The Hut restaurant, Outrigger cocktail lounge and Tahitian Fire Room. This complex stood on the corner of Foothill and Vineyard from 1962 to 1994, when it was bulldozed, according to Charles Phoenix's "Cruising the Pomona Valley."
The name Kapu-Kai, he says, translates to Forbidden Sea. Ooooh! It was name-checked in Joan Didion's famous essay, "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream."
Here's what reader Marilyn von Kuhlberg had to say about the Kapu-Kai in a recent e-mail:
"That was a unique design. Armstrong's nursery in Ontario had been designed by the same architect. First, a bowling alley, then skating rink, it had a wonderful restaurant with memorable fried chicken, the best I have ever eaten. After it was damaged in the big flood of 1969, the roof and more could not be repaired. And so it languished."
That corner is now famous for having two Starbucks outlets, one at the edge of the parking lot and a small one inside the Albertsons.
Last Aug. 22 I wrote a column on the Seven Wonders of the Inland Valley, a silly local response to the global Seven Wonders list that had just been revised.
Like the revision, my list was made up of seven things still in existence: The Donahoo's rooster, the Montclair Mystery Tower, the Magic Lamp Inn, the University of La Verne Super Tents, the "full order" at Vince's Spaghetti, 94-year-old restaurateur Ramon Sanchez of Ramon's Cactus Patch and, to throw in a ringer, a completely faded stop sign in Rancho Cucamonga (which was replaced by a cherry red model within days of the column's appearance).
After my list broke, reader Derek Deason sent me a note with an idea:
"Hey, about your Seven Wonders of the Inland Valley, you should do a column on the Seven Ancient Wonders of the Inland Valley. One could be the Valley Drive-In sign. Or the big Christmas tree that used to be at the Pomona Valley Center mall at Holt and Indian Hill, before Sears left and it was an open-air mall."
Not a bad idea, eh? I let this sit around (in those pre-blog days)(how did we ever get along without my blog?) with the thought of following up at some point.
Well, let's do it here. Any ideas of iconic, vanished wonders that should be on the list?
An anonymous (why? why?) reader writes:
"Your Jan. 2 column with nostalgic reminiscences of the Pomona/Ontario area was fascinating. I was pleased that Mr. Ruh included Buffums' in his list of once-upon-a-time stores; however, Buffums' was much more than white-gloved ladies having tea in the Palomares Room.
"Ronald Reagan visited Buffums' in the fall of 1965 to promote his book 'Where's the Rest of Me?' Elizabeth Taylor dropped in to buy travel tickets, taking time from filming scenes from 'The Sandpiper' in San Dimas. Jacqueline Kennedy assigned someone to select and send a gift to an acquaintance in Claremont. Mrs. Groucho Marx purchased children's clothes on occasion.
"Oh yes, Buffums' was the best of the best. And I am sure other former employees have more tales of this magical store. This, of course, is from a former Buffums' employee."
Nice of you to write, Former. He/she enclosed a photocopy of the Reagan book's title page, inscribed as follows: "With gratitude for a pleasant afternoon & Best Wishes, Ronald Reagan."
Buffums' was a classy SoCal department store chain -- motto: "Southern California's Most Gifted Store" -- and the Nordstrom of its day.
It was owned by the same family that produced Dorothy Buffum Chandler, without whom we wouldn't have the Music Center in downtown L.A. The Pomona store was built in 1962 on Palomares Street between Second and Third streets by architect Welton Becket (who also designed the Music Center...hmm). It marked the east end of the brand-new pedestrian mall.
Charles Phoenix's book -- you've already ordered a copy, right? -- has a full page on Buffums'. He describes the ornate interior in some detail. The store held on despite downtown's long decline, finally closing circa 1991, and as Phoenix notes, "the decorative furnishings were sold to the highest bidder."
The building was extensively remodeled and now is part of the Western University of Health Sciences, an osteopathic medical school.
Have memories of Buffums'? Share them below..
I've been bedeviled about the name of what was once the Inland Valley's grandest department store. Was it spelled Buffum's, Buffums or Buffums'?
The store was mentioned in Sunday's blog, in which it was spelled Buffum's. A recent letter to me from a former employee spelled it Buffums'. I checked some books.
Charles Phoenix spelled it Buffums. Gloria Ricci Lathrop spelled it Buffum's. The Pomona Centennial Committee book spelled it Buffums'. Sigh.
I asked the kind folks in the Pomona Library's special collections room to lay this matter to rest. After some checking, the intrepid Allan Lagumbay e-mailed me back: It's Buffums'. He attached two photos of the exterior as proof. If I could put photos on these blog posts, I'd present one of them.
This matters because tomorrow's post is about the store. Which store? Why, Buffums'! Now the name will be spelled correctly. And I've gone back and fixed Sunday's post.
Reader Mike McAlister of Rancho Cucamonga is a reliable correspondent, one who's lived here pretty much forever. Two or three times a year he'll type up and send me an actual letter. I rarely have space to excerpt them in print, but that was before my blog.
So today I'll type up his most recent one, responding to a mention in my Jan. 6 column of "Central Airport," a 1933 movie that refers to a character flying out of "the Pomona Airport." Turns out there was such a place.
Take it away, Mike:
"In about 1947, I became aware that Pomona had an airport, and that accounted for the low-flying biplanes we'd see, mostly on weekends, buzzing the walnut and peach orchards in what is now South Pomona.
"Pomona's population basically ended somewhere south of Phillips Boulevard (it was an Avenue then). There was a casket factory on the west side of Garey, and Phillips was maybe a half-block south of that. South of that was in the country.
"My memory is a bit faded, but it seems to me that the Pomona Airport (such as it was) was between two rows of block-long chicken coops, in approximately the west and east end of what is now the Pomona Cemetery, south of Franklin and west of Towne.
"The 'aerodrome' was populated by one or two old WW I vintage biplanes. The 'airstrip' consisted of a clearing between walnut trees and was maybe the equivalent of two or three blocks in length. Not much to get excited about in terms of today's excitement, but it was 'really something' in 1947.
"Hot dawg!
"There was another airfield in about the location of today's Cal Poly administration building. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but a guy I later knew took his first flying lessons there. He graduated to B-17s over Europe in WWII. His name was Vince Batchellor and he had a bug-spraying shop in a garage off the northeast corner of McKinley and Park Avenue, north of the 10 Freeway. Vince is no longer with us.
"Brackett Field, west of the Fairgrounds, was a dirt strip that was privately owned but was a popular landing strip in '47."
And that's the state of Pomona-close aviation circa 1947. Thanks for the local history lesson, Mike.
For you "things that aren't here anymore" fans, do you all own Charles Phoenix's book "Cruising the Pomona Valley 1930 Thru 1970"?
You owe it to yourself to get one. I'm sure I consult mine every month for one research reason or another. It's a guidebook to Inland Valley places, some still here, some not, from bowling alleys and florists to burger stands and donut shops. It's an amateur press job and there's not a lot of text, but the information is priceless. It's hard to imagine any longtime valley residents not enjoying this book.
I've written about Charles, an Ontario native, from time to time over the years. You can order his book from his website for $20. Rhino Records in Claremont usually has a couple of copies on hand as well. Here's the book description from Charles' website:
"With over 160 sites and 200 vintage photos, advertisements and illustrations, Charles Phoenix takes you on a personal tour of his 'home valley.'
"Rediscover classic 1930s, '40s, '50s and '60s modern and roadside architecture, art and attractions in the Southern California cities of Pomona, Ontario, Claremont and Rancho Cucamonga. Complete with maps, this guidebook shows you the way to the best of the Pomona Valley’s landmarks, leftovers and places that aren’t here anymore."
He forgot Upland and Montclair, but they're in there too.
Bill Ruh wrote me a nostalgic e-mail which became the main topic of today's column. He recalled past department stores and restaurants of his Inland Valley youth, places like W.T. Grant's, Berger's and the Rockette.
As promised in that column, today is set aside for your comments about Ruh's list or about your own recollections of "things that aren't here anymore." Click on the "comments" button below and start writin'.
If you're new to this blog, you can explore past entries by clicking on the roll call of categories or months along the righthand side. The "Eateries Past" link will be of particular interest -- you can read comments there about Ontario's old Mural House, for instance -- as will the "Reminiscin'" link, which contains another Ruh reminiscence about car dealers of the Inland Valley's past. When you're reading an entry, click on the "comments" button to read what others wrote; sometimes they added intriguing info.
As will you, I hope. Thanks for dropping by.
Last summer I got an e-mail from Bill Ruh, the Montclair councilman, who in response to my Seven Wonders of the Inland Valley column expounded nostalgically about "things that aren't here anymore." I'll share that in a column, or maybe a blog entry, sometime soon.
I just found Bill's followup note involving the old days of new cars. Here it is:
"In Pomona the Chrysler dealer -- I believe W.R. Shadoff -- used to have a large sign which lit up
with the names of all the brands he sold - Chrysler, Imperial and Plymouth. If memory serves there used to be a large podium and a new car would be placed on top. The podium rotated (slowly to be sure).
"In those days of the late 1960s the car dealers were located along Holt from Pomona through to Ontario and along Foothill.
"It seemed that the introduction of each year's new car was always shrouded in secrecy. The dealers would place butcher paper or some type of covering on their windows. There would be ads about having a 'peek at the new (fill in the blank).'
"When the big day would arrive they would tear off the paper on the windows, have marching bands playing patriotic music on the lot; I guess purchasing a new car was a very patriotic thing to do. The Daily Report and the Progress Bulletin would have special sections dedicated to the new cars with black and white photos, etc.
"Leading up to the 'big day' the dealers would advertise 'only five more days to the new (fill in the blank),' then 'only four more days,' etc.
"Whenever a neighbor would purchase a new car, the entire street came over to take a look. It was an event. Today when one purchases a new car it's a rather pedestrian event."
Wasn't that great? Thank you, Bill.
Here's a belated, but still welcome, note from Bob Poff of San Dimas on a perennial topic:
"I have read with interest your reporting on Walter and Cordelia Knott and their connection to Pomona.
"In 1991 the San Dimas Festival of Arts recognized the Knotts with the Spirit of the West Award. We did this after learning about their early years in Pomona. They were represented by their grandson Steven at the banquet when the award was presented. Steven received a bronze sculpture and in the Festival's collection is a portrait of Walter and Cordelia, painted by Leslie B. DeMille of Sedona, Ariz. It is on display at San Dimas City Hall should you like to see it.
"Also on display at City Hall is an edition of the same sculpture that was awarded to John Wayne. Unfortunately he passed away before the presentation. Just thought you might like to know."
Thanks, Bob.
Reader Bette Cooney of San Dimas writes:
"I have read your stories and continue to remember those days around the valley. I have a bit of information for you that you may find interesting. In San Dimas on the corner of San Dimas Canyon Road and Bonita Avenue there used to stand a shopping center for many years that included several shops in a strip mall. The most famous you would recall would be the Pizza Royal and Canyon Theater from back in the early '70s. Also the Bravo Burgers that was originally a Bakers Tacos, also in early '70s.
"This center has been a eyesore for many years while the tenants finally finished the leases. While there was some disagreement with the city of San Dimas and the owner of the lot, they are finally going to put up some town homes. (Like we need more of those)!"
I'm familiar with those businesses only by reputation, I'm afraid, having only moved here in 1997. I can report that corner is also getting a small shopping center that is rumored to contain a small Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. I asked Bette about her recollections of Pizza Royal, which still has a restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga.
She replied: "They had a piano player and also played the banjo. They played Dixieland music. Was a fun place for the whole family."
I missed out on all the good stuff.
Here's a note I got a while back from reader Jackie Leffingwell, who was responding to a column on the late Pomona character and one-term mayor Urban Ziegler:
"Maybe one of your readers knows if he had (perhaps) a sister, Miss Ester Ziegler. She taught 6th grade at Upland Elementary School in the '40s, and took a bus home every day to Pomona. She is a story in herself, and influenced many young lives, including my own.
"Miss Ziegler was a special lady and a special teacher. She walked with a pronounced limp, one hip being much higher than the other. Stories were that she was an actress on Broadway, where she fell off a stage and broke her hip. As a 6th grade teacher. she wrote, choreographed, produced and directed the school operetta each year, as well as writing the lyrics to all the songs in the production.
"I'm sure that there are still many of her students in the area who remember her fondly. I was in her 6th grade class in 1946, and I don't know how much longer she continued teaching."
From Urban Ziegler to Upland Ziegler! Thanks, Jackie. Anyone else remember Miss Ziegler?
In conjunction with my print column today, which has more details about Walter and Cordelia Knott's pre-Berry Farm days in Pomona, here's a note from Patricia Smithen Adams. It concerns the Knotts' residence from 1911 to 1913 at 1040 W. Fourth St. of that city:
"My grandparents were friends of Walter and Cordelia and lived on West Second Street. They would visit on the front porch at that home. My uncle still lives there. I was just a small child but I remember stories about the Knott family. I was in the class of 1956, Pomona High."
Thanks, Patricia.
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