Recently in Reminiscin' Category

Midway Building Materials got its name due to its location midway between Ontario and Pomona, although as the years passed the location on Holt Boulevard at Ramona Avenue was absorbed into Montclair. Ric Pearson opened Midway in 1952 and closed it in 1998. A Jack in the Box, SavOn and Albertsons and CVS are there now.

The business was probably known for its products among the contractor set, but most of us knew it solely from its neon sign, in which a bricklayer endlessly moved his trowel and the stack of bricks grew. The sign, created by Ontario Neon, was donated to L.A.'s Museum of Neon Art in 2002, thanks to the urging of the city of Montclair.

The sign is currently in storage, as the museum is planning a move to Glendale, but two years ago it was briefly back in the 909. The sign was part of a neon display at the L.A. County Fair's Millard Sheets Center for the Arts in 2010, where I shot these two photos, the trowel in a different place and the stack of bricks different in each, and then promptly forgot about them.

I was surprised to learn recently that I'd never posted about the sign or the business. Let me rectify that now. Posterity demands it. And my admiration to the bricklayer, who's been stooped over for 60 years -- but still manages a smile.

This postcard image shows the northeast corner of Foothill Boulevard and Archibald Avenue in Cucamonga with the old Bank of America, with Vath's drugstore and soda fountain next door. Jane Vath O'Connell sent me the postcard after reading this blog post about that intersection, which served as downtown Cucamonga in the old days.

B of A later moved across the street to the southeast corner.

The chain, now named Anchor Blue, was launched in 1972 with locations in Ontario, Pomona, Upland and El Monte, although its roots go back to 1948 in Ontario. My Sunday column has details on that. Check out this November 1972 ad from the Ontario Daily Report. For a larger view, click on the image. And thanks to Kelly Zackmann of the Ontario Library for the ad.

A class at Sacred Heart, 1957

Sacred Heart Catholic School operated from 1949 to 1998 on the grounds of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pomona at Hamilton and Grand. The school educated up to eighth grade; students usually went on to Damien or Pomona Catholic high schools.

A reunion is scheduled for Oct. 10, 2010 at the Ebell Museum of History, 525 E. Holt Ave. For info: (909) 938-1599. The school has a Facebook page with a page of nifty photos, from which the accompanying picture was taken.

Did you attend the school? Feel free to post a comment here about your experience.

This is described as the only known footage of the fire that gutted Pomona High School, and it probably is. The event is still described as one of the most traumatic in the city's history, even though no one was injured. Classes were never held again in the East Holt Avenue building, which was later torn down and replaced by a shopping center. The school was rebuilt elsewhere in town.

I'm not sure what I think of the "Chariots of Fire" theme as background music, but the video is fascinating, if sad, viewing.

A separate video made last year of a former student's reminiscence of the event can be seen here. It's informative and moving.

Complete this sentence, as many times as you like:

You know you've lived in the Inland Valley a long time if you remember when...

(* This post is getting such strong response, I'm going to leave it up top here an extra day.)

Reader Al Lopez of Victorian Mortgage on E Street, Ontario, compiled a list of businesses and sights that have vanished from the local landscape and faxed them over. "These are a few that I can remember. I've lived here since about 1949. My dad was born in Ontario in 1924 and has lived here his whole life," Lopez wrote.

Unsure immediately what to do with it, I set the list aside, as I'm wont to do. The other day, tidying up my cubicle, I came across the list and made time to type it all up, essentially as Lopez wrote it. Enjoy.

On Holt Boulevard in Ontario: Bamboo Hut (bar, at Campus); Judy's Past Time (bar and pool hall, between Lemon and Euclid), Tahiti Club (lounge, between Lemon and Euclid), Ford Lunch (restaurant, at Euclid), 1st Trust Bank (at Euclid), Orange Hotel (between Euclid and Sultana), Torley's Market (at Sultana), Laddies (burgers, across from Torley's), Sherman Williams (paint, at Sultana), Hoyt Lumber (at Plum), Dairy Queen (by Campus), Taco Lita (at San Antonio), Shady Grove Dairy (at San Antonio), Burger Lane (between San Antonio and Mountain), Citrus Motors (between San Antonio and Mountain), Mark Christopher (between Palm and Fern?), Valley Drive-In (movies, at Central).

On Euclid Avenue in Ontario: Bank of America (at B), California Theater (movies, at B), Fallis (clothing, at B), The Forum Theater (movies, ?), 1st National Bank (at E), Carnegie Library (at D), Walter's Cafe (between F and G), Bank of Ontario (below overpass), JC Penney (below E), Bocanegra Bakery (at Francis), Donahoo's Chicken (at G), Jasper the Ant picnic sign (for July 4th celebration).

On Mountain Avenue in Ontario: Market Basket, White Front, House of Pies.

Elsewhere in Ontario: Municipal dump on Mission -- highest elevation in Ontario?, Hooker Headers, Drew Carriage, Chaffey College at 5th and Euclid, Daily Report building, Firestone Tires (Lemon and B), Grove School (near Sunkist), Greyhound Bus Station (on Transit Avenue), Ontario Police Station (behind old City Hall), GE Hotpoint plant, Delahoyt (sp?) Auto, radio stations KWOW and KASK, Lockheed Aircraft, National Guard unit with fighter jets.

On Holt Avenue in Pomona: Van de Kamp's, International House of Pancakes, Standard Brands Paint, Angel's Lumber, Pomona Valley Datsun, Bekins Storage, Thom McAn's Shoes, Lloyds Lumber, Tate Cadillac, Catron's Volkswagen, St. Charles Bar and Grill, Crocker National Bank.

Elsewhere in Pomona: Espiau's, Orlando's, Henry's, Love's Wood Pit, Xochimilco's, Boys Market, Zody's, Sears.

"Just to name a few," Lopez notes. The understatement of the year.

Reader Bob Given alerted me to the existence of a vintage LP by organist Larry Seibert, recorded live at the Sage Hen Cafe in Claremont. The Record Robot blog has a picture of the (almost blank) cover and a wry writeup that begins like this:

"Should you have been traveling on Route 66 through Claremont, CA in the late '60s, and the smell of manure hadn't affected your hunger pangs, you'd have maybe stopped in at the Sage Hen Restaurant to dine sumptuously on glazed ham and a delicious fruit ring mold. If you were really lucky, Larry Seibert would be jazzing up the place on his Gulbransen Rialto Organ (with Gulbransen Select-A-Rhythm attachment) while you ate. And if you were really, really lucky, perhaps he'd autograph a copy of his album, Larry Plays Again!, for you, as he did for the fortunate soul who owned this copy before it became mine."

Read the rest here. Given says he wants a copy of the LP regardless. Anyone own one?

Here's the portion of Greg Nelson's letter that I saved for its own post, a few lines about the secret, and possibly dangerous, places near Pomona that kids of the '50s and '60s liked to get into. Take it away, Greg:

"As far as tunnels under Pomona goes, there were real tunnels, but they were the storm drains, and we used to break into them in Ganesha Park and travel miles around the town underground. My pal Phillip O'Brien was always talking me into going down there with him. I heard he died in a hang-glider accident somewhere around San Dimas Canyon years ago. I remember his parents were fanatical Catholics. They said a rosary together as a family every night. If you spent the night at his house you had to do it with them.

"Those storm drains were a forbidden place, and we stopped going once we saw the movie 'Them' about the giant bees that built nests in the Los Angeles storm drains.

"The other forbidden place to go was Walnut Falls, on the far side of Puddingstone, behind the dam. We loved to hike out there early on summer Saturdays and jump from the cliffs surrounding the pool created by the falls. In the summer there was just a trickle of water over the falls, and around noon the local L.A. Sheriffs would raid the place and chase us all away. It was too dangerous a place to let kids play, I guess."

Your turn, readers: What risky stunts did you pull as kids? Where did you go that you knew you shouldn't?

1437 Gibbs St., where the Nelsons lived. Photo by Ren.

New reader Greg Nelson sent me a long, fond epistle a few weeks back about his childhood in Pomona. Warm, detailed, it's worth reprinting in full. I did cut one section for use at a later time. And now, take it away, Greg:

"I just stumbled on your blog and loved every picture and phrase. My family moved to Pomona in 1956 when I was 4, from New Orleans, and I didn't leave until I went to college. Our first house was at 1714 Calatina Drive. It was down in the south and right on the edge of the wilderness at the time. It got its name from the developer, who crossed the L instead of the T in Catalina. They decided they liked it like that. We moved uptown later.

"I graduated from St. Joseph's in 1966 and from Damien in 1970. During my first year at Damien it was still called Pomona Catholic, or 'PC.'

"We dated the girls from Sacred Heart and St. Lucy's, and occasionally from Pomona, Ganesha, and Fremont Highs.

"At St. Joseph's I served many a mass (more than a hundred) for Monsignor English, the 6-foot five pastor, who was a millionaire before he entered the priesthood, and built St. Joseph's with his own money. It was hard to serve mass there because the altar was a lot higher than at most churches because of his height. Sometimes we went to mass at Sacred Heart because they had a 7 PM Sunday mass.

"My best friend was Lloyd Purpero, whose dad, Carl, owned a pancake house called Breakfast At Carl's, and also a place called Perp's.

The passing of Jack Atwood has revived memories of Atwood's Department Store, which from the 1930s to the 1980s sold general merchandise in downtown Upland, at the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Ninth Street.

The building later burned in a fire and was demolished. The lot sat empty for a decade until a very nice two-story retail and commercial structure plugged the gap a couple of years ago.

At this point, that's about all I know, although I'm hoping to write something in my column soon about the store. What can any of you tell us about Atwood's -- the store and the family?

This undated postcard image, presumably from the 1950s, is in the collection of the Ontario Public Library. This was downtown Cucamonga.

As Frank Zappa wrote in his autobiography:

"Cucamonga was a blotch on a map, represented by the intersection of Route 66 and Archibald Avenue. On those four corners we had an Italian restaurant, an Irish pub, a malt shop and a gas station.

"North, up Archibald, were an electrician's shop, a hardware store and the recording studio. Across the street was a Holy Roller church, and up the block from that was the grammar school."

His memory was pretty sharp. In 1965, the year Zappa left, this would be what you'd have found at or around this intersection, according to research by Kelly Zackmann of the Ontario City Library into phone books and criss-cross directories:

NW corner: Café Italiano (9690 Foothill), the Zappa-mentioned "Italian restaurant." Ancil Morris' Cucamonga Service Station was next door to the west and still stands, albeit closed and fenced off.

SW corner: Cucamonga Café (9671 Foothill), which is listed under ice cream in the phone book. Must be Zappa's "malt shop." Now it's The Deli and Carl's Liquor.

NE corner: Cucamonga Hardware (9710 Foothill) must be the "hardware shop."

SE corner: Ray Ford's Texaco station (9705 Foothill) was there, if apparently not operating by 1965. Nearby was The Tavern (9741 Foothill), which may be the "Irish pub" Zappa mentions. Was this the same pub known as Shanty Devlin's?

Zappa's studio was at 8040 Archibald, on the west side above Estacia Street and next to Citrus Electric ("electrician's shop") at 8036. South of them, below Estacia but above Foothill, were the Cucamonga Justice Court at 8076 and Cafe Italiano.

The "grammar school" Zappa mentions was Central Elementary, which is still there (7955 Archibald). Zackmann couldn't locate a Holy Roller-type church across the street from the studio via phone records. But then, why have a phone if you're going to speak in tongues?

If you've never been to The Deli, by the way, not only is the place worth it for the food, but one wall boasts a series of B&W and color photos of the intersection from various eras. Well worth a look.

Zappa maintained that when Archibald was widened in the mid-'60s, his studio was among the casualties. I think there's a drive-through dairy there now. Is the courthouse building still there? I don't know. There is some disagreement among old-timers as to whether the row of older buidlings on the west side above Foothill is original or not.

Feel free to add to or correct any of the information and suppositions above.

Continuing Shelby Garrett's memories of old Upland:

"Over on Foothill at Fifth Avenue was Booth's Market on the SE corner and a small filling station on the NE corner. In 1948 there was a miniature golf course on the SW side of Foothill and Third Avenue. We had such fun playing there.

"In the early '50s, over towards Second Avenue on the south side of Foothill, was the Shopping Bag, Upland's first big supermarket. It was so different from the neighborhood grocery stores we were used to. Jan's Drive-In to the east of the market was a local spot to hang out.

"On the north side of Foothill from Third Avenue on over to Euclid there was nothing but orange groves. On the south side were groves too, from Second Avenue west to Euclid, until Bob & Dave's Chevron Station went in on the SW corner of Second and Foothill.

"In 1950, Yum Yum's Frostee Freeze was put in by Mary Weitzel on Foothill across from the Memorial Park. In their recreation and eating area on the side of the building there was a jukebox. Teenagers went there for great hamburgers, shakes, malts and dancing. The adults got wind of the fun we were having and several of them came in to dance with us often.

"Across Foothill at the ball park, my brother, Kirby, used to announce the ballgames.

"For fine dining, people went to the Magic Lamp (formerly Lucy & John's) or to the historic Sycamore Inn, both east on Foothill past Grove Avenue.

"In 1951 the Swim Club was built out on West Foothill. They had great folk music by various artists performing around the pool.

"Another unforgettable place was Stinkey's on the NW corner of Mountain and Foothill. They had the best hamburgers in town and were open all night for the boys and men who went out smudging in the wintertime. Jack, the owner, always had a cigar with a long ash on it in his mouth, but I never saw it fall off into the food.

"Matteo's Pizza was out on Foothill and Central, as was Lloyd's. Both great places to eat."

Hope you enjoyed the piece. Anyone have memories of these places to share, or just general comments on the above?

Two short comments by me: I believe the Shopping Bag building is now Pep Boys; if memory serves, circa 2000, construction exposed a brick wall with a painted sign for Shopping Bag to motorists on Foothill, until further construction covered it up.

Also, the idea that Foothill was lined with groves is hard for us to picture today, but it does explain an odd news item I saw in an old Daily Report ('40s? '50s?) about a controversial zoning plan to make Foothill a (gasp!) commercial district!

I always enjoy Marilyn Anderson's monthly Hometown Spirit newsletter published out of downtown Upland's Cooper Museum and available for free around town (I get mine at the museum or at my periodontist's).

I've meant to share a long chunk of a couple of essays published there last year and written by former Uplander Shelby Garrett. He wrote about his family's arrival in Upland in 1943 from Alabama and about the businesses along Foothill Boulevard back then. They deserve a wider audience. Marilyn said it was fine with her. Take it away, Shelby:

"Dad was able to get us a 3-bedroom, pre-fab home in Parkside, the huge 550-unit project on the SE corner of Campus and Foothill. Big parking lots separated the groups of houses and there were nice grassy areas between the houses. They had basketball courts and every day when Dad came home from work we'd all go play.

"In the '40s, most people still had ice boxes for refrigeration. The Union Ice Company truck delivered daily to the project. The blocks of 25 to 50 lbs. would be loaded onto a two-wheel pushcart rolling up and down the sidewalks going from house to house delivering various quantities. Tom, the ice man, would let me split the blocks with an ice pick and give me 50 cents for helping him. Boy, was I rich!

"There was a large open field from Eleventh Street down to the San Antonio Hospital on San Bernardino Road, where I used to go rabbit hunting. And quite often Mom would have rabbit to cook for our supper.

"On the NE corner of Foothill and Campus was a little white stuccoed service station with Pegasus, the Flying Red Horse, as its symbol, later to become a Mobil station. Right next door to the east was a little cafe called Pow's Chow. Mr. Pow was in business there for many years.

"On the NW corner was Gilliland Gardens Nursery, the greenhouses and the small Upland Motel. In 1945 they moved their business to the north side of Foothill at Third Avenue. My parents bought the old nursery and motel, making the nursery house our home and moving the greenhouses over to Third Avenue. Mom later had her office (Garrett/Tyberg Real Estate) in that house.

"On the SW corner of Foothill and Campus was Martinez' Grocery Store and next to it was Martinez' Long Bar Restaurant, where you could get an excellent Mexican dinner for about $1.75."

That wraps up the four corners of Foothill and Campus: Gilliland Gardens, gas station, Parkside and Martinez'. Shelby's piece concludes here tomorrow with more '40s-era Foothill businesses.

My May 13 column on Jim Bowman's memories of growing up in Ontario in the 1950s and '60s prompted a loooong e-mail from reader Linda (Shaffer) Frost amplifying on some of Bowman's points and dropping new names of old-time Ontario businesses.

And if you're into that sort of thing -- which we here at The David Allen Blog most assuredly are -- then the nostalgia makes for good reading.

Here's an edited version:

"Since I am waxing nostalgic, I have a few things to add to Jim Bowman's recollections about Ontario back in the day. I grew up there, too. I would have been born here had it not been that my father was stationed in Massachusetts during the war. I was 18 months old when I arrived in January of 1947.

"The first thing my parents did after purchasing a home was to subscribe to the Daily Report and to begin Shady Grove Dairy delivery. The bottles were glass and had tiny cardboard caps with a pull-tab. Cottage cheese came in colorful, anodized aluminum tumblers, and oleo came in a plastic bag with the dot of color. Owl Lucky Star Market was the first supermarket, followed by King Cole Market, and shopping was a family affair.

"Laddie's hamburgers, the first fast food hamburger stand, charged 15 cents for a hamburger. Yes, the Hot Dog Show held constant performances in a hot dog-shaped shop with a few stools in front. Taco Lita held court at the corner of San Antonio and Holt (previously A Street), and tacos were five for a dollar. Yes, and Mi Taco had its first store on East Fourth Street across from John Galvin Park. Unfortunately, Ford Lunch had a reputation for racial discrimination, so my parents never took us there to eat.

"My mother didn't believe anyone should be mistreated, especially for race, and when it happened, she never forgot. FYI, another incident occurred back in the early 1950s at a place called Ed's Café on "A" street, when Ed refused to serve a black boy whose team had played my brother's team in Pony League baseball game. His team didn't eat there, and we never went to Ed's either. My mother had nothing good to say about Ed or his café.

"The California Theater gave competition to the Granada. On Saturday mornings, our mothers would pile us into the family sedan and haul us downtown where we would pick up tickets to the free kids movies on Saturday mornings. Popcorn was a dime, and big candy bars were 25 cents. We would go to Newberry's and spend our pennies on Evening in Paris cologne in tiny blue vials. I can still smell it and am happy to say that my fragrance choices have improved with age.

"A highlight of every summer afternoon was walk to the plunge at Chaffey High School with a quarter tucked inside our bathing caps for the price of admission. That lasted until the polio scare sent us home to inflatable pools in our yards.

PFF Bank made it through the Great Depression but couldn't weather the current depression. One bit of fallout from their failure that hadn't occurred to me is the end of the bank's long-running series of calendars featuring vintage citrus crate labels.

Stepping in to fill the breach is Randi Marshall of La Verne, who sells labels online on his eBay store. I read about this in John Weeks' column in the Bulletin on Saturday. Marshall told Weeks he'd been selling PFF calendars for the past five years. "When I found out that the PFF calendar would not be printed this year, I took the liberty of printing one myself," he said.

Marshall's calendar doesn't appear to say PFF anywhere, but each month has an image of a fruit crate label, just like PFF would have done. You can find the calendars here for just $5.99, plus $2.99 shipping. August's art is from the King label in Claremont that appears from the thumbnail art to depict a lion. And here's Marshall's main page.

(While I was on his store, I couldn't resist buying the Newsboy crate label for my cubicle.)

But back to the calendar. Cool of Marshall to continue one PFF tradition. Alas, I don't think he's offering free checking.

Anyone collect PFF calendars or have any particular memories of getting them?

Remember the kids' table? It was, and perhaps still is, a staple of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

It was the smaller, lower table where the pint-sized members of the family were seated, the better to give the adults some peace and some time to catch up without constant interruptions. And, of course, it was fun for the kids to sit together -- allowing us to catch up without (ahem) constant interruptions from adults.

I remember my cousins and I blowing bubbles in our beverages through a straw -- no adult ever thinks this is cool -- and making mashed potato volcanoes with our gravy. And yet, there was always envy of the grownup table. Once you graduate to the grownups' table, you're there for good. You leave behind the kids' table for (sniff) good.

A metaphor for growing up, one might say.

What did you think of the kids' table, and do you still have one at holidays?

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.

"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]

"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?

* Update, May 2011: Parnell now has a Facebook page. And I've added photos here courtesy of Bev Chauvet: from top, the lower ring in Pomona circa 1969; the school's main house; and the school's owner and principal, Miss Yoder, with student Trisha Lane Bowler.

Photo from the 1958 CMC yearbook, The Ayer

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!

"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.

"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.

"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.

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.

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.

* 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?).

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.

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,

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.

* Update: As corrected in part 2, Hal Linker was a pseudonym.

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.

"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.

"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).

"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.

"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.

"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.