Nostalgia (Los Angeles, Riverside, Glendale: standard of living, lawsuits, marketplace)

[William Peterson]

Originally Posted by barbtoo

The place across from Alta Dena Dairy was called Valley Gardens and I used to go there to watch hockey games, until a fight broke out and I refused to go there again! We played in the empty lot before Super Fair was built until one of my friends started sinking into the mud and we couldn't get her out and had to run for "grown up" help to get her out....our parent's then refused to let us go there to play. Leons was a favorite place for our parents who used to end up in the bar with the piano player. And Sunday mornings we ate at another restaurant kitty corner from Leons called "Tommy's". I think that's an Enterprise rental Car Agency now. The thing I'm having a hard time remembering is that I recall a Bob's Big Boy on Lankershim in No. Hollywood that we used to go to after school sometimes. I'm thinking it burned down, but not sure. Does anyone remember this????

Bob's Big Boy started as a little shack in Glendale (I think sometime in the 1930's). Their second location was on Colorado Boulevard in Northeast LA in Eagle Rock. In the Late 1950's they had a picture on the wall of the original Bob's Big Boy. The story I got at the time was Bob bought some used oak wine barrels to store potatoes in beside the diner because there wasn't enough room inside. He filled them with water and rock salt to kill the wine flavor in the wood. The oak got saturated with salt. He put his spuds in water into the barrels with a wood lid on top and some bricks to hold the lids down. When he made french-fries from the spuds they were so loaded with salt that everybody loved em and came back for more. He got such a great following that he expanded to the Big Boy hamburger and fame and fortune followed.

[William Peterson]

Anybody even have a second hand memory of the Cawston Ostrich Farm in South Pasadena right next to Highland Park?? It supplied Ostrich feathers for female hats and duds until feathers went out of fashion. The Farm went under sometime in the late 1930's. It was world famous. Professor Lowe who built the Mount Lowe railway and Inn had a gigantic solar mirror there. He used it to (1) run a boiler which generated steam for a 10(?) horsepower steam engine and (2) would cook Ostrich eggs to order (I guess they were boiled). The future for solar power was assured they said with his demonstrations to tourists from all over the world. At the time most of the houses in Highland Park had black rubber hoses snaking back and forth on their roofs to generate solar heated hot water. The gas company promised hot water all night long if you would hook up. Everybody did and the hoses became "old fashioned" and disappeared.

[onlyonejudy]

Bob's has really gone down in history - everyone in the SoCal area eventually brings up Bob's. Never heard the french fry story before, in the 50s they used to serve a wedge of really crisp iceberg lettuce with their great dressings until people started asking for it cut up. Still make the best hamburger!!
Did you ever hear of Pop's Willow Lake? I am still trying to find a photo of it. I grew up in Glendale in the 50's - it was a wonderful childhood..........onlyonejudy

[onlyonejudy]

At one time in Huntington Beach we heated our pool with the black hoses on the roof - it worked great. Lowe was way ahead of his time; would have loved to have ridden the Mt. Lowe railroad.............onlyonejudy

[theatregal]

Originally Posted by onlyonejudy

Bob's has really gone down in history - everyone in the SoCal area eventually brings up Bob's. Never heard the french fry story before, in the 50s they used to serve a wedge of really crisp iceberg lettuce with their great dressings until people started asking for it cut up. Still make the best hamburger!!
Did you ever hear of Pop's Willow Lake? I am still trying to find a photo of it. I grew up in Glendale in the 50's - it was a wonderful childhood..........onlyonejudy

Bobs was a big part of the Valley culture... LOL in Burbank it was cool to order "California style" (with avacodos on your burger)... a side of Blue Cheese Dressing for your fries and a cherry or vanilla coke.. or the best streawberry shake. I also remember the wedge salad.
I looked up Pop's Willow Lake... I think I went there with my mother and her friends when I was very small... 5 or 6.
Does anyone remember the orange 76 balls for your car?

[ImRandy]

Originally Posted by theatregal

Does anyone remember the orange 76 balls for your car?

Amazon.com: Original Unocal 76 Ball Antenna Topper
Osborn's Automotive Inc.

[barbtoo]

of course, my dad had the orange 76 balls on his cars...but I am still trying to find someone that remembers Bobs Big Boy on Lankershim in No Hollywood.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by barbtoo

of course, my dad had the orange 76 balls on his cars...but I am still trying to find someone that remembers Bobs Big Boy on Lankershim in No Hollywood.

I just talked to my wife; She grew up on Archwood Street in North Hollywood, went to Madison Jr High, her brother went to Grant. She remembers a Bob's Big Boy and I would think it was that one. Probably went in the 1970s or early 1908s.

[onlyonejudy]

I forgot about the vanilla cokes - yum! Some ordered a cherry orange. I had one of those orange 76 balls - now I have a Jack in the Box ball. Someone told me there are no more Bob's in Glendale at all.

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by onlyonejudy

I forgot about the vanilla cokes - yum! Some ordered a cherry orange. I had one of those orange 76 balls - now I have a Jack in the Box ball. Someone told me there are no more Bob's in Glendale at all.

As far as I know, the Bobs on Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake is the closest one to Glendale. There aren't really that many around now, but there are more than there were a few years ago. The ones I know about are in Lake Havasu City, AZ, Barstow, Baker, Santa Paula (Bobs Big Boy Express), and Toluca Lake. There may still be one on Wilshire (at La Brea?) in the Miracle Mile area, but I haven't been that way in several years, so it may not be there any more.

Edit: I just checked the Bobs website and found that there actually is a restaurant in Glendale again. It's at 1407 Glenoaks. I remember one on Glenoaks from many years ago. Perhaps it has remained there all these years, but I don't remember seeing it for a long time.

Here's the list of locations in California:

Baker
Barstow
Burbank (Toluca Lake)
Calimesa
Colton
Diamond Bar
Glendale
Hesperia
Los Angeles (Miracle Mile)
Santa Paula
Signal Hill
Torrance

Other locations outside of California:

Lake Havasu City, AZ
Honolulu, HI
Bismarck, ND
Danville, IL
Cleveland, OH
Stow, OH
Streetsboro, OH
Tallmadge, OH
Valley View, OH
Cherokee, NC
Altamonte Springs, FL
Sanford, FL

and finally, all of the following locations are in Michigan:

Adrian
Alma
Alpena
Ann Arbor
Bad Axe
Battle Creek
Bay City
Belleville
Big Rapids
Birch Run
Bloomfield Hills
Bridgeport
Brighton
Brooklyn
Cadillac
Caledonia
Canton
Caro
Cascade
Cedar Springs
Charlotte
Cheboygan
Chelsea
Clare
Clarkston
Clinton Township
Clio
Coldwater
Davison
Dearborn
Detroit
East Tawas
Eastpointe
Essexville
Farmington
Fenton
Flat Rock
Fowlerville
Garden City
Gaylord
Grand Blanc
Grand Rapids
Grayling
Greenville
Grosse Pointe Woods
Hartland
Hastings
Houghton Lake
Howell
Imlay City
Ionia
Jackson
Kalamazoo
Kalkaska
Lake Orion
Lincoln Park
Livonia
Ludington
Mackinaw City
Madison Heights
Manistique
Marine City
Marquette
Marysville
Mason
Midland
Milan
Milford
Monroe
Mt. Clemens
Mt. Pleasant
New Baltimore
Novi
Okemos
Owosso
Oxford
Petoskey
Pittsfield Twp
Plainwell
Plymouth
Port Huron
Riverview
Rochester
Rochester Hills
Romulus
Sandusky
Scio Township
South Haven
South Lyon
Southfield
St. Clair Shores
St. Ignace
St. Johns
Sterling Heights
Stevensville
Tawas - East
Taylor
Tecumseh
Traverse City
Troy
Utica
Walker
Walled Lake
Warren
Washington
Waterford
Wayland
West Branch
Westland
Wyandotte
Wyoming
Ypsilanti

I had no idea there were so many Bobs in Michigan!