Nostalgia (Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Glendale: middle schools, pool, gas)

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by drunk on kool aid

Nita:

The original Busch Gardens in Pasadena date to the beginning of the last century to the late thirties. You would not have been a twinkle in *your* daddy's eye. Charles posted a couple of good links in post #657. The Huell Howser episode I mentioned above was my first knowledge of its existence.

ya want ta bet? I was in the late 30s, I was born then. Thanks, I never knew this and I thought I knew about everything about the NO East part of Los Angeles including Pasa and most of San Gabriel Valley.

Nita

["Bronco Mike"]

Originally Posted by floppy

I do remember the restuarant. I lived near Slauson and Crenshaw and attended Dorsey High School. My dad was killed at Pearl Harbor and my mom took me there on special occasions.

I'm sorry to hear about your dad Floppy. Were you talking about Rudy's Italian Restaurant on Crenshaw?

[theatregal]

Does anyone remember The Smoke House across from Warner Brothers or The Blarney Stone on Hollywood Way (just south of Magnolia)? When I was a kid we always celebrated Birthday' s at one or the other....Sometimes The Kings Arms or China Trader.

[theatregal]

lol... I Love this site....it brings back so many memories! I grew up in Burbank. In the mid 60's, I walked to school on Magnolia Blvd (Magnolia Park)... There were so many interesting shops and things to discover for a 10/12 year old. There was an Italian Market, a Swedish Smorgasbord (King Swede), The California Movie Theatre, Alvins Drugs with a really wonderful lunch counter in the back...... Did anyone here else grow up in Burbank during this time?

[Gidget]

Boy do I remember the Smoke House. Right before I got married my mom took me there for what she termed my "last meal." Wanting to make it memorable, I ordered the Australian lobster tail, which I promptly threw up. That did make it memorable. My mom said she wished I'd thrown up a cheaper meal. Actually, the Smoke House was a really good restaurant and I think it is still in operation.

Theatregal, I grew up in Burbank during the 60's. Lived on the hillside.

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by theatregal

Does anyone remember The Smoke House across from Warner Brothers or The Blarney Stone on Hollywood Way (just south of Magnolia)? When I was a kid we always celebrated Birthday' s at one or the other....Sometimes The Kings Arms or China Trader.

I remember the Blarney Stone, though I never set foot in it. I used to ride past it on my bike while I was heading down the street to "The Train Station," my favorite model train store in Burbank. At the time, I believe there were six model train stores there, as well as several others in the San Fernando Valley. Only a two or three of them are still around.

Originally Posted by theatregal

lol... I Love this site....it brings back so many memories! I grew up in Burbank. In the mid 60's, I walked to school on Magnolia Blvd (Magnolia Park)... There were so many interesting shops and things to discover for a 10/12 year old. There was an Italian Market, a Swedish Smorgasbord (King Swede), The California Movie Theatre, Alvins Drugs with a really wonderful lunch counter in the back...... Did anyone here else grow up in Burbank during this time?

I remember King Swede, and may have eaten there once or twice when I was a kid. My dad used to like going to Via Sorrento Italian Restaurant on Magnolia, just across the line in North Hollywood, and we would go there from time to time. I believe it's now a Mexican restaurant.

Another thing I remember doing in Burbank was our annual Boy Scout Pancake Breakfast at Hughes Market on San Fernando Road. We would camp out there, or at the K-Mart next door, for a couple weeks prior to the event, trying to sell tickets for $1. I still remember the line I used to get attention: "Get 'em now - they're selling like hotcakes!" We did this fundraiser for many years, and finally stopped when our troop dwindled to just a few kids. It wasn't long after that that Hughes markets were bought out by Ralphs.

I grew up in Sun Valley, just across the line from Burbank. I spent a lot of time in Burbank as a youngster, because of the aforementioned model train stores, Boy Scout meetings, my paper route, visiting friends, and one of my first "real" jobs. I also used to love to go to the airport to watch the planes come and go, and going to L.E.R.C. (Lockheed Employee's Retirement Club) to watch, and sometimes run, model trains on the club layout. For a model railroad buff like me, Burbank was a great place to be. With all the model train stores (and other hobby shops) nearby, and the L.E.R.C. layout, I could live out my dreams very easily (except I never had enough money to spend on the hobby).

Eventually, life took over, and I graduated from school and had to get a job to support myself and my interests. The model trains took a back seat to raising a family, though I still have them, and have even added to the collection. My kids have shown limited interest in them, so someday I intend to build a layout that we can share, if they are still interested at that time.

[Tweetymaw]

Originally Posted by jdavid93225

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!

The one in Bakers was formally Bun Boy
New Big Boy on corner of Corbin Ave and Nordhoff in Northridge, CA

[Tweetymaw]

Originally Posted by jdavid93225

I just found this neat site that has some photos in the gallery of days gone by in the San Fernando Valley. Here's the link:
The Valley Observed: San Fernando Valley history and sense of place

Thanks for the link. I read an artical on Riverside Rancho. Does any one have a picture of that place? A dear friend of mine, now passed on, would tell me stories about that place. Wild times I guess and a lot of dancing.
Speaking of dancing, there are not too many places where you can go dancing. I know Alpine Village still has dances.

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by Tweetymaw

The one in Bakers was formally Bun Boy
New Big Boy on corner of Corbin Ave and Nordhoff in Northridge, CA

New Big Boy locations are sprouting up all over California, it seems. A new one recently opened in Sun Valley, at the intersection of Roscoe Blvd. and Sunland Blvd., right next to I-5. It was formerly Dimion's restaurant, and many years ago, Mr. C's restaurant.

There is another one slated to open in Bakersfield in the old Baker's Square location on Ming Ave. west of US 99, between Akers Rd. and Stine Rd. It is in front of what is now Home Depot, but was vacant for many years after the demise of the Builder's Square home improvement store.

[notsoyoung]

Holly Smolly! I live in Bakersfield and I didn't know that! We had one but it turned into a Carrow's about 2 blocks from the other Carrow's. Go figure.