In the 1950's, West LA was like KANSAS..... (Los Angeles, El Monte: neighborhood, school)

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by BluSpark

Give me one quote from the article which states things were "better" back then as opposed to now.

No one said the word better and I don't have that issue anymore. But I recall the tone was sentimental and nostalgic for the past. As if the past was this positive place, and that place isn't there anymore

[BluSpark]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

No one said the word better and I don't have that issue anymore. But I recall the tone was sentimental and nostalgic for the past. As if the past was this positive place, and that place isn't there anymore

Plenty of Great Depression kids can wax nostalgic about their childhood days too. Doesn't mean those were the good old days.....

[majoun]

I haven't read the article, can't get L.A. magazine around here.

I think some of the residual casual racism (not overt) found in Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades (and once found in other parts of the west side, which fortunately has vanished from the rest of the westside) goes back to those Lower Midwestern/Upper Southern/Okie type people who used to have a big presence on the westside. I remember having the old woman next door as a kid in West L.A. (whose Texas accent gave away her origin) complaining even more when me and my friends were listening to Funkadelic than she did when we'd play Alice Cooper, KISS, Black Sabbath, Iggy Pop, the Sex Pistols, etc. - it wasn't just a matter of "music to drive the older generation crazy", it was "black music to drive the older generation crazy", and she used to say the "n-word" a lot. Those attitudes are gone from most of the westside but in SM and PP they live on. It's not open hostility, more of a subtle, casual thing. I'm just glad that's GONE from WLA, MV, CC, even BH.

[psr13]

Steve Martin didn't grow up in L.A. He grew up in Garden Grove in Orange County.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by majoun

I haven't read the article, can't get L.A. magazine around here.

I think some of the residual casual racism (not overt) found in Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades (and once found in other parts of the west side, which fortunately has vanished from the rest of the westside) goes back to those Lower Midwestern/Upper Southern/Okie type people who used to have a big presence on the westside. I remember having the old woman next door as a kid in West L.A. (whose Texas accent gave away her origin) complaining even more when me and my friends were listening to Funkadelic than she did when we'd play Alice Cooper, KISS, Black Sabbath, Iggy Pop, the Sex Pistols, etc. - it wasn't just a matter of "music to drive the older generation crazy", it was "black music to drive the older generation crazy", and she used to say the "n-word" a lot. Those attitudes are gone from most of the westside but in SM and PP they live on. It's not open hostility, more of a subtle, casual thing. I'm just glad that's GONE from WLA, MV, CC, even BH.

There were never midwestern/okie/southern people in SM/PP (I spent the greater part of my life living in NSM, with a two year stretch in PP). Some wealthier east coast WASPy times and wealthy Jews. There's a few miscreant old WASPy types who live in the neighborhood and harbor those views, but anyone under 60 is not like that.

[BluSpark]

Originally Posted by psr13

Steve Martin didn't grow up in L.A. He grew up in Garden Grove in Orange County.

He was born in Waco, Texas. Moved shortly after to Inglewood. Spent his teenage years (maybe more) in Garden Grove.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Here is a west side fact. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints built the Los Angeles Temple in the 50's on Santa Monica Blvd in Westwood. It opened in 1956 and for many years was the tallest building on the west side at 257 feet tall. Back then the Temple was the main view as far as buildings went. Even today the Temple and grounds are still an impressive site. This year they remodeled the Visitors center that includes interactive video and movies about the Church, Jesus Christ and the history of the Los Angeles Temple. It is interesting to visit just to see the video of how they built the building and how the area looked back then. It is opened to the public and this time of year is amazing to walk around and see the Christmas lights on the Temple grounds.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

There were never midwestern/okie/southern people in SM/PP (I spent the greater part of my life living in NSM, with a two year stretch in PP).

SM definitely had Okies back in the day. I was reading a book on the history of country music in Los Angeles (you would be very surprised how extensive it was!) and it mentioned MANY honky tonks in SM in the 1940s/50s. Although more in Ocean Park than NSM. (Maybe also those poor and working clas whites who lived amongst poor and working class Latinos in the Pico neighborhood, also? Robert Redford grew up in the Pico neighborhood but I don't know his family background. He mentioned he learned Spanish as a kid from his neighbors and friends.) Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys played in the ballrooms on the Santa Monica and Ocean Park Piers. (A very positive part of the Okie contribution to California!)

I read another article mentioning that where the Santa Monica Civic is now was a cluster of honky tonks and bars catering to Okies and poor southern whites, and the city of SM deliberately chose that as a location to build the Civic because they didn't want a "declasse" element right by City Hall.

I've also met the children and grandchildren of Okie, Texan, and other Southern transplants who lived in and grew up in Santa Monica (none were bigots that I knew of but they were proud of their heritage). Not in "movie star land" where you lived, though. And the influence is not as large as some other places of origin of SM residents, in particular the UK and Ireland (the British expat community in SM goes back to the '20s) or the Northeast US.

Some wealthier east coast WASPy times and wealthy Jews. There's a few miscreant old WASPy types who live in the neighborhood and harbor those views, but anyone under 60 is not like that.

I hope that's true.

Of course, the past really was better in many, many ways, despite the bigotry. I'm sure those honky tonks would've been a blast, as would seeing Wills on the Piers in his heyday!

[majoun]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Here is a west side fact. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints built the Los Angeles Temple in the 50's on Santa Monica Blvd in Westwood. It opened in 1956 and for many years was the tallest building on the west side at 257 feet tall. Back then the Temple was the main view as far as buildings went. Even today the Temple and grounds are still an impressive site. This year they remodeled the Visitors center that includes interactive video and movies about the Church, Jesus Christ and the history of the Los Angeles Temple. It is interesting to visit just to see the video of how they built the building and how the area looked back then. It is opened to the public and this time of year is amazing to walk around and see the Christmas lights on the Temple grounds.

Did the Saints buy the land from Howard Hughes?
Hughes, while not a Mormon, was a Mormonophile and surrounded himself with Mormons as his staffers, servants, drivers, etc.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by majoun

SM definitely had Okies back in the day. I was reading a book on the history of country music in Los Angeles (you would be very surprised how extensive it was!) and it mentioned MANY honky tonks in SM in the 1940s/50s. Although more in Ocean Park than NSM. (Maybe also those poor and working clas whites who lived amongst poor and working class Latinos in the Pico neighborhood, also? Robert Redford grew up in the Pico neighborhood but I don't know his family background. He mentioned he learned Spanish as a kid from his neighbors and friends.) Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys played in the ballrooms on the Santa Monica and Ocean Park Piers. (A very positive part of the Okie contribution to California!)

I read another article mentioning that where the Santa Monica Civic is now was a cluster of honky tonks and bars catering to Okies and poor southern whites, and the city of SM deliberately chose that as a location to build the Civic because they didn't want a "declasse" element right by City Hall.

I've also met the children and grandchildren of Okie, Texan, and other Southern transplants who lived in and grew up in Santa Monica (none were bigots that I knew of but they were proud of their heritage). Not in "movie star land" where you lived, though. And the influence is not as large as some other places of origin of SM residents, in particular the UK and Ireland (the British expat community in SM goes back to the '20s) or the Northeast US.



I hope that's true.

Of course, the past really was better in many, many ways, despite the bigotry. I'm sure those honky tonks would've been a blast, as would seeing Wills on the Piers in his heyday!

Well, I know SM was a blue collar quiet predominately white town before the 60s, so maybe there were okies. But since the 80's (when I remember SM) and espeically now it's heavily Jewish and multicultural (the Palisades being probably 90% Jewish and WASP, 10% Asian). Are there prejudiced people here and in the Palisades, of course, but I think people here, at least those under 60, are better off than 99% of the country. There are some old WASPy codgers who have lived here since the 40s or 50s, especially in NSM and PP, but they're a dying breed.