Come On to the PTA PARTY!

Most likely 64 years ago tonight there was a PTA party in the county of Marin, California. I provide you with the handmade invitation from Montez Lawton's scrapbook.

So why can I narrow this down to 1951? The give away are the first few lines on the inside of the card:

"Come on to our school, our school,
We geeve you—dinner!"

This is a word play on the Rosemary Clooney 1951 hit "Come On-a My House." Too many people will have no idea who Rosemary Clooney was, unless they just think of her as George's aunt. And even fewer people will know the people are who are referred to in the information below from Wikipedia:

"Come on-a My House" is a song performed by Rosemary Clooney on her album Come On-A My House, released on June 6, 1951. The song was written by Ross Bagdasarian and his cousin, the Armenian American Pulitzer Prize winning author William Saroyan, in the summer of 1939, while driving across New Mexico. The melody is based on an Armenian folk song.

It was not performed until the 1950, off-Broadway production of The Son. The song did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording.

It was probably Saroyan's only effort at popular songwriting, and it was one of Bagdasarian's few well-known works that was not connected to his best-known creation, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Bagdasarian, as David Seville, went on to much fame with his Chipmunks recordings.

…the song touches upon traditional Armenian customs of inviting over relatives and friends and providing them with a generously overflowing table of fruits, nuts, seeds, and other foods. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

So take a minute and imagine the PTA party back in '51. I'm betting there were a lot of crepe paper decorations.





And the Rosemary Clooney record playing.

MOTEL hopping: Gorman, California

Here we are on the Grapevine along Route 5 heading to Los Angeles. I don't remember what year I stayed at the Caravan Motor Inn, nor do I remember why. It was either the late '60s or early 70s.




Click on images to see them larger.

This place still physically exists, at least according to Google Earth, but I don't know what it's now called.



I'm always fascinated by motel cards that are architectural drawings. They've always seemed a little less inviting than a photo. What's fascinating about this card is the little piece of information about the architect.

Homer A. Rissman, a longtime Las Vegas architect, made a unique contribution to the Strip skyline when he designed the tent-shaped Circus Circus.

In addition to the Circus Circus, Rissman designed a number of other local properties, such as the Dunes Country Club, the Hacienda on the south end of the Strip and the Bonanza, which had been on the Bally's site.

His work also includes the Flamingo Las Vegas towers and the Primm hotels Buffalo Bill's, Whiskey Pete's and the Primadonna, said Nevada Moore, who had worked for Rissman the past 11 years.

"He was one of the nicest men I ever knew," Moore said.

Rissman died Wednesday (October 2001). He was 74.

Born Feb. 22, 1927 in Chicago, Rissman, who came to Las Vegas in 1956 to design the Hacienda, started his career by building simple, inexpensive houses in Illinois.

In 1954 he moved to California and initially came to prominence building restaurants and motels along the developing interstate highway system.

It was such work that brought Rissman to Las Vegas, where he would become known for his imaginative building design concepts, including Circus Circus, which he co-developed with gaming pioneer Jay Sarno, and the riverboat-shaped Holiday Casino, now Harrah's.

One of Rissman's early jobs was a major renovation of the Flamingo Hilton, where he painstakingly worked around historic architecture dating back to when mobster Bugsy Siegel built the resort.

In the process, Rissman replaced most of the buildings -- which had been built with cheap materials -- with sturdy and useful structures. Still, he saved Siegel's suite, complete with trap doors for quick escapes, as well as other early VIP suites.

In a later renovation, by another architect, those efforts were destroyed as the resort underwent major changes as operators attempted to distance themselves from the property's organized crime roots.

Away from the Strip, Rissman designed luxury apartment complexes, including the Regency Tower, where he lived for many years.

In his spare time, Rissman and his wife, Alice, who survives him, visited Nevada ghost towns and helped preserve them for their historic significance. (SOURCE: University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

The firm no longer exists.

MOTEL hopping: Madera, California

The Sandman Motel in Madera, California, once sat next to Highway 99. Next door was Farnesi's Restaurant. Well, things have changed a great deal since this card was printed.




Click on images to see them larger.

Farnesi's is still there, though has had a "makeover."

(SOURCE: Yelp)

Sadly, the wonderfully colorful Sandman Motel is gone. It's been replaced by a faux Spanish/New Mexico semi "hacienda" which now includes its own restaurant, thus apparently giving Farnesi's some competition.

(SOURCE: Days Inn)

I know nothing about any of these places. In fact, I have no idea where I got this card. I'm suspicious it was one my mother grabbed on my behalf. Yes, I trained her to also grab all the cards from the desk drawers at motels. Thus I now go through my chest of cards and have memory flashbacks that aren't mine.

WIN A TRIP TO HOLLYWOOD! Be on DR. KILDARE!

Okay, ladies and gents. This is what you've been waiting for! I've got a HUGE PRIZE here for some lucky fan. All expense paid trip to Hollywood, California and a part on Dr. Kildare! The real Hollywood. Not the Florida, Hollywood. The one with the odd footprints and handprints and paw prints in cement. The one where a guy dressed like Charlie Chaplin used to wander around Hollywood Boulevard freaking me out. THE Hollywood.

Make sure you read all the details. You wouldn't want to miss out on this one because of not crossing a "t" or dotting an "i."

Of course, some time travel at your own expense* is required. This contest IS from 1963. But on the upside, I don't see any date for when the contest entries had to be in. So don't let the fact that Dr. Kildare has been off the air for decades stop you from entering. And if you're a guy, well...times have changed. This might be the trip for you too! I'm sure we could take the skirt in with some seams and make a smart short pant suit for you.

Dream big my friends. DREAM BIG!












Click on any image to see it larger.

*This contest is brought to you by the June 1963 Modern Teen magazine. This website has no responsibility to help you with your time travel should you win this prize. If you do win this prize, or know of anyone who has, please contact the editor because MAN, I WANT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT IT! 

**My condolences to Mr. Chamberlain if he actually had to go through with this.

CATCHING A RIDE around town in Sacramento

Sacramento, the capitol of California, has many a tree lined shady street. It's actually a very nice town...until you deal with how it has spread out into ongoing traffic, freeways...the usua.

Click on either image to see them larger.

This card, mailed in 1922, shows the Hippodrome Theatre in the background which opened in 1918. Previously it had been called the Empress where vaudeville was the mainstay.

By late 1927 the theatre was showing her age,10-14 hrs per day of usage was hard on the old girl and there was new stuff coming out of Hollywood. The shows had gotten bigger and the stage needed reworking Also, there was no organ so all shows required an orchestra and attendance was down. In short, she was tired. There was the usual talk of closure and demolition but a new operator came on the scene - West Coast Theatres, a theatre chain based mainly in California.

In Spring 1928, West Coast Theatres came in and pumped new life into her to the tune of $150,000 (about the cost of the original Empress). They ripped out the side boxes to put in a grill for the pipes of the new $35,000 Wurlitzer (The name in theatre organs), repainted the three panel mural bracketing the proscenium with the Goddess of Spring and installed new flooring and rigging for the stage. They recovered every seat in the house in leather and remodeled the restrooms. It was still a vaudeville house with three shows a day (four on Sunday) and movies shown in between the vaudeville. The opening night performance was headlined by William Desmond, a nationally known star that usually played the Orpheum circuit and also included a film from Warner Brothers, "Tracked by the Police" starring no one less than that hottest of hot Hollywood properties - Rin Tin Tin!

The release of "The Jazz Singer", the opening of the Memorial Auditorium (1927), the Alhambra (1927) and the Fox Senator, changed the scene for entertainment so the Hip was changed from vaudeville to first run big pictures shortly after the major remodeling on September 2,1928. In 1932, the Skouras Brothers, Spyres, George and Charles took over the management of over 500 Fox-West Coast theaters. The Fox Film Company (Later 20th Century Fox) retained ownership but gave the three brothers management control. Included in this transaction were the Fox Senator (912 K Street), Fox Capitol (615 K Street), Alhambra Theatre and the Hippodrome.

THE END OF THE HIPPODROME - 1946    In the mid 1940's Fox West Cost Theatres led by Charles Skouras, had decided to do another remodeling of the Theatre. They had drawn up plans and were in the process of getting the necessary permits when the decision of when to close the Hippodrome was made for them. On September 14th, 1946 during the construction of a neighboring building, the sidewalk marquee crashed down killing at least one person. Fox West Coast closed the Hippodrome and began remodeling. (SOURCE: The Crest Theatre)

Today it is a movie theatre called the Crest Theatre and images and information about it can be found here.

CATCHING A RIDE around town in New York City

Now we're talkin'! Times Square! Lots of signage, vehicles, and people to see. I believe that may be the William Morris Agency on the left. I have a friend who worked at the Los Angeles office. Oh my the stories she can tell.




Click on either image to see it larger.

Though I cannot read all of the handwriting on the back, I gather the woman sending it was in NYC to buy some fancy duds to sell back in California. She sounds quite excited with her purchases. Wouldn't you like to know what she sold for $16.00?

To see another vintage Times Square card` click on "Times Square" in the labels below.

CATCHING A RIDE around Westwood Village

I'm almost convinced this is fake. Westwood Village with light traffic? Nah, never happened. For those who don't know anything about Westwood just say that it's a college town; UCLA to be exact. Don't think pretty little leafy college town. Think hustle and bustle and a parking nightmare not far from the 405, aka the San Diego Freeway, that for a very long time after it was initially built didn't actually go to San Diego. But there was a little falafel stand in Westwood I would like to be at right now.




Click either image to see it larger.

If you click to see the image larger you'll find some in-house handy work putting in company signage. You'll find Standard Supreme, a pretty fancy gas station, on the left. There is also signage for Sears and Bank of America. I just love the way old cards have odd little handiwork they figured nobody would ever notice as not being actually in the photo.

I'd really like to know where the outdoor skating rink was.

BRIDGES: Connecting San Francisco to Marin and the East Bay

My final bridge post is of the Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco to Marin County, and the Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco to the East Bay/Oakland.




Click on either image to see them larger.

The small flat island, which is manmade, is Treasure Island. Originally built as the site for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, it was then to be turned into the terminal for Pan Am. By 1941 TI, as it was known by anyone who worked there, had been turned into a Navy base. In fact, it was from this base that my dad eventually retired from the Navy in a building that still stood from the Exposition. Just across the Bay Bridge in San Francisco at the Ferry Tower is where he had originally joined the Navy. The Bay Area is home no matter how far I may travel from it. 

My dad has memories of going to the Exposition and somewhere I have some old Viewmaster slides of it. I’ll have to dig them out and scan them for a future post. You can read about the Exposition here, here, and here.