Patch Blog: Things That Went Away in Glendale

Jesse Brown April 24, 2012 at 01:37 pm

What was the name of the doughnut shop on the corner of Honolulu and Ramsdell ...where Jeremy's coffee shop is now?

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 24, 2012 at 06:30 pm

DEAR JESSE: DO NOT KNOW EVEN THOUGH MY SCHOOL BUS PASSED THAT CORNER MANY TIMES. I DO KNOW THAT AT RTAMSDELL AND FOOTHILL WAS WINN'S FROSTY FREEZE WHERE KIDS WOULD FIGHT AAFTER SCHOOL. I CAN STILL HEAR THE SOUND OF THAT BROCK BUS LINES MOTOR STRAINING TO GET UP RAMSDELL. TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF..THX FOR WRITING. BOB

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 24, 2012 at 06:57 pm

I I AM COMMENTING ON MY OWN BLOG....JUST TOO OLD FOR THIS ELECTRONIC WIZARDRY WHERE HACKERS CAN CHANGE..EVERY THING. MY COMPUTER IS ANCIENT AND JUST TOO OLD TO TRY TO SHOVEL GARBAGE AGAINS A HOSTILE TIDE. I STILL LOVE THE RADIO....I MEAN THE OLD CABINET STYLE RADIOS WITH A FAMILY OF GLOWING TUBES THAT SENT OUT A WARMTH AND A PERFUME OF THE DUST THAT RESTED THERE. I LOVE THE OLD BICYCLES WITH NO GEARS...JUST A DIRECT DRIVE FROM LEG POWER TO SPROCKET. MANY OF US KIDS DID DROP OUR BIKES NOW AND THEN AND THIS PRODUCED A CLANK CLANK CLANK AS THE BENT PEDAL KISSED THE FRAME AS IT WENT BY. GADS, THE WAY WE GAVE OUR FRIENDS A RIDE..SOME SITTING ON HANDLE BARS, OTHERS SITTING ON MEMEBER FROM STEERING COLUMN TO SEAT. AND OUR BREAKING SYSTEM...NEW DEPARTURE, BENDIX, MORROW..ETC. ALL NAME BRANDS BACK THEN. WE COULD MAKE AN ENGINE SOUND BY USING CLOTHES PINS TO FASTEN PLAYING CARDS TO THE FRONT FORKS AND LET THEM FLAP AGAINST THE SPOKES. EVEN BEING A BOY, I WISHED FOR A GIRLS BIKE SEVERAL TIMES WHEN MY FOOT SLIPPED OFF PEDAL AND I CAME DOWN ON....THAT BOYS BAR TO THE STEERING COLUMN. IT REALLY HURT. I CALL UPON THE RETICENT ONES, THE ONES HIDING IN THE DARKNESS OF THEIR OWN MEMORIES TO SHARE YOURSELF. WHO KNOWS, WE ALL MAY BE ALOT ALIKE. I REALLY MISS MOM AND DAD. I MISS THEM SO......TALK TO ME AND KNOW YOU ARE LOVED.......BYE BOB

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 24, 2012 at 07:42 pm

OK....AS I WAS SAYING...BACK IN THE 50'S, WE KIDS USED TO LISTEN TO HUNTER HANCOCK BY DAY AND HUGGY BOY BY NIGHT. THESE GUYS BROUGHT ROCK AND ROLL TO LA VIA RADIO. NOW, AS I WAS SAYING, HUNTER HAD A DEAL WITH A CERTAIN GASOLENE COMPANY CALLED :LUCKY MILEAGE" AND THE DEAL WAS IF YOU PULLED INTO THE NEAREST HANCOCK GAS STATION WITH A CERTAIN MILEAGE ON YOU SPEEDOMETER, YOU GOT A TICKET FOR 15 GALLONS OF GAS FOR FREE. SO, I PARKED MY 40 CHEVY AROUND THE CORNER FROM A HANCOCK STATION AND REMOVED MY SPEEDOMETER WORKS AND DIALED IN THE NUMBER WHICH HE SAID OVER THE RADIO IN MY 40 CHEV. I CLAIMED MY PRISE, AND THE STATION ATTENDANT LOOKED AT MY SPEEDO WHICH I HAD HASTILY PUT BACK IN AND HE SAID SOMETHING MOST SHOCKING.."OK F---K BALL, YOU HAVE WON LUCKY MILEAGE. NOT LONG AFTER, I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM HANCOCK GASOLENE..THANKING ME FOR PLAYING "LUCKY MILEAGE" AND ALSO A VOUCHER FOR 15 GALLONS OF GAS. MY SPEEDO NEVER WORKED AFTER THAT. HUNTER ABD HUGGY BOY WERE MAJOR PLAYERS IN BRINGING ROCK AND ROLL AND RHYTHM AND BLUES TO LA RADIO. I WILL NEVER FORGET THOSE WONDERFUL DAYS.....HEY, YOU..HANG TUFF...LOVE YA..THE B.

Sharon Weisman April 24, 2012 at 08:28 pm

Robert,
You can pose your question to the membership of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley via our Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hscv/

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 24, 2012 at 09:05 pm

DEAR SHARON: GOOD TO KNOW....WHILE I "HAVE" YOU HERE, LET ME SHARE A MEMORY ON CATS. I HAVE FOUND THAT PEOPLE EITHER LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM. I AM A CAT LOVER, JUST LIKE MY MOTHER. WE LIVED AT 3509 ROSEMARY FROM 1951 TO 1960. MY MOTHER WAS RECOVERING FROM A NERVOUS BEAKDOWN AND LIKED TO JUST VEG OUT WHILE SITTING ON OUR FRONT PORCH. ANYWAY, THERE WAS A CAT WHOSE "HOME" WAS RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. I THINK HE SENSED MY MOM LOVED CATS, AND HE WOULD MEANDER OVER TO GIVE HER A VISIT. WHEN HE WAS THROUGH, HE JUST MEANADERED BACK HOME. HIS NAME WAS "POOZY". MY DAD HAD A WAY OF BEING VERY TERSE, AND HE, ALSO, STUDIED POOZY AND HIS WAYS. HE NOTICED POOZY RELIEVING HIMSELF BEHIND A CERTAIN BUSH, AND MY DAD DESCRIBED IT THUSLY: "CAT CREPT, CRAPPED, CREPT." AND. THAT IS THE MOST SAID IN THE FEWEST WORDS THAT THE WORLD HAS KNOWN. IF YOU RESEARCH MY SENDINGS, AND IF YOU FIND ANY VALUE IN ENCOURAGING A NOSTALGIA CORNER FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME....GO AHEAD. THANK YOU FOR NOTIFYING ME....THE BOB....

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 24, 2012 at 09:35 pm

MY FATHER WAS A SMALL PART INDIAN...AT TIMES, HE LIKED TO PEE OFF OF OUR FRONT PORCH (between the pickets) ANY WAY, ONE NIGHT I SAW HIM HEADED FOR FRONT DOOR, AND KNOWING WHAT WAS TO FOLLOW, I HEADED FOR BACK DOOR....AS HE WAS DOING IT, I SUDDENLY APPEARED AND SIMULATED OUR NEIGHBOR LADY'S VOICE AND SAID...."WELL, CARL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING"/ I NEVER SAW A MAN MOVE SO FAST AND I NEVER SAW A FATHER SO ANGRY AT HIS LITTLE BOY....A FAVORITE MEMORY..THE B

TropicoStation April 25, 2012 at 05:37 pm

Robert, you should start a twitter account to publish your thoughts. I'd follow you. It's pretty simple to set up - http://twitter.com/

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 25, 2012 at 07:04 pm

THANK YOU DEAR PERSON: TWITTER? GADS...HEY, YOU KNOIW THAT GLENDALE STARTED OUT AS TROPICO....BACK IN EARLY FORTIES, GLENDALE WAS A STAUNCH CONSERVITIVE, WHITE TOWN THAT DID NOT ALLOW DANCING! IT WAS A WELL KNOWN FACT THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR HAD BETTER BE OUT OF THERE BY SUNDOWN....IN THAT RESPECT, GLENDALE HAS IMPROVED. THE REAL GLENDALE HAS BEEN RUINED BY CORPRATE INTRUSION AND SKY SCRAPERS...BUT, I DO REMEMBER THE GOOD OLD DAYS...TWITTER ? HUMM...SOUNDS LIKE WHAT I DO ALOT OF, HEY, I SPEND MY DAYS LOOKING FOR THINGS I LOST THE PREVIOUS DAY. I MAKE YOU A PROMISE: FIND ME ONE PERSON WHO REMEMBERS PRICE'S FIVE AND TEN AT THE CORNER OF HIGHLAND AND GLENOAKS, AND I WILL TELL YOU STORIES....WELL..STORIES THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN TELL YOU. I WENT TO KEPPEL WITH REX MAYS JR. HIS FATHER WAS A RACE CAR DRIVER AND CAME IN SECOND AT INDY.....DID YOU KNOW THAT? THE B

Erik April 25, 2012 at 08:59 pm

I didn't know about Rex Mays getting pole at Indy. Did you know that Rex May died at the Del Mar fairgrounds the next year?

Nicole Charky (Editor) April 26, 2012 at 03:32 am

I have to second Tropico's idea. Robert, let me know if you need help setting up the account!

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 26, 2012 at 11:50 am

HI ERIK: I REMEMBER THE MORNING AFTER THE ACCIDENT..IT WAS VERY GREY WITH A HEAVY MARINE LAYER. THE PLAYGROUND WAS BUZZING ABOUT THE SHOCKING NEWS. REX JR WAS IN MY CLASS FOR FIVE YEARS AND HE WORE A JACKET THAT HAD BOWES SEAL FAST ON THE BACK. I VISITED REX'S HOME MANY TIMES AND I RECALL HIS FATHER WORKING ON CAR. I CAN'T BELIEVE HE NEVER USED A SEAT BELT. THANK YOU FOR WRITING. BOB

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 26, 2012 at 03:15 pm

ONE THING NICE ABOUT GETTING OLD AND SENILE IS THAT YOU CAN ENJOY LETTERS YOU WROTE TO YOURSELF. THERE IS A GRAND DELUSION THAT EVERY THING THAT INTERESTS ME, ALSO INTERESTS OTHERS.I LIKE LITTLE THINGS, THE NON DESCRIPT THINGS THAT BEG A SO WHAT. BUT THESE LITTLE THINGS ARE THE ATOMS THAT MAKE UP THE MOLECULES OF LIFE. NAMES OF PEOPLE AND PLACES...EVENTS LONG AGO. REAL THINGS LIKE TICK TOCK CLOCKS WITH HANDS THAT MOVE ACROSS THE FACE. NOT DIGITAL READOUTS...LIKE ROCKS BESIDE THE ROAD...WE JUST ARE, WE JUST AM. SO, EVEN THOUGH THIS IS OF NO INTEREST TO ANYONE BUT ME, I WISH TO REMEMBER A FEW DEAR ONES IN MY LIFE. HARRIET FARNHAM, MY PEDIATRICIAN WHO PASSED AWAY IN 1950. MISS MILES MY TYPING TEACHER AT CLARK JR HIGH. I JUST LOVED HER. PAPPY WELLS, THE METAL SHOP TEACHER AT CLARK....OLD, GREY HEADED, DEAF, BUT DEAR. JJ HAMILTON WHO WAS MY SUPERVISOR WHEN I THREW THE GLENDALE NEWS PRESS. BLESS HIS HEART....HE WOULD DROP MY BUNDLE AND WHEN HE WANTED TO TALK TO ME, HE HONKED 4 TIMES. SOMETIMES I WOULD JUST WATCH THROUGH WINDOW UNTIL HE GAVE UP AND DROVE OFF. SPEAKING OF THE NEWS PRESS, THE EARLY 50'S WAS A TIME OF COLD WAR FEARS, BUT AT LEAST PEOPLE WERE NOT KILLING EACH OTHER NOR ROBBING INNOCENT VICTIMS AT AN ALARMING RATE, IN FACT, TO SHOW YOU HOW CALM GLENDALE WAS, ONE HEADLINE OF NEWS PRESS WAS "WEATHERMAN SEES CLOUDS" ..GOD BLESS...BOB

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 26, 2012 at 05:32 pm

for those like me.....MY MIND LETS GO A THOUSAND THINGS, LIKE DATES OF WARS AND DEATHS OF KINGS..AND YET....RECALLS THE VERY HOUR..TWAS NOON BY YONDER VILLAGE TOWER....AND ON THAT LAST BLUE NOON IN MAY...THE WIND CAME BRISKLY UP THIS WAY....CRISPING THE BOOK BESIDE THE ROAD....IT PAUSED A MOMENT TO SET DOWN ITS LOAD....A LOAD OF PINE SCENTS AND SHOOK LISTLESSLY........TWO PETALS FROM THAT WILD ROSE TREE........

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 26, 2012 at 05:48 pm

DEAR BOB....I ENJOY READING YOUR STUFF..YOU SEEM TO BE ALLOT LIKE ME. I DON'T THINK THE READERS LIKE TOO MUCH DEEP STUFF...THEY MUCH PREFER NEWS OF THE DAY LIKE MOUNTAIN LIONS BEING SEEN IN TUJUNGA OR FEDERAL LAWS IMPINGING ON DRUG PURCHASES. I THINK THAT THIS SITE HAS BEEN GENEROUS WITH YOU FOR A TIME, BUT WILL SOON GROW WEARY OF SUBJECTS THEY DON'T COMPREHEND. I SAW THE REPLY THAT WANTED TO KNOW THE NAME OF A DOUGH NUT SHOP..THATS ALL HE WANTED AND HAD NOTHING FURTHER TO SAY....MAYBE IT WAS THE HOLE IN THE DOUGHNUT THAT GOT HIM.....GREAT POETRY ABOVE, BUT LET ME SUPPLY A SHORT POEM MORE COMPREHENSIBLE TO THE READERS..IT IS ENTITLED "FLEAS" AND IT GOES LIKE THIS: "ADAM HADDUM" SINCERELY, BOB FISHBACK

TropicoStation April 26, 2012 at 09:14 pm

Get that twitter account set up, Bob!

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 27, 2012 at 10:54 am

I HAVE MIS-USED THIS SITE AND AM GOING TO TAKE MY TROUBLES TO TWITTER. BUT, AS A SWAN SONG LET ME TELL YOU THAT MANY OF US ARE LUCKY TO HAVE SURVIVED OUR YOUTH. CLYDE VROOMAN HAD AN OLD MERCURY CONVERTIBLE, AND WE WENT UP ANGELES CREST IN IT ONE FINE DAY. THE BRAKING SYSTEM STARTED LOSING FLUID AND THEPEDDLE WENT TO THE FLOOR...NOT GOOD ON CREST. WE PILLED OVER AND THOUGHT AWHILE. IT OCCURED TO US ALL WE HAD TO......PEE. THE CAP ON MASTER CYLINDER WAS REMOVED AND I WILL LEAVE THE REST TO YOU. IT DID WORK, BUT IT COULD BE SAID WE HAD PISS POOR BRAKES. GOD IS GOOD. SEE YA (MAYBE) ON TWITTER. B

TropicoStation April 27, 2012 at 03:05 pm

Be sure to let us know what name you choose on Twitter so we can find you!

ROBERT E. FISHBACK April 27, 2012 at 10:35 pm

i appreciate that, Tropico....I am curious as to what Tropico Station is or is all about. pls write something personal..my e-mail is fishbackrobert@gmail. com. thnks buddy

ROBERT E. FISHBACK May 2, 2012 at 08:07 pm

PLS....EDITOR....SEND MY NEW AGER BLOG TO..SOMEBODY....CQ CQ CQ TWENTY METERS...THIS IS W5ARM ON PLAINVIEW TEXAS.......ROGER W5ARM, THIS IS W6JRK IN HIGHWAY HIGHLANDS CALIFORNIA...RUNNING A COLLINS KW WITH TELEREX BEAM...DO YOU READ ME?......10/4 IF I LOSE YOU, SEND ME A Q-SO CARD....OVER......10/4.....GOOD BOUNCE TONIGHT....I HAVE A SPECIAL THING I MUST TELL YOU....WE KNEW EACH OTHER AT CLARK....SO STRANGE....ANOTHER SIGNAL...KITTY WELLS, LITTLE JIMMY DICKENS, AND THE KING OF SAD..HANK WILLIAMS...THINGS FADING NOW....MAYBE A LITTLE LATER.....GOOD NIGHT.......

ROBERT E. FISHBACK November 25, 2012 at 06:31 pm

Things that went away I said...Forgot the most important one...my youth. Youth is wasted on the young is false; Youth is a blessing upon the young in order to give them memories of what it was like to live in the 40's and wonder at everything that was un-explained to them yet. We wrote our own scripts as to what and why. There was a symphony of divine co-ordination and oh so small. Like the storm moving away and left in its wake the dripping on the downspout, that last final breath of wind that awakened the Deodar tree next door...its limbs waved at me. Deep in the night when all were asleep except for the neighborhood tomcat who crept down a dark alley. The little green glass man who stood in his window at the apartment comples up the street...Mr Wizard Wick...The Night Blooming Jasmine was awake and in its glory, the Morning Glories were asleep. The Sun rose like the great conductor it was..waving his baton. The lowly snail ambled out from under his rock. The night blooming jasmine closed its eyes and went to sleep. The children arose and ate breakfast...and on to school. The Sun reached its zenith and sank. The Verdugos echoed its warm departure. Night time....and the stage was set for another day..same song, second verse

Jesse Brown November 25, 2012 at 06:53 pm

Robert,
I "grew up" in Highland park but made trips to Sears with my dad and ate at Billies and Damons, visited my Uncle Jim (Brownies Cleaners) on Adams and Glendale avenue... I think. Went to Vietnam, returned to live in Glendale for a time. Moved to La Crescenta in '72 and have been here since. I remember when Montrose Travel was a two person office, I remember the Three Oaks, Kona Kai, Huck Fin's, Scotch Mist, Hi Hat and the Copper Penny in Tujunga. I also ate at the Verdugan which is now a sports bar, frequented Jack's Intermezzo. I was moonlighting as a musician and hit all the bars and worked the La Canada Country club for about twelve years with my partner Dale Barbella. I worked as a Typewriter guy turned computer nerd for a store in Glendale for ten years. Do I know you?

ROBERT E. FISHBACK November 26, 2012 at 07:02 pm

The street light: Personifying them abit, they really were a patient and faithful crew. They just stood there, green post, nice base...crowned with glass...and through all our childhoods, they just stood there. Each one doing its duty until it handed off its duty to the next up the road. They marked out the streets and served as a good gathering place for the boys on their bicycles. ....their bikes in a circle..each kid wondering what we wanted to talk about. Girls...who liked who....teachers...girls...teachers..silence until the subject of UFO's came up. The early 50's were pregnant with UFO stories. Looking back, there was no moderator..kids just spoke as they were led, and everyone listened...they were sharing their souls.....One told of how he was in love with a Judy Walker and how he had art class with her. After the class let out, he stayed behind and went to the cupboard where all the art boxes were kept. All of them were shoe boxes. He told of how excited he became when he saw her initials...J.W, plus B.F. on her Karl's Shoes box..... Those were this kid's initials. He then told how he looked closer and found it was B.E. not B. F. Those times of sharing with our kindred friends was precious..better than any adult counsellor. We came to know through each other that we were not alone in an adult world...When we all were satisfied,,we by mutual consent, went to our own homes...but the secrets we had shared remained for a thousand years.

ROBERT E. FISHBACK February 10, 2013 at 07:38 pm

The most important things that went away from Glendale are the people. They came on line when Time said "NEXT"....The tide came in and with it the flotilla of the times. Each ship bore its own determinations and traits. From the great Sea of not yet, these little ships planted their roots in a home with Mommy and Daddy as they were once called. The little voices that said 'please leave the hall light on" when going to bed...absorbed all that was then. It was a peaceful Sea that brought them in, and a content shore upon which the landed. Their home had been prepared by the ones who also landed, grew, learned, and built a nice town..for themselves and were pleased to leave it alone for the new wave coming. The rows of nice little homes and gardens..the shopping center or Brand Blvd with the friendly Police Officer strolling up and down and found a little boy in tears because he could not find his Mother. He found her and I was very glad. So slow and content back then. The merchants smiled, the patrons smiled..so slowly they moved to a relaxed tempo. Happy times in Glendale..the Christrmas Parade, the Days of the Verdugos celebration. Church picnics..school field trips..no one hurt anyone. A change in the wind brought ships of a different breed..a breed to make things better, a bent to tear down and build bigger and higher...The flag of community became the dollar bill. The Sun set on Glendale.but thankfully, I was there back then to remember..just remember...

ROBERT E. FISHBACK March 24, 2013 at 04:46 pm

JESSIE BROWN: My writing is scattered all over the place. Just saw your post from last November and cannot find any reply I sent. Your name does not ring a bell; most every other thing you wrote, rings many bells. I have mentioned a few times a somewhat curuous Hotel on Foothill in Tujunga named the Alana Hotel. It looked like a dive....all wood and boxy looking. No one seems to remember it. You have an interesting bio....playing bars and the like. What kind of music did you play and what intruments did you play ? I remember going into the Scotch Mist with its little torch burning ....in 1960. I heard Dave Brubeck's "Take Five " for the first time in there....My best buddy and I had heard alot about 5th and Stanford in L.A. A seedy part of town...all black, and there was bar after bar where some of the most classic blues could be heard coming out the front door. That corner was famous for getting some...and we wanted to know. It was true, I had not intention of going all the way, but played the game with one street corner lady, "How long?" "Until you are satisifed" It was dark, creepy, and the air filled with cheap perfume and stale booze drifting out of the bars. We did not stay long. In the Summer of 1954, I washed dishes at the Yellow Jacket where V erdugo and Canada separate..down by Glendale College....Hope to hear from you again..you are interesting. Bob