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Tag: 1952

  • July 30th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1916, Aileen Allen and Her Company of California Mermaids gave a diving and swimming exhibition from the Seal Beach pier, both during the afternoon and during the night. These night-time splish splash-capades were probably scheduled to highlight (Ha! A pun!) the “surf bathing at night” recreational activity made possible by the powerful lighting from the scintillators at the end of the pier. Aug_26_1917_Aileen_Allen_photoIn 1916, Seal Beach’s publicity mill did its best to grind out as many attractions for the new city as possible. Sunset dinners! Carnival and prize dancing! Scintillator surf bathing Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday nights! Weekend fireworks! All this to convince the public that there were “Just Two Places To Go — Seal Beach and Home.”

    Jul_29_1916_SB_AdAileen Allen with or without her mermaids was an impressive woman. A member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club and one of the first female athletes registered with the Amateur Athletic Union, she placed fourth in the women’s 3 meter springboard diving competition for the 1920s Olympics and once held the world record for woJuly_22_1917_Aileen_Allen_Photomen’s high-diving. 

    Born in 1888, Allen discovered swimming and diving after she married and remained devoted to water sports for the rest of her life. She coached at the Los Angeles Athletic Club after her personal competition days were over and guided many world class athletes to success. She even had a brief movie career as a double for Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties when they did water stunts. 

    But Aileen Allen’s connection to Seal Beach doesn’t end with the one-day only diving and swimming exhibition on July 30, 1916. She was back in town twice more for more water sport athletics in September 1918 and July 1919, but perhaps her most notable connection to Seal Beach came in 1947 when she saw a young diver, Pat Keller, at a Long Beach dive meet and invited her to join the Los Angeles Athletic Club’s team.

    Keller honed her diving skills at the club and won her first national meet in 1949 (and she also got married.) In 1952 and 1956, she won the Olympic gold medals for springboard and platform diving under her married name and the name she still uses today.

    She is, of course, Seal Beach’s own Pat McCormick, local businesswoman and Swimming Hall of Famer.

    So let’s all raise a special splashy toast to Aileen Allen in honor of her contributions to Seal Beach’s divey history!

    Aileen_Allen_photo

    –

    – -Michael Dobkins

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  • May 28th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1950, a teeny, tiny ad appeared in the Gift Shops section of Long Beach Independent for the Friendly Nook at 137 ½ Main Street offering 24 hour service on hemstitching.May_28_1950_Friendly_Nook_adI received an e-mail from Michelle (Ward) Williamson in 2017 with a little more information about the owner of the Friendly Nook:

    “My grandmother Grace Marie (Ward) Knighten was a longtime resident of Seal Beach until her death in 1986. Her first marriage was to Kenneth Lenton Ward. Her second marriage was to Sperry Knighton, who eventually became the Fire Chief for Seal Beach. She told me once that she had a store called “The Friendly Nook” it was probably open around 1940 to 1949.”

    Ms. Williamson also believes it’s possible the store may “have been a craft store centered around Native American beading, rugs and such.”

    I can confirm that the Friendly Nook was around from at least 1950 (when these ads ran to 1954 (when a news story about three juvenile burglars on a minor crime spree broke into Vogler’s Market at 1510 Pacific Coast Highway, Joe’s Market at 216 Main Street, and the Friendly Nook.)

    Here are two Main Street photographs that include the Friendly Nook from the same era as the one included in this May 15 post.

    – Michael Dobkins

    Have you enjoyed this and other This Date in Seal Beach History posts?

    If so, please consider making a small donation of a dollar or more to help defray the online subscriptions and other research costs that make this blog possible.

    Donations can be made securely with most major credit cards directly through PayPal. Just click on paypal.me/MichaelDobkins to go to PayPal. Thank you.

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  • Scofflaws Beware

    Seal Beach Images

    Seal Beach Police Department  1950-1954

    It’s been far too long since we’ve posted anything from local historian Stan Berry.  One of Stan’s specialties is researching and preserving Seal Beach Police Department heritage, including these four group shots of the department assembled outside the old police station on Central Avenue.

    1950-52 – Back row (left to right): Special Officer Fred Lochamy, Officer Gayler, Night Desk Sergeant Charles Irvine, Sergeant Paul Curtis
    Front Row (left to right): Chief Lee Howard, Captain James Marousek, Officer Ray Harbour, Matron Grace Irvine, Officer Harold Walker
     
    1950 – (left to right): Ray Harbour, Chief Lee Howard, H. Van Zandt, Fred Lochamy, Sergeant Paul Curtis
     
    1953 – Back row (left to right): Fred Lochamy, William Dowdy, Charles Irvine, Ray Harbour, Farris Van Zandt, George Marshall, Grace Irvine (clerk)
    Front Row (left to right): Chief Lee Howard, Captain Marousek, Sergeant Paul Curtis, John Demarest, Officers William Holeman and Harold Walker not in picture
     
    1954 – Back row (left to right): Chief Lee Howard, Captain James Marousek, Officer Ray Harbour, Harold Walker, William Holeman, Thomas Terry, George Marshall
    Front Row (left to right): Sergeant Paul Curtis, John Demarest, Grace Irvine (clerk & matron), William Dowdy, Fred Lochamy.   Farris Van Zandt (on vacation and not in picture).

     

     

    Stan writes, “As a result of my research it is believed that Captain James Marousek and Chief Lee Howard had been with the department longer than any of the others depicted in these four photographs.  Captain Marousek started with the department in 1928 or 1929 and retired in 1958.  Chief Howard started with the department in 1932 and retired in 1959.”

    As always, Stan, thank you for your hard work and generosity.

    – Michael Dobkins

    Have you enjoyed this and other This Date in Seal Beach History posts?

    If so, please consider making a small donation of a dollar or more to help defray the online subscriptions and other research costs that make this blog possible.

    Donations can be made securely with most major credit cards directly through PayPal. Just click on paypal.me/MichaelDobkins to go to PayPal. Thank you.