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Tag: 1954

  • June 16th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1954, five civilian employees of the Seal Beach Naval Ammunition and Net Depot escaped serious injury or worse when a five-inch shell exploded in a defusing shop on the installation.

    Four of the men were defusing ordnance using a system of mirrors to watch the work from behind a concrete blast wall. J. L. Turner and L. McKellom were working a levered remote defusing machine at one end of the shop when the shell E. E. Haury and W. F. Nevis were working on with a similar machine at the other end exploded.

    The blast shattered the viewing mirrors and all the windows, and damaged the defusing machine. One corrugated asbestos walls was almost completely ripped while the other three had sections of siding torn from the steel framework of the 75 by 40 foot building.

    But the workers and T. C. Martin, lead ordnance man in charge of the shop were okay. Commander Richard Jewell, base commander attributed this to safety regulations and training set into place by his predecessor, Admiral J. R. McKinney shortly before he retired. He also gave credit to equipment and buildings specially designed for the dangerous work done on the base.

    Nevis and Haury, both former Navy gunnery chiefs, echoed Jewell’s sentiments while examining the two chunks of shrapnel that were all that was left of the exploded shell.

    “Good thing we were following safety regulations,” said Haury.

    “Thank god for that concrete bulkhead. All I got out of it was a plugged up ear,” Nevis observed.

    The damage was estimated at $10,000.

    – 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

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  • May 23rd in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1954, a story ran in the Los Angeles Times announcing that a second school would soon be built in Seal Beach.

    Seal Beach Superintendent of Schools Jerry H. McGaugh had been planning the new school since 1948 to accommodate rising student enrollment. It took some strong arm tactics and behind the scenes wheeling and dealing, but ultimately land bordering between Bolsa Avenue and Bay Boulevard (later renamed Seal Beach Boulevard) was purchased in 1952 for an new intermediate school.

    This was the second time McGaugh had spearheaded the building of a Seal Beach school. When the original 1913 Seal Beach elementary school at Twelfth Street and Pacific Coast Highway was severely damaged in the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake, he guided the construction of a new school on the same grounds to completion in 1935.

    The new school must have been a dream project for McGaugh. Beyond adding twelve new classrooms for grades six to eight, the layout and facilities seemed more appropriate for a high school with a spacious gymnasium, auditorium, music room, cafeteria shop building, and spacious playground.

    When McGaugh retired in June 1955 a few months before the new school opened, the school board surprised him by naming it “J. H. McGaugh Intermediate School,” a fitting honor for a gentleman who guided Seal Beach’s education for nearly three decades and whose influence continues to be felt today in the form of the first-class school he gave the community.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • May 16th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1874, the Southern Californian reported that nine steamers had landed at Anaheim Landing so far in May.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • May 15th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1954, two “kangaroo men” — as they were named in a headline in the next day’s Long Beach Independent — escaped from Seal Beach Police. John Johnson, the owner of the drugstore at 141 Main Street, was leaving work for the night when he heard noises from the roof above his store.

    Johnson called the police department, and the dispatched officers scaled the building and confronted two suspects. The two men surprised the officers by leaping twenty feet to the ground and making a clean getaway in a car parked nearby. 

    Unfortunately, there were no wandering minstrels nearby to witness this and turn it into a famous folk song.

    The Seal Drug Co. was located at 141 Main Street on the west side of the street where Bob’s Rexall did business for years and where Stitch and Feather has operated a “women’s boho boutique; a Dame’s Market” since 2013.

    This photo can be dated within a seven year period from 1946 to 1953. Along the edge of the left side behind a street lamp, there is a glimpse of the Cole’s Market sign. Cole’s Market opened their Seal Beach location in August 1946 and included the address in advertisement until August 1953. By November 1953, a “Food King Mkt.” occupied 148 Main Street. (The market’s name expanded to John’s Food King later.)

    This photo is filled with long-gone Seal Beach businesses that are little bit easier to see if you click on the image for a larger view.  Also, note the Pacific Electric red car tracks paved over down the center of Main Street.

    Next to Seal Drug Co. was the Seal Beach News, an anti-gambling rival newspaper to the Seal Beach Post and Wave.  The short-lived Seal Beach News started circulating in 1946, but didn’t last long. It was gone before 1954 when a Baptist church took over that address.

    On the other side of the Seal Drug Co. was a jewelry store (probably the actual target of the “kangaroo men” and The Friendly Nook, a yarn and wool store, at 137 1/2 Main.

    Further down the street towards the pier is Frosty’s Shop, specializing in “Ladies and Gents Wear” and helping you “Look Your Best” and “Look Well-Dressed” with “Careful Cleaning,” according to the ad copy on a Frosty’s Shop matchbook. Frosty’s was owned by John C. “Frosty” Felts, an active member of the Seal Beach community and one-time president of the Seal Beach Lions Club. His name is spread across newspaper stories about Seal Beach community events from the thirties to the fifties.

    If you ever rode on the merry-go-round that was installed on the east side of the pier, you’re familiar with his work. He spearheaded the 1947 fundraising and installation of the “flying wheel” as the chairman of public welfare committee of the Seal Beach Lions Club. “Frosty” Felts lived at 502 Central Avenue and passed away in 1956.

    And, if you look carefully just past the Frosty’s sign, you can see the sign for the Circle Cafe. There are other stores and signs that unfortunately didn’t photograph sharply enough to read. One final curiosity is an advertisement for the Hollywood Record Club on the side of one of the Main Street buildings. This wasn’t a Seal Beach business, but a mail order record outfit similar to the Columbia House Record of the Month Club.

    Even though this photo was taken before the rooftop chase described in today’s post, the Main Street it shows would have still looked much the same when those elusive “kangaroo men” made their dramatic twenty foot leap into Seal Beach history back in 1954.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • February 10th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1954, the Long Beach Independent reported that three young ladies drew straws hoping for some omen of which one of them would be crowned Queen of the Seal Beach Youth Center Sweetheart Hop. The three finalists (left to right) were Sandra Anderson, 15; Patricia Bayer, 17, and Donna Wagner, 15.

    Feb_10_1954_Sweetheart_Hop_FinaiistsSure, it may be an honor just to be a finalist, but history records that Donna Wagner was the one crowned Valentine Queen of the Sweetheart Hop on Saturday, February 13, 1954.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • February 7th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1954, the Lakewood Park Corporation, a developer of a major share of the Lakewood residential area, announced the purchase of one hundred eighty-three acres of the Hellman Ranch. The land was north of Pacific Coast Highway and bordered by Bolsa Avenue, Bay Boulevard (now Seal Beach Boulevard, and Landing Hill. The purchase price was $4,000 an acre for a total of $732,00.

    Here’s an aerial view from fifteen years earlier that includes the acreage purchased.

    The highlighted area is the approximate location of the land purchased.This purchase did not include the future site of J. H. McGaugh Intermediate School. That lot was purchased in 1952, and construction of the new school began in 1954 and completed in time to open for the fall 1955 school year.

    Here’s another Seal Beach aerial photo from nine years after the purchase.

    The tract has been divided into lots, homes have been built and sold, and families have moved in. J. H. McGaugh Intermediate School had been open for eight years, and there’s a large vacant lot that will become the Seal Beach Shopping Center in 1966.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • February 2nd In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1954, two Marines, Leroy Grant and Sgt. Jack Yasser, entered the Motorome motel office at Twelfth Street and Pacific Coast Highway and demanded money from owner Luke W. Purdue at gunpoint. When they forced him into a second room where the money was kept, Purdue’s wife, Bertha ran from the room.

    Motorome MotelOne of the gunmen started after her, but Purdue blocked their way. “You’ve gone far enough,” he said.

    The two would-be robbers turned and fled. Purdue grabbed his .38 revolver and shot four times. Yasser fell and dropped his .45 automatic before getting to his feet to escape with his partner.

    Hours later, Grant and Yasser were arrested at the Santa Ana Lighter-Than-Air Base after Yasser visited the base dispensary for treatment of bullet wounds to his right elbow and hip.

    – Michael Dobkins

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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

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