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Tag: 1971

  • September 30th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1971, the following ad ran in the Long Beach Independent for the Ranch House Restaurant.

    The ad offered fine dining and entertainment by Bill Clark, a pianist and organist who sang and played pop hits and Broadway showtunes at various local Long Beach restaurants like The Embers, Alexander’s, Lucy’s, and Hoefly’s.

    The Ranch House Restaurant was once known as the Dovalis 101 Ranch House Cafe, and you can see and learn more about its long history by clicking on this July 20, 1940 post, this December 16, 1941 post on the Dovalis Ranch House Cafe doing its bit for the war effort in the weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack, this May 24, 1963 post about the restaurant’s brief time as The Eddie Bush Mauna Kea, this August 3, 1967 post covering the 101 Ranch House’s Greek period under the Smyrniotis family, and finally this May 6, 1975 post reminding good sons and daughters to make early reservations for Mother’s Day.
    – Michael Dobkins

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  • April 16th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1971, the Long Independent ran the following ad for a popular new Seal Beach restaurant that had been open a scant six months at 201 Main Street.

    Nearly fifty years later, Walt’s Wharf, now a Main Street institution in Seal Beach, still serves fresh fish to happy fans of fine seafood dining. (You can still call the same phone number above for reservations.)

    – Michael Dobkins

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    This Date in Seal Beach History also has an online store hosted at Cafepress where you can order shirts, tote bags, stationery, and other gift items imprinted with vintage Seal Beach images. Visit the online store by clicking here.

  • April 9th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1971, John Shelby Burrows, fifty-eight, of 1201 Marlin Avenue, was sentenced to 5-to-15 years in prison after pleading guilty for the murder of Claude LaBean, thirty-nine, of 459 Galleon Way.

    The murder occurred on October 22, 1970 at the Red Candle in the Seal Beach Shopping Center on Pacific Coast Highway. Burrows had been escorted out of the restaurant’s bar by LaBean and another man after a barroom brawl. Burrows returned twenty minutes later after retrieving a .38 pistol from home and shot LaBean three times in the chest as LaBean was leaving through the rear exit. Burrows re-entered the Red Candle where bar patron disarmed him. Burrows then fled the scene and was arrested a short time later a block from his home by Seal Beach Police.

    Karen Russell commented on the original version of this post in 2015:

    “…I lived across the street from Mr. Burrows and still live at the same address. He had a political argument in the bar with someone and went home and got a gun, went back and found the bartender in the parking lot that broke up the fight between him and the individual who he had the argument with. He shot the bartender in the parking lot.”

    The murder wasn’t the only source of notoriety for the Red Candle Bar. A month before the murder, a two-week investigation into a prostitution operation at the Red Candle Bar resulted in the arrest of three women and a man.

    Perhaps this notoriety motivated Joseph M. Beard, the new owner of the Red Candle Inn, to rename it The Red Velvet Inn in February 1971. The only crime on record for the Red Velvet Inn was how tempting chef Ernesto Brock’s new menu was — offering New York steak superba, abalone stuffed with crab, and pan-fried abalone with a choice of soup or salad, hot garlic toast, baked potato or potatos au gratin.

    One oddity to this story is that Mr. Beard had represented the previous owner, Peter Trama, in a dispute with the city over a variance to serve liquor that lasted throughout 1970 and into early 1971. It appears that the change of ownership (and chef) resolved the liquor issue, but the Red Velvet Inn didn’t last far into 1971. By late October, the address was occupied by Pat’s Electric and Lighting.

    John Shelby Burrows was out of jail and living in Huntington Beach by 1977. He died on March 6, 1990 at the age of seventy-six.

    – Michael Dobkins

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    This Date in Seal Beach History also has an online store hosted at Cafepress where you can order shirts, tote bags, stationery, and other gift items imprinted with vintage Seal Beach images. Visit the online store by clicking here.

  • March 17th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1971, lucky diners in Seal Beach could treat themselves to the St. Patrick’s Day special of a halibut sandwich and beer all day at Walt’s Wharf according to this ad that ran in the Long Beach Independent.

    The next St. Patrick’s Day in Seal Beach would be less ideal for quiet and relaxing dining, but that’s a story for later.


    – 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.

    This Date in Seal Beach History also has an online store hosted at Cafepress where you can order shirts, tote bags, stationery, and other gift items imprinted with vintage Seal Beach images. Visit the online store by clicking here.