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Tag: Main Street

  • October 8th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1961, International Gifts ran an ad in the Long Beach Independent Press Telegram announcing their new location next to Brock’s Drugstore. That week’s specials were Swedish candlesticks, basketware, imported glassware sets, hats, bags, and international Christmas cards!

    International Gifts was part of the Seal Beach Main Street for most of the sixties. Its first location was at 322 Main Street, and then it moved briefly next to Brock’s Drugstore before finally operating its third and final Seal Beach location at 142 Main Street. There was a shop in Naples that went by the same name, but I haven’t been able to confirm whether or not it was connected to the Seal Beach store.

    The wiser followers of this blog have already ignored these words and examined the ad to discover something fishy about the address 709 Electric Avenue. This address, if it actually existed, would be in a residential area.  The real 1961 address for International Gifts was 907 Electric Avenue, later home to Cape Cod Coiffures and Studio 907. Time travelers, please update (or backdate) your address books accordingly.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • October 1st in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1961, the following ad for the Ivory Tower Bookstore ran in the Long Beach Independent. The Ivory Tower has appeared here in posts for May 5th and June 11  because the crackerjack editorial team here at “This Date in Seal Beach History” are fascinated by bookstores.


    The Ivory Tower was opened at 113 Main Street in September 1961 by Jim Scully and Norma Brisson, but Jim Scully was the personality and face of the business.

    Scully grew up in Butte, Montana where he excelled at gymnastics in school. In 1946, while he was studying Japanese in the Army, he took a spill in the gym and broke his neck and became a paraplegic.

    In spite of having only limited use of his hands and arms, he continued to study and write, graduated from UCLA in 1952, and took classes towards his masters at Long Beach State while running The Ivory Tower. He even found time to write a column for California Paralyzed Veteran News Bulletin, called “The Ivory Tower.”

    Late in the sixties, Scully married another paraplegic and even adopted a little girl.

    In a March 3, 1962 profile of Scully and the bookstore in the Long Beach Independent, he noted that Seal Beach had “grown from a sleepy little village into an artistic town. It could become the Carmel of Southern California.” Scully felt that the west side of Main Street (the side where the Ivory Tower operated) was more arty with a coffeehouse (probably the Rouge et Noir) and artistic shops while the east side had more traditional businesses. Scully saw his bookstore as “at the center of a blossoming cultural revolution.”

    The bookstore as described in March 1962, was not only filled with books, but modern art — some of it risque — adorned the walls and offered coffee, conversation and foreign magazines filled with propaganda. Scully also mentioned their bestselling book in 1962 was Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer at 50 copies sold in three days. “I wish we could get more.” 

    (At the time, many felt Tropic of Cancer was smutty and was the subject of many obscenity court cases until the Supreme Court declared it non-obscene in 1964. This explains why Scully had trouble getting more books and why it was such popular reading in 1962)

    It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the Ivory Tower closed its doors for good, but I have faint memories of the store still operating around 1971 or 1972. It did not last much longer than that. It definitely was part of its era, along with the Arts Center, the Rouge et Noir, the Bay Theatre running foreign art films and the plays at the Peppermint Playhouse. (Although both of those businesses were on the east side of Main Street in 1961.)

    – 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.

     

  • September 29th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1977, the following ad ran in the Long Beach Independent.

    Before Ruby’s Diner and long after the scintillators were removed, Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant served food at the end of the Seal Beach Pier, including an enticing Friday choice between a fish dinner or a spaghetti dinner for only $ 2.95 complete.
    More than forty years later, nothing is being served at the end of the Seal Beach pier.  A fire gutted the end of the pier on May 20, 2016, leaving nothing but a depressing view of the charred remains of a once prime dining spot in Seal Beach. Three years later the fire damage had finally been repaired, and the end of the pier officially re-opened on May 24th, 2019. When and if another restaurant will be built there remains an unanswered question.

    – 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.

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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.

     

  • September 25th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1960, the following photograph was published in the Long Beach Independent’s fashion section.

    There were a number of photos showing off current fashions available at local shops, but this ensemble was available at Seal Beach’s very own Village Bazaar, located at 137 1/2 Main Street.

    As the Long Beach Independent caption copy writer so enticingly put it:

    PICCOLO STRIPES set of gay capris by Pants Internationale. One hundred per cent wool and fully lined. Sizes 8-16 are perfect with knit wool tops, and come in assorted colors. Serape wrap completing outfit is hand-loomed Mexican Imports discovery. 


    Is it wrong to want capris and serape wraps to come back into style? 

    – 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.

     

  • September 10th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1966, the Peppermint Playhouse held its last performance of Julius Caesar.

    sept_10_1966_peppermint_playhouse_julius_caesar_ad

    Today most people remember it as a child care center located at 225 Main Street, but the Peppermint Playhouse provided Seal Beach with local theatrics and dance instruction for years at various locations, including 124 Main Street where Endless Summer now operates, and the current management frowns upon the assassination of Roman emperors.

    – 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.

     

  • August 16th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1963, Village Bazaar ran this ad in the Long Beach Independent.

    Village Bazaar was a women’s fashion store that operated by Marie Rogers at 137 ½ Main Steet (although BankAmericard ads listed it as 139 Main Street). 

    Aug_16_1963_Village_Bazaar_ad

    – 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.

  • August 12th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1977, The Great Antique Five and Dime Store ran this ad in the Long Beach Independent. Aug_12_1977_The_Great_Antique_Five_and_Dime_Store_adToday the only gold you can find at 142 Main Street is the color of the pizza crusts at A Slice of New York Pizza.

    – 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.

  • August 10th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1944, a car crash fatality at Main Street and Bolsa Avenue in Seal Beach occurred, according to the Long Beach Independent. An unnamed reporter wrote the next day that “Claud Roland, 23, of the San Diego naval base, was killed at 7:27 last night.”

    12-17-1936 aerial shot of Main Street as it turns into Bolsa Avenue right after crossing PCH

    Roland had been turning on to Bolsa Avenue from Main Street when his tire blew. The car flipped over and skidded almost 30 feet, throwing passengers USMC Sergeant James Johnson of the Corona Navy Hospital and Mrs. June Blackman of Fullerton from the car. Blackman and Johnson suffered some bruises and lacerations, and pedestrians Edward Booker and Joe Jackman, both of the Naval Weapons Depot, couldn’t avoid being hit by the car, but were only slightly injured. The injured were taken to the Long Beach Naval Hospital, according to Seal Beach Police Sergeant Charles Irvine.

    Police Chief Lee Howard, Captain James Morousek, and Sergeant Jack Whittington rushed to the accident scene and struggled to remove Roland from the overturned car wreckage, only to discover his head had been crushed and young Claud Roland was dead.

    A 5/23/1931 aerial shot showing how Bolsa Avenue curved into Main Street at PCH and how Main Street continue up into the farmland on Landing Hill.

    – 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.

     

  • August 9th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1919, the following ads ran in the Santa Ana Register.

    Aug_9_1918_Hotel_Tourist_Ad__amp__Seal_Beach_Garage_adNot very glamorous or novel, but if your automobile ever breaks down in Seal Beach during 1919, you’ll know where to take it for repairs and where to stay if you’re forced to wait a few days for back-ordered parts to arrive.

    Main Street Seal Beach in 1917. The hotel is the last building on the right before the Lodge Cafe. Like many local brick buildings, it collapsed in 1933 during the Long Beach earthquake.

    – 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.

     

  • July 31st in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1960, La Scarpa ran this ad in the Long Beach Independent targeting the lucrative feet and toe loving market.

    La Scarpa was another fondly remember Main Street that operating during the sixties and into the seventies. The store’s advertising had a unique style of its own:

    In addition to these ads, the Long Beach Independent ran fashion columns focusing on new clothing styles. These stories also featured fashion illustrations with descriptions that listed stores where the outfits could be purchased. La Scarpa was mentioned a number of times underneath these illustrations.

    You won’t find any Capezio shoes at 133 Main Street today, but you can satisfy all your Italian delicatessen needs at Angelo’s Italian Deli. 

    Source: Honey Kennedy
    Source: HoneyKennedy.com

    Capezio still sells shoes today — specializing primarily in dance shoes. You can find out more about the company’s 128 year history here, or, if you feel a retro hankering to wear a 1960 specific Capezio shoe style, the company offers a custom-made shoes service that will recreate the company’s past fashion glories for your specific feet and toes.

    – 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.