Normandie Ave. Los Angeles.
Pacific Coast Highway, Sunset Beach.
Orange County Plaza, Garden Grove.
Coastline near Los Angeles.
Downtown Garden Grove.
Sunset Beach.
Prospect Plaza, Orange.
Alpha Beta Supermarket, Laguna Hills.
Vintage Snapshots: Southern California — Mid ’50s to Mid’60s
– Posted on October 25, 2024
Coastline near LA pic: wonder what kind of trees those are? Never seen anything like those.
They are palm trees badly in need of trimming the lower dead branches.
The trees remind me of a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon we watched yesterday with the Big Red Shaggy Monster.
And I neglected to note the bright RED Herald in the same image.
Those are Fan Palms. I used to walk past them on the way to 9th grade along a dirt road that went through an old orange grove in the far west end of the San Fernando Valley. They were rarely trimmed back then and yes, those dead fronds would come flying off in a good strong Santa Anna. They also have barbs on them which I found out when I kicked one out of my way and got one in my ankle.
Thanks! I, too, was wondering!
Boy, in that picture of the coastline near Los Angeles, those palm trees really need to be trimmed. Maybe back then they didn’t do that, but now they keep those dead lower limbs and leaves trimmed.
Easy to tell the difference between rich territory and working towns. Rich = imports and Caddies. Working = pickups and sedan deliveries and Ranch Wagons.
I didn’t get to California until the Summer of 1969, it hadn’t changed much from these pictures .
Now I need to go check Normandie & 1St. Ave., it’s changed a lot since then .
Most of the beach pictures looked the same through the mid 1970’s, I remember hitch hiking to the beach many times .
So many station wagons ! .
-Nate
An import and/or a pickup in almost every picture. The red Herald looks by far the newest and most modern in that Coast Highway shot.
Is that a white Studebaker in the lede photo? What about the green station wagon looking vehicle on the opposite side of Normandie?
It’s a Chrysler, and the wagon is a ’55 Chevy.
The cheery grin of a white `57 Chrysler staring at us in the first photo.
Back when SMOG covered most of L.A. much of the time. OTOH, there were still some “open” areas scattered throughout the “southland”! 🙂 It was rather nice out there…then.
Pic is of my wife’s first Super Bug with my ’56 Chevy behind at our apartment in Hawthorne, CA…circa 1970. DFO
I remember several days when they put road flares in the middle of intersections so drivers knew when to expect to be broadsided. On clear days, we could see the snow on Mt. Baldy from the western edge of the O.C.
We moved to the west end of the San Fernando Valley in June 1966. Valley meant little to me at the time and I didn’t see any mountains. It was not till the Santa Anna winds arrived in September to blow away the smog did I realize I was in a valley. I could see mountains ringing us for the first time.
In June 1968 we moved to San Diego and San Diego was way, way better and no smog blocking views.
“..you call some place ‘Paradise’ – kiss it goodbye…”
Watch out for those shopping trolleys !
5th pic – the ’55 Dodge. I am stricken by how skinny the tires are for such a large car.
7.00 x 15 inches?
The Coastal City near LA is Santa Barbara, Cabrillo Blvd. near the head of Sterns warf
@Dennis Otto
Fantastic photo of life in 1970 ! The orange that is on her bug was a very popular color.
I remember a friend’s Dad in our neighborhood that was a sales manager at Neil Huffman Volkswagen. He would drive a different VW home every week. From bugs to buses and campers. The parents in our neighborhood took turns driving some of us kids to kindergarten. When it was their turn, they always made sure they had a van or a camper. This was a lot of fun for a car crazy little kid.
Born just as the Korean conflict was ending, I grew up in Newport Beach. It was a great place to grow up, pretty cool era, too. Being a teenager in the mid ‘60’s there was, as has been said : a bit of alright. Sunny most of the time, the rolling ocean, warm nights, cruising Whittier Boulevard listening to Wolfman Jack or Sam Riddle on KHJ riding in my older brother’s’60 Mercury Monterey. We also had Viet Nam, smog, the marches for racial equality, Charles Manson double digit inflation, too.
These pictures bring back a flood of memories. People and places, times of change, days you wished would not end. Our new ‘56 Fairlane, my uncles black ‘56 Thunderbird, my grandparents ‘57 Buick Caballero station wagon, our elderly neighbors’47 De Soto Traveller, the people across the street who bought a new Pontiac every other year.
Thank you for posting these. More please.
Always knew we were in So Cal when we saw the palm trees from the back seat of our station wagon. We would come down via the grapevine. It would be interesting to see these photos alongside current photos of the same area.
Note the SMALL oval window on
VW. Early vintage. Maybe late 50’s early 60’s
I’m a native, born in East Hollywood, grew up in North Hollywood, those first are when I was a baby, Hollywood facing Hollywood hills Santa Monica mountains.miss those days. Less population, less inflation. Safer to walk around even little children. Love the palms. We had a 57 Chevy that got stolen in front of Hollywood h.s later a 64 Chevy. Best designs.
The white car in picture two (Pacific Coast Highway) looks like a 1957 Thunderbird . Cool then. Cool now!
I sorely miss when Orange County was called the “Orange Curtain”. People up in LA looked down on us as a podunk, good for nothing area with a ton of agriculture. Dad worked at the Aeroneutronic Ford plant in Newport Beach and it would take us 15 minutes from home in Newport to our seats at Anaheim Stadium to see the Angels play. Now it takes 15 minutes just to get on the 55 fwy if you’re lucky. I miss those days and that Orange County so much. Just as the person above quoted the Eagles, “You call some place paradise you can kiss it good-bye”. Truer words have never been spoken…