As I began writing this essay a memory appeared but was unsure when it occurred. This memory involved Milo Kellogg, my best childhood friend. I knew this event happened after Bev and I married but could not remember when. I could not connect any other known event to this one with Milo. I decided to do an Ancestry search, hoping to discover an answer to my dilemma. The research provided information beyond my wildest expectations. Not only did the research provide dates, it also confirmed my recollection of names of others involved. However, this story should have been included in Marriage: 1953 to 1960. Now the question was what to do? Edit this noted essay and re-post it or go back in time and add it to the beginning of this essay. It seemed most prudent to add it to the beginning of this one, so that you do not have to re-read the previous posting to discover the addition. So, before continuing our life story after moving into our first house, flash back to the Spring of 1956.
Milo Kellogg was my best friend from the time we moved into the Sebren house through most of high school. We had many adventures over the years and there was one instant I believed he saved me from drowning at the Colorado Lagoon. Although Milo was only four months younger than me, he was a year behind me in school. We did not see much of each other after I graduated from high school and began college. As previously mentioned, I wanted Milo to be the best man for my wedding, but he was in the US Army stationed in South Korea. Milo had been discharged sometime after we were married and had returned home, which was just around the corner from my folk’s place. Sometime in early 1956, he went to see my folks, told them he wanted to talk with me and inquired how to get in touch with me. Milo’s reason for wanting to see me was to ask a very important question.
At this time, I was working at Douglas Aircraft and did not know he was no longer in the Army and was home. I don’t remember whether Milo called me or if my folks told me he wanted us to get together. Whichever way it happened, I seem to recall we met at my folk’s place. Milo’s reason for wanting to talk with me was that he was getting married and wanted me to be his best man. I readily agreed to be his best man and asked who was the lucky girl. His bride-to-be was Maralyn Dostart. It is my recollection that Milo met Maralyn at Wilson High school during his Senior year. My memory pulled up her name as Marilyn, but I was not positive that was correct because I knew his older sister’s name was Marilyn. Rather than rely on a 60 year old memory, it was hoped an Ancestry research might be of assistance. The Ancestry research confirmed my memory that both bride and sister were named Marilyn. It should be noted that names for bride and sister are spelled differently. I can also brag about remembering that Milo’s middle name and his Dad’s first name was Clarence. Milo and Maralyn were both Catholic and their wedding was to be held at St. Cornelius Catholic Church, located on the corner of Bellflower Boulevard and Wardlow Road. Although I was aware Milo attended church infrequently, I did not know he was Catholic. The subject never came up that I remember. I thought that a Methodist participating in a Catholic wedding was going to be an unforgettable experience.
Since I was naïve about my own wedding protocols, I definitely had no clue about a Catholic wedding. My first lesson concerning Catholic weddings came when Milo and I went to meet the parish priest that would conduct the ceremony. Before we left to meet the priest, Milo informed me that the Best Man was required to also be a Catholic! Milo knew the priest might ask me where I said my Catholic vows and a wrong answer would remove me from the ceremony. Milo said, “If he asks where you took your vows, say it was at St. Cyprian Catholic Church.” This church was located on Clark Street in the Lakewood Village area of Long Beach. Actually, the church was located near the Premiere house. Fortunately, the priest did not ask the question, which meant I did not have to lie about being Catholic! At this meeting the priest provided some instruction on the general wedding protocols. After this meeting we went to the sanctuary for a wedding rehearsal. At the rehearsal, I met Maralyn for the first time. It was then I recognized and remember seeing her at Wilson. The actual rehearsal seemed fairly simple and straightforward, and I thought this was going to be easy. What I did not realize was that a mass followed after the wedding ceremony. The mass made things very interesting for me.
On the wedding day, 4 May 1956, Milo and I met in the priest’s office to await our entrance into the church. We entered a door near the front of the church and waited while Maralyn came down the center aisle with her father. Best I can remember, the bride’s maids followed. If there were groomsman, I have no recollection. At the proper time, I handed the rings to Milo and stood by while the vows were exchanged. To this point, everything seemed like my wedding and it was going smoothly. Following the vows, I left Milo and Maralyn to sit in either the second or third pew from the front. After the wedding party was seated, the priest began the mass. Mass was conducted in Latin and I had no idea what was happening or what to do. During the mass those Catholics at the wedding had to kneel at appropriated times. Fortunately, Marilyn Kellogg was seated in the pew directly behind me. Every time I was supposed to kneel, Marilyn would poke me in the back to let me know when kneeling was required. Milo’s family did not want to let friends or others know I was not of the Catholic faith. I must have kneeled over a dozen times during the mass that seemed to go on forever. It seemed like the wedding and mass lasted nearly an hour. I have often wondered over the years, if it was discovered I was not Catholic, would that nullify the marriage? I doubt it. My understanding is that today, being Catholic is not a requirement to be best man. Hopefully, this diversion does not detract from the main topic. It was a unique experience during the early years of our marriage that I believed was important to tell. Now let’s return to 1960!
We learned Bev was pregnant early in January 1960. We decided our one bedroom apartment in North Long Beach was too small for an expanding family. Since Bev had been working almost two years, and I had been working for about six months, we had saved enough money to consider purchasing a house. We began “house hunting” not really knowing what we were doing. It is unclear how many houses we toured nor how long we searched before finding one in the Lakewood Village area of Long Beach. In fact, it is not remembered if we discovered it together or Bev and Faye discovered it. In any case, our “starter house” was priced around $13,000. We submitted a bid of about $12,500 and our offer was accepted. In 1960, a minimum 20% down payment was required for any mortgage. With a down payment of $2,500, our first mortgage was $10,000. Best I can recall, our house payment was somewhere in the neighborhood of $100/month including property taxes. Our “new” house was located in the city of Long Beach at 4832 Premiere Avenue. It was a two bedroom, one bathroom house with a working fireplace. A recent photo of our first house is shown below. As previously noted in Marriage: 1952 to 1960, there has been considerable upgrades to the front of the property. A roof has been added over the front porch, the brick work has been added, the fence has been added and a spark arrestor added to the chimney.
4832 Premiere Avenue, Long Beach California, Circa 2015
The two bedrooms were located opposite the garage, with the bathroom situated between the bedrooms. The front door opened into the living room, which continued into the dining room. Actually, it was just one large room that ran from the front door to the back of the house. At the back of the house, or dining room, there were windows and a door with foot square windows its entire length. The windows and door were essentially the full width of the dining room. This door and windows provided all the light to this large front/ding room. The kitchen was entered from the dining room; the kitchen was located behind the garage. Continuing through the kitchen was a laundry room. There were two back doors, one exiting the laundry room and one in the dining room that provided direct access to a covered concrete patio. The patio was the full length of the living room, kitchen and laundry room or about 30 feet by 10 feet. The patio covering was solid corrugated fiberglass panels. The backyard was all grass, completely fenced, a banana tree and a shade tree. A clothes line was located on the laundry room side of the house. Yes, we did not own a clothes dryer; our clothes were dried the old fashion way—sunshine! It is estimated the Premiere house size was about 1200 square feet. Commenting on the exterior upgrades above brought to mind the upgrades we undertook after escrow closed.
Our first upgrades were accomplished before we occupied the house. Bev and Virgil (John) did some painting in the kitchen or laundry room. It seems they also painted other areas, but where is not recalled. Berta recently commented that she remembers wallpaper being removed from the kitchen area. Her comment triggered a memory of renting a steamer and removing wallpaper from the front bedroom. This chore was undertaken after we moved in and was a hot, humid, messy task! This front bedroom was going to be the baby’s room. Previous owners must have liked wallpaper because it seems there was quite a bit throughout the house. After removing the wallpaper the walls had to be prepped for painting. Our major upgrades consisted of new paint in most of the rooms. There is no recollection of doing any exterior painting. Except for the front bedroom wallpaper removal and painting, all other painting was done before we occupied the house. Since the house was empty while Bev and John were painting, we began to move some things from the apartment to the house. We brought boxes of dishes, books, bedding and some clothes, anything we were not using at the apartment. Some of these things were put away or just left in boxes until the furniture was moved in. Best I can recall, painting and bringing things from the apartment was accomplished over a two to four week time period. Best I can remember, we moved in on a weekend around mid-May. It was on this weekend we finished bringing our furniture and all remaining things from the apartment. How the furniture was moved is not recalled. I’m sure either our parents helped us because Dad and John each had a pickup truck, and Dad’s truck could pull a trailer. Finally, we were moved in and by evening ready to spend the first night in our “new” house.
Moving and putting some things away had made it a long day, and we were tired and ready for bed. Best I can remember, after turning off the lights, we crawled into bed somewhere around 10:30 PM. We had been in bed no more than 10 minutes when there was a commotion outside our bedroom that we believed was someone climbing the fence into our backyard. We both assumed it was a burglar believing the house was empty, expecting to steal some of our “good” stuff! I was scared because I had nothing to defend us with. It is possible there was a baseball bat, but I’m not sure of even that. I grabbed whatever might have been available and began turning on lights. Discovering the house was occupied, whoever it was turned around and left without any further action. We assumed someone had noticed us moving boxes, etc. and leaving the house empty and had decided after a few weeks, would be a good target. Feeling so naked without any means for protecting us, I talked with Dad the next day and retrieved my .410 shotgun and some shells. It was only a single shot shotgun but more than adequate for defense! After this weekend’s excitement, I had to go to work on the Monday following the final moving chores.
I had been working for nearly a year at North American Aviation (NAA) when we moved to the Premiere house. Luckily, we now lived closer to work than our apartment in North Long Beach and it was an easier drive to work. The nearest major intersection near our house was Del Amo Boulevard and Clark Avenue which provided a quick, easy drive to work. NAA was located on Lakewood Boulevard in Downey. Clark Avenue was a North-South secondary street that merged into Lakewood Boulevard right at NAA. It was only five miles from our house that nominally took about 15 minutes between home and work. Driving from our North Long Beach apartment was over eight miles that took around 30 minutes due to heavier traffic. My work experiences at NAA will be reserved for future essays, assuming it will require more than one.
As previously noted, our house was located in the Lakewood Village area of Long Beach. However, strange as it may seem, despite having a Long Beach address the house was physically located in the middle of Lakewood city. A map of the Lakewood boundaries is shown in the following map. The red dot approximates the location of our house. As you can see from the map, we were located in an area surrounded by Lakewood. Despite being located within the Long Beach city limits, all our shopping was done in Lakewood. Now that we had moved into our “new” house, new routines had to be established while learning to be homeowners.
Premiere House Location
Living in apartments for five years meant there was no yard work. Now there were two yards that needed mowing, edging and watering. Thus, a mover, edger, hoses and sprinklers (?) were purchased. The sprinklers question mark denotes a fuzzy memory there were automatic sprinklers in both yards that had to be activated manually. Oh, we also needed trash cans, an item not needed in apartments. To start, there was yard clean-up, especially a bush/vine on the fence where we heard the burglar that needed major trimming. Plus, Bev wanted to plant some flowers in a couple of places. It did not take long to learn what “sweat equity” was all about. Our first patio meant a picnic table, benches and a barbeque for grilling. Once we were organized, more or less, we had a “house warming” barbeque for a few of our high school friends.
Those attending were Billie Gano and Dan Talbot, Shirley Goldsmith and Frank Tomlin, Leah Alford(Leah’s family name was found) and Jim Cushman. I believe Billie and Dan were married, but I am not certain. I honestly do not remember if Shirley and Leah were married to Frank and Jim or if they were married later. Plus, Milt Wilhite and Helen Wilhite, nee Lang. Milt and Helen were married January 4, 1957. Milt met Helen during his senior year at Wilson High School. This was the first time Bev and I had met Dan Talbot. Dan was in my graduating class at Wilson and was now attending Dental School at the University of Southern California (USC). Dan played golf at Wilson, and I remember seeing him around school but never made his acquaintance. I had buried four or five tin cans in the backyard for a miniature golf course. I had some golf balls picked up over the years, with some of them from driving ranges. These driving range balls had red or blue stripes on them. Dan immediately told me stealing range balls was against the law. No idea if he was correct, we just played anyway. The barbeque was not fancy, just hamburgers. However, the dessert was very special. Bev had baked two large strawberry pies that were fantastic! Our first barbeque was a success; now we began shopping for our next first.
We decided with a baby coming, all children need a dog. Whether this statement is true, I have no idea but it sounds good. It could be that I wanted a dog due to my positive experience with Pepper and Sandy while growing up. Best I can remember; Bev never had a dog, they only had a cat. Whatever the reason, we began watching the want ads for puppies. I wanted to get a Beagle; why I have no idea. Hound dog stories fascinated me, I guess. We found an ad for Beagle puppies and went to see them in Hawaiian Gardens. Seems like we visited a couple of times before we selected a male pup. Both the sire and dam were AKC champions, and the pup was more expensive because of his blood lines. I think he cost $75; remember this is 1960. The ViJo Kennel owners recommended we AKC register the pup. Once we selected a name they would help us file the papers. I wanted to name him Shotgun, but Bev was a big fan of Willie Mays. So, it was settled; he was known as “Willie” from this moment forward. His official registered name was “ViJo’s Weary Willie”; the kennel owners wanted to be sure his name contained the name of their kennel. Willie was a character of the first order. In a sense, Willie was our “first” child. There are many Willie adventures to relate, and some will be interspersed throughout the essay. A somewhat faded photo shows a full grown Weary Willie posing for our 1960 Christmas card.
ViJo’s Weary Willie, Circa 1960
The black kerosene stove in the photo was a refugee from the city dump. One day while taking trash to the dump, Bev spotted a rusty stove someone had discarded. Dump rules stated that salvaging items for the dump was against the law, but she wanted this relic. Of course, I was the culprit that had to pick it up and “sneak” it into our car. Using sandpaper and Navy Gel, the rust was removed, and Bev spray painted the stove and the gold colored items. This stove was only the first of Bev’s reclamation projects; there were more to follow. In fact, the coffee pot on top of the stove was also another item she “liberated” from somewhere.
Early one August Sunday morning, Bev woke up with labor pains. We rose, dressed and began timing the contractions. It seems these contractions were about an hour apart for some time. Bev would walk around the house and the backyard during the contractions. She called the OB, who said to wait until the contractions were around 30 minutes before going to the hospital. As the time between contractions decreased we got things ready to head to the hospital. Best I can recall, we called the OB and headed for the Long Beach Memorial Hospital between 10:00 and 10:30 that morning. My guess is that we checked in about 20 to 25 minutes later. The doctor arrived and saw Bev. She had not dilated enough yet, but he did not think it would be much longer before she would deliver. At this time, Bev was in a regular room, and I could sit with her. Bev’s contractions continued more or less on a regular basis, but the interval stayed constant. The doctor would check her periodically, but she did not seem to be any closer to delivery. Bev’s labor continued on into the afternoon and did not get any closer to delivery. We had not called our folks yet; we wanted to call them after the baby was born. Finally, as her labor continued on into the late afternoon, we thought it best to call our folks to let them know we were at the hospital. I called John and Faye first, told them we were at the hospital and would let them know when the baby was born. After calling them, I called my folks to let them know and that we would not make dinner.
When I called my folks, Aunt Gladys answered the phone. She was staying with them while Jack was at the Naval Hospital for his checkup. I told Aunt Gladys that we were not going to make it for dinner. Although Aunt Gladys was aware our baby was due, she did not make a connection why we wouldn’t make dinner. Aunt Gladys said, “Oh Royal, your Mother is going to be so disappointed because she is planning on fixing your birthday dinner” (It was number 25). I replied, “We cannot make it because we are at the hospital!” Now she made the connection; she asked what was happening. I explained the situation and told her that I would call when there was more to tell. After making the phone calls, I went back to Bev’s room to see how she was doing. Yep, nothing had changed. The doctor examined her around 6:00 PM and indicated it was time to move her to a Labor room, which meant I was relegated to the “Father’s Waiting Room” to await the news.
It seems there was one other expectant Father in the waiting room when I arrived. While there is no memory of our talking, I’m sure we exchanged information of how long we had been at the hospital. Shortly after arriving he was summoned to see his wife and baby. Now I had the Father’s Room all to myself and nothing to do but scan the magazines. If there was a television there is no memory watching one. There is a faint memory of getting something from a vending machine to eat. It was after 7 PM when someone informed me Bev had delivered a boy and I could see her now. Bev was fine, but she had been in labor for about 12 hours. It is an understatement that she was tired! They were preparing to move her to a room, because they were going to keep her overnight. The baby had already been taken to the Nursery so I had not seen him yet. While Bev was being moved to her room, I called our folks that they had a Grandson, and Bev and the baby were fine. After calling them with the news, I went to the nursery to see our son.
When I arrived at the Nursery our son had been cleaned, wrapped in a blanket, placed in a plastic basket and placed near the Nursery window. There was another couple there and a nurse was holding their baby up so they could view it better. The mother was in a hospital gown and probably had given birth earlier in the day. When the nurse returned their baby to the basket, I pointed to our son and the nurse picked him up and held him close to the window for me to see him better. He must have been tired too, because he seemed to be asleep; at least his eyes were shut. He also had quite a bit of hair, at least I thought so. Wow! Not sure when it hit me, but having your first born, a son, born on your birthday. What a magnificent birthday present; what a special day to remember, August 14, 1960. After seeing my birthday present, I went to see Bev.
Although Bev was tired, she was doing fine. My visit did not last long, because Bev’s delivery occurred close to the end of visiting hours. The doctor cleared her for release the next morning. Since the baby was doing fine also, our newborn would go home with us. During our short visit before I left the hospital, we discussed naming our new son. We had a book of names that had been well worn while we thumbed through it searching for the “perfect” name. Because the baby had been so active and did lots of kicking, the doctor predicted the baby would be a boy. Because of his prediction, I have a fuzzy memory we concentrated on boy names. In fact, I do not remember any girl’s name we were prepared to use. Expectant parents do crazy things when expecting a child, especially their first one. We were no different than most expectant parents and made a real project of selecting a name.
The name book recommended the first and last name contain a different number of syllables or vowel sounds. According to the name book, first and last names with different vowel sounds was more pleasing to the ear. Our experiments with this naming convention convinced us that it did sound more pleasant. Since Pricehas only one vowel sound, our baby’s first name needed at least two vowel sounds. We tried some names and spoke them aloud to see how the name sounded with Price. There is no recollection how many names we experimented with before we reached a final selection. As you might expect, we concentrated on first names and to a lesser extent on middle names. I seem to recall, we considered that initials for first, middle and last names did not spell something stupid. Recalling the details of selecting our first baby’s names, you probably think we were ready when the time came for the baby’s birth. In actuality, I cannot remember if we had names selected when we went to the hospital.
I seem to recall that the doctor told us birth certificate information needed filling out as soon as possible. Whether we had names selected or not, we were now under the gun to put the baby’s names to an official piece of paper. Fortunately, filling out the papers did not have to be accomplished that night, which gave us overnight to ruminate about the baby’s name. At this point, I told Bev “Good Night” and left for home. Arriving at home, I fed Willie before getting something to eat. After watching some TV, I went to bed. It had been a very long eventful day. Tomorrow would be even more eventful.
It was mid-morning on Monday when I left for the hospital. After parking, I went to Bev’s room. She was dressed and waiting for the baby. Now we had to fill out the paper work. We had settled on Russell Allan Priceas the baby’s name. Russell’s vital statistics: Birth Weight –Eight Pounds Seven Ounces (8 Lbs 7 Ozs), Length: 20 Inches. One might ask why did we spell Allan with twoLs? Well, there is more than one way to answer that question. First, we were attempting to be sophisticated. Second, we just misspelled Alan. Finally, we spelled it with one L and some bureaucrat “corrected” it. There just is no real answer to the question. In any case, it adds a degree of distinction to his name. Russell was brought to the room and placed in Bev’s arms. I left to get the car and drove to the hospital’s entrance. Bev was not allowed to walk to the car and had a wheelchair ride to our car. A nurse held Russell while Bev got into the car, Russell was handed to her after getting seated. We drove off, headed toward home with our new son.
Of course, once we reached home our daily routines were changed and new ones added. Russell invaded our bedroom and slept in a bassinet. There is a faint, fuzzy memory that this bassinet had been Bev’s, when she was a baby. Best I can remember, Russell’s sleep pattern was regular which meant there was only one early morning (about 2 AM) feeding. Bev began by breast feeding Russell. My job was to pick up Russell and hand him to Bev. Then I placed him back in the bassinet when he finished. However, after a few weeks she was not producing enough milk, causing distress in Russell’s demeanor. At this point we switched to a formula for feeding him. Now my job changed for these feedings. I went to the kitchen, warmed the bottle, tested it for the correct temperature and brought it to Bev for the feeding. I also became the Chief Bottle and Nipple Washer and Sterilizer. Plus, if the nipple wouldn’t flow properly, I sterilized a needle to increase the nipple hole for a better flow. These new chores could be handled, because I had a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics! In reality, Bev did all the hard stuff of caring for Russell. Yes, I also cared for him, changing diapers (wet and dirty), bottle feeding him, bathing him, etc. In fact, diapers required special handling.
Cloth diapers were all that existed at the time. Disposable diapers had not been invented yet. Cloth diapers were a large square piece of cotton material that was folded in manner to absorb the baby’s discharges, wet, solid and in between. Safety pins were used to hold the diaper on the baby. When a diaper was soiled, it was placed in a diaper pail (bucket) filled with water. The water was treated with something similar to Epson Salt. Solid waste was placed in the toilet before placing it into this pail. In addition to the diaper, there were smaller pieces of cotton cloth used to clean the baby’s bottom. These small “wiper” cloths were also placed in the diaper pail. After soaking in the pail for a couple of days, the diapers and wiping cloths were laundered. Now the washed diapers were taken outside and hung on a clothesline to dry. Yep, it sounds rather primitive, but that was life in the 1960s. Bottle sterilization and diapers were just the tip of the iceberg for us!
We both had a steep learning curve in the care of our small helpless bundle of joy. It took me somewhat longer than Bev, because of her instincts and Faye’s help. Best I can recall, I had only a couple of days off after bringing Russell home. There is no recollection of having any vacation time to be home to help Bev. It seems Faye came and helped Bev during the day for a while. Plus, I’m sure Mom also helped Bev during those early days after Russell was brought home. Grandmothers can help you learn the basics, but eventually you want to do things your way. After all, it had been a quarter century since they had raised us as babies and technology had advanced, and we had a Doctor in the house! We had “Baby and Child Care”by Doctor Benjamin Spock! This book was our gospel for all things baby related and more thumbed through than the name book. This book answered any question we had, what remedy to follow, or “don’t worry” about it. As it came to pass, we used Dr. Spock’s book into early childhood for everyone. I’m sure we could have been just fine without the book, but it served as a “warm fuzzy blanket” for us. As it turned out, Russell seemed to be doing fine. However, there was one problem that concerned us, but our pediatrician solved the problem.
Russell’s “belly button”, navel to be accurate, was protruding quite a bit. While we knew his intestines would not fall out, it was a concern to us. Our pediatrician solved the issue very simple. The doctor covered his belly button with a piece of Johnson & Johnson first aid tape. This tape had been modified with a small hole over his belly button. I guess the hole was to let the belly button “breathe” or some such purpose. We had to replace the tape after a bath or when the tape would begin to come off on its own. My best memory is that we taped his belly button until he was at least two years old. I haven’t checked lately, but Russell’s belly button no longer protrudes!
Russell had lots of energy but did not fuss or cry too much. At least there are no outstanding memories of him being overly fussy. He began to sleep through the night within a month or so. Due to his high level of energy, he was always in motion. As a result, Russell began to crawl at five months and was walking at nine months. Russell was a curiosity to Wille, especially once he began to crawl. Willie probably considered him as another pup when he began crawling then he was just another quadruped. Willie did not seem to be jealous of Russell receiving most of our attention. Of course, Willie always was interested whenever Russell had some sort of food. The following photo shows Willie checking out what Russell had in his hands.
Willie Checking If Russell Has Food, Circa 1961
This acceptance did not mean we did not keep a wary eye on Willie when he was around Russell. Bev discovered this fact one day while changing a dirty diaper. According to Bev, Russell had pooped his diaper and it was the “smelliest, biggest, messiest poop” ever! She removed the diaper, set it aside and began to clean his bottom when Willie grabbed the dirty diaper and ran off with it. Bev tried to catch Willie, but he was too quick and ran behind the couch spilling the poop along the way. Bev finally caught him and “rescued” what was left of the messy diaper. At this point, she was ready to kill Willie because she had to finish cleaning Russell and then the carpet. Needless to say, running off with the dirty diaper was not Willie’s last “stunt” he perpetrated.
We used the dining room door as the primary entrance to the patio and backyard. This door was also used to let Willie into and out of the house. As described above, next to the door were windows that provided light for the entire living/dining room. There were screens on these window since some windows could be opened for ventilation. Whether there was a screen door on the door opening is not remembered. There was a brick planter box located on the patio, with its top just under these windows. If Willie was in the backyard and we were in the house, he decided to let us know he wanted to join us. His way of letting us know his desire was to run at the windows, hop on the plater box and jump onto the largest screen. There were two issues with his jumping onto the screen. First, it was damaging the screen. Second, there was the possibility of breaking the window. Neither of these outcomes was acceptable. Chastising Willie was to no avail. So, a more drastic solution was necessary. I rigged up an electrical transformer that transformed AC, placed metal screen in the planter and connected wires to both screens. Now when Willie touched both screens were touched he received a shock! It did not take too many jumps and Willie was discouraged from jumping onto the window screen. Looking back, Willie was a people-dog and just wanted to be with his family. Yes, at times Willie was a pain, but he had his good moments too.
One of these “good” moments occurred one day he was in the backyard. Bev was in the house with Russell. Willie began barking and Bev looked out to see what he was barking about. A man had hopped the back fence and was looking towards the house. Willie kept barking and growling and acting ferocious, at least as ferocious as a Beagle can be. This guy was intimidated by Willie and hopped back over the fence and left the area. Bev was sure this fellow was up to no good, and she felt Willie had saved his family. As a result, Willie receive a big bone to chew on for his heroics. There are additional Willie stories to cover in the years ahead. While living at the Premiere house, we continued attending the North Long Beach Methodist Church. Also, while living here, there are four unique experiences that need to be told.
Three years after the USSR placed Sputnik into orbit, the space race between the U.S. and the USSR was underway in earnest. Both countries were developing launch vehicles and satellites at a furious pace. By 1960 the U.S. was launching satellites and space vehicles on more or less a regular basis but with mixed results. U.S. failures were usually spectacular rockets explosions shown on TV. The Soviets only announced successes and failures were not announced. Beginning with Sputnik, a few skeptics claimed satellites circling the earth were not a reality. Some early skepticism arose, because the first satellites were small and not visible to the naked eye. As larger satellites were developed, visible nighttime sightings were possible due to sunlight reflected off these satellites. To aid satellite sightings, TV newscasts and newspapers began providing information, such as passage time and area of the sky to watch. It was while living at the Premiere house that the first satellite was observed. Which satellite was first sighted is not remembered, but there was one particular satellite that comes to mind. This satellite was named Echo.
The Echo was NASA’s first communications satellite and was very unique. Echo was a metallic coated Mylar balloon 100 feet in diameter. Echo was designed to reflect microwave signals from one point to another on earth. Echo 1 was launched August 12, 1960 (two days before Russell was born) and placed into about a 1,000 mile altitude orbit. A photo of the satellite shows its size relative to what appears to be a station wagon.
Echo Satellite Balloon, Circa 1960
Spotting most satellites was not especially easy, because the reflected sunlight was not as intense as most stars, which made it difficult to spot it in a background of more intense objects. However, due to its size, Echo was brighter than most stars and was easily visible to the naked eye. To spot Echo, you watched the western sky as it traveled West to East across the sky. Sometime after being in orbit, Echo developed a small leak and did not maintain its spherical shape. The satellite did not become smaller but became a “wrinkled” surface. As a consequence of it becoming wrinkled, the reflected sunlight seemed to scintillate, or blinking, as it passed through the sky. Other visible satellites reflected sunlight with a constant intensity unless they became unstable and were tumbling.
Despite the lack of intensity, most satellites were easily spotted by the rapid movement through the stars. Once you had sighted a couple of satellites, locating them became routine. All you had to do was look for a moving star. It was quite amazing to stand in the backyard searching the night sky for the “moving” star. When you saw a satellite moving through the stars, there was a feeling of wonderment that a man-made object had been rocketed into outer space and was orbiting the earth. It was an exciting era, because mankind was beginning to explore outer space and the unknown. At the time, it was termed “The Last Frontier” and marked a new age of exploration and discovery. A future essay will relate working at North American Aviation and the company’s involvement in various space programs. Satellite watching resulted in an interest in amateur astronomy.
Satellite viewing information usually named a constellation where the satellite could be initially located. A constellation is a group of stars that are considered to form imaginary outlines or meaningful patterns on the celestial sphere, typically representing animals, mythological people or gods, mythological creatures, or manufactured devices. From my Scouting days, Ursa Major (Big Dipper), Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) and Cassiopeia were known and could be recognized. While researching information on the constellations, an ad for a telescope was noticed in Scientific American. The Edmund Scientific ad offered a Newtonian telescope for about $75. This telescope is shown in the following photo.
Edmund Scientific Newtonian Telescope
This telescope had a 4.25 inch spherical mirror located at the bottom of the tube. The tube was about four feet in length with a sighting scope and a receptacle for eye pieces near the top end of the tube. The tube was attached to an equatorial mount with a counter weight. The equatorial mount allowed the telescope to track a star as the earth rotated. There were two lenses supplied with the telescope: one with a 25 degree field of view and a Barlow lens that provided a magnification of about 150X. Since these lenses had a limited field of view, the spotting scope was used to “locate” the star of interest before using the other lenses. Booklets included with the telescope provided both instructions on its use and stars of special interest. These materials provided information to find these stars and stellar objects. From my standpoint, the most exciting objects were Messier Objects.
Messier Objects consist of 110 astrological objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in the late 17thcentury. These objects include nebula, galaxies, star clusters and so on. Here are a couple of the ones I found to be most intriguing.
Ring Nebula
Pleaides (Seven Sisters)
What was so exciting about Messier objects was that to the naked eye the object appeared as a single star, then when observed through the telescope it was no longer a single star! Position of these Messier objects is well documented, basically a latitude and longitude on the celestial sphere. Accessories for the telescope that allowed setting the telescope to these coordinates were too expensive to purchase. I asked Dad for assistance, and he constructed suitable substitutes which permitted pointing the telescope at a selected object, at least close enough to narrow the search. Although this venture into amateur astronomy was interesting, more equipment and time were necessary to take the next step in viewing the heavens. A next step meant accurate coordinate setting discs, a star drive to automatically track a star and equipment for stellar photography. This equipment was expensive, plus spare leisure time was limited. My evenings were filled with various chores, helping Bev with Russell, and playing softball at NAA. The next unique experience occurred on a short deer hunting trip Dad and I took in the Fall after Russell was born.
It had been several years since Dad and I had gone deer hunting. Rather than going to our usual hunting site near Leeving, instead, we decided to hunt in Kennedy Meadows. Kennedy Meadows is in the Eastern Sierra mountains just North of Inyokern off of US Highway 395. We planned a weekend hunt leaving on a Friday evening and returning on Sunday. We arrived at a campsite after about a three hour drive. We pitched our tent, ate some dinner and went to bed. Shortly after getting into our sleeping bags in began to rain. It rained all night and still was raining the next morning. We decided to wait for the rain to stop before attempting to hunt. Well, the rain did not stop and was actually a thunderstorm. Finally, late in the afternoon, Dad finally said hunting was not going to be good during the storm. So, we decided to pack up and head home. Believe me it is no fun to break camp in the rain. It must have been around five or six when we left the campground.
On the drive out of the mountains, we experience a thunderbolt striking about 500 yard away with the thunder clap occurring simultaneously. Plus, the thunder clap was the loudest I’ve ever heard. Once out on US Highway 395, we were back into the high desert; it was not raining and there were broken clouds. After we passed Inyokern there was a full moon brightly lighting the landscape. It was then that we saw a most unusual event. There was a rainbow in the night sky that was so beautiful. There must have been some moisture in the air from the storm we had just left, and there was enough light from the full moon that created the rainbow. This lunar rainbow is the only one I’ve ever seen, and it will never be forgotten! A couple of months after this “hunting” trip, Bev and I had a unique experience.
We had this experience because of Milt Wilhite. Milt also attended Long Beach State College majoring in law enforcement. He graduated in 1959 and was hired by the Secret Service. At the time, Milt was the youngest person that had been hired by the Service. Initially, Milt was assigned to the Los Angeles office, pending his being assigned to The White House. He was still assigned to the LA office in 1960 when John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) was elected president in November 1960. After the election, President Dwight David Eisenhower visited Palm Springs to play golf before retiring to his Gettysburg farm. Milt was assigned to Palm Springs for Ike’s visit. Milt’s wife, Helen, called us and said Milt was going to have a weekend off and invited the three of us to visit him. Milt and Helen had a son, Dewaine, who was almost two years old. So, we had Grandparents baby sit with Russell and Dewaine, and we headed to Palm Springs. Best I can recall we stayed in the hotel assigned to the agents. We were able to see Ike and Gerald Ford tee off on our first day there. Ford was a hack golfer and nearly hit spectators when he teed off. Milt did not have the whole time free, because one of the agent’s handgun accidently discharged and did some damage to the hotel furniture. Best I can remember the agents were attempting to “hide” or repair the damage without notifying their supervisor. No recollection of how this incident was resolved. It was our last day in Palm Springs, and Milt took us to the airport for a special tour of the President’s plane, Air Force 1. This AF1 was the first time a jet liner was given the AF1 designation. A phot shows a Boeing 707 designated AF1.
Ai Force 1, Boeing 707
We climbed a ramp like the one in the photo and entered AF1 through the door just behind the flight deck. Immediately to the right of the door was the President’s desk with a phone in a plastic case. The compartment beyond the desk was like a lounge. We did not go beyond the lounge, at least there is no memory of going any further. This first AF1 is now located in Boeing’s Air Museum. Visiting the museum brought back memories of this first visit in Palm Springs. Our tour of the first Air Force 1 is quite a special memory for us. Shortly after our Palm Springs visit, there was another surprise.
Early in 1961 (January or February), Bev told me she was pregnant with our second child (actually our third if you count Willie). Best we could determine, the baby was to be another summer birth. This meant Russell and the new baby would be only about a one year age difference. Well, now it was back to seeing the obstetrician again. She began monthly visits with the same doctor that delivered Russell. When Bev was pregnant with Russell, our lives were very busy with house hunting, moving and preparing for the baby’s arrival. This next pregnancy was not going to be any different, because now there were household chores and a dog and a son less than a year old that required attention.
As previously mentioned, Russell was quite active and was crawling all over when Bev told me she was pregnant. Russell crawling meant watching him at all times, especially when he began pulling himself up on our furniture or getting into Willie’s water or food dish. Since watching him constantly was not always possible, the only solution was a playpen. The playpen allowed us the freedom to accomplish tasks without worrying about what he was into or doing. Of course, he let us know when the playpen was like a jail and he wanted out. By May his crawling turned into walking, and he was only nine months old. Keeping track of him now reached a new level. Sometime after he began to crawl, Russell began to eat solid food. His favorite meal was Chef Boyardee Spaghetti Yes, spaghetti in a can! When he finished eating there was spaghetti and sauce from the top of his head all the way to the floor! Not only was he covered, but his high chair and the floor were included. Then when you thought he was finished, he would ask for more. After he finished, I took him to our bathroom and gave him a bath in our bathtub while Bev cleaned the kitchen. Besides loving canned spaghetti, there were two other habits the Russell developed.
Just like Linus in the Peanuts cartoon, Russell began sucking a finger while holding a blanket. My memory is somewhat fuzzy, but it could have been a stuffed animal he held rather than a blanket, or it could have been whichever was available. He sucked his index finger rather than his thumb but in a rather unusual position. His finger was in a position such that the fingernail was touching his tongue. His hand was bent back and his palm was pointing toward the ceiling (if he was standing or sitting). A most unique sucking arrangement! Another habit Russell developed involved books.
It is unclear when Bev began reading to him, but he enjoyed it. I remember a book of Nursery Rhymes of mine and the story of Little Black Sambo. I’m sure there were others, but I do not recall what they may have been. He especially enjoyed the books with drawings that illustrated the story. Anytime we sat on the couch to watch TV or just to talk, Russ would grab a book, climb up on the couch next to you and say, “Read!” You had no choice, because if you did not take the book and begin reading, he would put the book in your lap and say “Read” again. You could not put him off, and once was usually not enough. Best I can remember, Little Black Sambo was his favorite. While Russell was growing up and developing, our new baby was growing and developing in Bev’s belly.
While Bev threatened miscarriage with Russell, this pregnancy did not cause her any such problem. In fact, this pregnancy proceeded in a normal fashion (from what I remember). As Bev approached full term, the doctor and Bev had a conversation about the delivery. Who initiated the conversation is unknown, but it came about due to Bev’s nearly 12 hours of labor before Russell was delivered. As a result, the doctor suggested that he induce labor this time. He believed that inducing labor could reduce her time in labor. Of course, Bev would like this chance to reduce time in labor. There was another benefit to inducing labor, the delivery could be scheduled ahead of time. Whoopee, no after Midnight panic trips to the hospital!
Once it was decided to have labor induced, we thought a Saturday would be best because this would not require me to take vacation time for the delivery. As Bev neared full term, we selected September 2, 1961 for our new baby’s arrival. Selecting this Saturday had an additional benefit, it was Labor Day weekend! Labor Day weekend allowed me an extra day off from work to help Bev. The doctor scheduled the hospital for us, so our day was totally planned. There is a fuzzy memory we took Russell to stay with Grandma Wilhite on that Saturday. Best that can be recalled, we took Russell to her house sometime that morning before driving to the hospital. Because everything was on a schedule and Bev was not in labor, we had a leisurely drive to Long Beach Memorial Hospital. Unfortunately, what time we arrived is lost to history. In fact, the scheduled time to meet the doctor has also been lost. Once at the hospital, Bev was checked in and taken to a room to await the doctor.
Once the doctor arrived and briefly checked her and everything was fine, she was taken to the delivery area to be prepped. Once she was ready, the doctor gave her an injection to induce labor. Right after the injection, I was able to see her before being sent to the Father’s Waiting Room. No idea how long I sat there waiting for some news. When a nurse arrived, she informed me we had another son. How long was I waiting? How long was Bev in labor? What time was the baby born? Strange as it seems, answers to these questions are only vague impressions, except the birth occurred about supper time. A long time in the waiting room does not come to mind, which suggests Bev was not in labor a long time. It seems that Bev’s labor was not prolonged nor overly difficult. However, these thoughts are only conjecture. In any event, the nurse gave me Bev’s room number, and I left to see her. What a difference this time compared with Russell’s birth. Bev was not worn out and tired like before. In fact, I believe we both walked to the nursery to see our new son. As with Russell’s birth, Bev was going to stay overnight. Exactly what I did has also been lost to history. It’s a good guess that I called my folks and went to see how Russell was doing with Grandma Wilhite. There is nothing that sparks any sort of memory for how this night progressed. Did I take Russell home, or leave him at Grandma’s? Everything must have been routine with nothing occurring to implant a solid memory. That is the best guess that can be made at this time. Regardless, Sunday morning I went to get Bev and our new son.
Here again memory fails me as to the whereabouts of Russell. Did I bring him home or did he remain with Grandma? Wherever he spent the night, my best guess is that Grandma Wilhite either brought him to our house or she came to stay with him while I went to the hospital. Once at the hospital, I went to Bev’s room just like one year ago. Best that can be recalled, she was dressed and ready to go awaiting our new son. Now we had to fill out the paper work naming our son. We were ready with a boy’s name because he had been active in the womb just like his brother! We named him Darryl Lee Price. Darryl’s vital statistics were: Birth Weight –Six Pounds Twelve Ounces (6 Lbs 12 Ozs), Length: 20 Inches. Time of Birth – 6:09 PM. Following the convention used in naming Russell, Darryl contained two vowel sounds to go best with the family name Price. However, we selected a name that would not be easily contracted for a nick name. Early on, we began using Russas a natural contraction of Russell. But Russ had only one vowel sound and Russ Price was not as melodious as Russell Price. Additionally, we selected Lee as a middle name so that his initial DLPdid not form a word. We had discovered Russ’ initials, RAP, formed a word. Yes, we were stupid and too picky about this name and initial thing, but we did not want our children to be subjected to ridicule because of their name. Perhaps, I was the more sensitive one because of what I experienced due to my first name. Once we brought Darryl home, our lives became very busy!
When we brought Darryl home, he was in a bassinet (the same one Russ used) in our bedroom. Once Russ began sleeping through the night we moved him to the front bedroom, and he was now sleeping in a crib. Bev did not attempt to breast feed Darryl, fearful the result would be the same as with Russ. When Darryl woke, I picked him up, gave him to Bev and went to warm a bottle of formula. When Darryl began sleeping through the night, we moved him and his bassinet to the front bedroom. Now we had to coordinate naps and bedtimes so one boy would not wake the other. Establishing this timing took a while to become successful. Once Darryl and Russ were sleeping in the same room, our daily routines became more normal. More “normal” meant we were going through double the number of diapers. Although Russ was eating solid food, it was supplemented with formula. As such, it seemed we were always sterilizing bottles and nipples and changing diapers. Plus, the washing machine was always operating, there were always diapers on the clothesline and diapers constantly being folded. Babies one year and nineteen days apart meant we each had to share all the chores of feeding, diaper changing, baths, etc. Who dealt with which son was random, depending on which son needed attention and who was available. It is a mystery to me how Bev handled things during the day, while I was at work.
Naps were a large factor that helped Bev during the week. Certainly, Darryl slept quite a bit after the first few months. Both boys were napping mid-morning and again during the afternoon. Coordinating these nap times allowed Bev to take care of only one of the boys at a time, at least that was the theory. Of course, theory and reality do not always coincide. A fuzzy memory was that Darryl was not as active as Russ during his first fourth to sixth month. It is unclear, but it is believed Darryl did not begin crawling until he was about six or seven months old. Darryl had a very unique way of getting where he wanted to go – he would roll to the new spot. Actually, he crawled on all fours, but rolling seemed to be his favorite. Bev had a favorite name for Darryl before he began walking. Darryl was her “peanut”, probably because he seemed smaller than Russ. Shopping initially presented a challenge for us, but we had a somewhat unique solution.
Best that can be remembered, there were not any accessory to easily carry a baby. There is a fuzzy memory that there was a backpack type carrier that you could use but babies were mostly carried in your arms. After Russ was born, we bought a “Tailor Tot” for him to ride in while shopping or other type outings. A photo shows the Tailor Tot and Willie in our backyard.
Willie and Tailor Tot, Circa 1960
The Tailor Tot worked great with just Russ, but now there was Darryl. At the time, there was not any double Tailor Tots like the dual child carriers seen today. So, what to do? Well, our solution was to put Darryl in the seat, and Russ stood on the frame behind the seat in front of the handle and holding onto the handle sides. This technique worked until Darryl was walking and strong enough to walk without tiring. Discussing the Tailor Tot brings to mind, we purchased a new car in the latter half of 1961 or early 1962 plus car seats for the boys.
Today’s car seat types did not exist in our time frame, but there were car seats. These car seats hooked over the top of a bench seat and were not secured in any manner. In fact, there were rarely seat belts before the 1960s, and the first seat belts were lap belts like in today’s airliners. Bev used two of these car seats while shopping, both in the front seat. When all four of us went for an outing, Darryl’s car seat was hooked over the back seat, and sat by himself (I think). There is no memory of all four of us in the front seat; there would not have been enough room for two car seats and two adults. This situation was especially true with the 1950 Mercury. By 1961, our 1950 Mercury was over 10 years old and beginning to show wear and tear and needed to be replaced. Our new car was a used 1959 Ford Four Door Sedan. This car was about three years old, and had depreciated sufficiently to fit our budget. Although this car was equipped with seat belts there was no means for securing the kid’s car seats with the belts. A side view of a 1959 Ford Four Door Sedan is shown in the following photo. Unlike the photo, our Ford was mono colored, not two tone, and was black!
1959 Ford Four Door Sedan
By 1959 American car designs and features were undergoing changes from the first cars produced following World War II. In general, cars were larger in both width and length as can be noted in the huge trunk area of the ’59 Ford. Besides larger trunks, the engine compartment size increased to accommodate larger engines. Our 1950 Ford and Mercury engines were “flat head” V8s that produced 100 horsepower. Ford V8 engines changed from the “flat head” design to ones with overhead vales. The 1959 V8s produced 200 or 225 horsepower hence the need for a larger engine compartment. Our Ford was about 20 to 22 feet in length that meant new home garages had to accommodate these cars. White wall tires were the rage, cost extra and required cleaning the curb marks—a real pain! This car has “skirts” on the rear wheel wells, an add-on that were expensive and could make tire changing a pain. Best that can be remembered, our Ford had white wall tires and did not have “skirts” of any variety. Our 1959 Ford had other features of interest, some which became standard over time. A front and rear view show a few of these features in the following photos.
1959 Ford Front View
1959 Ford Rear View
By the late 1950s dual headlights were becoming standard. Parking lights were larger and doubled as turn signals. There were side view mirrors located on both the driver and passenger sides of the car. Back-up lights had been integrated into the rear fender contours. Note the gas tank cap was located in the center of the car just above the license plate holder in the bumper. You did not have to remember which side of the car needed to be next to the gas pump---a very useful feature. It should be noted that dual exhaust pipes were not standard but an after-market addition, and dual exhaust on our Ford is not remembered. Oops, almost forgot about Russ and Darryl being baptized.
Bev and I continued attending the North Long Beach Methodist Church while living at the Premiere house. No, they were not baptized together but individually. Best that can be recalled is that they were each about four to six months old when we had them baptized. It also seems that one of them barfed on Minister Roy Mason’s robe, but it is unclear if it happened. Both Russ and Darryl were baptized as Methodists. By the time Darryl was baptized, the Premiere house seemed too small for our family. Both Russ and Darryl were sharing the same bedroom and we believed separate bedrooms would be better. Bev grew up having a bedroom to herself while I never had a bedroom of my own. I had to share a bedroom with either Berta or with Granddad Graham. In our experiences, separate bedrooms for our boys was a necessity. So, we began to look for houses again, especially one with more bedrooms. Besides more bedrooms, the next question was where, Long Beach/Lakewood areas or Orange County? Since we grew up in the Long Beach/Lakewood areas, we knew available housing would most likely be used and at least ten years old or more. However, Orange County communities were growing and there were many new homes being built. We finally decided to look for a new home in Orange County. Although there were a number of reasons for making this decision, but two of them standout these many years later: a co-worker’s new house and family reasons.
Our family reasons were two-fold: our parents’ closeness and a larger family. We loved our parents, but we lived within five minutes of mine and about ten minutes from Bev’s folks. We had left their “nests” six years prior, but the “nest” seemed still too close. Why we felt this way is really unclear today especially since there is no memory of any interference by them. What is known is that we believed increasing the distance from them would be of a benefit to us. Our desire for a larger family, I believe, was rooted in the fact our siblings were seven and eight years younger. Yes, Russ and Darryl were only one year apart and they would have a brother to grow up with, and yet we wanted a larger family. Our belief was that a larger family would provide a positive growing up experience. How much larger family did we want? It is unclear if we discussed any specific number of children, we just wanted more than two.
Jim Ashley and I worked in the same Antenna Group at North American Aviation in Downey. Jim and his wife Lee Ann lived in West Anaheim the first time we visited them. This visit was prior to Russ’ birth. Not long after Darryl was born, Jim and Lee Ann purchased a new home in East Anaheim. Their new home was in an Influential Home development near Sunkist Elementary School. We visited them in their new home and were impressed with the home and the area. Early in 1962, we learned Influential Homes was building a second group of homes nearby. We toured the model homes during the February-March time frame and found a model that matched our needs and desires, but could we afford it? Fortunately, the units were under construction and there were several units available and most would not be completed until late Spring or early Summer. After reviewing our finances and more tours of the models, we decided to purchase the four bedroom model. The price was $22,000 and required a $4,400 down payment for an FHA loan at 5% interest. Best I can remember is that the monthly payments were about $460, including property tax, for the 30 year loan. In essence, this monthly payment is purely a wild guess but in the ball park. At some point after making the down payment, we visited the Influential Homes Design Center to select paint colors, flooring types and whatever other available options. Exactly when we made these selections is not remembered.
Once we made the down payment there was no thought of not qualifying for a loan. We had a mortgage on the Premier house, so we believed qualifying for another mortgage was not a problem, right? Wrong! I remember receiving a phone call from a loan officer (?) asking if we had any other type credit besides the Premiere mortgage. I explained we purchased everything by cash and did not purchase on credit. The loan officer thought this was not good economic practice, plus out of the norm for people at the time. It should be noted that credit cards had not been introduced at that time and would be several more years before they were available. Well, regardless of our “strange” purchasing practice, the loan was approved, and we put our house up for sale.
It is not remembered whether we listed the house before or after making the down payment or after the new loan was approved. In any event, we listed the Premier house at about $13,500 and sold it for about $13,000. Selling the house was a huge relief, because the new house sale was contingent on selling the Premiere house. Although it is not clearly remembered, this escrow was to close in June. It is also estimated that construction on our new home was completed sometime in March or April. Once it was completed, the loan approved and all the escrow paperwork signed, we were able to obtain the keys to the house. Now we began to prepare for the move to our new house. Based on all these factors, we decided to schedule our move to Anaheim for the latter part of May. Since we had the keys to our new house, we began moving some items before the final move. Yes, we were “storing” stuff in an empty house again, but we would be the first occupants on our street; it seemed safe enough. Bev discovered how safe it would be!
While we stored boxes in the garage and in some of the rooms on weekends, Bev took some things to the house during the week. Besides taking some boxes, she decided to prepare the kitchen and bathroom drawers and cupboards for dishes, etc. On one of these pre-move trips, she was busy in the kitchen when suddenly she heard, “Come out of the house with your hands in the air!” As you can imagine, she was shocked, scared and wondering what she had done. She went out the front door, not sure if she put her hands up or not, to see what was happening. As it turned out, the Anaheim Police were conducting a training exercise about two houses down from ours. The police believed all the houses were unoccupied and decided it was an excellent place for a training exercise. Once she discovered what was happening, it seems she talked to the police and her heart rate returned to normal. What a welcome to the new house! Once all the preliminary preparations were complete and all small items were moved, we moved the furniture on the weekend prior to Memorial Day. In 1962, Memorial Day was celebrated on Wednesday, May 30, and not on a weekend. It was not until 1971 that the Memorial Day holiday celebration was changed to be the last Monday in May. Essentially, this change was made to give Federal employees a three day weekend.
How we moved the furniture and other large items is not remembered, except a moving company was not employed. Distance between the two houses was only about 15 miles which meant a moving company was not needed. It is suspected that a trailer was rented and pulled by Dad’s pickup truck. It is also possible that John Wilhite’s pickup truck was used also. How many trips were made to complete the move is also a mystery. A map is provided that showing the location of our new house and the surrounding area. Obviously, this map shows the area as it exists today, not in 1962 when we moved into the house. Following the map will be a narrative that describes the area as it existed in 1962 and for several years afterwards. A red pin marks the location of our new house on Sycamore Street.
2662 Sycamore Street and Surrounding Area
When we moved into the house, our address had a County address something like14602 Sycamore Street, Anaheim, California. Within about 5 years the address was changed to 2662 Sycamore Street, Anaheim, California. How things have changed since we moved in. Where to begin? In the upper right corner of the map La Palma Avenue crosses over the 91 Freeway. The 91 Freeway existed in 1962 only from the I5 Freeway to St. College Boulevard and was only two lanes each way! When the freeway ended at St. College Boulevard, the freeway became Highway 91, a four lane highway all the way into Sana Ana Canyon and beyond to Riverside County. There was a signal located where La Palma crossed Highway 91, with the signal activated by cars on La Palma. Where the 57 Freeway is now, it was just a dirt field. The freeway was not constructed until the early 1970s. The Influential Home Development was bound by La Palma in the north, the future 57 Freeway on the west, Rio Vista on the east, and the development extending to the bottom of the map. There were no homes east of Rio Vista. West of the future 57 Freeway, you can see the Sunkist Elementary School. Houses to the south of the school are the homes of the first Influential Homes development and where Jim Ashley’s home was located. The park area just south of the school was Pioneer Park with a frontier style fort made of logs. Between the school and the future freeway was a short street of custom homes. On La Palma, next to these custom homes, was a 7/11 Store. My how things have changed! Before proceeding to a description of the house and our first years in the house, another map shows the area to the east of the house and its importance to our home.
Sycamore House and Its Relation to the Santa Ana River
The Santa Ana River flows out of Santa Ana Canyon in a southwesterly direction, then turns nearly due South about one mile east of our house. When Dad saw where our house was located, he told me it was in the direct path of the flooding Santa Ana River in 1938. The flood is mentioned in the essay The Early Years: 1935 to 1941. A brief summary of that flood follows. In late February and early March 1938, two tropical storms moved up from the western coast of Mexico, which produced abnormal amounts of rain in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside Counties. These storms produced what was considered a 50 Year Flood. Orange County was especially hard hit, because the Santa Ana River had no flood control dams at the time. An eight-foot high wall of waterexited Santa Ana Canyon, overflowed its banks near the intersection of Glassell Street and La Palma Avenue and flooded cities west of the river from Anaheim to Fountain Valley and to the coast. The damage and loss of life was extensive. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began building the Prado Dam in November 1938 at the entrance to the canyon near Corona and Chino, although plans for building the dam were initiated in 1934. This flood clearly showed the dam was required. A subsequent paragraph describes Dad’s involvement in working on the design and construction of the dam. The dam was completed in May 1941, and we moved to Long Beach in August 1941, when Dad started work for the Navy at Terminal Island. After seeing our location, Dad asked to see the property description, and sure enough it indicated our property was subject to flooding. But now, the Santa Ana River was controlled by the Prado Dam and river bed modifications that minimized the danger of further floods. Even so, our property exhibited signs of the flood. Although our home was built on a former orange grove, the soil was almost pure sand about one foot below the surface. It is a fair assumption that this sand was deposited by the flood. However, the sand could have been deposited by floods prior to this 1938 flood. Now that the house’s location and surrounding area have been describe, a description of the house is in order.
For us, the house seemed huge. Besides a large living room, a dining room, a kitchen with a breakfast bar, there were four bedrooms, two full-bathroom and a half bathroom. The kitchen had a built-in oven and stove, there was a fireplace that extended from the living room into the dining room. The house had a total of 1620 square feet, excluding the two-car garage, all on a lot with large front and backyards. The washing machine and dryer were located in the garage. An early photo shows part of the house front and the attached garage. The two windows to the right of the entrance are in the kitchen, just above the dual sink. The window to the left of the entrance is the fourth bedroom, or den. At the left edge of the photo is a shutter for the third bedroom window. While the front door is not visible in the photo, the upper have of the door was glass. The glass was not solid, but there were diamond shaped glass panes framed with wood strips. A layout of the house floor pan was attempted, but was not satisfactory and a word description was too wordy and lengthy. The layout was very functional and fit our needs.
2662 Sycamore Street, Circa 1964
This photo was taken a couple of years after moving in, because the grass, brick edging and plants were some of our first “sweat equity” projects. When we occupied the house, there were no lawns or fences, it was just plain dirt---front, back and sides. As such, it was dusty and Willie had to be tied up. A temporary fenced off area was erected off the dining room for Willie. It was not perfect, but it worked until fences could be built. Before fences could be built, we had to wait for the neighborhood to be occupied. Since Sycamore Street homes were among the last to be completed, these homes and those closer to La Palma were the last to be occupied. Our backyard neighbor and all the other homes on Jackson Avenue were all waiting for Sycamore Street neighbors. How long it took for the neighborhood to fill up is not remembered nor when our next door neighbors moved in. I am sure Bev has a better remembrance than me, because she was around during the day while I was at work. In fact, my memory is fuzzy on the chronology of events these first few years, but there are definite memories of specific events that happened during the first few years after we moved in. These events will be presented as close to chronologically as possible.
Moving to East Anaheim increased my commute distance and time to work by a factor of at least three. The NAA plant in Downey was about 17 miles and 45 minutes from home. Initially, I took Hwy 91 at La Palma until it became the 91 Freeway at State College Boulevard. The 91 Freeway ended and merged in to the Santa Ana Freeway (I5), just before Buena Park. I took the Interstate 5 north and exited at Imperial Highway and drove to NAA. Usually, it required 45 minutes from the house to NAA, but when the freeway was clogged it took one hour at least to make the drive. This commute time did not seem excessive but was the maximum desired for a work commute. Yes, this commute was done in our Renault Dauphine sardine can. At least the gas mileage was reasonable. It seems the first major event occurred about five months after we moved to East Anaheim.
There is no mystery when this event occurred, it was a major national event. While at work on October 16,1962, we learned President Kennedy was scheduled to address the nation at 5 PM PST. Since 5 PM was at quitting time, Al Woronow and I went to my car to listen to the radio. Al was our technician and lived only two blocks from my folks. President Kennedy announced there were Soviet nuclear tipped missiles in Cuba---yes, the Cuban Missile Crisis! When I arrived at home and told Bev about the President’s announcement, she said that planes from the El Toro Marine Air Station were flying all day. Basically, she knew something was happening but had no idea what. By this time, the TV news was wall-to-wall coverage. Initial TV coverage showed that the Soviet missiles did not have the range to reach the West Coast. However, in a couple days, nuclear war appeared possible, if not probable. We began to plan how to survive a nuclear attack. A trip to the grocery store was made to stock up on food and water but was fruitless—shelves were so bare we hardly bought anything. Well, we could make a dash for the desert, since we could quickly run through Santa Ana Canyon. Yep, we were very naïve, but the desire to survive is very strong. You do not accept death as inevitable. Fortunately, the crisis ended without a nuclear war but returning to that memory is very sobering! While it seems Darryl’s medical adventure began before the missile crisis, it is best to present his adventure as just one event.
Through a neighbor, we had found a pediatrician group in Fullerton. Bev had started taking Russ and Darryl to the doctors’ office not too long after we move to Anaheim. Doctor Arthur was the usual physician that checked the boys. Later, it became Doctor Carnahan. Early on, Doctor Arthur said that one of Darryl’s hip joints was not aligned properly and prescribed he sleep with a metal bar attached to each foot. The aluminum bar had a shoe attached at each end with each shoe pointed outward at about a 45 degree angle. As a result, Darryl had to sleep on his back and never slept on his stomach as a baby. Darryl slept with this bar every night for at least a year, maybe two. The bar must have worked because Darryl is now running half marathons. However, Darryl presented us with another crisis.
Best that can be recalled, Darryl’s crisis occurred either just before or just after the missile crisis. Darryl became ill, Doctor Arthur prescribed a medication, but it seemed to be ineffective. Darryl could not keep food down and had diarrhea. Darryl was crying continuously, so you knew he did not feel well. So, we returned to see Doctor Arthur. On this visit, Doctor Arthur quickly determined Darryl was dehydrated and put him in the hospital. Needless to say, Bev was really stressed with her “peanut” being placed in the hospital. He was in the hospital for about three or four days, maybe less. His time at the hospital resulted in shaking the illness and being re-hydrated. It would be about another five or six years before more major medical adventures for Darryl. Russ’ medical adventures would not begin for about another ten years! Once Darryl’s medical adventures and the Cuban Missile Crisis were behind us, neighbors and fences took center stage.
Perhaps three to four months after we moved in, an immigrant family moved into the house next to ours that was opposite our garage door, or off the left edge of the above photo. The Bikaforif family were Russian and had emigrated from Canada. Originally, they had emigrated from France following the conclusion of the war. The family consisted of husband, wife and two children. The husband, Mike, had been captured in Russia by the Nazis and transported to France as slave labor to work in factories. Nadya, his wife, had been a nurse during the war, assumed to be in France also. The children were Catherine, about ten, and Surge a couple of years younger than his sister. The family was friendly and offered the possibility of Catherine becoming a close-by future baby sitter. Best that can be remembered, Mike worked as an engineering draftsman. Nadya did not work, and became good friends with Bev. Mike worked hard improving their new house and seemed to be a pleasant fellow. Mike’s pleasantness faded when it came time to select fence material.
Once the Sycamore houses became populated, a fencing contractor descended on the neighborhood. Their fences would be constructed of concrete blocks and would include either one or two gates to the backyard. These concrete blocks came in three different colors: plain (no color), a beige and a pale yellow (Orca 500). Our backyard neighbor on Jackson Avenue liked the beige, as did Bev and I. Beige was a better color that accented the trim on our house. So, we had a deal with the rear yard neighbors to share the cost of the fence. Mike wanted the Orca 500 and would not even consider the beige. His other next door neighbor, Bruce Mount also preferred the beige, while Mike’s backyard neighbor did not care about the color as long as they could share the cost. I told Mike two color of fences around our house was not acceptable to us. Mike claimed the beige block wall reminded him of the concentration camps during the war. We were at a total impasse, so I told him we would build the fence on our property with the beige blocks and he would not have to share the cost. Now he was really upset that we could not be neighborly. Basically, we could be neighborly only if he got his Orca 500 fence. Mike ended up erecting an Orca 500 fence on his property. Bruce ended up with Mike’s selection for their common fence and two different colors on their backyard fence. Our other neighbors did not want a block wall fence, which meant we had to build that fence on our property and assume the full cost of it. Best I can recall, they could not afford the cost and built a redwood grape type fence. It took Mike some time to accept the two wall fence between our houses. What an experience!
A new housing development is attacked by all sorts of vendors besides fence contractors. There are folks selling soft water conditioners, carpet dealers, patio contractors to name just a few. There was one vendor Bev did not turn away, a vendor you rarely, if ever, see any more---a photographer with a pony and cowboy gear. Rough Riders of the Purple Sage: the notorious Price Brothers Russ and Darryl.
Russ, Circa 1963
Darryl, Circa 1963
Cowboy outfits were the “in” thing for the boys for a number of years. There are possibly a couple of reasons for the cowboy thing. First, Dad was probably reliving his childhood days. I wanted them to have the same experiences I had growing up. Second, during the early 1960s and into the 1970s, TV westerns were provided a large share of the “family hours” programs. In a way, TV westerns approximated my experience of going to the movies with Dad to see cowboy movies. The next photo shows the Price boys with their shootin’ irons, ready for the bad guys in black hats.
The Dangerous Price Brothers Darryl and Russ, Circa 1963
This photo raises some interesting questions. First, why did Russ have two guns and Darryl only one? No idea. Second, Darryl’s gun is on his left side. There is a fuzzy memory that we thought he might be left-handed. We were wrong, but why he started that way is another mystery of life. Yep, in these early years Bev dressed them with the same shirts. Identical shirts on them had some folks ask if they were twins. It should be noted; besides the guns and hats, they wore cowboy boots.
Growing experiences come in all forms for kids as well as parents. One weekend I was working in the front area of the house while the boys were investigating their world. Russ was investigating in the garage; what Darryl was investigating is not remembered. The laundry machines were in the garage along with the hot water heater. The hot water heater was on a platform about 18 to 24 inches off the garage floor. There was a drainage faucet at the bottom of the hot water heater that Russ had discovered. As any curious and inquisitive boy, Russ turned the faucet handle and was immediately hit with a stream of hot water. He screamed, of course, just standing there. I ran to him thinking he had been scalded and shut off the faucet. Fortunately, he was not scalded but was very scared. Both Dad and son had learned a lesson. Russ learned about hot water faucets, and I learned how difficult protecting your children can be, even when you are close by them.
To round out their growing experience, we provided them with one of the best toys a boy could have---a shovel! What is a boy that doesn’t love digging in the dirt and getting dirty? The next photo shows them in the height of their glory playing in----MUD!
Tonka Trucks, Shovels, Dirt and Water-Russ’ & Darryl’s Delight, Circa 1963
Some folks thought we were crazy letting them get this dirty, but a bath and the laundry cleaned things up just fine. Plus, Nadya next door told Bev she thought letting them play in dirt and mud was a good thing, because it helped them build their immune system.
One more photo to show them all cleaned up after a busy day playing in the dirt and mud. Notice the identical shirts, pants and hats. You could say Darryl looks “bright eyed and bushy tailed, but it is just red eye. This photo is taken in front of our living room fireplace. Actually, the fireplace extended in to the dining room. Sort of a “see through” effect.
Darryl and Russ All Cleaned Up, Circa 1963
Originally, the intent was to cover the time period from 1960 to 1970. Obviously, the essay only reached 1963. Thus, another essay will be necessary to document our marriage into the 1970s. Perhaps some things could have been omitted, but once you remember things that seem to be important, you ramble on without thinking about how lengthy the tome is becoming. Then it is too late. A real attempt will be made to be less wordy next time, but no guarantees. It all depends on how fertile my memory happens to be.
