Growing up in L.A.

1940s-1970s

 1940s                                                                                                                                           

Me and Mom May 1945. The building just to the right of the telephone pole is in front of the building where I spent the first few years of my life. The street going under the bridge is Figueroa; the street going over the bridge is Temple. Picture is from the Los Angeles Public Library, 1939.

 

 Backsides: of the building in the picture to the left, and of some shameless toddler. c. 1946.  
Me and Dad in Echo Park, 1948. This was Homer St. in the 1913 flood. It was much drier when we moved there in January 1949. Picture is from the Los Angeles Public Library. One of first movies I remember seeing. Didn't understand the plot at the time but I was mesmerized by the zephyr- based theme and hummed it for weeks in 1949.
The neighborhood where I grew up is dissected by the Pasadena Freeway. Homer St. is across the Arroyo Seco which  borders the freeway on the south. Saw this movie at way too young an age. Scared the poop out of me for years. I still think it's the scariest movie ever made.  
1950s
I started Kindergarten at  Latona Ave. Elementary School in the Montecito Heights area of Los Angeles in February 1950.
 My favorite cowboy in the early 50s. I even had "Hoppy" wallpaper in my bedroom.

 

 Watching Howdy Doody made me want to visit New York City where the show originated. Finally made it there in 1964.
 
Beany and Cecil (the seasick sea serpent) was another early TV favorite. Crusader Rabbit (with Rags the tiger) was Hannah-Barbera's first TV cartoon--before the more well known Rocky and Bullwinkle. Silver and the Lone Ranger.
Saw this movie at a drive-in in the early 50s. Still one of my favorites. Is there a Baby Boomer out there who doesn't have the obligatory horse picture? (c. 1952)
My mother would contract tuberculosis and be sent to a sanitarium in March 1953. She'd be there a year. 1953 was not one of my best years.
April 1953. My 8th birthday party. Classmates Wayne L. is 2nd from left, top row and Martha Y. is 2nd from right. I loved this movie when I saw it at the "Highland" in 1953. It's still one of my favorite sci fi flix.  
Made my "First Communion" in spring 1953. I'd abandon Catholicism before the end of the decade...liberation, step one. Saw the first 3-D movie at the Highland Theater in 1953.
Marilyn began her journey towards cultural icon in the early 50s. My cousin Mildred Madrid Lozano, 1941-1998 (Belmont S'59). Picture taken atop Glacier Point, c.1954. Me and 20,000,000 other kids were in to Davy Crockett the summer of 1955.

 

 

 

 

The Mickey Mouse Club captivated an entire generation in the mid-fifties.

 Annette and Jimmie. Spin & Marty debuted on the MMC in fall 1955.
These were taken on our first trip to Disneyland in August 1955 soon after it opened. Not all rides were operational yet.
Cousin Steve Colo (1952-1994) and me in 1955. As a cub Scout with dog Spunky, 1955. With Cousins Yvonne Madrid (FHS, S'64) and Richard Madrid, 1949-1970 (FHS, W'67). c. 1955
Me (r) and Eddie Lizarraga sitting in front of the house I grew up in. Me and the Family's new 1955 Buick. Martha Youngberg, me and Linda Ferandell. Halloween 1955.
     
Favorites from the mid-fifties and movies I still enjoy watching. Also from 1955. "Bombglow" from the Nevada testing grounds. If you got up early enough you could see it! Otherwise you could play "duck and cover" with your classmates at school for that "atomic" experience. Richfield Building (1928-68) is prominent to the right. Art Deco made way for Arco! Picture is from the Los Angeles Public Library web site of photos from the history of L.A. It's quite impressive. Check it out here.
The top song of 1956 was "Memories Are Made of This" by Dean Martin but a new music form called rock and roll made a big splash with Elvis's "Heartbreak Hotel," Little Richard's' "Long Tall Sally," and Frankie Lymon's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" This music would define our generation.
 The Latona Ave. Elementary School grades B-6 and A-6. Some would become the Franklin High classes of Summer 1962 and Winter 1963. Taken April 1956.
1956 Rose Parade. Christmas 1956.
The Latona graduating class of winter 1957.The girls:(l-r) Martha Youngberg, Sylvia Ramirez, Elsie Sandoval. The boys: Eddie Lizarraga, me, Andy Cuellar, Wayne Langford, David Holdredge. I think I first discovered Mad sometime in 1956 although I can document my first purchase to 1957. This magazine helped make me the cynical and sarcastic bastard I am today (and proud of it!)
Junior High School Years--Nightingale Jr. High (February 1957-January 1960)
Philly's American Bandstand premiered in L. A. in the late summer of 1957. Thus began the nationalization of rock music for the "Boomer Generation!" The Soviets premiered "Sputnik" in October 1957. Leave It To Beaver debuted in October 1957.
Made my Catholic "Confirmation" in December 1957. Promised not to drink 'till I was 21. Ha!
I started getting interested in rock music and going to school dances in 1957. Some of my favorites songs from that year were:

1. Come Go With Me, The Del Vikings

2. Little Darlin', The Diamonds

3. So Rare, Jimmy Dorsey

4. Stardust, Billy Ward & his Dominoes

5. Diana, Paul Anka

6. Try Me, James Brown

7. Bye Bye Love ,The Everly Bros.

8. Honeycomb, Jimmie Rodgers

9. Jailhouse Rock, Elvis Presley

10. You Send Me, Sam Cooke

 
My Favorite hits from 1958

1. All I Have To Do Is Dream, Everly Bros.  

2. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, The Platters

3. It's Only Make Believe, Conway Twitty

4. It's All In The Game, Tommy Edwards

5. Twilight Time, The Platters

6. Poor Little Fool, Ricky Nelson

7. Maybe, The Chantels

8. Lollipop, The Chordettes

9. Book of Love, The Monotones

10. Tears On My Pillow, Little Anthony & The Imperials

                                                                                      

Another confirmation picture. Is it just me or does Catholicism regularly create atheists?
Christmas 1957.
One of 1958's best movies. U.S. finally launches a satellite!

Vanguard I was successfully launched on January 31, 1958 using a Jupiter C rocket. The space race was on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo from About.com

 Image:The Blob poster.jpgOne of the most fun movies of 1958 with a silly top 10 song to match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo from wikipedia

 
Spring 1959. 1959 Chevy Impala. From 1959. Check out the lamp!
     
The best movie of 1959 and still one of my all-time favorites.
My favorite hits from 1959 and January 1960 (last month of Jr. High)

1. Donna, Ritchie Valens

2. El Paso, Marty Robbins

3. Mr. Blue, The Fleetwoods

4. Sleep Walk, Santo & Johnny

5. Dream Lover, Bobby Darin

6. Put Your Head On My Shoulder, Paul Anka

7. Harlem Nocturne, The Viscounts

8. Oh Carol, Paul Anka,

9. Sleepy Lagoon, The Platters

10. There Goes My Baby, The Drifters

11. The Hully Gully, The Coasters

12. Pretty Blue Eyes, Steve Lawrence

 A group of Nightingale Jr. High students out on the town after a formal dance. (l-r: Alex, Sylvia, me Lorraine, ?, Jerry, Grace, John) December 1959.
Me, Lorraine, Sylvia, Alex.
Me and buddy Eddie Kocher at graduation, January 1960.
At graduation, January 1960. (l-r: Sylvia, Jorge, Grace, me, Gloria)
     
1960s (excluding high school years--1960-63. Click here to go there.)
As a UCLA Freshman, February 1963. I was in English class at UCLA on November 22, 1963 when I heard the news coming from a radio outside the classroom that the President had been shot.

 
For a web video presentation of the 60s click here:

 Take Me Back To The Sixties

 NYC skyline (crossing the bridge), summer 1964 on my first visit to the Big Apple. At the World's Fair, 1964
Where Did Our Love Go?  by the Supremes was #1 summer of 1964. Best buddy John Rogers in the summer of 1964. Stopped at Gettysburg on return trip from 1964 World's Fair in New York. Went with friend John Rogers (FHS S'64).
In the fall of 1964 I participated in a presidential campaign for the first time and supported LBJ and HHH. Goldwater had been painted as a warmonger in Vietnam and LBJ was the "peace" candidate. Discovering we'd been betrayed was the first step in my (and others') rejection of politicians as fucking liars (has much changed?).
 One of 1964's best movies is the biting satirical condemnation of the "arms race:" Dr. Strangelove. Any resemblance to Henry Kissinger is surely intended (speaking of fucking liars).

 

 

 Moved in to a new house in Highland Park, October 1964. I'm Frankenstein's creation, Mike Martinez (FHS, W65) is an alien from "Outer Limits," my mother is wondering why she agreed to pose with us. Halloween 1964.
I joined Tau Kappa Epsilon National Fraternity in 1966. Hung around for a few years.
 This picture was taken at the TKE "Red Carnation Ball" at the Miramar Hotel in Santa Barbara, May 1966. This movie came out in 1966 although Bruce Brown screened regularly at our high school 5 years earlier.
1967 was a turning point, I believe, for America. The tide against the war in Vietnam was swelling and the music was acquiring a harder edge.
 The Doors had the #1 song in the country in mid 1967. I saw Jim and the Doors at the Whiskey and at the Renaissance Faire that year. Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced?, and Cream's Disraeli Gears were my favorite LPs in 1968. .
The summer of 1967 saw Janis Joplin emerge as a rock star from the Monterey Jazz and Pop Festival. I saw her at the Hollywood Bowl in September 1969.
Taken before the TKE "Red Carnation Ball" c. 1968. Turned seriously anti-war sometime in 1967 and decided to support the first serious anti-war presidential candidate, the intellectual Gene McCarthy. RFK assassinated in June '68 and HHH defeated McCarthy in the bloody Democratic convention in Chicago summer '68.
  Hell no, I didn't go!

 

Jerry Rubin. From Ramparts (Dec. 1969)

 Worked at the L.A. Community Service Org. with a youth group (pictured). I'm 3rd from right. c. 1969.
Thought about going to this concert after reading the ad in the LA Free Press in the summer of 1969. Didn't think my '67 bug or my buddy's '65 Mustang could make it cross country. Saw this movie numerous times in 1969 at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. Remains one of my all-time favorite. Another favorite flick from the late 60s.
1970-72

I gained a beard and a few pounds in 1970.

 My cousin Richard Madrid served in the Marines during the Vietnam War. Soon after his stint in the military, he died in a motorcycle accident on March 14, 1970--nine days after his 21st birthday. At the parents' house, Christmas 1971.
My buddies and I went to the run-down Highland Theater in early 70s to see this "warning" about the dangers of pot smoking--not a clear head in the house!       Campaigned hard to beat Nixon in 1972. Had to wait a few years for vindication.                                         1971's The Devils, based on an Aldus Huxley book, quickly became my favorite movie both because of its director (take no prisoners Ken Russell) and its exposure of Catholic decadence and hypocrisy. Some day they'll release the uncut version and we can see where Vanessa really puts that crucifix.
Speaking of clear heads--Prop 19 was also on the '72 California ballot. Still waiting.
When I first saw this I could've sworn it was about the TEKE house! I was a senior in high school, that's where I was. Won best movie of 1972 and Brando won best actor.
     
Click here to go to 1973-77 (my grad school years at UCSB)
     

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