Classic cars on the beach
Thursday June 26, 1952
Went to “El Monte” theater and saw Red Ball Express and Bronco Buster with Lorea tonight. Went up to the Pioneer Café after the show, that black music positively sends me over the edge.
You know I haven’t picked up a boy for really a long time, not that I’m complaining or anything. I wish all the boys in the whole world would go back where they came from, go and crawl back under their rocks that is.
Went to “El Monte” theater and saw Red Ball Express and Bronco Buster with Lorea tonight. Went up to the Pioneer Café after the show, that black music positively sends me over the edge.
You know I haven’t picked up a boy for really a long time, not that I’m complaining or anything. I wish all the boys in the whole world would go back where they came from, go and crawl back under their rocks that is.
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Friday June 27, 1952
Stayed home tonight. I told Bill I was going to The Stomp tomorrow night alone because he was taking up too much of my time and we aren’t going steady, so I want my night out.
Saturday June 28, 1952
Went up to The Stomp tonight with Lorea and came home with Freddy, he took me to the Pioneer Café. Bill was also up there with a girl name of Johann, some cute looking witch. He told me he’d meet me after the dance, so he came down at quarter to 2am to the house. Well, I was in Freddy’s car necking, so I explained it to Freddy and anyhow I just got out of his car and switched to Bill’s. After a while I just couldn’t stand Freddy, he kept trying to feel me up and he made me hate him.
Bill was real plastered when he came down, and I had to comfort him. Oh God I like him so much. He told me he didn’t give a damn about Johann and wants me to go steady with him. I told him “Yes when I get the ring, and I don’t mean on the telephone.”
Sunday June 29, 1952
Bill came down today, I like him so much. He told me he loved me, he is my handsome baby doll.
Monday June 30, 1952
Buella came down tonight and we went up to Carpenter’s with Scotty this guy I know from The Stomp and Wayne this other guy Buella knew. They’re going to take us to the beach tomorrow. Hot diggity dog.
Tuesday July 1, 1952
Went to Huntington Beach with the guys and we went to some real secluded spot on the rocks and we had to climb down a cliff and be real careful. Damn we had a fine time there all by ourselves, all three couples. I’ll have to take Bill down there sometime. Some fun man.
Mary Alice came down tonight, she had a fine time on her vacation.
Wednesday July 2, 1952
I am suffering in silence, but I’ll clue you: my sunburn on my back hurts and my legs ache from climbing that cliff, and boy I feel like death warmed over.
Boy, it is July 2nd already. I’ll have to work like a streak of greased lightning if I want to finish knitting the argyles for Ted for his birthday on the 18th. (Ted Watt, neighbor)
Thursday July 3, 1952
Went to Confession.
Mary Alice came down tonight with some guy and we went on a supposed double date, except that we missed his friend by 15 minutes. We took off to Huntington Beach to find him, but we never did. We had our kicks though, the three of us cruising around.
I got in at 11pm and Bill was down, I hate his damn guts. He got mad at me and said a bunch of cruel things, I just think he wants to hurt me on purpose and he succeeded. I’ll clue you: That is the second time he’s hurt me and I’m certainly going to wipe him out for good because I don’t think feeling hurt is so nice.
Stayed home tonight. I told Bill I was going to The Stomp tomorrow night alone because he was taking up too much of my time and we aren’t going steady, so I want my night out.
Saturday June 28, 1952
Went up to The Stomp tonight with Lorea and came home with Freddy, he took me to the Pioneer Café. Bill was also up there with a girl name of Johann, some cute looking witch. He told me he’d meet me after the dance, so he came down at quarter to 2am to the house. Well, I was in Freddy’s car necking, so I explained it to Freddy and anyhow I just got out of his car and switched to Bill’s. After a while I just couldn’t stand Freddy, he kept trying to feel me up and he made me hate him.
Bill was real plastered when he came down, and I had to comfort him. Oh God I like him so much. He told me he didn’t give a damn about Johann and wants me to go steady with him. I told him “Yes when I get the ring, and I don’t mean on the telephone.”
Sunday June 29, 1952
Bill came down today, I like him so much. He told me he loved me, he is my handsome baby doll.
Monday June 30, 1952
Buella came down tonight and we went up to Carpenter’s with Scotty this guy I know from The Stomp and Wayne this other guy Buella knew. They’re going to take us to the beach tomorrow. Hot diggity dog.
Tuesday July 1, 1952
Went to Huntington Beach with the guys and we went to some real secluded spot on the rocks and we had to climb down a cliff and be real careful. Damn we had a fine time there all by ourselves, all three couples. I’ll have to take Bill down there sometime. Some fun man.
Mary Alice came down tonight, she had a fine time on her vacation.
Wednesday July 2, 1952
I am suffering in silence, but I’ll clue you: my sunburn on my back hurts and my legs ache from climbing that cliff, and boy I feel like death warmed over.
Boy, it is July 2nd already. I’ll have to work like a streak of greased lightning if I want to finish knitting the argyles for Ted for his birthday on the 18th. (Ted Watt, neighbor)
Thursday July 3, 1952
Went to Confession.
Mary Alice came down tonight with some guy and we went on a supposed double date, except that we missed his friend by 15 minutes. We took off to Huntington Beach to find him, but we never did. We had our kicks though, the three of us cruising around.
I got in at 11pm and Bill was down, I hate his damn guts. He got mad at me and said a bunch of cruel things, I just think he wants to hurt me on purpose and he succeeded. I’ll clue you: That is the second time he’s hurt me and I’m certainly going to wipe him out for good because I don’t think feeling hurt is so nice.
Vilma’s Beach Blanket Bingo
When Vilma isn’t flitting around at Cliiffie Stone’s Hometown Jamboree (aka The Stomp), necking in two cars in one night and having a love/hate relationship with baby doll Bill, you can find her at beach!
I’ll clue you: Vilma had a lifelong love affair with the ocean. Swimming and salt air were as necessary to her as blood and oxygen. Born on the isle of Bermuda, she lived her toddler years on the soft pink sands and splashing in the clear warm waters of her own hidden paradise.
You can read more about Vilma’s Bermuda days in one of my special blog posts here.
Just a ride up the freeway, less than an hour from her home in El Monte, the beach beckoned to her like a mermaid’s siren call. For a teenager in 1952 it must have been magical. With the love affair young people were having with their classic cars, there was all-out sense of freedom and independence like never before in the decades prior. And the best part was you could pull your car up right up on the sand!
When Vilma isn’t flitting around at Cliiffie Stone’s Hometown Jamboree (aka The Stomp), necking in two cars in one night and having a love/hate relationship with baby doll Bill, you can find her at beach!
I’ll clue you: Vilma had a lifelong love affair with the ocean. Swimming and salt air were as necessary to her as blood and oxygen. Born on the isle of Bermuda, she lived her toddler years on the soft pink sands and splashing in the clear warm waters of her own hidden paradise.
You can read more about Vilma’s Bermuda days in one of my special blog posts here.
Just a ride up the freeway, less than an hour from her home in El Monte, the beach beckoned to her like a mermaid’s siren call. For a teenager in 1952 it must have been magical. With the love affair young people were having with their classic cars, there was all-out sense of freedom and independence like never before in the decades prior. And the best part was you could pull your car up right up on the sand!
Huntington Beach was the beach to cruise around in the 1950’s. Not yet officially designated with the hard won title of “Surf City”, it was still busy making its mark on Southern California surf culture.
Huntington Beach originally started out as an oil town, growing rich with fresh oil strikes from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. Naturally its population exploded.
Huntington Beach originally started out as an oil town, growing rich with fresh oil strikes from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. Naturally its population exploded.
So how did the surf culture find its way to this booming oil town? We can thank Hawaiian native and legendary surfing extraordinaire Duke Kahanamoku.
Huntington would not be what it is today without Duke. He popularized the sport of surfing around the world beginning in the late 1900’s. Finally landing at Huntington in the 1920’s, he introduced this newfangled surfing sport to beach goers. The trend was unstoppable, and by the 1950’s the surf craze was now fully ingrained. The city’s first surf shop opened in 1953.
Six years later, the first U.S. Surfing Championships were held in Huntington Beach. The following year, the Surfing Championships were covered on television, which rocketed Huntington Beach’s international fame as a surfer’s paradise.
With H.B. now immortalized as Surf City and summer just around the corner, here are some of my personal recommendations:
With H.B. now immortalized as Surf City and summer just around the corner, here are some of my personal recommendations:
- Visit Duke’s in the heart of HB, the restaurant that pays homage to the greatest surfer of all time. Its walls immortalize his amazing history and life.
- Find the nearest beach and throw yourself into the waves.
- Cruise down Pacific Coast Highway with all the windows rolled down, let the sun shine on your face and breathe in the salty air.
- You could even cover yourself in seaweed and scare the kiddos by pretending to be a lagoon monster. Just have fun!
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