Glacier Falls Ice Arena

An anonymous OCThen reader asks if anyone else remembers "Glacier Falls Ice Arena", an ice skating rink in Anaheim...

Does anybody remember Glacier Falls Ice Arena? It was in Anaheim on Katella near Disneyland. We had lots of good fun ice skating there on Saturday mornings in the 1960's. After the Zamboni shaved the ice we sure did pay attention to the big sign hung in the arena reading: Skate At Your Own Risk!
That ice was slick.

Click on Post a Comment if you remember it too.

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Murray Manor Shopping Center

Victoria, an OCThen reader, wants to ask others if they know anything about Murray Manor Shopping Center, which I believe was in Garden Grove...

Hello again,
My dad, Harold Murray Jr. owned Murray Manor Shopping Center back in the 60's (1965-1969), it was located at 911 N. Brookhurst. We lived in a house located on the parking lot behind the furniture store. The furniture store there was a very large spanish style house. I have information that it was also an orphanage at one time as well as a Governers mansion. The house that we used as a furniture store was once called the Stanton House, after Phillip Ackely Stanton. I am looking for anyone who shopped there, new my family or knows any more info on the house itself. I am gathering all the info to pass to my children.

Thanks, Victoria shopvc@yahoo.com

I did find a couple of anonymous comments that mention Murray Manor...

Great site! I have had a ball looking at Knott's, D-land, Deer Farm, etc., and just saw "Murray Manor" mentioned two posts ago, where I remember being a bored kid dragged around by my parents.

Murray Manor mentioned here twice - wow, that's a real trip. Twas really boring for the kids, but what a grand place it was. I don't remember if we ever bought anything from there, but we did visit 3 or 4 times.

If anyone has some information about this building, please click on "Post a Comment" below and share it with us.

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Stehley's Egg Ranch

A couple of OCThen readers posted comments on the "Submit A Memory" page relating to Stehley's Egg Ranch in Anaheim. I wanted to move them here to its own article...

I need help! does anyone remember a place called Stehley's Egg Ranch in Anaheim? It was a little place that sold fresh eggs and they had a monkey, yes! a real live chimpanzee as a pet. They would dress it up and it sat behind the counter! I can still see that monkey in my mind. And I swear I havent smoked anything! I used to love going there with my mom because I could see the monkey!

By Anonymous, at October 04, 2007 10:43 PM

I remember a dairy that sold eggs .It was located in Anaheim on the corner of Lincoln and Brookhurst. It was next door to Dows Market and across the street from the Linbrook Bowl. Could that be Stehley's Egg Ranch?
Circa 1964.

By Anonymous, at October 26, 2007 6:42 PM

I don't particularly remember Stehley's Egg Ranch, but if you do, please click "Post a Comment" below, and share your memories.

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Subscribe to OCThen

Now you can receive each new OCThen article as an e-mail.

In the navigation bar at the top, you'll see a link "Subscribe". This link takes you to this article.

By entering your e-mail address in the space below, each new article I post here will be delivered to your inbox. The advantage to doing this is that you won't have to remind yourself to visit OCThen to see what's new. Instead, it'll come to you!

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El Toro's of Huntington Beach

An anonymous OCThen reader remembers a favorite restaurant of his named "El Toro's" in Huntington Beach, and asks about their chili...

When I was growing up in the 70's, my family and I would eat at our favorite restaurant several times a month. The name of the restaurant was El Toro's and was located in Huntington Beach on Warner Avenue, just west of Bolsa Chica Street. It closed in the early 80's and my family has missed it ever since. One of our favorite menu items was called a Mexita; a crisp corn tortilla with refried beans, chili sauce and cheese melted on top. It was the chili sauce that gave the Mexita its unique flavor, one that I haven't found at any other Mexican restaurant. Does anyone who remembers this restaurant know how they made this chili?

This is a tough request, but if you got any info or memories of this restaurant, click on "Post a Comment" and share it with us.

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Tustin in the 1950's

Lynda Emery Smith writes to us about her memories of growing up in Tustin from the 1950's to the 1970's...

My husband, Kevin Smith, and I grew up in Tustin, about a mile apart. Between us, we have so many memories of Tustin and Orange County in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Peacocks on Peacock Hill, Tustin Teeways, the slot-car track, 25 cent Saturday matinees at Tustin Theater. Market Basket was the only market around, unless you counted Tiny Tim's, next to Lemon Heights Drug Store. (My mom still sees Mrs. Toth, the owner's wife.) Before Jamestown Village and Larwin Square opened, we'd have to go to downtown Santa Ana to do "real" shopping at the department stores. My father worked at First Western Bank there, and my grandfather owned a carpet store next to Walker's Market. At Tustin Tiller Days it seemed as if everyone knew everyone else. Adam's Hardware, Millie's Pink Poodle...the list goes on and on. We can't drive through Tustin, (where my 82 year-old mother still lives and attends the same church,) without a trip down memory lane. He grew up on Eveningside and Arroyo, and I on Windsor Lane. (The one that turned into Zig-Zag Lane, which is now Elizabeth Way.) We didn't meet, however, until I was 17 and he was 18. We married when I turned 18, and here we are - 34 years later!

Lynda 'Emery' Smith
Laguna Niguel

Click on "Post a Comment" below and share your memories of Tustin in the old days.

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Little Red Inn of Tustin

An anonymous OCThen reader asks if anyone remembers the "Little Red Inn" located in Tustin, along with other Tustin eateries...

Hi Steve!
Once again I find my way to OCthen and going over the posted comments!Does anyone out there remember the "Little Red Inn" located in Tustin next to Tustin High School? I remember going in there and having a coke and french fries for a quarter! It sat on the corner of Laguna and (I think it was "B' street) in later years it changed hands, didnt ever go there for dinner. Then there was "Ruby's" cafe on El Camino Real, (next to Mitchells Market,) still had the juke box selections and catalog machine on the table tops! The cost was a nickle per selection! How about the Tastee Freeze across the street from Ruby's, Firday and Saturday nights would find the parking lot packed full of cars and kids! fond memories!OCthen!

Click on "Post a Comment" below if you can add anything about Little Red Inn.

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Cloud 9 and Studio K

Cloud 9 and Studio K were dance clubs inside of Knott's Berry Farm. During the 1980's they were two of the trendiest places in Orange County for teenagers to go to on a Saturday night.

I was never into dancing when I was in my teens. I was into computers, I was a computer geek, though not hard-core geek. There was something in me that resisted the stereotype.

A guy named Stephen L. Becker is trying to put together a tribute website for Cloud 9 and Studio K, and wanted to ask OCThen readers if they can contribute photos. Here's his message...

I remember piling a bunch of friends into a Toyota Tercel and heading out to Balboa Island to see RHPS at midnight every Friday. Then on Saturday, we would all head out to Knott's Berry Farm to dance at Studio K and Cloud 9. I am actively searching for pictures from Cloud 9 and Studio K from the late 80s -early 90s so I can build a tribute site. Please contact me if you have any that I may use. stephen.l.becker@gmail.com

There have also been some other comments and e-mails sent to me about Cloud 9 and Studio K, which I have posted as comments here. Please feel free to post your own comments here as well.

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Saddleback Park

Saddleback Park was an area used for motocross, and in its hey day, was one of the most famous destinations for MX riders across the Southern California. It was the first park in the USA designated specifically for MX.

In 1967, it's main track was designed by Joel Robert and Roger DeCoster, two famous MX racers at the time. Saddleback Park hosted many regional, national, and international motocross racing events.

But in 1984 the park shut down. The park was plagued by lawsuits. There were supposedly disputes between the park operator and the landowner (Irvine Company). There had been rumors that the park would reopen, but it never happened because of the liability. The 241 toll road now runs through the park, though some dirtbikes and motocross riders still manage to make use of its tracks even today.

I went through some comments and e-mails submitted by OCThen readers over the years, and found some mention of Saddleback Park. I've posted them here as comments. If you have some memories or facts to share of Saddleback Park, please click on "Post a Comment" below.

If you have photos of Saddleback Park, send them to me via the "Contact Us" link o the side, and I'll post them here.

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When Land was Really Cheap

There was an anonymous comment posted on our Knott's Berry Farm article today, about how land was so cheap, it was being given away...

There is a story in my family, that a Great Uncle, Homer Clemons, owned an orange grove in the area. He got the land when it was so cheap, they gave you an acre if you subscribed to the local farm newspaper for a year. Two years subscription got you two acres. The story goes that he left his land to two brothers, who sold it to a man named Knotts. I don't have any proof of this story, but he and wife Belle are on the 1920 & 1930 census. Both are buried at Fairhaven Memorial Park.

I'm not sure how a newspaper would buy up land, just to give it away, or maybe perhaps they were giving away land they didn't need anymore. But imagine owning a couple acres of land in the middle of Buena Park right now?

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Jungle Palms Restaurant and Zoo

Last July, an OCThen reader named Cindy asked if anyone remembers a little zoo in Fullerton, featuring a gorilla with a head wound...

Does anyone else remember the little zoo in Fullerton on Raymond and Orangethorpe? I remember going there last around 1970. It was next to the old Laura Scudders plant and the Akua Lodge Motel. They had a chimp that sometimes the zookeeper would let me hold and a big, sad old gorilla. The last time I saw the gorilla he had a head wound that was bleeding. I guess it is just as well it's no longer there as I don't think they took such great care of the animals.

By Cindy

We received the following response from "Eve"...

Re: Old Zoo on Raymond and Orangethorpe
I believe that was the private zoo of the Palms restaurant. Next to the restaurant they had some sad primates stuck in small cages. I think one day the gorilla escaped and went into the restaurant and ate the patron's food. At least, that is what my mom told me when we ate there and I was always hoping to have an escaped gorilla eat my dinner.

By Eve,

The Jungle Palms Restaurant was the creation of Jack Dutton, who also owned a nursery called "Jungle Nursery" in Anaheim. There's an interesting story of how Dutton turned a chimpanzee named "Jerry" into a pet, and "humanized" it. Then later, when he could no longer manage the chimp, he had it shot in the head.

Read the sad story about it here...
http://www.charlesphoenix.com/2006/08/the-jungle-anaheim-ca-1959/

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Irvine in the 1970's

An anonymous (or somewhat anonymous) person submits memories of living in Irvine during the 1970's...

Steve,

I love your website, it made me think of things I hadn't thought about in some time. I'll have to dig through some of the family pictures for old shots of The OC, like Old MacDonald's Farm where the Kaliedoscope Shopping Center is now located in Mission Viejo.

I still remember the first time I visited my In-Laws after they moved to Irvine (we moved down the next year). My father-in-law said we were going to go down and pick up Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner and he and I piled in the car.

We drove down from Turtle Rock, took Culver Drive back to University Drive and pulled in to the parking lot where Alpha Beta was (remember Alpha Beta's). We parked where years later a Carl's Jr was placed.

We sat there and I asked my father-in-law where the Kentucky Fried Chicken was and he said just wait a minute. I figured he didn't feel well and we'd drive on in a little while.

While we were sitting there a delivery van pulled up with Kentucky Fried Chicken written on the side and the guy stopped and opened up a window and started selling chicken right out of the van.

That's my first memory of Irvine in 1971. That spot later became the busiest Carl's Junior in the entire chain, after McDonald's turned down the location because the Irvine Company wanted too much money for the location. I bet McDonalds kicked themselves a few times for that mistake.

At that time there was Chevron Gas station on the corner there and that was the only gas station in Irvine as well as Alpha Beta being the only market. I think there was a liquor store and that was about it.

Culver and University. If you want to see how things change check what's in University Park Center now with the link below:
http://orangecountyshopping.com/Irv-SC-University-Park-Ctr.html

webmaster@OrangeCountyShopping.com

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Watching Disneyland Fireworks in the Old Days

Mike Baldwin shares his memories of watching Disneyland Fireworks...

I grew up living in Santa Ana from 1952 till my family moved to Costa Mesa in 1963. My fondest memory is during the summers when before bed time, Mom and Dad would walk with my sisters and I up to the Santa Ana river bank to watch the fireworks at Disneyland each evening. During thoses days there were no obstructions to sight across the county to see the nightly display from Disneyland. It was a great way to end each day as the walk back home was a great time to share the the show of that night with each other and to think of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell before going to bed.

By Mike Baldwin

I lived in Santa Ana from 1978 to 1988, before moving to El Toro. But we lived on Richland Ave, out by Bristol St, and couldn't see the fireworks, but you could always hear them, and you always knew what time it was once you started hearing the "boom boom" in the distance.

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Dreger Clock of Knott's Berry Farm

Glenn Frank submitted the follwing article to us about his efforts to restore the Dreger Clock at Knott's Berry Farm...

You may remember it as "that big clock with all the dials at Knott's Berry Farm". But I remember it as my great-grandfather's legacy.

The "Dreger Clock" was built by my great-grandfather Andrew Dreger Sr., an early pioneer of the Long Beach, Buena Park and Anaheim area. He was a watchmaker in his later years and built this amazing clock for the enjoyment of his community.

After His death the clock made its way to Knott's Berry Farm where it was enjoyed by thousands of visitors to Buena Park for over 50 years. But in the past year, you may not have noticed that it was missing from its home in front of the ticket booths. It fell into disrepair and was removed, hidden from the public in a warehouse.

The Buena Park Historical Society wants to return it to the public view. We want to put it back in front of the eyes of the community! The clock has been purchased and awaits restoration cleaning and a new home.

My dream is to see the clock restored, running and being enjoyed by visitors to the county along Beach Blvd in the city's historical park, across from the Buena Park City Hall.

But, we need the community's help to bring this symbol of Buena Park and Orange County back so the public can once again enjoy it. I hope you enjoy learning about the clock at our project website and consider donating toward its restoration costs.

Site: http://www.dregerclock.org

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Now You Can Search OCThen

I added a search engine to OCThen. You can find it on the left-most column "Search OCThen".

The search engine is powered by Google, and will display Google ads. But then again, Google isn't charging me anything to use it. Actually, they're paying me to use it!

I had the search engine there a long time ago, but when I implemented the current page design, I forgot to include it.

A couple of OCThen readers have asked me about it.

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Glenn L. Martin Elementary School

An anonymous person wants to know if any readers here attended Glenn L. Martin Elementary School in Santa Ana...

Did anyone out there go to Glenn L. Martin Elementary school in the 60's?
It was a simplier time and I remember it being a fun school.
From there Smedely Jr. High...not so fun.
And Mater Dei...cultural shock.
. I remember riding my bike to explore the new shopping center, south coast plaza, just bean fields around then, it just turned 40!
anonymous

I didn't go there, but my brother did during the mid-1980's. We lived only a few blocks up on Wilshire & Garnsey street.

If you remember Glenn L. Martin Elementary School, click on "Post a Comment" below and share your thoughts.

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Torana Art League

David wants to ask OCThen readers if anyone can comment about the Torana Art League, which he describes as an annex to Bower's Museum in Santa Ana...

Back in the '60's I went to art classes at the Torana Art League. I have come to find out that it was an annex to Bower's Museum. It was a large Spanish style house that functioned as a multi-roomed craft studio space. It was almost like an open studio for kids. I learned ceramics, batik, linoleum block printing, enamelling, watercolors, oil painting, and other art/craft mediums.

I live in San Francisco now and have been thinking of trying to open something like that up here. As we all know, art has pretty much been cut out of the general curriculum in public schools. My mom believed in art as an essential part of learning and working with your hands was a good skill. If anyone knows anymore about this let me know.

David sezdu@aol.com

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Garden Grove & Westminster in the 1950's and 1960's

Carol Kennedy submits her memories of growing up in Garden Grove, and going to school in Westminster. She also talks about the stores and restaurants she remembers...

What memories this site brings back! We moved to Garden Grove in 1954, and my parents bought a brand-new tract house the next year, on Florence Lane. There were still orange groves around us. Because we were the end house on a cul-de-sac, we had 1/3 acre. My dad fenced in a huge backyard, but that still left a triangular-shaped piece in back that stayed "wild." We used to build tumbleweed forts out there. We caught lizards and "horny toads" (horned lizards), and jackrabbits would leap across the lot.

My brother and I went to Blessed Sacrament grade school in Westminster, but all our neighbors went to public school: Marie L. Hare, which was a grade school at the time. Later we went to Mater Dei, and the neighbors went to Rancho.

I remember, just for starters: the A&W and the Pink Spot on Chapman; a truck farm where a number of Japanese-American families lived at Magnolia and Garden Grove Blvd.; the Gem Theater (in downtown); the Hiway 39 drive-in; a trampoline place where you could pay to jump by the half-hour or hour, on Chapman east of Gilbert; the polo grounds on Garden Grove Blvd. east of Magnolia.

I remember when the Sav-on was built on the southwest corner of Chapman and Brookhurst--ice cream cones there were 5 cents for a scoop, with a choice of about ten flavors, and candy bars were three for 10 cents; when the plaza on the northwest corner of that intersection was built, and my folks shopped at the Thriftimart; when St. Columban's school was built, and later St. Polycarp's; when the Grove Theater was built, and we started going there instead of the old Gem.

So many memories came flooding back as I read comments here! I wish your site had a "search" feature, but it's great as it is. Thanks!

If anyone thinks they remember me, they can email me at bigred_56@hotmail.com.

Carol Kennedy

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