Saddleback Inn - Santa Ana

Whatever happened to Saddleback Inn in Santa Ana?

When my folks moved to Santa Ana in 1978, my mom got a job there cleaning the rooms, and in that time Saddleback Inn was a nice hotel. The bridge that crossed over 1st st., connecting the hotel to that little building on the other side was always a cool way to present the City of Santa Ana to drivers coming in from the east.

I know it has been out of business for years, but I'm not sure if it's no longer in use. Is it still being used for meetings, or storage? Does it still make money? One has to wonder since the building just sits there, and has not been turned into something else.

Meanwhile, the Motel 6 sitting caddy-corner across the street looks to be doing really well.

I couldn't find a photo of Saddleback Inn online, but I did find this ashtray on eBay!

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OCThen Forum - New Site Feature

I added a web forum to OCThen today.

You can access it here...

http://octhen.com/phpBB2/index.php

You'll also find it linked in the dark-orange horizontal navigation bar above, "Forums".

This is the first time I've managed a web forum, so, it's a learning process for me.

If the forum finds success in getting a lot of users and posts, I may cross post stuff from the forum to the blog. I'll be glad to add new sub-forums for other topics, for example theme parks, cities, schools, etc.

To post a message there you have to have a user account, which is different than the Blogger account that you may have used to post comments on this blog. Note that the blog allows anonymous comments, but the forum does not.

The advantage the forum brings to you as a visitor of OCThen is that you can start new topics, whereas on the blog, only myself and the few bloggers that have signed up, can start new topics.

So, click on over to the new forum, create a user account, and get to posting!

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Buffalo Bill of Santa Ana

CoxPilot submits another memory of a guy who looked like Buffalo Bill, that lived in the some apartments behind the Pep Boys in Santa Ana, near the old City Hall building...

I grew up in Santa Ana, and when I was about 10 or 12 (around 1950), my friend and I would ride our bikes to the old West Coast Theater to see the free show on Saturday mornings. We decided to return to the South side of S.A. via the alley behind the old City Hall and Pep Boys. There we encountered a man that lived in some small one room appartments behind Pep Boys. He looked just like Buffalo Bill (hat and all), and invited us to see his gun collection. (Yes! I know. Not something that you would want a child to do today.) The gun collection was VERY extensive, and covered every wall of his sitting room. We didn't stay long, and I never found out his name. Does anyone know of him, or who he might have been?

I certainly don't remember anything of this guy, but this memory does remind me of the time I grew up in San Diego, when between the ages of 5-7 years, my friend Mark and I would get to know all the strange characters that lived in the area.

Like he says, it's probably not something a parent would allow their kids to do these days, but back then, you could visit with all the freaks and they'd have fun showing a couple of kids what their "shtick" was all about.

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Hello from an exile from OC!

I have been invited by Steve to contribute to this wonderful collection of memories of Orange County, and he asks that I give a bit of an intro to his readers:

It is both wonderful and bittersweet to see others' memories of my beloved Orange County. I was born and raised in what was then unincorporated section of OC, in 1960, literally in the county, since our back fence was the city line of Orange, and our cross street was that of Tustin! (Prospect and Fairhaven). As a kid, there were still orange groves across the street, down on 17th Street, major streets still lined with eucalyptus windbreaks from the groves. Back then, Knotts didn't have more than the chicken restaurant and ghost town-no fence or rides- 'Its A Small World' was the big attraction at Disneyland, and you would get a bag of fries at McDs for 15 cents at the Tustin Avenue store, near the Marie Callendars pie shop.

My life was both typical, and unusual for an OC kid, growing up in the wonderful ethnic melting pot of southern California, sharing in the multitude of customs and traditions from around the world, hearing my parents talking about people they knew or used to see around OC that I later realised were famous, and being friends with some of the great characters of the area, such as Joe Holtz. My family went to the Mission San Juan Capistrano for many years, where we had been given a master key to the mission by the pastor, Msgr.Vincent Lloyd-Russell. So I grew up on the mission grounds, with it as my private playground in the early morning hours long before it opened for the tourists....misty mornings, scented by the guava and olive trees wet with fog off the ocean. My parents, who had moved to California back in the 1940 and lived in the LA area first, introduced me to so many of the southland's fascinating places and history, from going to the original Bob's Big Boy, running our dogs behind my dad's VW Squareback along the dirt lanes in Irvine's orange groves, visiting the Bower's Museum so much that we were on a first name basis with the staff, and on and on.

I lived in OC from 1960 till 1987, when I came out to NE Kansas to college, married, and still here because of my husband's teaching position at a small Catholic school here. This is a quiet, small town, where you can feel safe about allowing children to go to the minimart, but boring in contrast to the ethnic diversity I loved in OC.

I always thought that I would live in OC, but it seems God had other ideas, and I've been 'exiled' out here in northeast Kansas since 1987....where He sends asthmatic Californians to purgatory! ^_^ My family is tired of my telling about OC, and it would be nice to be able to share what I remember, with those who love this place as much as I still do. I may live here in Kansas, but home will always be Orange County, California. It is my hope that I can add to this treasury of memories of Orange County at its best.

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Shakey's Pizza and Pipe Organ

An anonymous OCThen reader asks if anyone remembers the Shakey's Pizza Parlor near Disneyland that had a pipe organ and a "nickelodeon guy"...

I'd sure like to find out anything pertaining to shakey" pizza parlor, particullarly the one near disneyland.. they had an amazing pipe organ and a nickelodeon guy, who I think was referred to as "mr nicelodeon" who played it all from the same console..

If you know anything, don't be shy to post a comment...

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Beaches and Tastee Freez

Noelle Harrison submits some memories of growing up in Huntington Beach in the 1960s and 1970s, going to the beach, and getting ice cream at the Tastee Freez...

We moved to Huntington Beach in 1968, first into a town home complex just off of beach blvd., and later into a housing development off of magnolia and atlanta...surrounded by fields...my earliest memories are walking to the beach (down beach blvd.) with my mom and sister and stopping at tastee freeze for a dipped cone on our way home - if we were lucky we would have already had strips and sauce at jack's (where we later worked in 8th grade). The sauce was sweet and spicy. I'm always amazed how, at 7 and 8, we would play at the beach every day while our mom read and slept. We had such a blast (and nearly drowned many-a-time despite being taught how to drive under the face of any wave...).

Another great memory: Our mom used to drive to the old van's shoe store in-land (I'm not sure where but it was in an old house of sorts) and have custom-made deck shoes made to match our dresses and short outfits! She would just take in the extra fabric and voila we had matching shoes!

I left in 1980 and returned only once, in 1984. I don't want to see how huntington's been ruined, the miles of empty state beaches turned into a hotel parking lot. I live just outside of san francisco now and have never gotten used to the cold!

Note that everyone wants to put an "e" at the end of "Freez" but, the correct spelling is without that last "e".

As far as Van's shoes, I recall there being a store in Orange, on Glassell, pretty close to the Orange Circle, this would be north of the Circle, that used to sell lots of Van's, and I think was one of the first stores in OC to sell them.

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Orange County History Writers Wanted

Jerry Roberts, the acquisitions editor for Arcadia Publishing, wrote to me asking if I knew anyone interested in authoring a book for their popular "Images of America" series. Since I didn't, I thought I post it here.

They're also looking for folks interested in doing the same for their other series on sports, postcards, ethnic studies, campus history, corporate history, and their "Then and Now" series.

You can check out their website and get more info on each series...
http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/

Their series of books are heavily photo-centric. I own copies of several for towns here in the Inland Empire. The title for the town I live in is just all photos, and captions for each. Sounds pretty easy to author one of their books, you just gotta get access to a bunch of photos, postcards, and be knowledgeable enough to write some words about them.

Their new postcard series, and the "Then and Now" series looks really interesting.

If you think you're up to the task, contact Jerry Roberts by phone or e-mail...

Jerry Roberts
Acquisitions Editor
Arcadia Publishing
22708 Ravenna Avenue
Carson CA 90745
phone: 310-733-7080
fax: 310-834-9222
jroberts@arcadiapublishing.com

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Old Berry Stand at Knott's

Dale Turkle has a question for OCThen readers about what he thinks may be the remnants of the old roadside berry stand that Walter Knott used to run...

I'm enjoying your site and passing it on to interested friends, and have something to ask you and your readers.

I wonder if you can answer something for me. If you go into the Fiesta Village area at Knotts, walk all the way to the back,, and there is a food court near the furthest Northeast corner of the park.

Stand on a planter there and look over the inside wall toward Beach Blvd and you will see hidden in brambles an old shack and some berry plants. Could this be the remains of the old roadside stand, walled off from the general public and still facing the corner there?

Dale Turkle
Torrance CA

If can add something to this, click on "Post a Comment" below.

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Carl's Jr. Memories

In a tribute to Carl Karcher, who passed away this evening, I wanted to spend some time remembering his lasting legacy, the Carl's Jr. restaurants.

Having moved into Orange County in 1978, from San Diego, it was easy to notice a change in fast-food dominance. In San Diego, Jack-in-the-Box dominated the landscape, having been founded there. In Orange County, it was Carl's. Even though I could still get my fix of "Moby Jacks" (remember that sandwich?), Carl's would eventually get most of my lunch money.

In the late 1980s, when I worked in Anaheim, a co-worker and I would visit the Carl's on the corner of Harbor and Romneya, which was the restaurant next to the corporate headquarters. Carl sometimes would come in to greet the patrons, though I never did get to greet him.

My favorite sandwich was the California Roast Beef. It was very much like an Arby's Roast Beef, except with a whole green chile and monterey jack cheese, and sesame seed bun. They don't make this anymore, but I can still remember the taste.

They also had the crinkle-cut french fries, which had a consistency more like mashed-potatoes, instead of cut potatoes. I wish they brought those back.

I also remember getting a certificate of achievement from Carl's Jr. while I attended Spurgeon Intermediate School, for outstanding attendance. It came with a free meal.



After Carl Karcher earned money with his hot-dog stands in Los Angeles, he opened up a restaurant in Anaheim called "Carl's Drive-In Barbeque". Later on, he opened up smaller versions of this restaurant which he called, "Carl's Jr." for obvious reasons.

I remember for the 50th anniversary of Carl's, the restaurant bought back the hot dogs.

I'd love to hear your memories of Carl's Jr., Carl Karcher himself, his company, or even Taco De Carlos...

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Crystal Cove

An anonymous commenter submits a question if anyone remembers the group of beach homes at Crystal Cove, right by the Shake Shack, though he/she doesn't actually remember the name of the community...

Does anyone remember a very small community that consisted of maybe 20 or so mobile homes that were located right on the beach,not more than 100 feet from the water, off Pacific Coast Hwy just south of Corona Del Mar? At the time there was nothing else around there and as I remember the story they were on a month to month lease and there was a waiting list 10 miles long to move there. I dont know if this place still exists as I moved to another state 20 years ago, but I sure thought it would have been cool to have lived there. I'm sure the place had a name maybe someone out there knows more about it.

And to bring you up to date, the community you remember is gone. The area is a state park, and the state evicted them in 2001, and razed the old bungaloes. I heard they were going to build a hotel, but they ended up building a new set of beach homes.


Perhaps someone else can share more accurate details here.

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An Old Orange County Joke

I read all of the Levitz Furniture Stores are closing and it reminded me of an old Orange County joke. When I attended Golden West College, about twenty years ago (yikes!), we students used to say we went to "UBL" (University Behind Levitz) when someone asked where we attended college.
I guess those days are now officially over. The students could say they attend "UBBT" (University Behind Bella Terra) but that doesn't hold the same punch.

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El Toro in the 1960s and 1970s

OCThen reader, Janet Kelsey-Berg, submits her memories of growing up in El Toro during the 1960s and 1970s. She recalls a time when El Toro was a safe neighborhood, where you could leave your garage door open all day, and playing in the large fountain by the I-5...

Great blog site idea! I too have fond memories of my growing up years in Orange County. I still live nearby (Chino)and go into the OC quite a bit.

My family moved us out to El Toro in 1969 where I attended Olivewood Elementary. We lived on the outer edge of the then new luxury homes of Lake Forest. I thought my parents were crazy to move us out there where we had no relatives, no friends, and no shopping malls!

My memories include the sweet smell of the Eucalyptus trees and being able to "roller skate" thru partially built homes. Playing "King of the Sewer Pipe" on land being graded for more homes. In that same area was a mountain of graded dirt about 2-3 stories high where we would open up and flatten out boxes and hold unto each other and slide down the very steep incline. Some of the boys would take their bikes and ride it down. I cant believe we didnt seriously injure ourselves.

Bus drivers would drop you off in front of your home, not at a bus stop. Taking the first mini-bus shuttle in the morning to the Laguna Beach and the last one back home, every day of the summer.

We lived across the street from "The Fountain" that bordered the 5 fwy. You could see this towering fountain for miles and knew you were close to home when you spotted it. Sometimes, kids would put suds in it and it was a sight to see! We would catch tadpoles at the fountain "marsh area" and bring them home to be frogs.

Not only did we not have a shopping mall, but no middle or high schools, so we were bussed to La Paz Jr Hi and Mission View High in Mission Viejo. We finally got our own high school in my sophmore year: El Toro High and I thought it was cool that we were the bicentennial graduates (1976). Our tassels were red/white/blue.

I remember many weekends for years at the "Skate Ranch" along the 5 fwy. I remember the Japanese Deer Park too!

I think for the most part we lived a very sheltered life there. Not much ethnic diversity there. There was almost NO CRIMES other than us high schools kids pulling pranks from 1968-1976. I remember my parents would leave the garage door open all day and not think much about it. They would leave the front door open all night so the air would filter through the screen door.

I dont know why I couldnt wait to leave that area. I remember being able to hear the El Toro Marine Station Jets from afar. Now my eldest daughter lives is Rancho Santa Margarita, just above Cooks Corner and O'Neil Park and thinks its the best place next to heaven! Go figure!

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Garden Grove in the 1950s and 1960s

OCThen reader Mark, submits his memories of growing up in Orange County during the 1950s and 1960s, and talks about watching the filming of Route 66, smelling the burgers at Zestos, the original names of streets before they changed names...

Steve, thanks for your project. I was born in Orange County in 1951 and lived there until I went to College. My memories of farmland, fields, open spaces in Orange County are hard to find these days. I moved from Orange County to live in downtown Seattle what a thrill. Today with my family we lived in Orlando Florida domninated by the Mouse. Can't hear the trail whistle like I did when I was young but it is here in Florida as well.

When I was born, St. Joseph's in Orange, my parents brought me back to a new house built off of Bolsa (1st avenue) between Newhope and Magnolia (then called Cannery). I believe this was one of the first"developments" that was to become many in Orange County. We eventually lived on Lucky Way off of Andes place, not to be confused with the "new" West Lucky Way. It was there where I went to Newhope Elementary school. An interesting note is that our janitor was Mr Wash who son Don Wash eventually became the Superintendent of schools for Garden Grove. By the way a huge man who had played professional football, he was my principal at the new Jr. High down the street Stephen R. Fitz, not really sure who Stephen R was but they named a school after him.

Growing up it was not unusual to bike to the beach, in those days we would bike down Newhope until you hit the Santa Ana River and then follow the river down to the jetty. Had to climb over a fence or two and eventually the fences got higher and higher. The names of those streets were not the same. McFadden was Sugar... Magnolia was Cannery, Edinger was Smeltzer, and eventually when you got to the beach you were at Brookhurst and 1 or 101. It was not unusual to ride into Santa Ana to watch the trains, bowl or golf. There was a 9 hole course 3 par that might have been part of Willowick that rented clubs and seemed to like kids.

One of the big thrills of 1962 or 63 was the onsite filming of the Television show Route 66 with Marvin Milner and George Maharis. I heard about it from some friends and rode my bike. Just like you see in the movies, no one paid much attention to the kids and I got up to the area where dialogue was being spoken. One of the hands gave me a cold 7-up seeing how hot I was. Even the Corvette was there. Martin Milner ended up as Adam 12. George Maharis was the Rock Hudson of early TV fame, good looking and every womans dream until it was discovered he preferred the company of men.

My father owned the Surplus Store on Garden Grove Blvd across from the Garden Grove Theatre. It was a business that developed out of WWII and the supplies of the Korean war. I grew up working there selling foam rubber, camping equiptment and Levi's. I guess the least expensive pair I can remember is the 401's selling for $2.98. Today that building is the home of a Korean Buffett. Across the street in the same center as the Grove Theatre was my favorite restaurant Zestos. I can smell the burgers cooking from Zestos this very second with onions, melted cheese, double burgers, bbq sauce and the sausages that the owners father would make. They were light years ahead when it came to shakes and malts. You could get a banana chocolate walnut malt.....fact is he had 30 or more ingredients to put into one of these masterpieces. Several of my addictions, one being a love of onion rings has its base in the deep fryer of Zestos.

Was going to list a number of places I remember.

Calva Dairy-owned by our neighbors the Hunts who had come to California as a family from Virginia. They donated the land for the Little League field that was on Bolsa between Harbor and Euclid.

Red's Ranch Market at Harbor and Bolsa.
Across the street was another market my mother liked that was not an open market. She always mentioned the flies.

Gem Theatre-went there on my first girlfriend whirl with Kathy Whitehead. Kathy's sister I believed married the famous Santiago hurler Bert Blyleven.

My folks would get all dressed up and go to the restaurant on Garden Grove Blvd...Knights Table I believe.

Cake Box Bakery...I tell my famous story about how I discovered money at the Cake Box.

In the same center, in the 50's, was the kiddie park with rides for the little ones. Hang Hong....I think was the name that was our family choice for Chinese food. The BBQ restarant that always smelled sooooo.....good.

Well I could go on and on......that is why I have one of these blogs myself....til later be well.

You can read more about Mark's thoughts on his own blog, "Cabernet & Chocolate". In fact he has an interesting article about picking up girls at Disneyland during the 1960s...
http://cabernetandchocolate.blogspot.com/2007/05/disney-delights.html

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Old Orange County Television Station

OCThen reader, "Duckling" writes asking if anyone remembers an old television network that originated from Orange County around 1967, and thinks it aired on channel 56 or 57. Anyways, this network had a catchy jingle and wondered if anyone knows the jingle...

Hi Steve!

I just came back from Southern Califonia where I visited my mom in Sun City, just a hop, skip and a jump from where you live now! I grew up in Ontario. My associations with Orange county are that of the theme parks: Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and Movieland Wax Museum.

I do have a question for some of your Orange County residents though. I was looking for a television network that I believe originated out of Orange County around 1967 or so. It ran old movies (I remember a lot of Deanna Durbin musicals) and it ran the cartoons "Kimba the White Lion" and "Speed Racer." I believe it was channel 56 or 57, but I am really awful at remembering numbers, so it could have been something else. I distinctly remember a catchy network jingle that was all instrumental and I wanted to find out what the the tune was. Hoping that some of your Orange County residents have a better memory than I and can assist in my search. Thanks for creating this site. It was fun to read!:-)

It's obviously not KDOC, since KDOC didn't go on the air until 1982.

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Wally George - Father of Orange County

If you attended high school or college in Orange County during the 1980s and 1990s, you know all about Wally George.

In the early 1980s, I used to stay up at night to watch his television show, "Hot Seat" on KDOC channel 56. The show, which was billed as a conservative talk show, was anything but. It was instead Wally dragging derelicts in off the street, putting them on air, and then bashing them in Wally's irreverent style.

Teenagers ate the stuff up.

Wal-LY! Wal-LY! Wal-LY!

Perhaps he may not have known it at the time, but teenagers saw him as a rebel, like a high-school principal on coke. He taught his teen audience about moral fiber, but at the same time, showed them the low-life scum they longed to see. He'd bring in these porn actresses, let them strip down to nearly nothing, and then kick them off the set. Hot Seat was a risque show.

Wally reached an all-time high in popularity just a couple of years into his show. I remember in 1984, KDOC gave him a day-time talk show where he fetched calls from his viewers. He would start off by commenting on the news of the day, and then open up the phone lines.

Well on this particular day, it was December 7, otherwise known as Pearl Harbor day. I'm very keen on Pearl Harbor day, because I was born at Pearl Harbor, albeit not on December 7. So when Wally George failed to pay homage to the soldiers and sailors who died in the attack of Pearl Harbor, I decided to call him up. When he answered my call, I said, "Wally, I'm ashamed at you..." And before I could finish he blurted out, "Well I'm, ashamed at you!", and then hung up on me. Then he proceeded to say on television, "How dare he say that he's ashamed at me!".

I remember catching an episode of Hot Seat during the late 1990s, and was amazed to learn that George was still hosting the show live. While he wasn't running the same format, it was still George, albeit an older, more reflective George. I remember feeling kinda sorry for the guy, in that all he had left in life was his show, and intended to hang on to it for as long as his body would allow.

The way I see things, Wally's rise to fame seemed to have coincided with Orange County's rise to fame. Just as Wally began to make a name for himself across the country, so did Orange County. OC wasn't a suburb of Los Angeles anymore, it was its own metropolis. It was developing its own culture, lifestyle, and reputation.

And like Wally, Orange County was conservative, and in the same way Wally associated himself with conservative figures like Pat Boone, John Wayne, Bob Dornan, and Robert Schuller, so did the rest of the United States associate Orange County.

In the end, Wally will be forever known as an eccentric, out of touch with reality, which is exactly what the country thinks of Orange County today.

To me, Wally George is to Orange County as Howard Stern is to New York City. After listenting to Howard Stern, one might have a chaotic and perverted impression of The Big Apple. If New York people listened to Wally George, they might think of The Big Orange as bastion of white picket fences and Stepford wives.

So now that Wally George is dead and gone, what celebrity best personifies Orange County today?

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Old Orange County Crime Stories

OCThen reader, "ladyonthecase" seems to have a taste for true crime stories, because she asks us if anyone here can remember crime nostalgia from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s...

Orange County nostalgia? Don't get me started. I was born in Orange in 1943. Grew up there, came and went, and finally got out for good in 1970. I don't miss what it is now, but have fond memories of the "good old days".

I'm looking for stories of the "not-so-good" old days, however. Does anyone know of any sensational (or not so sensational but interesting) crimes or scandals that occurred in Orange during the 40's, 50's and very early 60's? I don't know how to access that kind of information unless there are old newspaper archives available. I'd love to see replies from anyone who remembers reading or hearing about criminal activity from that era. Since I was a kid then, I didn't pay any attention to the newspapers (other than the comics) and don't remember anything but the good stuff.

The Anaheim Police Department has some crime stories on their website...
http://www.anaheim.net/article.asp?id=670

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Nightclub in Huntington Beach

An anonymous OCThen reader asks if anyone remembers the name of a nightclub in Huntington Beach, about a mile north of the Golden Bear...

I recall a club in Huntington, not far from the GB, but a mile or so north, where Cal Tjader would play his vibraphone frequently. I was there on Halloween about 1976 or 1977. Bonnie Raitt was playing that night and she was amazing. Does anyone remember the name of the club?

Post a comment here, if you know anything.

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Crescent Junior High School - Buena Park

An anonymous OCThen reader asks about what happened to Crescent Junior High School in Buena Park...

Does anyone remember Crescent Jr. High and where did it go?? I went there in 62-63, then to Kennedy High class of 66. I have lived in Michigan and Northern California and now in the foothills of the Sierras above Fresno..but each time I go into BP..I am always at a loss as to where that funky styled jr. high went.

I did a quick Google search and came up empty. If you know something about it, or attended the school, post a comment here.

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Santa Ana Plane Crash - 1940s or 1950s

OCThen reader, "coxpilot" asks if anyone remembers the time when a jet plane crashed into a neighborhood in Santa Ana, in the late 1940s or early 1950s...

Does anyone remember a jet plane that crashed in Santa Ana in the late '40s or early '50s, in the area around S. Ross & W. Cubbon? I lived in the 1400 block of S. Olive when we all heard a great boom, and went outside to see the rising smoke. My friends and I jumped on bikes and went as fast as we could. We were there before any fire trucks or police, and saw a big hole in the ground where the front yard once was, and the living room wall was missing too. My friend kept a piece of green aluminum he found in the street. I'm told that it was a saber jet from El Toro, and the pilot had not been able to eject.

Seems like this is something that should have quite a bit of coverage in the Santa Ana Register, but I don't have access to those archives online.

Update Sep 12, 2010: Larry Fuller submits the following photo showing where the airplane exploded...

Hi Steve,

I just posted about the jet aircraft that crashed in Santa Ana in 1952. Above, is a photo of the intersection of S. Olive and Wilshire from that period. The Green "X" is where I was standing and the Red "X"
is where the aircraft exploded just above the trees. I've also attached the full photo this section was taken from. The bean patch in the rear of the full photo would later become the playground behind Glenn Martin Elementary.
After the crash, two military helicopters landed on the playground to assist with the recovery and investigation of the crash.

Larry Fuller
Albuquerque, NM

P.S. I marked the attached photo as 1949, but it could well have been summer of 1950. The photo was taken from the front yard of 1310 S. Olive.

The green "X" and red "X" he mentions above were not on the photo he submitted, but marked over the photo perhaps through his e-mail client. But the explosion occured above the tallest tree on the far-right.

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