Thursday, January 17, 2008

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.

21 comments:

  1. I wonder if you're remembering the old Van Shoes store that was near downtown Santa Ana. I have mentioned it previously, as has another poster who remembered the "hot rubber" smell of the place. The Santa Ana store was made of brick, and had a small display area up front, and usually just one person working. I remember my mother giving me 10 dollars to go there to buy a pair of shoes for me, and another pair of shoes for my brother. Afterwards, we walked to the Skate Ranch and rollerskated with the change left over from our shoe purchases. All on 10 bucks!

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  2. I grew up in Anaheim, Cal. I now live in Thomasvill, Ga. very far from home. I lived on State College and Ball. I remember my mom would take myself and mu 3 siblings to the Vans store. This one was right near downtown Anaheim. The original. My fondest memorie would be walking through that little store/house and smelling the fresh shoes right off the line. We did not have much money then so we would look through the blemis rack ang get them for about 3 to 5 dollars a pair. You could not even tell they were rejects. That was around 1974-1977. I grew up right by the Anaheim Tennis Center and the Airplane Park...So many many memories...

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  3. my mom used to buy our shoes from the SAME vans store Lee refers to..it was very close to our house in Anaheim..I am positive it was not the one near the orange circles. other direction..my brthers and sisters and I are always talking of the rubber smell and the bottoms of your shoes stick to the ground when you left the store as they were still warm!!! We too had wild patterns..you could choose almost anything in those days!!!

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  4. I remember the Van's store on Beach Blvd in Huntington. It was in some sort of converted old house. Maybe they had a thing about using old houses back then. I don't remember exactly where it was but if I had to guess I would say it was somewhere between Garfield and Adams on Beach, I bought shoes there once or twice, but after Spiccoli in Fast Time At Ridgemont High was shown wearing them, they became too popular for me.

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  5. is the TasteeFreez in El Modena, on Chapman Ave still open? I loved going there, to grab a drink on my way up to Irvine Park, back in the '80s, though my family went to this store from the time it opened.

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    1. It was an Mexican or Asian restaurant for a while then in had a fire. last time I was by there there was still the burnt remains.

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  6. Noelle: I know your old neighborhood (Magnolia & Atlanta) very well. The fields are all gone now (replaced with more houses), but you can still buy "strips." And the State Beach is still mostly empty and enjoyable for much of the year.

    Steve: Sure, you spelled "Tastee-Freez" correctly, but then you called the Plaza "the Circle!" Don't let the old-timers in Orange hear you say that. :-)

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  7. Wow, Van's Shoe Store! My aunt Ruth ran the store across from Marina High School in Huntington Beach for many years ('60's-70's). As a kid my brothers & I would go with our mom to pick up our new school shoes there every September. Good times!

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  8. I think the Van's store mentioned was near the northwest corner of Beach Blvd. and Chapman Ave. in Stanton. I went there many times as a teen, indeed ordering custom-colored canvas. I left OC many years ago, haven't been back, but it's not the same (never is) anymore. I'll keep the memories anyway.

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  9. I still eat at the tastee freez, there is one in Buena Park still IIRC. Can anyone list the ones that are still in business in OC?

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  10. The Van's I went to in the 60's was at Beach Blvd. and Manchester. There was also a Jax doughnut shop there.

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  11. The original House of Vans.
    Van Doran was the owner. I grew up in Orange and we'd go to the house at least 3 times a year.
    Everyone who went to Handy school in the 60's/early 70's wore vans.
    The girls wore either white or red.
    The boys wore either green or blue.

    Here's a photo of the House of Vans (if I can figure how to download it).

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  12. I moved to Huntington Beach in 1963, and the Van's I used to go to was on Harbor Blvd near MacArthur. It was an old house, and was always busy as heck. I also worked at the Golden Bear in 1964, but not for long because I was still in high school, and when the manager found out I was underage he gave me the boot, but he did let me babysit his kids! Oh my, good times!

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  13. My first pair of vans came from a little "tiny" shack on Bolsa ave in Westminster next to the railroad tracks. You can still get strips with cheese and sauce at Pedro McCoys on Warner and Bolsa Chica where my favorite playground (Meadowlark Airport) used to be. Catching crawdads and eating french fries and a coke at the snack bar and swimming in the swimming pool. Why they had a pool is beyond me. I think the old man in the brick house out front owned it. Anyone who was lucky to grow up in Huntington Beach in the 1960's and 1970's are a special breed. Grandma J I found a chalk and pencil sketch by an unknown artist of the Golden Bear and the marquee showed the Sneakers and Motels playing. It shows the old lot and the old car dealer building. Now there is nothing but restaurants shops and theaters. boo hoo. No more surf films at the Surf theater. The best babysitter for my mom was the beach being in walking distance. anyone remember the peanut man on the corner of pch and warner. This was fun. Grandma J#2

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  14. The original vans factory was in Anaheim on Broadway, east of Anaheim Blvd. It was great. I can still remember the smell.

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  15. I had my custom Van's made in Costa mesa in the early 60's. Newport Blvd south of 17th I think. Brightest Hawaiian print I could find, Big hit with everyone that summer!

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  16. There was a Vans store on Chapman near Euclid at one time.

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  17. Thanks Steve, for posting all these great memories! Growing up in the Placentia/Yorba Linda area, we had horses, and boarded at Espy's Stables in YL. We'd go on long rides and quite often we'd end up at the Tastee Freez on YL Blvd. They had a hitching rail for the horses and they would give out the little tiny cones for free, which my horse loved!

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  18. What great fun reading all of these posts..the Vans store I went to in the 80's was on Beach Blvd and Yorktown..I used to work at Jose Mccoys when it was on Goldenwest in seacliff village before they moved to the other location..which by the way isnt there anymore either..I worked at Vics snackbar off of Lake Street..which isnt there either..GOOD TIMES!!

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  19. Tastee Freez was on Beach and Atlanta and is now Las Barcas. The Vans store was on Beach & Yorktown where the walgreens now stands.

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  20. The Vans store in Orange was on Glassell near Cambridge. Kids at California Elementary wore them too.

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