by LadyDeerskin And Her Service Dog
Thursday, July 03, 2008
.....who in OC didn't grow up, hoping one day to be invited to be in Bozo's audience, or cherished Bozo dolls and toys?
Bozo actor dead at 83 - CNN.comLOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83.
Although not the original Bozo, Larry Harmon portrayed the popular frizzy-haired clown in countless appearances.
His publicist, Jerry Digney, told The Associated Press he died at his home.
Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos.
"You might say, in a way, I was cloning BTC (Bozo the Clown) before anybody else out there got around to cloning DNA," Harmon told the AP in a 1996 interview.
"Bozo is a combination of the wonderful wisdom of the adult and the childlike ways in all of us," Harmon said.
Pinto Colvig, who also provided the voice for Walt Disney's Goofy, originated Bozo the Clown when Capitol Records introduced a series of children's records in 1946. Harmon would later meet his alter ego while answering a casting call to make personal appearances as a clown to promote the records.
He got that job and eventually bought the rights to Bozo. Along the way, he embellished Bozo's distinctive look: the orange-tufted hair, the bulbous nose, the outlandish red, white and blue costume.
"I felt if I could plant my size 83AAA shoes on this planet, (people) would never be able to forget those footprints," he said.
Susan Harmon, his wife of 29 years, indicated Harmon was the perfect fit for Bozo.
"He was the most optimistic man I ever met. He always saw a bright side; he always had something good to say about everybody. He was the love of my life," she said Thursday.
The business -- combining animation, licensing of the character, and personal appearances -- made millions, as Harmon trained more than 200 Bozos over the years to represent him in local markets.
iReport.com: Share your 'Bozo' memories"I'm looking for that sparkle in the eyes, that emotion, feeling, directness, warmth. That is so important," he said of his criteria for becoming a Bozo.
The Chicago version of Bozo ran on WGN-TV in Chicago for 40 years and was seen in many other cities after cable television transformed WGN into a superstation.
Bozo -- portrayed in Chicago for many years by Bob Bell -- was so popular that the waiting list for tickets to a TV show eventually stretched to a decade, prompting the station to stop taking reservations for 10 years. On the day in 1990 when WGN started taking reservations again, it took just five hours to book the show for five more years. The phone company reported more than 27 million phone call attempts had been made.
By the time the show bowed out in Chicago, in 2001, it was the last locally produced version. Harmon said at the time that he hoped to develop a new cable or network show, as well as a Bozo feature film.
He became caught up in a minor controversy in 2004 when the International Clown Hall of Fame in Milwaukee took down a plaque honoring him as Bozo and formally endorsed Colvig for creating the role. Harmon denied ever misrepresenting Bozo's history.
He said he was claiming credit only for what he added to the character -- "What I sound like, what I look like, what I walk like" -- and what he did to popularize Bozo.
"Isn't it a shame the credit that was given to me for the work I have done, they arbitrarily take it down, like I didn't do anything for the last 52 years," he told the AP at the time.
Harmon protected Bozo's reputation with a vengeance, while embracing those who poked good-natured fun at the clown.
As Bozo's influence spread through popular culture, his very name became a synonym for clownish behavior.
"It takes a lot of effort and energy to keep a character that old fresh so kids today still know about him and want to buy the products," Karen Raugust, executive editor of The Licensing Letter, a New York-based trade publication, said in 1996.
A normal character runs its course in three to five years, Raugust said. "Harmon's is a classic character. It's been around 50 years."
On New Year's Day 1996, Harmon dressed up as Bozo for the first time in 10 years, appearing in the Rose Parade in Pasadena.
The crowd reaction, he recalled, "was deafening."
"They kept yelling, `Bozo, Bozo, love you, love you.' I shed more crocodile tears for five miles in four hours than I realized I had," he said. "I still get goose bumps."
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Harmon became interested in theater while studying at the University of Southern California.
"Bozo is a star, an entertainer, bigger than life," Harmon once said. "People see him as Mr. Bozo, somebody you can relate to, touch and laugh with."
Besides his wife, Harmon is survived by his son, Jeff Harmon, and daughters Lori Harmon, Marci Breth-Carabet and Leslie Breth.
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Newport Pop Festival - Any Old Timers?
by Steve
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Jeff Overley, a reporter with the OC Register, says he's working on a story about the 40th anniversary of the Newport Pop Festival. He send me a note asking if any OCThen readers ever visited a previous NPF event.
Hi Steve ... I'm a reporter with the Register, and I'm working on a story about the 40th anniversary of the Newport Pop Festival. I came across a commenter on your website who mentioned attending, so was curious if you might know of anyone else who was at the show....Any help would be awesome, please feel free to drop me a line any time ... Best ...
Give him a ring if you'd like to see your name in print...
Jeff Overley
The Orange County Register
joverley@ocregister.com
714-445-6683
714-932-1221 (Cell)
Labels: Newport-Pop-Festival
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Shoes on a wire: a lost tradition
by Marcy - The Glamorous Life!
Thursday, June 05, 2008
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When I was a kid in the OC (a long, long time ago) on the last day of school, some kids (not this kid-but OTHER kids- those risky ones) would take their old gym shoes and tie the laces together and throw them over the telephone wires on the way home from school (yes, back then we were allowed to walk to school-shocking I know).....and there the shoes would dangle for all the world to see - forever. Seemed like they never came down. I remember gazing out the back of our wood panelled station wagon on the way to the Alpha Beta grocery store in La Palma and see the same pairs of shoes, on the same wires - for years. Now most of the phone wires in the OC are buried underground, and most public schools don't even offer gym class (P.E. I mean)...so this whole bizarre tradition is disappearing. I was surprised to read online, that people have attributed this tradition to have other meanings...but I remember very clearly why we did it. We did it because it was funny. We did it because we knew would make the 'grown-ups' mad. And mainly we did it because - well, because-we could.
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Happy memories, happy for change....
by Marcy - The Glamorous Life!
Friday, May 09, 2008
For as long as I can remember I have been visiting the Orange Circle. The Orange Circle and my family go way way back. You see I am a 3rd generation Orange County native. Pretty rare around these parts- since California, and the OC in particular, is more like a hotel than a residence; people move in and move out all year long. Very few families can trace their family history back to the earliest early days of its development- but happily I can. Over the years I have gathered many stories about the 'early years'. My dad once sang in the choir of the church which is now the Abby Restaurant. My parents first shared a soda at Watsons Drug Store in 1964. They then went to movies in what is now a church. And one of my favorite stories was that my father once filled the fountain with laundry soap on a dare from his fellow teenage friends. The police came- and had a good laugh at the sight…the entire fountain was over come in bubbles and suds in the early morning light. He used to say he got in big trouble for that stunt-I think as a deterrent to me and my brother not to try it ourselves- but as we became adults he admitted the police let them off with a warning and some trash pick-up.
As much as I love the history of the Orange Circle (officially called the Orange Plaza) to be maintained, I welcome the current changes as well. There was a period of time in the late 70s and early 80s when the Circle was run-down and forgotten. It was occupied with nearly all antique stores and very small businesses. Mr.C's Records has survived, but Orange Camera recently closed its doors along with several other businesses. In their place have come young, hip and fabulous stores, numerous restaurants (although my all time favorite Felix's Cuban Cafe has made it, and is as popular as ever) and other interesting additions. Some old time favorites such as the Army-Navy Surplus store have changed with the times by adding a large clothing section and other day to day items and less about combat. All these changes have revived the spot and makes going to Orange Circle a lively experience for the whole family. But I walk the streets and think of my grandmother the 1923 Orange High graduate who also walked these roads along with her fellow classmates with the last names of Glassell and Chapman. I think of my father cruising around and around and around the circle in his 58 Chevy until the police made him stop. I think of my teenage self shopping for vintage clothing at the Assistance League. And I think of my children- who enjoy the Orange Circle as much as I do. I hope they will always visit the circle and realize that is the the touchstone of our family history, and the history of Orange County.
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Sweet Memories....
by LadyDeerskin And Her Service Dog
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
When March and April roll around, it reminds me of the strawberry fields in Tustin, on the Irvine Ranch...to me, strawberries always meant Valentines Day, and the asparagus meant that Easter was coming. It is still so weird to me, even after twenty years of living in northeast Kansas, to not have things greening up in February and March. Out here, the fields and trees are just as bleak and depressing as ever, but by now, OC hills and fields are covered in blankets of bright green, trees are budding up, and the air was at its best in the spring, alive with the scents of fresh new growth. As you would drive through the Irvine lands, the strawberry fields would be a beautiful pthalo green, with splashes of deep red where boxes of picked strawberries sat in the rows, and through the windows would come the scent of the orange blossoms from the groves on the other side of the fields. Even better would be the taste/scent of the wind after a spring rain, with the tang of the eucalyptus trees added to the perfume....
When I grew up in southern California, most folk had trees in their yards left over from the orchards that were there. And avocados were so ubiquitus that people had trouble getting rid of them...it was common to see a tv tray table out on a curb with a sign taped to it, '25 cents a bag', loaded and surrounded with paper shopping bags full of 'cados. And kid got in trouble for using them for bombs on each other....not for wasting food, but because you could hurt someone with them or wreck their clothes! ( too hard, it could be like a throwing a rock, too mushy was a double whammy of mushy 'cado all over you plus the hard seed inside. Moms did not dig having to get oily 'cado off kids clothes.)
But it could always be worse...one time I was at the mission San Juan Capistrano, early one morning before the front gate was open, and two friends and I were picking pomegranates for the pastor. So we had Miguel up on top of a pillar that had a tree leaning on it, Ursala there to catch them as he dropped them to her, and me to pack into bags. We were doing just fine, til
'Hey, what do you kids think you are doing!?!'
SPLAT! There went two huge poms, all over the adobe tiles, as we all started, and found one of the Sisters staring at us in her best Disapproving Rabbit style. She didn't know we had permission, and it seems that Miguel had a history of raiding the trees anyway, so she didn't buy our telling her that Msgr. Russell had asked us for this. Or that we hadn't made the mess of splattered poms just because it was a spectacular sight (much like punkin splashing, but more vivid, with the gelatinous red and seeds). So it kind of put a damper on our fun...we cleaned up the mess of course, and rolled up the bags to take to the rectory, then went to Mass.
...but that splashed pom *did* look so cool, didn't it!
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Picnic Garden - Korean BBQ - Closed
by Steve
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The wife and I drove out to Fountain Valley this afternoon to have lunch at a Korean BBQ that we used to frequent years ago when we lived in OC.
It was called Picnic Garden, and it was located on the corner of Euclid and Edinger, in an asian shopping center.
I liked going there because of the spicy pork. And it was "all you can eat". I'd load up my plate of the stuff, and grill it on the table. They also had no shortage of Kim Chi.
I remember after walking out of there, you'd smell like BBQ smoke.
After doing a search on the Internet a few moments ago,
I found a site that has some customer reviews, and it appears that the quality of their food went downhill, and they lost customer base.
There are some Korean BBQ joints in SW Riverside County, but they're very pricy, and none let's you eat all the spicy pork you can handle.
Labels: Fountain-Valley, Picnic-Garden-Korean-BBQ
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Bullwinkles Family Fun N' Food
by Steve
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Rachael remembers going to the Bullwinkles Family Fun N'Food in Fountain Valley while growing up in OC...
One of my memories of growing up in Orange County is the Bullwinkles Center which I *think* was in fountain valley?
My mom would take my little sister and I there during the 1980's. It was a place like chuck-e-cheese although I don't remember if they had games there or not.
The thing I remember most was the little water show. It was probably very bad, but as a kid I was awestruck! Nothing like Fantasmic at Disneyland is now of course!!
Any memories you have of this place are appreciated, as mine are vague.
Bullwinkles was (or is) located on the corner of Magnolia and Warner. I never went in there; I just never had any desire. I haven't been in that area for so long, I don't know if Bullwinkles is still there.
Anyone want to chime in?
Labels: Bullwinkles, Fountain-Valley
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Ruby's Crystal Cove Shake Shack
by Steve
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Jamie Hahlbohm of Orange Coast Magazine is doing some fact checking on Ruby's Crystal Cove Shake Shack trying to find out about date shakes...
Hi Steve,
I'm fact checking an article about the now Ruby's Crystal Cove Shake Shack. Can you confirm that the then Shake Shack opened in the 1940s and introduced date shakes in the 1960s??
Thank you so much for your help! Please get back to me by 4:30 today.
I couldn't confirm it, but I said I would put it to the readers here and see if anyone can chime in, even though it'll be too late for Jamie's needs.
Labels: Crystal-Cove
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Riding the Rails on a 1946 Dodge
by Steve
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
An anonymous person submits the following story of riding the railroad tracks on a 1946 Dodge through Orange and Tustin, then having the engine go out, and hearing a train coming down the tracks...
Once again! I find myself strolling through the pages of OCthen, what a really neat site! This came to mind and thought you would get a chuckle out of it, I do not advise anyone to try this adventure as it is dangerous and could cause some serious problems!
Anyway, lets look back to a late summer evening, warm air, clear sky and a six pack of guys cruising around in this old forty six Dodge four door sedan. Time frame, 1961!
We had made a left turn onto Esplenade Ave and were heading to Dodge Ave. When we got to Dodge we made a right turn and proceeded over the railroad tracks. The driver stopped and asked, "whats the chance of us riding the rails this evening?" As I recall there wasn't a moments notice and the car was backed onto the railroad heading towards Tustin which was about six miles away! A small amount of air was dumped from the front tires to insure the front wheels would stay on the rails. We all piled back in and we started for Tustin!
As we approached 17th street the driver laid on the horn, cross traffic was very light that time of night, however we could see the really surprised look on those drivers faces as we went across their path! Needless to say, the laughter was just too much, the radio was turned up and we were "rail fans"! The track ran pretty much next to Newport Avenue and we were cruising about twenty to twenty five MPH.
The orange packing house was right in Tustin so when we were almost into the switching we stopped and backed off onto a surfaced loading area, turned the car around and headed back! What fun! This should have been enough but "NOT"! As we proceeded into the night heading to the city of Orange we were in the middle of some lemon groves and it was very dark to say the least! As luck would have it, the motor quit!
So, here we are in the middle of some huge lemon grove, on the railroad in a beat up old Dodge car, basicly, stuck! "What, me worry? The hood was up or to the side and we were teaming up on the most basic of machines, trying to find out what the problem could be. It was late, perhaps even closer to early morning, maybe 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. Finally the problem is resolved, a small wire going to the coil is found to be broken.
One Zippo lighter running short on fuel is providing the light, another set of hands is franticly trying to twist the broken wire into service, "did you hear that"? "Hear what"? "listen" I didnt hear anything to speak of, yet the banter kept on, finally the repair is made and the engine is tried. "Gads, the battery is just about dead"! Again, "listen you guys"! Yep! sure enough, some where up ahead, a clanging sound, a bell sound! "Oh no, just great, its gotta be a train"! "Its coming this way for sure"!
So! we begain pushing the Dodge backwards, the driver yells he is going to pop the clutch. First try doesnt get er done! We push some more, finally the engine roars to life! We are exhausted to say the least! Doors are slammed shut and we are in reverse heading back the way we came! After so many miles in reverse we came to a crossing of sorts and went to work trying to get the car off of the tracks. Anyhow, I got dropped off at my house shortly thereafter, it was about 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning. My folks were still asleep, I clammered into my bed, another adventure for sure!
Labels: Orange, Railroads, Tustin
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Memories of an 80's Garden Grove Girl
by Steve
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Trixie talks about her memories of life in the 1980s as a high school teenager in Garden Grove...
I have so many memories I need a wall to mention them.
I went to Los Alamitos High and Rancho Alamitos High School. I lived in Garden GRove at Beach Creek on Beach Blvd. My friend T. Giebel lived down the street. We used to say in school that we went to "Raunch Rancho in Garbage Grove"! LOL
I remember dancing at Disneyland after hours for teens, the parachute ride at Knott's Berry FArm, FArrells Ice Cream and them bring a huge cake or something out on a stretcher, movieland Wax Musem, MEdival Times, The Mc Donalds on AKtells and DAle for lunch, The cove at Corona Del Mar, Shopping at Westminister Mall, Riding a scooter for my first date to Flakey Jakes on Beach and GG blvd, hanging at Edwards theater every SAturday or Golfland, working at Coco's and El Paso CAntina, Driving the PCH coast with my windows open, hanging out on Sundays with my friends from Mid Cities Baptist, bonfires with the kids from Rancho, ROP with some of my friends at the Adult School, going roller skating at the skate park (that is now torn down) on GG Blvd, trick or treating in Briarwood, and riding in a limo with my friends and thier dad who had a limo service in my senior year of HS!
I have so many memories I can't mention them all. Look for more post and I will tell you all I can!
Labels: Garden-Grove
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Notable Comments
by Steve
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Here are some noteworthy comments posted this week on our previous articles...
Feb 17 -
Cloud 9 and Studio K - Gary comments that he's the one who came up with the idea for Studio K, and also was the guy who ran Cloud 9. He also says he came up with the idea for tearing down Studio K.
Feb 16 -
Stehley's Egg Ranch - Anonymous remembers the exact location of the place.
Feb 16 -
Intoxicating Smell of Orange Blossoms - Argo#67 remembers going to the United Methodist church in Orange, and recalls it being a white wooden structure, before they built the "submarine church", and recalls "Wheeler's Market" next to it.
Feb 14 -
Beaches and Tastee Freez - Jim thinks the Van's Store mentioned in the article was in Stanton, on the NW corner of Beach and Chapman.
Feb 13 -
My Favorite Orange County Restaurants - Anonymous wants to know what used to reside on the location where Acapulco Restaurant now sits, on Bristol Street, in Costa Mesa
Labels: OCThen
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Movieworld - Cars of the Stars
by Steve
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Movieworld - Cars of the Stars was a museum in Buena Park that showcased custom cars and hot rods painted up by famous artists like Von Dutch and others. It doesn't exist anymore.
OCThen reader Sean writes asking if anyone had more information about it, and offers up some of his memories...
I was looking for some info on Movieworld - Cars of the Stars in Buena Park on your site, but noticed it was not on the list of Attractions. I went there when it first opened and all of the exhibits (movie props and celebrity/movie cars) were just laid out on the floor in a large warehouse in rows. It was not the fanciest why to display them (it looked like a flea market), but it was still really cool, especially if you were a movie buff.
I remember hand painted signs describing some of the props and what movie they came from.
Years later, I went again and it had been transformed more into a museum with false walls which led visitors on a specific path (like Movieland Wax Museum), more dramatic lighting, and a snack bar in the middle of the museum. I also remember TV commercials which featured Billy Barty promoting the museum and sliding down a tube slide which was also in the middle snack bar area.
I have not seen much about this museum on the Internet although it seemed to be a decent attraction in Buena Park at the time. Is there any other information on it and what happened to the collection? I think I saw some of the cars at the Peterson Museum in L.A. but the movie props were the most interesting part of it for me and I often wonder what happened to them. Some of them included movie miniatures like ships, trains, and submarines. The most memorable prop was the miniature of King Kong shackled on display (near the end of the 1933 movie) which Willis O'Brien used in the stop motion animation.
When the Von Dutch clothing and hats were popular a few years ago, I did see something mentioned in an article about Von Dutch living in the parking lot of this museum in a bus. Other than that, I have not seen or heard anything else and I am wondering if anyone else has any memory about this place.
Keep up the great work. I just found your site and have a lot of exploring to do still on it!
Cheers,
Sean
P.s. I wonder if you remember the religious wax museum that was connected to Movieland Wax Museum too? It had a replica of Michelango's Statue of David in front of the entrance.
Click on "Post a Comment" and let us know if know you anything.
Labels: Buena-Park, Movieworld-Cars-of-the-Stars
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You Know You Were A Teenager In Orange County In The 80's if...
by Suzanne
Friday, February 08, 2008
You broke up with your 11th grade boyfriend once you saw him in his Farrell's uniform.
You smoked cloves at Old World on Saturday nights listening to OMD.
You were forbidden from saying "whatever" to your Mom.
You could relate to the plight of Julie in the movie "Valley Girl."
You and your friend ditched school the day the Golden Bear was torn down--and cried.
You couldn't decide: was The Poor Man a poser?
You were banned from using the family washing machine to acid wash your jeans-- following a tragic incident with your brother's OP shorts.
You went to see "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" and said it was great, purely because David Bowie was in it.
You thought Olivia Newton John's hairstyle (with braided headband) in the video "Physical" was not only awsome, but worth replicating.
Your dad wore a rust colored Members Only Jacket --and you didn't care.
You thought the cartoon Ziggy was hilarious.
The summer MTV launched, you and your friends never left the house.
You held the erroneous belief that combat boots went with everything.
You refused to take your little sister to the Orange Street Fair unless she changed out of her "Cats" sweatshirt.
You pondered the eternal question: Should I let my boyfriend wear his bolotie to prom?
You spend more time on making your hair big--teasing it, blowdrying it while hanging upside down and spraying it-- then on homework.
You were embarassed for Bruce Springsteen when he did his "little dance" in the video "Dancing in the Dark" but, understandably, not for Molly Ringwald when she did the same dance in "The Breakfast Club."
You saw bands like 10,000 Maniacs, Jane's Addiction and The Hags at Safari Sam's in Hungtington Beach.
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Mystery Candy Store in Santa Ana
by Steve
Friday, February 01, 2008
A brand new OCThen reader asks if anyone can identify a candy store in Santa Ana during the 1950s...
Perhaps someone can help me recall a specific candy store in Santa Ana. Era – early 50's. It was on North Main just below Buffum's. It wasn't McFarlan's (sp?) which was on Main closer to 4th. And it wasn't See's which was on main just below 4th.
The store actually made "hand-dipped" chocolates in-house.
Post a comment if you know anything.
Labels: Santa-Ana
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Saddleback Inn - Santa Ana
by Steve
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
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!
Labels: Santa-Ana
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