1972 United California Bank Robbery, Laguna Niguel

Did you know the largest bank robbery in the United States took place in Orange County?

In 1972, Phil Christopher robbed United California Bank, located in the Monarch Bay Shopping Center in Laguna Niguel, right off Pacific Coast Highway, and made off with $30 million.

The bank is still in operation today, though now operating as Bank of the West.

A new book, entitled, "Superthief", has been published accounting Christopher's firsthand account of the heist. It was written by Rick Porrello, who hosts the website American Mafia. He was able to interview Christopher's wife, whom she communicated with Christopher himself, to get material for the book.

Superthief provides a raw and candid accounting of Phil Christopher's brutal street world and subsequent prison life, and spills the details behind the planning and execution of his breach of the bank's vault.

Read More

The Wagonmasters of Knott's Berry Farm

Does anyone remember going to Knott's Berry Farm and listening to The Wagonmasters?

They were a band that played at the Ghost Town there, doing a variety of Americana.

Billy Beeman was one of the founding members of The Wagonmaster, and played with them from 1954 to 1968. He has a website filled with his memories of playing music at the Ghost Town.

Check out all the old photos of Ghost Town from the 1940s and 1960s just on this page alone.

He also CDs for sale based on actual recordings done by The Wagonmasters.

Read More

Skate Ranch in Santa Ana

In Santa Ana, just off of Main Street and along the I-5, there was the Skate Ranch.

It was rollerskating rink built inside of a red barn-looking structure. It was all meant to be in western-style decor. I only went there twice during the middle and late 1980's.

But you could never not notice it. From the freeway, it was always visible, big and red.

In the two times I went there, I took girlfriends. It was a great excuse to get close and hold hands.

I'll never forget the last time I went there. I was with my future wife. I believe it was a Tuesday afternoon. It wasn't very crowded at all. After about 15 minutes of skating, it dawned on me there no other women, except for my wife. I mentioned it to her. But after looking at everyone, I finally found a another guy and gal skating together. But when I skated by them, I soon discovered the guy was actually a girl also!

It turned out it was Gay Day at the Skate Ranch.

The Skate Ranch finally got tore down, in the early 1990's I believe. The Children's Discovery Museum replaced it.

Read More

Movieland Wax Museum Closing Down

I received a note from David Valdez, a reader of ours, saying that Movieland Wax Museum is closing down and moving to San Francisco.

They are going to auction off their wax figures on March 11, 2006, on location. The museum opened in 1962 and was founded by Allen Parkinson and later sold to Six Flags.

I remember going there with my dad in 1978. I don't remember too much about it. Maybe Knott's can buy some of the wax figures and create a small wax museum in their Roaring Twenties area?

They're auctioning off everything...

• wax figures of celebrities


• all props and sets


• chandeliers


• fine art


• marble carved actual replicas of Michaelangelo's "The David" and "The Pieta"


• celebrity photos


• furniture


• display cases

You can buy their complete Star Trek set!

Got any memories of Movieland Wax Museum? Post a comment!

Read More

Alligator Farm in Buena Park

Did you know there was once an alligator farm in Buena Park?

It was adjacent to Knott's Berry Farm on La Palma Ave. The Radisson Suites Hotel now sits on the old spot. I always wanted to go there, but my folks would never take me there.

We collected a few alligator farm memories from folks during the old days of OCThen, and posted them below...

By: Chrissey, 20 Aug 2002

The alligator farm was fun, but they scared me. The alligators were very quiet and had a harness on him and people would sit on the alligator and have their pic taken. Both the Alligator Farm and Knotts seemed so far away from L.A.

By: Pat Swift, 9 Aug 2002

I remember taking my son's there (Alligator Farm). We were amazed at how a snake felt. We were always interested in the alligators but watching how fast a cobra or rattlesnake could strike was the main attraction for us.

By: Ross, 13 June 2002

Being there when I was about 6 or 7. I am now 48, I have had a facination with alligators and crocodiles all my life. I currently live in Boise, Idaho and have 2 pet american alligators (Forest and Bubba). I remember my mom taking me and my brother there it had to be like 1960 or 1961, they had baby gators for sale in the gift shop, and of course I wanted one, but didn't get one. But, I was trying to figure out where a Southern California kid would develop and interest like this. I was talking to my dad and he said he remember the Los Angelos Alligator farm in Lincoln Heights LA, well I did some research and sure enough it started there in like 1905, and then moved to Buena Park, where it was until about 1986. Anyway, I wish I could have gone there as an adult before it closed. Little trivia, they moved all the gators and crocs by private Boeing 707 to an estate in Florida owned by the inventor of Naultilus workout equipment!

By: John Nemeth, 15 Jan 2002

What a great place if you were a herpatologist. They had almost every species of crocodile, many rare species that are seldom seen. The place was always deserted, not well known as a popular tourist attraction. They did snake shows with cobras.

By: Mark Wallace, 31 Dec. 2001

Remember the Alligator Farm across the street from Knott's? This was such a great creepy place that had been there forever. Full of giant alligators, croc's and tortoises, snakes and lizards. I still have dreams about this place eventhough it was torn down years ago.

Do you have any memories of the Alligator Farm? Post a comment below, and share it with us!

Read More

Golden Bear Nightclub in Huntington Beach

Growing up in Orange County, my family often packed up the family van on weekends and headed down to Huntington Beach to spend an inexpensive day of family fun at the beautiful beach. My parents used to comment on the Golden Bear Nightclub (opened in 1929) on 306 Ocean Avenue whenever we'd pass it, because it was so famous, and the host to so many of the performers they listened to as teens in nearby Norwalk and Santa Fe Springs. I always dreamed of getting to go there myself once I became an adult... But I never got the chance.

I was appalled when this county landmark closed in 1986 to make way for the downtown redevelopment of Huntington Beach. The Golden Bear was as synonymous to Huntington's rich beach culture as is surfing itself. The beaches of Huntington are still beautiful, but I rarely go now(choosing more quaint and laid back San Clemente or Laguna instead) because I don't like what I see there anymore. It's far too commercial and yuppified now.

Read More

Light Rail in Orange County

I just found an article published in the Los Angeles Times regarding a new light rail project planned in Irvine.

This particular project involves a short rail of only 5 1/2 miles...

The proposal, which won an initial endorsement from the Irvine City Council last week, would use millions in state money that the city had earmarked for CenterLine to instead help connect the future Orange County Great Park with Irvine's Metrolink station and the Spectrum shopping center.

This reminds me of another project called "Irvine PeopleMover" interestingly enough, that had also been proposed back in 1998, which was published right here on the old OCThen website.

I remember back in the 1980's the City of Santa Ana was mulling over a light rail project called CenterLine that would connect people from John Wayne Airport, to South Coast Plaza, to Santa Ana Civic Center, to Main Place Mall, and to Disneyland. I used to work at the Santa Ana City Library in downtown, and saw the plans. Apparently, this project is still in the works.

Of course, light rail is nothing new to Orange County. The Pacific Electric Red Cars ran from Orange County to Los Angeles County from 1904 to 1950. My mother-in-law took the red car from Santa Ana to high school in Long Beach at St. Anthony's, the only Catholic High School in the area at the time before Mater Dei opened.

You can visit some Red Car history at the Spaghetti Station restaurant in Fullerton, where they have plenty of stuff on exhibit.

In Santa Ana, there is a stretch of Red Car track still in place crossing Fairmont street, running adjacent to Spurgeon Intermediate School, and crossing over the Santa Ana River in the form of an old railroad bridge.

Read More

Annual Passport for Disneyland

I suppose if you live in Orange County, there's a good chance you hold, or once held, an annual passport to Disneyland.

In the early 1990's, my wife and I bought annual passports. We would go out for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night, and then cap it off with a evening visit to the Happiest Place on Earth.

What really made this convenient was that the cost of parking was included in the pass. We'd go to Disneyland two or three times a month.

We didn't do a whole lot during these evening visits. We'd start by jumping on board the Disneyland Railway there at the Main Street station, and usually rode a couple times around the park. Then we'd jump off at Tomorrowland Station and head over to the People Mover for a ride.

During the Summer months we'd try to time things perfectly so that we could ride the Skyway and watch the fireworks from up there.

And that was probably all the rides we'd take. We often perused the wares at some of the shops, and then relax on the bench on Main Street at the photography shop. We'd stay there until closing just watching the people go by.

We bought annual passports three years in a row, and then the whole experience just started to get old, and that was that.

Read More

The Barn

Yesterday I mentioned some of my favorite OC restaurants, and it got me thinking about another one. The Barn.

The Barn was located in Tustin, on the corner of Edinger and Red Hill. It actually looked like a giant barn, but with several additions to it. It was basically a steakhouse. The employees there wore cowboy and cowgirl outfits.

I remember our first visit there, it was a Christmas party for my step-father's employer. I was 13 years old then. I remember at first being in awe of the place because it was big and there was so much stuff going on inside. The place had an upstairs area, but my folks wouldn't let me go up there. Later on in life, during other visits I got to up there, and it was a bar with pool tables.

Food-wise, it was pretty good. They gave you big portions. I always ordered the salad bar to go with my steak.

My wife and I used to go there once in a while, and one of the companies I used to work for held employee birthday parties there.

The Barn closed up something like 7 or 8 years ago. I don't know if it moved to a different location, or just went out of business. I think they finally tore the place down.

Read More

My Favorite Orange County Restaurants

There were several places to eat around Orange County that I would regard as favorites. Some of them are not around anymore.

Chicago Pizza Factory - I don't know if this was the correct name of the place. But it was located in Santa Ana, about a block east from 17th Street and Bristol. They served only chicago style pizza, of course, and some other dishes too. They had saw dust on the floor. (Update: This place was actually the first BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, before they became "BJ's")

Rubino's Pizza - Probably my favorite pizza joint of all time. They had several locations, including one in Santa Ana on the corner of Main & MacArthur. They had also a location in Mission Viejo, at the Portola Plaza off of Marguerite and Rancho Santa Margarita Pkwy.

Goro - For Japanese food, this was my favorite Japanese restaurant of all time. It was located in a shopping center in Irvine, on the corner of Culver and Alton. It had a "jazzy" decor. The food was probably the most authentic I experienced of any US-based Japanese restaurant.

Las Brasas - This was located in Santa Ana, right across the street from the old Zody's on Harbor Blvd, near Edinger. This is was a hole-in-the-wall type of Mexican fare. Quality-wise, it was ok. But for whatever reasons, me and a buddy of mine used to eat here a lot during our college days.

Ricardo's - This is located in Orange, on Katella, about a couple blocks west of Tustin Ave. It's actually part of the Don Jose's chain. My wife and I used to go here an awful lot, and every now and then we'd run into an old co-worker of mine who also loved going there. They have some really good margaritas, and great salsa.

Bob's Big Boy - Before Bob's started shutting down most of its restaurants, my wife and I used to go here for Sunday breakfast buffet. We'd always go to the one in Laguna Hills, right off the 5 freeway, caddy-corner to the Laguna Hills Mall. I think it's a Carrows now.

What were your favorite eateries in Orange County? Post a comment below.

Read More