I’ll start with this photo that I took in 1974 on Kodachrome. I went around shooting some places at random and some because of an association in my mind. This location is Sunset Cliffs on Point Loma and was a very popular place for watching submarine races at midnight after a date. Maybe it still is and yes that is my Cougar.
Next up are these two pictures I took in January 1970 near Santee. I was lucky to have had an Instamatic with me because of my work and so this was around 3:00 in the afternoon. What is so important about this site? This is the location of my one and only car accident one month after getting my license. I was heading east bound on what I recall as Mission Gorge, but map says Mast Rd. and was coming up on N. Magnolia and a T intersection. I was heading straight through when a 1965 Galaxie turned left in front of me and then came to a halt.
I had no place to go left or right and plowed into the right front fender, ahead of the tire, with the left corner of my car. I remember slamming into the shoulder belt, my glasses flying off into the windshield, some steam, an open Galaxie hood, and a battery out on the street. I also recall jumping out of my car and pounding on the windshield of the Galaxie yelling what were you thinking. This is the aftermath with the two ladies talking to the officers trying to tell them I was running the light. My car is being hooked up to a tow truck in the distance under the Merging Traffic sign.
Side effect of the two pictures are the other vehicles in them. Oh, my Cougar was repaired a month later.
Now in no particular order:
Hand held using slow film at night. Not a great combination but I can still make out the six cars in the first line left to right. Can you?
What’s at the end of the pier?
The weekend my high school friend got married in May 1981 but I’ll throw in because of the cars
Some for plane spotters around Lindbergh
For ship spotters an original untouched WWII Essex Class carrier
For the USCG guys
For the sports spotters this game was played Sept. 10, 1978 at Jack Murphy Stadium. The second picture was taken around one minute left in the game. Know the game?
Last, some from San Francisco as I went back and forth between 1972-1981. Not enough for their own post.
What the heck I’ll throw in these two from Canoga Park 1966 after we just moved there from Catonsville, MD. The house was brand new as they all were in the development. The Chevy is a vague memory and I will assume for my mother temporarily. The street scene was shot for the smoke off over the hills. Somewhat to the west of us was a testing facility that was testing engines for upcoming Apollo. When an engine was fired up the roar was incredible and if it was at night, which it was sometimes, the sky lit up like it was day. Caught one car also. Look at that vignetting by the cheap Imperial Debonair 620 film camera I had at 12.
I love the shot of the Plaza International Hotel. First, I would love to eat at a restaurant called the Butcher Shop Steakhouse with a sign featuring a knife-wielding butcher chasing a cow. Just because.
Second, among the Lincoln and the Cadillacs is the Buick Estate Wagon – the only one I have ever seen with black tires and cheap standard hubcaps.
interesting article about the butcher shop. https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1986/nov/13/cover-big-beef-in-mission-valley/
San Diego’s version of Good Fellas…
I stayed at the Plaza International on my first night ever in San Diego, January 27 1986, the day before the shuttle crashed. Still here in San Diego 34 years later.
Never ate at the Butcher Shop (it’s now located just off the 163 near Balboa).
We take you now to a garage…in Canoga Park 🙂
Great shots, what the heck is that tower? And which carrier was that?
And nice wedding car. My red wedding car was a Topaz, definitely not as cool.
The tower is at Sea World. Tourist attraction. The “ring” goes up and down on the pole.
Heh heh…the Dodge in that garage was a 54 with a mashed up door…
What’s the wedding car? A Datsun?
Looks just like our Shakey’s in the O.C. in ’69. I thought ours was the only one.
Second car from the left in the night shot is giving me trouble. Nova?
That’s some scary cantilevered concrete over the PSA National.
There was a Shakey’s, with the same sign and verbiage, in Cape Girardeau, MO, through the early 1980s. I remember eating there several times. Looking at their website just now, it appears Shakey’s is strictly in California and Washington these days.
Funny – I didn’t realize Shakey’s was a national chain… I thought it was regional to the East Coast. Guess not.
Anyway, here’s the Shakey’s in Fairfax, Virginia from 1981:
I met my wife at Shakey’s in 1984. I was 16 and she was 15. We are still happily married.
I went to the local Shakey’s in Colesville, MD when I was a kid, looked just like this one; all I remember is that they kept it reeealy dark inside. And the jingle: “See what’s shaking at Shakey’s”. They were gone by the ’80s, but I’m glad to learn they live on in California and the Philippines.
Wedding car is a Datsun 510
The Shakeys on Central Av in Phoenix has been the George and Dragon Pub for 25 years… maybe longer than it was Shakeys? These all look like the one in Palm Springs which was still open when I was there last year.
I picked out John Madden on that sideline of the football game.
I saw a couple of Beetles at the end of the pier.
Great shots of a 727 and a DC-9 too.
Nice photo of Alcatraz. I have never seen a pic of it like that, which depicts it positionally in relation to the city.
The Alcatraz photo was from up on the Hyde Street Hill, two unrelieved blocks of San Francisco hill climb and a great aerobic exercise.
One afternoon I witnessed an uphill cable car lose its grip partway up. It rolled backwards and across busy Bay Street at the bottom, much faster in reverse than its usual nine mph forward. Sensors in the track structure turned the traffic signals to all-red, so there was no collision.
In a really dire runaway, the operator has the option of using the last-ditch emergency brake, a steel spike that is driven into the slot for the cable grip. Once used, it has to be cut out with a torch.
In the early 50’s, my grandmother’s aunt’s house was 80 steps up from Patcheco(?) Street in SF. Grandpa stayed in the car when they visited. I failed to find where it could be on google. Perhaps Grandma misremembered the number, or streets were added.
I see that was the Holy Roller game – Raiders beat the Chargers. Looking at the replay, that second fumble looked more like a forward pass and should have been ruled incomplete. Just an opinion, I’m not a football ref.
Please tell me you went to see Carol Doda back in her prime…..
Victoria Station! the last one survived in Salem MA until just a few years ago.
Great pictures!
Victoria Station and Velvet Turtle restaurants were all over CA during that era. Long reservation lists on week-ends for cocktails, prime rib, steaks, salads of Romaine and huge croutons, slathered with Green Goddess dressing. Good times.
“I saw a couple of Beetles at the end of the pier.”
I remember that freaking me out–cars parked on the pier–when I was a young Navy brat.
JP beat me pointing out the 71 (I think) Buick Estate in surprising very base trim. I know personally that by 76, poverty caps were not available. Also loved the 71-2 Country Squire. Was that taken just for the car?
The MB SL was obviously taken out of love for the car. Early photo-taking for curbside classic articles?
One of those cool SF hilly street pics snuck in that was 1985 at the earliest.
What was the significance of Shakey’s pizza? That restaurant looks so inviting. A little research says that Shakeys is still around, but only on the wesr coast. I havent heard anyone use the term parlor for pizza joints in a long time.
The Coast Guard tall ship is awesome!
The Shakey’s Pizza in the photo was Kristy’s MVP(Most Valuable Pizza) Sports Bar for many years, but closed in 2017. Kristy is a true character who paddled her customers and seemed to have small rooms accessible from the back parking lot, leading to rumors that the place was really a brothel. I cannot confirm these rumors, although a glance at their still-active facebook page doesn’t put them completely to bed. Their neighbors on Midway included a strip club and a couple of rub-n-tug joints, but that doesn’t prove anything.
Sept. 10/78 was the “Holy Roller” game.
That is indeed a Buick Estate Wagon with dog dish hubcaps. My brain processed it as a Pontiac or Chev for that very peculiar specification. Anyone spot the 2 seat T-Bird with Magnum 500 wheels?
What is the building shot at night just after the pic of Shakeys? I can’t make out the sign.
I’ve eaten at Tarantino’s in the early 2000s, it was delicious.
Having been a taxi driver in San Diego in 1976-1977, every one of those places is very familiar.
And we rented a little house on the hill overlooking the airport, and from our balcony I had a perfect view of all the planes coming in low over the hill and dropping down to the runway. The approach in SD is not exactly typical.
Thanks for the trip back in time.
I’m impressed that you were wearing a seat belt back in 1970 (which is probably why you walked away from the crash to take those shots). Back then everybody had a cousin who survived by being “thrown clear” from a fiery crash and a lot of people thought seat belt use was unnecessarily cautious. My Dad survived a head-on crash with a ’54 Chevy in his little Saab because he was unnecessarily cautious.
The most interesting airplanes are the Western Boeing 720B, the Super Guppy and the United DC-8.
It is a 720B and not a 707 as the 707s were gone from Western’s fleet by the time this livery appeared. The Super Guppy is the earlier, less powerful version as evidenced by the three bladed props. Super Guppy was converted from the KC-97 (military Stratocruiser) and used Allison turboprop engines similar to those on the Lockheed Electra. And the DC-8 shown seems to be the original, short fuselage one.
Nice photos; I like airplanes from this era and remember DC-6s, Electras and Convairs from the ’60s at Lindbergh.
These photos bring back memories. I moved to SoCal in 1972. My BFF and I used to fly from LAX to Lindbergh on Friday nights on PSA 727s for $7.00 one-way. We would leave his 1960 Jaguar 150S roadster at LAX parking right across from the PSA terminal for a couple bucks a day. Flights were every 30 minutes or so and you could just show up at the last minute without a reservation or worry about TSA delays. First stop was Anthony’s Fish Grotto for dinner on the waterfront. We returned to LA on Sunday night with a schoolteacher friend who drove us in her new electric blue/white vinyl-topped Plymouth Duster. More good times.
I remember those $7 flights and Anthony’s Fish Grotto. Such simpler times back then and I’d go back in an instant. I can tell you other airlines didn’t like the pricing by PSA.
For readers who don’t recall, prior to the the 1978 de-regulation of air fares only airlines operating exclusively intrastate could avoid Civil Aeronautics Board fare regulations and hence offer lower ticket prices than competitors. That business model worked in big, prosperous states like California and Texas that could support thriving intrastate routes.
Simpler times, indeed. Family-owned restaurant chains in CA like Anthonys were already failing/disappearing before COVID. Now they’re gone forever.
Southwest’s founder, Herb Kelleher, was given the royal tour of PSA’s San Diego HQ before founding his own intrastate airline. PSA (Poor Sailor’s Airline) saw a Texas airline as no competitive threat in those days. I remember flying from LAX to SFO for only $12.50 on PSA.
It is said that the basis of Southwest Airlines originates with PSA. PSA still have a online following because of all the former and very loyal employees. Can even track all the individual planes they used.
Anthony’s closed a couple years ago and was razed and rebuilt. My kids (all early 29s now) were crushed -Anthony’s was a big part of their childhood.
It’s now been rebuilt as a Brigantine, so at least it’s still local, but it doesn’t have that family friendly charm that Anthony’s did.
Some of the San Diego shots were of places where I had dates like the movie theaters and restaurants. Downtown shots were because I liked to roam around downtown near the piers and up to Harbor Island. As to some questions
Paul is correct that is the PSA tower at Sea World back then. Called that as it was sponsored by PSA which was big and headquartered in San Diego.
Mercedes 450 SL was brand new and my father’s company car.
Wearing seat belt because it was drilled into us as student drivers when 15 1/2. I could never drive without one as I feel totally naked.
Carrier is USS Bunker Hill. She suffered the second most worst damage and casualties, due to two back to back kamikazi strikes May 1945. Repaired but never saw service or was recommissioned just like the Franklin. Was used as an electronics warfare platform in San Diego Bay at North Island. I recall seeing her towed out in 1973 for scrapping. I am working on an article about the creation and design of the Essex Carrier for here. More information than many of you might care about so it is taking time to condense it down to a few pages.
Correct the Holy Roller game. I was sitting at a low 10 yard line seat for the game. Not a great view until the last play of the game as it happened right where I was. People jumping up and down so no picture as it happened. I can tell you the sold out stadium went dead quiet when the refs signaled touch down and game over. You could have heard a pin drop as 55,000 just stood stunned. All except Madden who I remember jumping up and down after. I heard about John this past Tuesday.
No I didn’t see Carol Doda. However, in the Shakey’s shot the next place was the In Spot and not far away The Body Shop. which was a go go bar strip club that was always packed. Still have the membership card from the place where a stripper once asked me to come on with her one night. Naturally my three friends went crazy.
Night shot is Valley Circle Theater.
Wedding car is obviously a Datsun 510. They were all over San Diego back then.
Alcatraz. So close you could swim to the City? Not, given the tremendous surge through the narrow Golden Gate during incoming and outgoing tides.
Coast Guard ship USS Eagle, training ship. Commissioned as Horst Wessel when launched in Hamburg, Germany 1936.
Remember the hotels that PSA owned/leased? We stayed at the PSA San Franciscan once – a bit of a dump IIRC.
R/T PSA flights LAX/SFO were around $18 in the early 70’s if you left on Thursday midnight and returned on Sunday evening. Coffee in china cups with saucers and very quick trips in the days of less busy air corridors. And no regional jets, just big comfortable seats on the 727s.
I look forward to the Essex article! I recently went to the pacific war museum, fredericksburg, tx where I got a book on the Yorktown (finished) and the Enterprise (working on). I don’t know if you caught it, but I wrote an article here about a car show on the Lexington last year.
I too lived in Canoga Park but in the ‘80’s. What area was that? We were walking distance to Pierce College.
Shakey’s Pizza was the place. That always dim lighting, the big lampshades and the tall translucent red tumblers full of soda…
Your photo of the Country Squire looks remarkably like the photo realism painting by Robert Bechtle (sadly RIP as of recently).
Great pix, thanks for sharing!
At the end of Roscoe Blvd as it then turned right to become Valley Circle. I walked down a dirt road ( now March Ln) through a large orange grove (Orcutt Ranch) to go to high school (Chaminade) in 1967.
Ah, that area became (or I thought of it as) West Hills while I was there (or most of it anyway), I didn’t recognize the hilly part offhand… I went to Taft in Woodland Hills (Go Toreadors!)
Community Street. Across the street was the fencing for the Chatsworth Reservoir. In 1966 there was absolutely nothing past Valley Circle or much below Roscoe Blvd. My mother took classes at Pierce College.
Shot number ten… three big Chevies, two Chrysler products, and what looks like a heavily modified Harley Sportster. Hardtail and a three finger rake. Nice.
These pictures are all fantastic. I could pore over the details in every one. Thank you for sharing them and putting this post together.
(If I recall correctly, I went to Tarantino’s in SF around the mid-Aughts.)
Very cool shots. I’ve only been to CA a few times and each time was to SD cause I have family there. The PSA 727 is a bit surreal there due to Flight 182, the beginning of that airline’s demise.
I love all the Japanese iron and airplane shots. The 720 and Guppy are pretty wild!
In the 2nd photo, I see a white ’68 full-size Chev, and a ’69 or ’70 Datsun 1000. The latter was the first Japanese car I’d ever driven, and I was absolutely smitten with it. My friend had bought it in ’74 at “Nothing Over $999”. It was that cheap because it had a crumpled front fender.
It was a marvelously nimble and peppy little thing compared to my old ’62 Chevy II with 194-inch 6 and Powerglide.
The green Ford Capri in the airport photo (right hand side) also shows up in the picture of the Shakey’s Pizza Parlor. I wonder if it could be the same one. Great photos capturing daily life during that epoch!
Loma Theater looks even cooler at night.
The nighttime/slow film/handheld shot: two Caddys (one may be a Buick Electra), two AMC Gremlins, a Ford Maverick, maybe a Pinto. But I’m too entranced by the awesome building in the background to notice the cars. What is that, Valley ____ ____?
Of all the places you would be at midnight after a date, a submarine race? That date must have not gone well.
Do you know what a submarine race is slang for? I hope so…
We did kind of the opposite, earlier time and west to east (well, after moving west from the east originally).
My Dad was a chemist, and got into semiconductors right as he graduated for college, when he worked for Sylvania, it Towanda, PA. He moved to Massachusetts where he had his only non-semiconductor job working for Metal Hydrides when I and my sister were born..but we didn’t even live there a year, as he got a job with Hoffman electronics in El Monte, where he worked on solar cells for the Vanguard spacecraft. He rented a house in Covina, and bought one in Glendora, for about $5000, but sold it as he got a job with Westinghouse near Pittsburgh, PA..imagine moving EAST from CA to PA in the early 60’s…talk about bucking the trend!
Westinghouse transferred him from Pittsburgh to Maryland, and we lived in Catonsville probably in 1963, but he go another job in 1965, and we moved to Vermont (the first time)..another transfer to Manassas, VA in 1969 and back to Vermont (2nd time) but then moved to Texas in early 80’s where he lived the rest of his life, till 5 years ago.
Nice pictures!