Hollywood History and time line
My
Hollywood years were actually broken up into four time periods. I
lived in Hollywood from 1946 to 1947, then I went to Struthers from
1947 to 1948. In 1948 I went back to Hollywood, stayed 3 months, and
then went back to Struthers. During the latter part of 1948, I went
to work in the steel mills for a while and then joined the Navy in
1950. In 1952, I returned to Califronia to get married to
Helen. I was on leave at the time and the both of us went back to
Youngstown in September of 1952. We returned to California in 1954.
Now for how it all began. My Mother had gone to California in 1944 to recuperate from a
hysterectomy operation and she liked it so well that she made up her
mind that the family was going to move out there. Terrible fights ensued
between her and my father over this as he was close to retirement from
the Sheet and Tube Steel Mill and did not want to give up the pension
that he would get in a few years.
As for me, I was not happy going out there either as it meant leaving
all my friends and having to enter another high school. My brother
George had just been discharged from the Army Air Force in 1945 after
the War and he was suffering from Shell Shock as they called it then and
he hardly spoke to anyone, let alone worry about the fights that were
going on between my Mom and my Dad.
In any event, my Mother won out and in 1946, we packed up all of
our belongings and headed for the west coast.
Summer of 46
The above picture was taken at 239 Poland Ave, Struthers, Ohio.
It was the day we left for California. From left to right, me,
Fred Pusser, Bill O'Hara, Wimpy, Jack O'Hara, Glen Leavitt, Billy
Ahrens, George Pusser, My Dad, My Brother George, and Jimmy Ahrens. A
motley crew to say the least.
The truck my Dad drove with all of our belongings is directly behind
me. It was a 1938 Open Top Moving Van so it had a canvas tarp over the
top of all our stuff. My Mother, my two sisters and I all went in a 1936
Plymouth and my brother drove along with my Dad. He had never
driven a truck in his life, especially not one of this size and weight
but he quickly adapted and was a seasoned truck driver by the time he
reached California
My Cousin George Munton Jr.
My Cousin Georgie had filled
my mother's head with all sorts of stories about being able to buy a
house for practically nothing as they were being moved to make way for
freeways but that all turned out to be just that, a story. My Dad was
furious over the way things were turning out and he and my brother
headed north to Vancouver, BC to see if they could find something up
there where he had lived prior to moving to Ohio.
My Mother and George Munton Sr.
In the meantime, my Uncle George's house was where we all packed in
to live, me, my two sisters and my mother. Uncle George knew
that this was an unsatisfactory situation and went to work to find my
Mom and Dad a place to live. My Brother and Dad were back in two
weeks and found nothing in Vancouver but by that time, Uncle George had
found a place for us to live. It was a Tri-Plex and my parents agreed to
manage and maintain the place in exchange for free rental of one unit.
The first month of the following summer (1947) I went to work for
my Uncle George. He owned a Termite Company and had plenty of
work for me. By the end of the month I had earned enough money to
make my trip back to Ohio
My Uncle George was very proud of this
old truck
I had never made a trip this far on my own before but by the
middle of July, I set off by Greyhound Bus for Struthers, Ohio. The
trip took 4 days, stopping twice a day for rest stops plus an hour
each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Five of my friends met me at the Greyhound depot in Youngstown and we
walked down to the square and caught the bus to Struthers.
I stayed with the Pusser's spending most of my time with Georgeina as
we had become very much attracted to one another, A month's time
had gone by very quickly and it was soon time to be thinking about
heading back to Hollywood. Georgeina's brother George told me I should
stay with them and graduate from Sturthers High School so we approached
Mrs. Pusser about it and she said it would be ok with her if my Mother
approved.
My Mother was none too happy about the idea but I think she could see
that it had been a bad idea pulling me out of high school and moving me
to California so she agreed to let me stay.
Struthers High School
As summer moved into fall, I enrolled in Struthers High. I went
to work down at the Schwartz Market on Poland Avenue, all day
Saturday and each week day night till 6PM. It was during the fall of
1947 that I met Patty Erwin. She was a very pretty blonde and we hit
it off right away.
Patty Erwin behind the High School in Struthers
After graduating from high school, a friend of mine named Jim
Spano wanted to go along with me on a trip to California to visit my
parents. He had never been out of the Youngstown area before
so we packed up all of our stuff into my 31 Chevy and headed west.
The rear main bearing was worn badly in the chevy causing it to knock
fairly loud and also caused the rear seal to leak oil. Today, I would
not drive this car to the grocery store let alone almost 3 thousand
miles to California.
Many things happened on this trip. We were somewhere in the middle of
Indiana when we stopped to get a soda. When we got ready to get on our
way again, the car would not move just as though the brakes were on. We
rocked it back and forth and the wheels seemed to be free, then there
was a sudden snap and everything seemed ok again. We got all the way to
Azusa, California before we found out the snap was caused by a broken
transmission tooth that had fallen between the transmission case and the
gear and subsequently broke the transmission case. This caused a
loss of gear oil and ruined the transmission. We were able to limp home
to Holly Drive using 2nd gear most of the way. We also used 40 gallons
of engine oil making the trip to California, all of it being lost
through that bad rear seal.
Now Jim did not know how to drive and we were out in the Nevada
desert. I was totally worn out from driving so I told Jim I would get
the car going in high gear and all he had to do was slide over the top
of me into the drivers seat and press the gas and steer so that's what
we did. I fell asleep in the front seat in a matter of minutes.
Jim was also very near blind and had to wear heavy thick glasses.
Anyway, during the time I was asleep, we came off the desert floor and
started up a mountain and Jim woke me up saying that he could not see.
When I looked out the window, we were in the worst fog I had ever been
in. I told him to stop the car but of course he didn't know how so
I turned the key off and told him to hit the brakes. We came to a
screeching halt and I took over long enough to get us off the highway.
Many hours later, the fog lifted and we got on our way again and less
than a mile in front of us was a 10 car pile up with police and
ambulances so all I can say about this event as I look back is that we
had an angel in the car with us telling us to stop.
Jim Spano went to work for my Dad long enough to earn the money he
needed to get back to Struthers. I saw him off at the Greyhound Bus
Depot in Hollywood and that was the last I ever saw or heard of him
again.
As for the car, I went to the junk yard and got a transmission for it
and put in a new rear seal and sold it for $100. I took the money and
bought a 1936 Plymouth sedan. It was a nice running car but it
didn't have a starter so I had to always park it facing downhill. I was
anxiious to get back to Struthers and I was talking to my sister Babs on
the phone one day. She said "Peggy" was there at the Casa and was going
back and that I should talk to her about the two of us going together.
As it worked out, Peggy and I were headed East in about a week. Now
if you don't know who Peggy is, I suggest you read
MacGregor's War,
Chapter 10 and substitute the 36 Plymouth for the 37 Ford.
When I got back to Ohio, I went to live with my
Aunt Lil in Youngstown. She lived on Bernard St. which was just off
Glenwood Ave. above the Isaly Ice Cream Factory store at Glenwood and
Mahoning Ave. They were known for their "mile high cones". They were
made with a scooper that looked somewhat like a garden trowel and it
made a cone that was very long and pointed on top......also very good
ice cream.
Isaly's is gone and now it's a
U-haul
storage and tool rental
I got a job at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Campbell Works in
the Seamless Plant. I was a tally clerk and it was my job to total
up all the lengths of pipe that went into the railroad cars to be
shipped out.
Just around the corner from Bernard St. on Glenwood Ave was
Richards Store. It was a Mom and Pop place and every day on my
way down Glenwood to catch the bus to work, I would stop in and buy
cigarettes. This was mainly an excuse on my part to go in and talk
to Gail Osborne. She was my age and worked in the store. I was
quite attracted to her and we had a few dates. Two of these dates
stick in my memory and probably will forever. On our first date, we
went to the drive in movies and when it was over, we went to a
restaurant to eat. When we came out, it was raining very hard and we
rushed to the car. You remember the car? The one with no
starter ! Well I thought when I pulled in that I was on a slight
backwards grade but when I released the emergency brake, the car did
not move.
Gail had never driven a car before but I explained to her that I
needed to push it backwards to get it started and once it started
she was to push the clutch in. So there I was, out in the rain
pushing my car and I gave her the signal to let the clutch out.
It all went well and the car started right up. I opened the drivers
door to get in and I told Gail to slide over. As she did so, she
took her foot off the clutch and it was still in gear. It gave
a sudden jerk and killed the engine. End of Story One...... except
that I got rid of the Plymouth and bought a 37 Ford from Morris at
the Schwartz Market in Struthers
The other date with Gail that I remember so well is the
night we were riding around and decided to park in front of my Aunt
Lil's place. We started necking and it was only a few minutes before
Gail laid the definition of necking on me. She said, "keep your
hands above my belt line and below my knees and we will get along
just fine". Well, at least I knew the rules :-)
It was a Friday night in September and I was heading to the
football game in Struthers. I stopped in Richards to say Hi to Gail
and while we were talking, two girls were heading from the back of
the store. One was Gail's sister Joan and the other was Helen Ruble.
I knew the minute I saw Helen that I wanted to know who she was. It
was only a matter of days before Gail, Joan, Helen and myself went
roller skating. We were soon dating on a regular basis. It was a bad
period for Helen as her parents divorced and her younger brother
Jimmy went up to Erie, Pennsylvania to live with his Dad and step
Mom. It was not long after that Helen moved in with her best
girlfriend Janie Paul. The Paul's lived just a short ways up
Glenwood Ave from where I was on Bernard St.
Helen, Johnny, and Janie at their
house on Glenwood
Janie's brother Johnny was home on leave from the Army when this
picture was taken. Mrs. Paul is in the background looking on. As I look
at some of these old pictures, you can see that most of the houses were
in bad need to paint.
This is a
link to all the pictures
Hollywood, California 1946 to 1948 and 1954 to 1955
In the fall of 1946, I enrolled in Hollywood High School. It was a very
big change for me. I used to walk with friends to and from school in
Struthers but in Hollywood, there were no friends and I had to walk up to Santa
Monica Blvd. and catch a street car to and from school. Hollywood High School
was more like a college campus with multiple buildings and no two classes were
in the same building.
Hollywood High School
It was quite a transition from the small town of Struthers to Hollywood and
the Los Angeles area. There were no freeways back then and to go down to Los
Angeles proper, you had to take Sunset Blvd. My brother George got a job at
Lockheed in Burbank so I did not see much of him anymore. He shared a bed with
me down at the apartment on Melrose but I think he was also sharing a bed with a
woman on the other side of the hill from Hollywood.
It was not too long before my cousin Georgie found a house
for us. It was more expensive by 4 times than what
he had told my Mother originally but she went up to Hollywood
and looked at it and it was decided that we would buy it. The
bid went back and forth a couple of times and we ended up paying
$8900 for it. It was on Holly Drive which was about 8
blocks north of Hollywood and Vine. It was very close to
the Dam for the Hollywood Reservoir.
This is the Holly Drive House
After My Dad and I Put the Add-On Out Front
A picture of my Dad reading
It was just one large room with a very small kitchen off to
one corner and a bathroom.The whole house was done in Knotty
Pine. It had a small hallway in the rear
and my brother ended up putting a fold up bed in there. My
Mother and Dad strung up a clothes line in the big room and
divided it giving me a place to call my own. One good feature
for me was that I was once again able to walk to school. It was
about 10 blocks but most of it along Hollywood Blvd going west,
I soon found a news stand at the corner of Hollywood Blvd and
Las Palmas that carried news papers from all over the country
and they had the Youngstown Vindicator so I was quick to buy a
copy and read what was going on back home.
I began to make a few friends but Holly Drive was not like Creed
Street in Struthers. I never found anyone along Holly Drive walking
to school. All in all, I was pretty homesick and began to make plans
to go back to Ohio by bus when school let out the following summer.
I browsed around on Google Maps and came up with a couple of nice
views of the Holly Drive house as it looks today. I see that the
current value is now $635,500. Quite a change from the $8900
we paid for it in the 1940's
This is the Holly Drive house as it
looks today
It still has the same two bedrooms and single bath
but a very nice deck was added to the house and from what I can see,
a very costly garage was added just above the lower wall. My Mother
would cringe if she saw the barren curved pods that were built into
the bottom wall void of any flowers and plants street side.
A garage was added just behind the
front wall along Holly Drive.
This is the exact same view of the
curved driveway that you see above. It was taken on the day my Dad
left on a trip to Hawick, Scotland
There was a cross way up on the hill behind us and I would often
go up there to get a veiw of Hollywood and the surrounding
area. It was just to the east of Caheunga Blvd and you could
see the Hollywood Bowl and all of Hollywood from up there.
The Cross up on the hill in
Hollywood in relation to Holly Drive
The cross as seen from downtown
Hollywood
Downtown Hollywood as seen from
the cross
Another place I used to walk up to is the Hollywood Reservoir
Dam. There were no restrictions back then and you could walk right
out on the dam and take pictures. I happened to snap one of the
Hollywood Sign but it was a little different back then as it read
.....OLLYWOODLAND......... There was a bad storm that knocked
down the H. It stayed that way for a long while and then more
bad weather knocked down part of the word LAND. When it was finally
restored, they removed the word LAND from the sign.
The Hollywood sign as it
appeared in 1946 taken from the top of the Hollywood Reservoir
Dam
The Original Hollywood Sign as
it looked in 1923
The Hollywood sign as it appears
today
The Hollywood Sign stands four stories high, each letter
running 30 feet at its base along the rugged terrain of the
Hollywood Hills. This picture was taken up in the hills above
Holly Drive. I was running all around google maps of Hollywood
to see if I could dig up some old memories and I came up with my
Uncle George Munton Sr's house on the corner of Wilcox Place and
Lexington in Hollywood. This is the house our whole family lived
in until Uncle Geroge could find a place for us. I was surprised
to see that it was still there because it is only about 7 or 8
blocks south of Hollywood and Vine Street.
My Uncle George's House in
Hollywood
An interesting thing happened to my Mother while we were
staying with Uncle George. She was outside hanging out clothes
to dry and a radio station crew came by from the Art Linkletter
show and asked her if she wanted to be on the show. She said yes
and they took her up to the studio where the show was in
progress. She ended up winning a new refrigerator, some very
nice silverware, and quite a few other smaller gifts.
While I was gone back East, my Mother got a job cleaning
apartments, actually it was only 3 apartments, one of which
belonged to actor George Tobias. He later moved to a brand new
apartment complex closer to Studio City where he worked. He was
instrumental in getting my mother and dad a job as managers of
this place.
George Tobias, Charactor Actor
It was on Laurelwood Drive directly across Ventura Blvd from
Studio City. The place looks much the same to me now as it did
when I first saw it.
Street View of Laurelwood
Apartments
Satellite View of Laurelwood
Apartments
