Disaster In The South Bay (Southern California) - 1960s

In 1961, less than a year after my parents were married, they moved to the "South Bay" area of Southern California.  (The South Bay encompasses multiple cities, including Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, San Pedro, and quite a few others.)  My parents lived in the South Bay for eight years, and during that time, my dad photographed multiple "newsworthy" events.

This first photo shows a shipwrecked Greek freighter, the S.S. Dominator.  The ship was originally an American liberty ship, built during World War II, and launched as the S.S. Melville Jacoby.  After the war, the ship was sold into commercial service, and changed hands and names multiple times.  She was sold one last time in 1953, with her name being changed to the S.S. Dominator.  On March 13, 1961, she was on her way from Los Angeles to Vancouver, when she ran aground off the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes.  My dad took this photo of the ship, but it's undated, so I don't know how long the ship had been out there in the water at this point.

These next two photos are from The Los Angeles Times.  This one appears to have been taken not too long after the shipwreck occurred.

I'm also not sure of the date on this one.  Incidentally, the S.S. Dominator was never completely salvaged, and pieces of the wreckage can still be found today, both in the water and on the shore.

On August 23, 1964, an airplane crashed in the 450 block (456) of Palos Verdes Boulevard, in Redondo Beach.  The plane was a "converted" P-51 World War II fighter.  Both the pilot and his one passenger, were killed instantly in the crash.

My family lived just around the corner from the site of the plane crash (on Calle Mira Mar), so it would have been within walking distance for my dad to get to the site.  The incident also attracted many other local residents.

The corresponding black and white photos in this post are from The Daily Breeze newspaper.  Reportedly, flames from the wreckage "reached as high as 20 to 30 feet in height, and burned intensely."

A repairman on a telephone pole can be seen in a couple of my dad's photos.  Maybe some of the telephone and power lines had been damaged during the crash?

 

 

One of the plane's wings took out part of a cinder block wall.  FYI, that's the Pacific Ocean we are seeing off in the distance. 

 

 

Many of the apartment buildings directly across the street from the accident (including the ones seen in my dad's first "plane crash" photo), were torn down in the 1970s, and replaced with the "Village Palos Verdes" condominiums.

My dad walked around to the street behind the crash site (Camino de Encanto), and took this next photo....apparently from someone's backyard.  I hope he asked for permission!

A reporter from The Daily Breeze newspaper also took a photo from the same backyard.  We can see the same two men from my dad's photo, hanging out in the backyard.

Just one year earlier (1963), and in the same neighborhood, a trash collection truck had crashed through a wall in the backyard of my family's home.  I guess walls just weren't safe in this neighborhood!

The road was higher on the other side of the wall.  That's why the truck came through the wall at that level.  It did not become airborne prior to hitting the wall!

The Madrona Marsh is a natural wetlands in Torrance, CA, and can be seen in this modern-day aerial photo (from The Daily Breeze).  At one time, the marsh extended further north, beyond the street that runs along it's current northern border.  Unfortunately, the city allowed the sale of that part of the marsh in the mid to late 1980s, and let developers build townhomes (the structures with the red tile roofs) on the former wetlands property.

In February of 1967, heavy rains caused the marsh to overflow onto the neighboring streets.  My dad took these photos on Madrona Avenue, at the point where Monterey Street used to intersect it.  When the north end of the marsh was destroyed for development, Monterey Street was realigned and a new street, "Plaza Del Amo," was created just to the south of it.

Those older apartment buildings visible in the distance are still standing today.

I attempted to merge the previous two photos.  It worked fairly well, but it's not perfect.  The wires between the telephone poles don't "connect."  On the far left is a building with signage on it's backside which reads, "Magic Chef."  This large building contained a Magic Chef Supermarket (which eventually became a Ralph's Supermarket) and a Thrifty Drug Store, and was a part of the original Del Amo Shopping Center built in the early 1960s.  That building still sits on the edge of the current mall property, but now appears to be mostly vacant, with the exception of a "Last Chance Store" (discount store) taking up a small portion of the space.

I decided to include this photo, even though I had already posted it back in June of 2018.  This photo of the Goodyear Blimp was taken in March of 1968, back when it used to make it's home at the Torrance Airport.  Apparently, there was a fairly large fire burning in the distance.  Not long after my dad took this photo, the blimp was relocated to it's current home in the City of Carson, alongside the 405 freeway.  

By the way.....Happy Friday the 13th, everyone!

I Got Hitched At Knott's Berry Farm! (Judge Roy Bean's Saloon)

Back in the 1990s, I got "hitched," and it happened at Knott's Berry Farm. "Hitchin' ceremonies" were performed inside Judge Roy Bean's Saloon, by the "judge" himself. After the ceremony, couples would receive this official Hitchin License.

The "Hitchin'" also included two rings, made from bent "antique" nails.

Judge Roy Bean was actually a real person, who lived from circa 1825 to 1903.  He was a saloon keeper and a "self-appointed" justice of the peace, in Eagle Nest, Texas (later renamed Langtry).  The judge gave himself the title, "The Only Law West Of The Pecos."

In 1947, Walter Knott built an "exact" replica of Roy Bean's saloon in his Ghost Town.

This sign outside the building gives a very brief bio of Judge Roy Bean.

A sign inside explains why Judge Roy Bean named his place, "The Jersey Lily," and why he named the Texas town it was located in, "Langtry."  However, info from Wikipedia contradicts this, and claims that the town was named for, "George Langtry, an engineer and foreman, who supervised the immigrant Chinese work crews building the railroad in the area", and Wikipedia is NEVER wrong.  ;-)

There are five different portraits of the famous stage actress, Lily Langtry, inside the Knott's version of the saloon.  That sign states that Bean was, "a life-long admirer," but I'd say, "STALKER!"  ;-)

I wonder if these were all reproductions, or if Walter Knott managed to acquire the original portraits?

Judge Roy Bean himself, can be seen in the black and white photograph on the wall.

Judge Roy Bean's place originally sat just off of Market Street, facing east towards the Bottle House and the Music Hall.

This map shows the original location (circled in red).

In 1992, Judge Roy Bean's was relocated to Calico Square, next to the Calico Stagecoach's entrance and loading platform (the spot circled in blue, on the map above).  The photos below, show the building in it's new location.

Hitchin' licenses are still offered today, along with a Hitchin' ceremony.

That price doesn't seem too bad.  I can't remember what the charge was thirty years ago.

The same year that Judge Roy Bean's place was relocated, "Indian Trails" opened on it's former site.

Indian Trails also extends over towards the Bottle House.

In 2004, the "Silver Bullet" roller coaster was built over part of Indian Trails.

This is the exact spot where Judge Roy Bean's used to sit (up against that building, which has always housed restrooms).  The elevated circle to the right, is used for Native American dancing and storytelling.

Here are two photos that I took inside of Judge Roy Bean's (in it's former location), back in 1986. The employee in the photo was only giving a break at that moment, and was not wearing the "saloon bartender" attire that the regular Judge Roy Bean employees wore.

The stuffed bear always had the hat on his head, and the noose around his neck, but the pickle was placed in his mouth specifically for this photo.  Don't worry, we did not put it back in the pickle jar, afterwards!  (Or did we?)

Here's the same bear, twenty-seven years later (in 2013).  He was still wearing the noose, but someone had taken his hat!

And this is what the official Judge Roy Bean employees wore back in the day.  This photo was actually taken in the Silver Dollar Saloon over on Main Street (now a tacky electronic shooting gallery), but the costumes were the same for both locations, as well as for the Calico Saloon in Calico Square.

Judge Roy Bean's and the Silver Dollar Saloon both sold the same snack food items; whole dill pickles, beef jerky, chips, pre-packaged flavored popcorn, and soft drinks.  They also sold the same souvenir items; boot-shaped mugs (filled with your choice of soft drink), garters, shot glasses, and small bottles of pure maple syrup.  The garters, along with their prices, can be seen in the photo above.  There are also small and large boot mugs visible on the shelf (turned upside-down).

The boot mugs were made by Anchor Hocking.  Back then, they were void of any writing or printed design.  Today, the mugs have "Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California" printed on them, along with a couple boysenberries.

 

There were three different styles of garters available; single lace, double lace, and "gun garters."

The "gun garters" had a holster with a little removable gun.

They came prepackaged so that the guns wouldn't fall out and get lost.

The gun garters were the most expensive of the garters, but still sold for only $1.79!

The mugs and the garters were very popular items with guests, but one of the souvenirs which did not sell very well, were the mini bottles of pure maple syrup.  They were made to look like mini bottles of booze, and had names like "Ole Polecat" and "Sudden Discomfort."

Here's a 2007 photo of the building's interior.  It was closed at the time, so I took the picture through the metal bars/gate that went across the open doorway.  Even though it was closed that day, they still could have put those boxes of stock behind the bar, just to prevent the place from looking so "junked" up.  But that's pretty much par for the course at Knott's.

A close up of the bar's carved details:

We will end today's post, with this artwork that currently hangs inside Judge Roy Bean's, titled, "The Famous "Judge" Roy Bean Horse Thief Trial."  It was a promotional print for the San Antonio Brewing Company, but I don't know the year that it was created.

The artwork was based on this original 1900s photograph.  The real Judge Roy Bean can be seen sitting on that barrel on the porch of his building, holding his "law book."

For anyone who's interested in learning more about Judge Roy Bean, his Wikipedia page has quite a bit of information about his life.  There was also a 1972 film, "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean," starring Paul Newman, but I don't know how accurate it was, since Hollywood tends to "tweak" the facts when doing a biopic film on someone famous.

Bonus:

Since today is Valentine's Day, here is something extra.  This is a page from the February 11th, 1983 issue of The Berry Vine, a weekly Knott's Berry Farm employee publication.  The photo shows an employee in The Berry Market, decorating/personalizing chocolate hearts for Valentine's Day.  I previously posted this page along with the rest of that article on the left, which gave a description of the soon-to-open Camp Snoopy.  To see that whole Berry Vine article, you can click here for my Camp Snoopy - 40th Anniversary post from June of 2023.