"Random People" Photo Dump - The Summer Edition

In honor of Father's Day and the first day of summer (both on the 21st of this month), I'm going to share some more photos from my dad's collection.  In the past, I have shared some of his family pics, which included such locations as Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios, Marineland, and Downtown Los Angeles.  Today's photos are just of random people who I don't recognize, and who's identities I will probably never know, due to the fact that both my mom and dad have passed and I can no longer ask them.

Who is the man in this photo?  Was he the blonde lady's boyfriend?  Was he a professional model?  And with that haircut and tattoo, was he in the military?

This is the same backyard.  I wonder if the two ladies were sisters?  I also wonder if they were both "artists," or if this painting was done by the blonde lady from the photo above?  So many questions that will go unanswered!

And here is yet another lady and another painting, in the same backyard!  There were no dates on these, but I believe all three of them were taken around 1967 or 1968.

In the summer of 1967, my dad's sister came out to California for a visit (from Maryland), and he took her on a sailboat cruise of the Los Angeles Harbor.  That's the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the background of this next pic, but who is the guy?  I do know that he was the one actually sailing the boat, because my aunt and my dad were the only other people on the boat.  But I wonder if he was a friend of my dad's....maybe someone he knew who had a sailboat, or was he just a guy who worked for a company that offered harbor cruises?

I'm going to assume that my dad knew this guy, because of the number of photos he took of him.

And while we are on the subject of boats, in September of 1967, my dad went on a fishing trip out in the Pacific Ocean  They apparently departed from the Los Angeles Harbor, because my dad took this photo during that fishing trip, and once again, we can see the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the background (far left).  I previously posted this photo in my Family Day at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard post, back in July of 2025.

It looks like they were further out in the ocean in this next photo.  But who is the guy wearing the "Norm's Landing" shirt?  Is he "Norm"?  I looked up "Norm's Landing," and it seems to have a convoluted history.  It was a restaurant and fish market, which at some point changed it's name to, "San Pedro Fish Market."  And it looks like they have recently changed the name again, to just "The Landing," to honor the original "Norm's Landing" name.  They are also currently relocating to a new building, next door to the streamline moderne building which houses the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.

I believe the man with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth was a friend or coworker of my dad's, but I don't recognize him.

And here is a photo from the same batch, showing my dad holding some of his "catch" from the fishing trip.  Why the cigar, Dad?  Why?

The reason I think that man on the boat was one of my dad's friends or coworkers, is because he took a couple photos of him in what I believe is the man's own backyard.  These are from seven months later and dated, "April 1968."  There's that cigarette again!  Okay, it's obviously a different cigarette.

This next pic was taken in the same backyard and on the same day.  Were these ladies the man's wife and daughter?  And hey....the house in the photo above and below looks familiar, and so does the blonde lady!  It's the same lady we saw in the first pic, drawing the picture of the half-naked man!  I actually have VERY faint memories of being in this backyard, and I also remember being fascinated by that bright red hanging ashtray.  I thought it was a birdhouse!  But unfortunately, I don't remember any of these people.

Okay, it's time to say goodbye to these people, and their house, and their artwork, because these are the only photos I have of them.....unless more turn up later.  I'm still busy scanning the thousands of slides and negatives in my dad's collection.

Here's someone new.  A bride!  Who is she?  I have no idea!  It appears that this is the only photo my dad took at this particular wedding.  Based on other negatives in the same envelope, I believe this was taken in 1970 or 1971.  I hope that this lady had a happy marriage, and a happy life!

And while we are on the subject of weddings, my dad took several pics of another wedding party.  These were labeled, "Caulkins Wedding - 1967," but I don't know who "The Caulkins" were, and I don't recognize any of the people in these photos.

The bride and groom:

This lady looks tired....or frustrated.  Maybe she's thinking, "I can't believe my granddaughter married that no-good-nik!"

The bride.  Hey, smile....it's your wedding day!

Perhaps this was the mother of the bride or groom?

I'm assuming these were all family members, posing with the bride.  But maybe a couple of them were strangers off the street, who were crashing the wedding and just trying to "blend in."

Next, we will take a little trip to Florida.  My dad had labeled these, "Florida Trip," and that's it.....no date.  But based on other photos from this batch, I believe these were taken around 1977 or 1978.  I seem to remember that he either won a trip to Florida through his work, or that he was sent there on a work trip.  So, I'm pretty sure these were all coworkers of his who were also sent there, or who won the same trip as a prize.

I wonder how close they were to Orlando and Walt Disney World?  We might not ever know!

I have seen the man on the left (below), in some of my dad's other "work" photos.

 
"FORE!"

"FIVE!"  ;-)

This building might offer a clue as to exactly where they were in Florida.  I'm assuming this is where my dad was staying.  Maybe just by chance, someone out there will recognize it.  (Update:  I used "Google Images" to search for matching photos, and it looks like these buildings are part of Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida!  And this first photo is specifically of "Stirling Hall.")

And now, just to round out this post, here are some "Random Kids" pics.  This first pic is from 1968.  That's our family car in the background, but my brother and I don't recognize this boy.  He wasn't one of the neighbor's kids, but maybe he was visiting one of them.  And he has a scabby nose, so at some point he must have fallen down and gone boom.

These last three pics are from August of 1965.  Where is this kid, today?  And at some point, did she undergo orthodontic treatment?

These were all taken in my family's backyard.  In both the photo above and below, we can see how the wall in the background is two different colors.  I wonder if that had something to do with the repair job that was done to the wall, after a trash truck drove through it two years earlier?

Okay, this isn't a "random kid."  Maybe he's a "random grandpa" and maybe the two kids above, were his "random grandchildren."  Either way, none of them are members of my family!

Farewell, random people....for now, anyway!  And a happy early Father's Day, to all of the dads out there!

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!