“Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.”
-Tennessee Williams
Growing up in the east San Gabriel Valley
I was born in West Covina (Lark Ellen Hospital, which is no longer there) and raised in La Puente during the 1950's, 60's and 70's - my world included the entire east San Gabriel valley. Our family doctors were Dr. Scherger & Dr. Sauer - they had their practice on Main Street in La Puente. The cities of West Covina, La Puente, Baldwin Park and El Monte were all part of my stomping grounds. This was our corner of the world - back when we were home. I grew up in West Puente Valley, near Francisquito and Puente Avenue, my wife grew up over on the east side of La Puente off Main Street. Of course time marches on and waits for no one, so it's nice once in awhile to look back as we travel down this fast lane called Life. I love the fact that this site has been viewed all over the world - I have received emails from folks from all over the country as well as other countries that used to live here, sharing their appreciation as well as some of their own memories with me. I hope you enjoy the memories as well, each picture has a whole story of it's own - your story and your memory! Some viewers of this site have labeled it a Great Time Machine. These were our
Hope you enjoy, after all - this is for you...
West Covina PLAZA Shopping Center sign, 1964
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| by Susie Peregoy Looking east along San Bernardino Fwy / Hwy 99 - from the PLAZA parking lot. |
We miss Thrifty's -
Thrifty Drug Stores are no longer part of the Southern California landscape, but the ice cream still is. Thrifty Ice Cream, a beloved El Monte-based brand served in Rite Aid stores. The ice cream’s famous cylinder-shaped scoops were first sold in Thrifty drug stores for decades.Rite Aid bought Thrifty in the mid-1990s, and kept the scoop shops inside many drug stores, including those in Southern California. It’s biggest fans are those who recall buying a single scoop for as low as 5 or 10 cents in the 1970s and 1980
s.Even today, the ice cream is inexpensive compared to rivals. A single scoop costs $1.29, while a triple scoop is $2.49.
“Thrifty’s ice cream is by far the best,” one reader wrote. “And you can’t beat the price.”
And apparently you can’t beat the taste. The Thrifty's that was on Amar Rd. in La Puente is where my memories are... I miss Thrifty's. The photo below is the old Thrifty's at the West Covina Fashion Plaza in the 1950's, photo by Clifford O'Brien.
Bob's Big Boy - Vincent Avenue - West Covina, 1964
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| 1964 Yearbook ad West Covina High School - by Jim Harris |
Bob's Big Boy, West Covina - 1976
I took the pho
tograph at the top back in 1977 along with a few other shots of the area that day. Looking back, I wish I took more pictures of those places that are long gone now. Bob's Big Boy was just south of the I-10, where Applebees is now. It remained here until the early 1990's. The photographs below were taken by Louise Helmers back on the day when the West Covina Historical Society was trying to save the large neon sign of Bob's. Lousie Helmers was standing across the street while the crane was taking down the sign. I knew it was a "historical moment" that needed to be documen
ted somehow, said Louise. The bottom photo is one of the crane operators attaching cables to the sign. When the sign fell, That lady in front of the location was from the historical society, standing in the front, you could see her fall to the ground with her head in her hands, screaming "Noooo........noooo......noooo!!!! I even cried, said Louise :'( 
Adventures on P Hill / Cardboard Hill - 1969 - La Puente
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Proud Dads behind the Go-Cart drivers
on Montbrook Street
Photo's from Penny Powers Knittel
Like a Hallmark moment or a scene from the Butter Cream Gang, here a group of neighborhood kids enjoying an afternoon racing carts down P - Hill. |
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