Halloween, Dracula, and a house of wax

Happy Halloween! Today's first photo shows the Dracula exhibit in the Wide World In Wax museum in Anaheim. No, I don't mean that other place in Buena Park. This collection originated in Europe, and came to the U.S. for the 1962 and 1964 World's Fairs. In 1966, the Walter Amusement Co. (no relation to Disney or Knott), displayed this collection as the Wide World In Wax museum at 1850 S. Harbor Blvd, in Anaheim - just down the road from Disneyland. It featured "31 religious, fictional and historical scenes with over 100 wax figures." The museum closed the following year. Today, the museum building serves as the lobby of the Radisson Hotel Maingate Anaheim.

Halloween, Sam's Seafood, Bob Root & Fullerton

In honor of Halloween, I'm posting the spookiest-looking photo in the Orange County Archives. Actually, it's a scan of three very old negatives that chemically bonded themselves together. They come from a collection of negatives (most of which are in excellent condition) from the Smart Studio in Santa Ana. At least two of the fused images are of Mary Smart, taken in the very early years if the 20th Century. (And yes, I enhanced the color, to make it even weirder-looking.)
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Tonight, Halloween, and Saturday night, beginning at 8pm, Kona's (formerly Sam's Seafood) - the last authentic 1960s tiki restaurant in O.C. - will offer free tours of it's "haunted" basement. It's a great opportunity to explore another corner of this amazing Huntington Beach establishment. I understand there's a tunnel that runs from the basement under the highway. Some say it was used to smuggle booze during prohibition. But the building wasn't built until much later. (Sam's existed, but at another location.) That just makes the tunnel that much more mysterious. For more information, click here and read the fourth post from the top.
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Former Fullerton mayor Bob Root died on Wednesday at age 88. His obituary reports that "He was instrumental in the redevelopment of the historic downtown and the founding of the Fullerton Railway Plaza Association."
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Fountain Valley mayor John Collins has an article in the Fountain Valley View today, discussing and promoting the Fountain Valley Historical Society.

Anaheim, Irvine, OCMAHS calendar, holidays, etc.

Today's image is a scene from the Kiddie Parade at the Anaheim Halloween Festival, sometime in the 1950s.
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Retired chief of OC Parks, Eric Jessen, will "click you through the most comprehensive collection of Irvine Family photos ever assembled," during his "Irvine Family Photo Archives" slide show (and Q&A) on Saturday, Nov. 15. The program will be held at the Katie Wheeler Library in Irvine (in the Irvine Ranch Historic Park), and will begin in the garden at 10am. Parking and admission are free, but reservations are required. Call (949) 669-8753.
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The Orange County Mexican American Historical Society's 2009 "Images of Orange County" calendar is now available through their website. They can also be purchased at Calacas in Santa Ana. The calendars feature historical images from local Mexican American communities.
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The OCMAHS will also host an altar and booth at the Noche de Altares, Nov. 1, (that's el Dia de los Muertos), 2-10pm, at 3rd & Bush St. in Downtown Santa Ana. This might be an interesting event for those of us who feel Halloween is over all too quickly.

Wolfman Jack, Halloween, reds, Kona Lanes, etc.

Today's photo shows disc-jockey Wolfman Jack and Marion Knott at Knott's Berry Farm's 1979 Halloween Haunt. During the event, Jack presented a "Shock & Rock Revue," featuring "more than twenty-five musicians, singers, and dancers." I found some interesting background information about the Wolfman on this blog.
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Speaking of Halloween, Orion Tippens rounded up some of Orange County's spookiest legends in a recent article for Orange Coast Magazine. (My quote isn't 100% accurate, but close enough.) You may also know Orion as one of the helpful staff at the Katie Wheeler Branch Library in Irvine.
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You may have seen yesterday's Register feature on famous people buried in O.C. But did you know there's extended coverage and an interactive map on the Register's website? Well, there is.
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For the last couple days, Daveland has been running a feature on the Soviet Olympic team's visit to Disneyland in 1956. I particularly enjoyed the photo of the commies in the monkey cage.
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The Long Beach Press Telegram just published its own review of Ron and Elfriede Mac Iver's new La Palma book. (You'll find mine in last Saturday's post.)
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At Costa Mesa's recent City Council candidate forum, everyone agreed on only one thing: Tearing down Kona Lanes in 2003 was a big mistake and a significant loss to the community. Where were these people five years ago? Not only did they Costa Mesa lose one of its most popular entertainment venues and landmarks, but Southern California lost yet another of its nearly-extinct classic Googie buildings. Worse yet, it has been replaced only with a vacant lot full of weeds. I was there on closing day, and watched the constant procession of people paying their last respects to this nostalgic landmark. Some had tears in their eyes, including married couples who had met while bowling there. Costa Mesa may someday get another bowling center, but it will never replace Kona Lanes.

El Adobe and the elusive ghosts of Capistrano

With Halloween approaching, I wanted something interesting to say about California's most (purportedly) haunted city: San Juan Capistrano. Last night, my investigative team and I wandered the town's most (purportedly) haunted areas, including Los Rios Street, the Mission, and down along the railroad tracks. Unfortunately, we were unable to spot any ghosts, let alone interview one.

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Luckily, we did have an excellent dinner at El Adobe de Capistrano, which brings me (finally) back to local history and the point of the photos posted above.

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El Adobe de Capistrano, (or El Adobe as most call it), is housed in the Miguel Yorba/Vanderleck Adobe which began as two separate structures. The north section, including the cocktail lounge, was built in 1797 as the home of Miguel Yorba. It was used as a hospital for vicitims of the 1812 earthquake that destroyed the Mission's stone church. A sign in the lobby claims that "some of the later parts of the El Adobe were build [out] of salvage from the Mission after its destruction."

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The south section, including the Portola Room (a.k.a. "Fiesta Room"), was built around 1810 and was used variously as a stagecoach stage depot, a trading post, and the Juzgado (justice court and jail). The below-ground jail is now used as a wine cellar and is open to visitors. According to a sign nearby, "Joaquin Murrietta, the famous California outlaw, who was [hanged] not far from here, was said to have once been a prisoner in this dungeon." Naturally, this is the part of the adobe that generates the most ghost stories. (No, we didn't see any here, either.)

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The area between the two buildings - now the lobby - was a passageway for stagecoaches, until the railroad arrived in 1888.

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The two buildings were connected in about 1910 by new owners Harry and Georgia Mott Vander-Leck, who used the building both as their home and as their store. They also added a large wing to the back.

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In 1946, Mrs. Vander-Leck sold the building to local farmer Clarence Brown, who converted it into El Adobe de Capistrano restaurant. According to El Adobe's website, it opened, "July 8, 1948 with the wedding and reception of the First Commandant of Camp Pendleton, General Fagan."

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The site continues, "During his administration, former President Richard Nixon enjoyed the Mexican dishes prepared exclusively for him by El Adobe’s chef. These dishes inspired El Adobe’s change from continental to Mexican Cuisine."

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Nixon's favorite was a combination plate featuring a chile relleno, a chicken enchilada, and a taco. It is still on the menu.

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Today, El Adobe is owned by the Rancho Mission Viejo and is leased and operated by Richard O’Neill, Tony and Melinda Moiso, Gilbert Aguire, and managing partner Steve Nordeck.

Bowling in 1962

I'm nearing the end of my collection of images from the 1962 Garden Grove High School Argonaut yearbook. The first image shows a member of the school's bowling team at an unidentified bowling alley. The second image is an ad for the Freeway Bowl in Anaheim.

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Sorry for the short post today, folks.

La Palma, and Ron & Elfriede Mac Iver's new book

Today's photos are scenes from the City of Dairyland, which incorporated in 1955 in order to keep cows in and people out. Specifically, the local dairy farmers wanted to keep new development from pushing out their farms, as it had years earlier in Los Angeles. Ultimately, the developers won, the farms uprooted and moved again, and the city changed its name to La Palma. (Surrounding cities like Cypress and Cerritos have similar origins.)

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Both of these photos are from Ron and Elfriede Mac Iver’s new book, Images of America: La Palma, from Arcadia Publishing. The first shows the dairy farm of the first mayor of Dairyland, Jack deVries. In later years, deVries admitted that the selection of the name "Dairyland" in 1955 was somewhat influenced by the opening of another D-land, just down the road. The second photo shows a group of dairy farmers with their new milking machines in the 1940s.

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I just received a copy of Ron and Elfriede's La Palma book this week. The Mac Ivers are a perfect example of how local history is usually done – not by professionals or academics, but by local volunteers who care. They became La Palma's historians when they accepted the task of compiling information about the city’s history in advance of its 50th anniversary (2005). Nobody hired them for the job - They just started doing it.

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As a small community of somewhat modest means (by Orange County standards), La Palma has no official historical repository, meaning the Mac Ivers had to spend years collecting bits and pieces from all over. They talked to old-timers and pioneer families, they explored collections in neighboring communities, they publicized their search to anyone who would listen, and they picked the brains of other local historians. Once the anniversary was over, their work continued, but with a book as their new goal.

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Although they aren’t professional writers, the Mac Ivers have poured an enormous amount of enthusiasm, research, man-hours and shoe-leather into this project. In doing so, they’ve done a great service to their community and produced as good a photo history of La Palma as we’re likely to see in our lifetimes.

~ ~ Seoul Hallyu Festival Asia Aid Concert ~ ~

DBSK 동방신기 - 081025 Yunho & Yuchun MC cut

credits: redberry94@youtube.com

ok now buh-bye ^_^



Credits : as tagged + DNBN + xietinloveshero


i wanted to share with u a masterpiece keke^_^ it's made by our dear friend CHASE!
she has talent neh?!!
it's the vampire jae she promised a while ago to make for my cousin lelis^^

remember her? she also made that wonderful card series

eh?ring the bell now? yeap! the girl has talent!



full credits to CHASE!



Seoul Hallyu Festival Asia Aid Concert!

piccies!!!!

huhu it seems like yunho is blowing fire on his mouth ^_^

who?*looks arround...
me?

some tongue action..i missed that

B4 I GO I FOUND SOMETHING FUNNY ABOUT RAIN
i know it's old..but still its fun!

Colbert, Rain Not Most Influential

credits:time entertainment@time.com

official article here

go rain go rain! haha that's it im out!
let it rain on you!it's a shitty weather outside anyway..so it will RAIN eventually! huhu as if u wouldnt like it....

credits:as tagged+tvxqvstvxq