Twin set and pearls - California 1959...
Well we were living with an American family in a tract house which made it very difficult to find when mother and I went for our daily constitution...'the walk' (once more around the Promenade Deck to make 1 mile) we would try different ways each day but found that the local shops were fascinating.
There was a little block of shops at the end of the semi main road into the subdivision (think of the name on the wall but can't bring it up) sorry. These shops were a plethora of goodies and the main stop each day was the drug store. Now here we had chemists only and dairy's but certainly NOT put together with a soda fountain OMG how decadent was this? We not that slowly went through the menu pie, banana splits, pie a la mode, pie with cheese - you name it we tried it. I still to this day have a favourite - hot fudge and marshmallow sundae with cream on the top and sprinkles. Except for the past 35 years or more I haven't been able to have the marshmallow part as no one here has brought it in. That lovely white fluffy stuff can't wait to get back to America and have one - now ofcourse its insulin first (Type 2 diabetes) but by God I'm going to have one first thing off the plane. When we eventually lived in San Francisco we went to Blums every second day for a treat on the way into Macys - Blums was off the Square and Macy's door was behind the soda fountain....wow it brings back memories and my mouth is full of water in anticipation - interesting.
Now also in these shops was a PIZZA place which we checked out and found the interesting taste, texture and temptation of a double cheese about day 3. One thing makes me laugh even now all those years later my mother nor I knew how to pronounce pizza - we learn't pretty quickly though as the nice Italian man behind the counter giggled every time we came in, we had called it pizzzaaaa...just say it WRONG and say the z's as ZED. Interesting!!!
A small flower shop with exotic flower we had never seen some of which we had had on the ship after we docked in Suva and Honolulu things that didn't really smell except looked so exotic and bizarre to us from a daphney, hollyhock, daliah and generally a fairly English garden
The one way we found the house after our little walks, which probably were at least 2 miles, was that in the front garden when they first moved in they had planted a palm and it was slightly off centre so it was our Google Earth coming home to the right house indicator. These palms had been distributed to all the houses for their gardens and so they were everywhere also the colour coding of the houses didn't help got in the wrong street (they all looked alike) went to a pink, yellow, blue or white house (we were pink) it was the wrong one....think of the movie with Michael J Fox and the tract housing featured in that - have a great memory for trivia....lol
Now on about the fifth day it was a Saturday and the other children decided that it would be a great idea to take me to see a movie at their local ciniplex (just opened) 1959. Now I had seen lots and lots of movies as my local picture theatre here in Remuera was the Tudor (long since gone) and they played films for the children on Saturdays so I had seen movies like "The Famous Five" and some children's adventure movies (all short probably only 1 hour long max) and ofcourse had seen the Wizard of Oz not long before we left for the States
This local cinema wasn't that far away so the parents all decided that they would go to lunch and we could see the movie. I was thrilled as it was the first time these American children had actually tried to bond with me I had been a total alien up until this point...but I was unaware of their plotting.......hehehehe The movie house was enormous with hot buttered popcorn, soda and lots of lollies I had never seen before so armed with hands full of everything in we went. Now in 1959 you could smoke inside the cinema and the movies ran on after each other not like in New Zealand where they played at 12.05, 1.45 6.30 etc. these just ran back to back. We sat down and the last the credits were running for the movie - so settled in to be amazed and really looking forward to a break. LITTLE DID I K N O W.......what was going to happen. Me (funnily enough I'm still gullible sometimes at 59 years old) but at 8 they had me good and proper. It was a new style of movie for general release so age me being the youngest at 8 wasn't a problem. The movie started with enormous sound (quadraphonic - my ears just about blew out) and up on the screen
The biggest most awful sight I had ever seen coming toward me - a cyclops dragging a (I supposed) dead dinosaur which it had killed. O M G ......... I totally froze - must have gasped as they all giggled and said things like you ain't seen nothin yet!!!!!! The god awful puppets (certainly not in Lucas mode) were so frightening to me I just about cr....ed my pantaloons - the kids thought it a great joke and I had to sit there absolutely shit scared and frightened watching in awe and horror at what was being played out in front of me, the animals were fighting and groaning and making the most horrible noises I had ever heard....wow!!!! Now you wouldn't believe it this movie effected me so much that when ever I got sick or had a fever or was upset for the following 15 odd years I would dream about this movie
At the end of the movie which I am positive was 2 hours minimum long I was shaking so badly and so pale that they did have a moment of guilt and said I had eaten too may milk duds....yeah rite!!! hadn't swallowed my own saliva let alone any lollies "milk duds" my arse
Next assimilation was that we moved on - there are gods in the heavens - I still have feelings of hate for those kids who made my life totally miserable - their dog as I said was their only saving grace. Wonder what ever happened to them NO I don't actually care
My mother couldn't even go to bat for me as she had no idea what I had seen that could have upset me so much so that was pretty much a no go area and the American parents just said it was probably just a little too long or loud for me (poor lil ol me.....)
We had become friends with a few people on the ship in other words mum had become friendly and they hadn't minded me well there was this mature couple from Bakersfield and they had asked us to go and stay with them for a week or so. Now we had to fit in all sorts of things in the couple of months between ships as we were booked on the Mariposa to come home....remember this guys?
Bakersfield - HOT as HELL I had never experienced heat like it not up the Death Valley standard but pretty damn close. It was only January but they were having a hot spell...now this couple were lovely Fred and Fran Williams (fancy that remembering their names) and they had grown up children and lived in a very moderate house in Bakersfield and the trip on the Monterey was their retirement treat. She was an amazing baker and I had my first ever lesson with a bunt cake with Fran. We found their house interesting as there were bathrooms for every bedroom and outside was different as well no fences and every house kind of ran together with one lawn...don't know how it all worked then but understand now. They had the most magnificent tree at the bottom of their yard and I knew what it was - heaven help me - a walnut tree. I spend considerable time under this tree as we stayed with them which I will always remember as a treat.
Now Fred was a pilot and had a small Piper Cessna plane (sp) so he, my mother and myself would go to the local airport and get in his plane and off we would fly into the sunset...lol not!!!! I remember the entire area as they were building the water canals and it was like a patchwork quilt - totally awesome. So long ago
I do have stored here somewhere lots of slides which I must get out and sort so that you can see what I am talking about I have originals from mum's kodak of these canals and the orange groves being planted etc. etc.
This little plane was noisy but we certainly covered a lot of ground. He was so quiet and flew us all over the place. Even went to Apple Valley which you could only fly into then...don't know about now. Must google and find out.
We hopped across the San Fernando Valley days at a time and had smooth and bumpy rides....takes me back. Now I would be worried that Fred (a) was too old to fly and could have had a heart attack and/or (b) that he was flirting with my mother....that's too dark to go to.....lol
They had just taken up their local car dealers offer for one of the new Cadillac cars the 1959 model with the huge fins out the back. Got to drive up to San Francisco in this with air-conditioning and huge long wide seats (no seat belts) and you slid across when you went around a corner not that there were many as we were mainly driving on Route 101 highway.....seen lots of pile ups on that highway as well over time. And ofcourse drove into S.F. past the Rose Bowl. Doubt it still is there. Remember asking Fred what was it and he said a ball park and I was none the wiser............hehehehehe
They took us back into San Francisco via Fresno, Menlo Park and San Jose which all became much more well know by us than you could ever imagine....alluding to something that happened that has affected me all my life. We settled into the San Franciscan Hotel just behind the St. Francis Hotel in Geary Street on the 11th floor in a room with a cupboard which was also a kitchen with a one element stove - this is for a later blog I can still make an entire meal on one element.
Then my mother and I started the serious part of our trip the shopping at all the various large department stores. Here in Auckland we had two Smith & Caugheys (still going) and Milne & Choyce (long gone) within walking distance of our hotel and dotted around and close to Union Square were the following: City of Paris, I Magnin, Joseph Magnin, Macys, Sacks Fifth Ave, The White House and one other that I can't quite remember the name of.
On the corner of Powell and Geary was the Matson Line office which was the headquarters for the ships and on the other corner opposite the St. Francis was a coffee shop during the day and bar at night....Can see it in my minds eye but can't remember the name of it. Googled around the streets of S.F. not that long ago and something I didn't know was there. That was the corner where you could purchase the San Francisco Chronicle every day including weekend where they had coloured COMICS - wow, Oh, fantastic, bliss this place was just soooo kewl.
Near to us were a few other places as well some of which I would imagine have long gone but some are still there. The Manx Hotel, The Sir Francis Drake and ofcourse on top of the hill The Fairmont and the other one opposite (hard drive is down can't remember it) which had a Scottish theme bar in 1959. Trader Vic's restaurant and China Town. All will be revealed in more blogs later in the week.
We went to meet with the New Zealand Consulate General who eventually was to be of great assistance to both me and my mother in our time of trial.....
Nite all
Well we were living with an American family in a tract house which made it very difficult to find when mother and I went for our daily constitution...'the walk' (once more around the Promenade Deck to make 1 mile) we would try different ways each day but found that the local shops were fascinating.
There was a little block of shops at the end of the semi main road into the subdivision (think of the name on the wall but can't bring it up) sorry. These shops were a plethora of goodies and the main stop each day was the drug store. Now here we had chemists only and dairy's but certainly NOT put together with a soda fountain OMG how decadent was this? We not that slowly went through the menu pie, banana splits, pie a la mode, pie with cheese - you name it we tried it. I still to this day have a favourite - hot fudge and marshmallow sundae with cream on the top and sprinkles. Except for the past 35 years or more I haven't been able to have the marshmallow part as no one here has brought it in. That lovely white fluffy stuff can't wait to get back to America and have one - now ofcourse its insulin first (Type 2 diabetes) but by God I'm going to have one first thing off the plane. When we eventually lived in San Francisco we went to Blums every second day for a treat on the way into Macys - Blums was off the Square and Macy's door was behind the soda fountain....wow it brings back memories and my mouth is full of water in anticipation - interesting.
Now also in these shops was a PIZZA place which we checked out and found the interesting taste, texture and temptation of a double cheese about day 3. One thing makes me laugh even now all those years later my mother nor I knew how to pronounce pizza - we learn't pretty quickly though as the nice Italian man behind the counter giggled every time we came in, we had called it pizzzaaaa...just say it WRONG and say the z's as ZED. Interesting!!!
A small flower shop with exotic flower we had never seen some of which we had had on the ship after we docked in Suva and Honolulu things that didn't really smell except looked so exotic and bizarre to us from a daphney, hollyhock, daliah and generally a fairly English garden
The one way we found the house after our little walks, which probably were at least 2 miles, was that in the front garden when they first moved in they had planted a palm and it was slightly off centre so it was our Google Earth coming home to the right house indicator. These palms had been distributed to all the houses for their gardens and so they were everywhere also the colour coding of the houses didn't help got in the wrong street (they all looked alike) went to a pink, yellow, blue or white house (we were pink) it was the wrong one....think of the movie with Michael J Fox and the tract housing featured in that - have a great memory for trivia....lol
Now on about the fifth day it was a Saturday and the other children decided that it would be a great idea to take me to see a movie at their local ciniplex (just opened) 1959. Now I had seen lots and lots of movies as my local picture theatre here in Remuera was the Tudor (long since gone) and they played films for the children on Saturdays so I had seen movies like "The Famous Five" and some children's adventure movies (all short probably only 1 hour long max) and ofcourse had seen the Wizard of Oz not long before we left for the States
This local cinema wasn't that far away so the parents all decided that they would go to lunch and we could see the movie. I was thrilled as it was the first time these American children had actually tried to bond with me I had been a total alien up until this point...but I was unaware of their plotting.......hehehehe The movie house was enormous with hot buttered popcorn, soda and lots of lollies I had never seen before so armed with hands full of everything in we went. Now in 1959 you could smoke inside the cinema and the movies ran on after each other not like in New Zealand where they played at 12.05, 1.45 6.30 etc. these just ran back to back. We sat down and the last the credits were running for the movie - so settled in to be amazed and really looking forward to a break. LITTLE DID I K N O W.......what was going to happen. Me (funnily enough I'm still gullible sometimes at 59 years old) but at 8 they had me good and proper. It was a new style of movie for general release so age me being the youngest at 8 wasn't a problem. The movie started with enormous sound (quadraphonic - my ears just about blew out) and up on the screen
The biggest most awful sight I had ever seen coming toward me - a cyclops dragging a (I supposed) dead dinosaur which it had killed. O M G ......... I totally froze - must have gasped as they all giggled and said things like you ain't seen nothin yet!!!!!! The god awful puppets (certainly not in Lucas mode) were so frightening to me I just about cr....ed my pantaloons - the kids thought it a great joke and I had to sit there absolutely shit scared and frightened watching in awe and horror at what was being played out in front of me, the animals were fighting and groaning and making the most horrible noises I had ever heard....wow!!!! Now you wouldn't believe it this movie effected me so much that when ever I got sick or had a fever or was upset for the following 15 odd years I would dream about this movie
At the end of the movie which I am positive was 2 hours minimum long I was shaking so badly and so pale that they did have a moment of guilt and said I had eaten too may milk duds....yeah rite!!! hadn't swallowed my own saliva let alone any lollies "milk duds" my arse
Next assimilation was that we moved on - there are gods in the heavens - I still have feelings of hate for those kids who made my life totally miserable - their dog as I said was their only saving grace. Wonder what ever happened to them NO I don't actually care
My mother couldn't even go to bat for me as she had no idea what I had seen that could have upset me so much so that was pretty much a no go area and the American parents just said it was probably just a little too long or loud for me (poor lil ol me.....)
We had become friends with a few people on the ship in other words mum had become friendly and they hadn't minded me well there was this mature couple from Bakersfield and they had asked us to go and stay with them for a week or so. Now we had to fit in all sorts of things in the couple of months between ships as we were booked on the Mariposa to come home....remember this guys?
Bakersfield - HOT as HELL I had never experienced heat like it not up the Death Valley standard but pretty damn close. It was only January but they were having a hot spell...now this couple were lovely Fred and Fran Williams (fancy that remembering their names) and they had grown up children and lived in a very moderate house in Bakersfield and the trip on the Monterey was their retirement treat. She was an amazing baker and I had my first ever lesson with a bunt cake with Fran. We found their house interesting as there were bathrooms for every bedroom and outside was different as well no fences and every house kind of ran together with one lawn...don't know how it all worked then but understand now. They had the most magnificent tree at the bottom of their yard and I knew what it was - heaven help me - a walnut tree. I spend considerable time under this tree as we stayed with them which I will always remember as a treat.
Now Fred was a pilot and had a small Piper Cessna plane (sp) so he, my mother and myself would go to the local airport and get in his plane and off we would fly into the sunset...lol not!!!! I remember the entire area as they were building the water canals and it was like a patchwork quilt - totally awesome. So long ago
I do have stored here somewhere lots of slides which I must get out and sort so that you can see what I am talking about I have originals from mum's kodak of these canals and the orange groves being planted etc. etc.
This little plane was noisy but we certainly covered a lot of ground. He was so quiet and flew us all over the place. Even went to Apple Valley which you could only fly into then...don't know about now. Must google and find out.
We hopped across the San Fernando Valley days at a time and had smooth and bumpy rides....takes me back. Now I would be worried that Fred (a) was too old to fly and could have had a heart attack and/or (b) that he was flirting with my mother....that's too dark to go to.....lol
They had just taken up their local car dealers offer for one of the new Cadillac cars the 1959 model with the huge fins out the back. Got to drive up to San Francisco in this with air-conditioning and huge long wide seats (no seat belts) and you slid across when you went around a corner not that there were many as we were mainly driving on Route 101 highway.....seen lots of pile ups on that highway as well over time. And ofcourse drove into S.F. past the Rose Bowl. Doubt it still is there. Remember asking Fred what was it and he said a ball park and I was none the wiser............hehehehehe
They took us back into San Francisco via Fresno, Menlo Park and San Jose which all became much more well know by us than you could ever imagine....alluding to something that happened that has affected me all my life. We settled into the San Franciscan Hotel just behind the St. Francis Hotel in Geary Street on the 11th floor in a room with a cupboard which was also a kitchen with a one element stove - this is for a later blog I can still make an entire meal on one element.
Then my mother and I started the serious part of our trip the shopping at all the various large department stores. Here in Auckland we had two Smith & Caugheys (still going) and Milne & Choyce (long gone) within walking distance of our hotel and dotted around and close to Union Square were the following: City of Paris, I Magnin, Joseph Magnin, Macys, Sacks Fifth Ave, The White House and one other that I can't quite remember the name of.
On the corner of Powell and Geary was the Matson Line office which was the headquarters for the ships and on the other corner opposite the St. Francis was a coffee shop during the day and bar at night....Can see it in my minds eye but can't remember the name of it. Googled around the streets of S.F. not that long ago and something I didn't know was there. That was the corner where you could purchase the San Francisco Chronicle every day including weekend where they had coloured COMICS - wow, Oh, fantastic, bliss this place was just soooo kewl.
Near to us were a few other places as well some of which I would imagine have long gone but some are still there. The Manx Hotel, The Sir Francis Drake and ofcourse on top of the hill The Fairmont and the other one opposite (hard drive is down can't remember it) which had a Scottish theme bar in 1959. Trader Vic's restaurant and China Town. All will be revealed in more blogs later in the week.
We went to meet with the New Zealand Consulate General who eventually was to be of great assistance to both me and my mother in our time of trial.....
Nite all
