La Habra/Whittier area memories, recollections, anecdotes

[saibot]

Originally Posted by Hopelesscause

My experiences of Whittier-LaHabra were from the early 90s. I sold Medicare Advantage (HMO) policies to old timers for a now defunct company called FHP. It always seemed to be a very insulated area, sort of like a “land that time forgot”. My manager (a Whittier native) would tell us that Whittier residents did not like blacks, for example. In fact, I believe it used to be a “sundown town”. Some of the old timers used to like POLLY’s PIES, CHRIS & PITTS, There used to be a winding stretch of 39 that ran northward from Whittier Bl (Arco gas station on the corner) that still looked rural with livestock and pastures. I would feel what maybe Whittier used to be when I drove this road.
Does anyone remember what occupied the land where Whittwood Mall, the “Quad” and Presbyterian hospital now stand? Is the drive-in still there?

I was born in 1969 at the Presbyterian Hospital, and the Quad and Whittwood (as well as Fashion Square in La Habra) were already going strong. So I would have no recollection of what was there before that time.

My parents, who were from Chicago, grew up shopping at department stores. Among those three malls there were Bullocks, Buffums, Robinsons, May Co., JC Penney and The Broadway, and they bought just about everything there, from clothes to toys to housewares. When most of those department stores went defunct, the replacements (Kohls and Sears) were not nearly as nice, but my parents didn't seem to know where to go to get anything except a department store. For instance, by the time I was in my early 20s, there was a Target nearby, but they never set foot in it. They went to Sears instead.

As for restaurants, my grandma, who lived with us in the late 1980s and 90s, really liked Polly's Pies. The rest of us tolerated it for her sake. We kids liked Sambo's, my parents were fond of the Sea Fare Inn, and we all loved El Cholo and a Chinese place called Shiang Hwa. All of those were on Whittier Blvd. Some time in the 1980s my dad discovered Felix Continental Cafe at the Orange Circle and from then on, we went there regularly even though it was kind of a drive from our house. I remember the owner, Ramon. He always recognized us and would stop by the table for a chat.

Hwy 39 is Beach Blvd on the south side of Whittier Blvd, and Hacienda Blvd. on the north side. They do not directly connect; you have to jog across Whittier Blvd. to get from one to the other. Hacienda Blvd. always had that rural look, as did Fullerton Road, the extension of Harbor Blvd. A lot of the kids I knew who lived up there had horses and even other livestock such as sheep and goats. There was an elementary school called Hacienda School, but it closed when I was in 6th grade and all the kids were bused to my school, Macy.

Our corner of La Habra was very white at that time. There were some Hispanic kids, but they had all been born here. Very few Asian or black kids. A couple of war orphans from Vietnam joined my class halfway through first grade. One was ethnically Vietnamese, and the other was half Vietnamese and half black. I remember that neither spoke English at first, but they learned fast. Then later in 4th or 5th grade, a black family with two or three kids moved into the area. One of the girls was in my class. At any rate, I don't remember that the few kids of different races were a big deal in any way. Maybe they would feel differently.

Just rambling here with some of my memories...

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by namowal

You've just solved a 30-year-old mystery!

In the early to mid 1980s I lived in Anaheim Hills. The house was on a hillside with a wonderful view. Every year I'd see a tiny "tree" made of lights, far in the distance, from Thanksgiving to Jan 1st. I figured it was a large rooftop decoration that I was seeing from afar (it looked so small from my house that most people didn't notice it) Seeing it each year was a signal that the holidays were here.

Yet I always wondered, where was it? I could never figure it out. Binoculars gave no clues. With my telescope, I could see there was a star on top, but no details as to what building (or street or city) it might be.

We moved away a few years later.

Each Christmas, for the next three decades, I'd remember that tree. It drove me nuts that I didn't know where it was. (I realize this sounds nuts but, again, I focus on odd things

Then yesterday I was fooling around with Google Earth and determined that slice of my view* was near
La Habra. A search for "La Habra 1980s" lead me here. Mystery (probably) solved! Thanks.



*I could go on about how I figured that out, but that was more than anyone wanted to know.

You could see it from many of the surrounding neighborhoods because of the rolling topography.

Awesome to see on our drives home down La Cuarta and Carraterra during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season when I was a kid.

[ISOParadise]

Originally Posted by sarahkate_m

My gal pal Val took me a couple of times to cruise Whittier Blvd in summer of '79 in her Camaro.

Hi sarahkate_m: Was your gal pal Val's camaro black? And faster than the average Camaro? I thnk I know the car. Cruising Whittier Blvd was iconic in the late 70's, early 80's. Fun times.

[ISOParadise]

My best guess is the giant Christmas tree of lights on top of the american Savings building at Whittier Blvd near Santa Gertrudes. For decades that tree was pratically a monument during the holiday season. It was spectacular. I still miss it.

[ISOParadise]

La Habra Drive in! Drive-in movies are making a comeback in the era of social distancing, when the movie theaters can fill at 20% capacity. I think about he La Habra Drive-in (Imperial Hwy @ Euclid(?). Wish it was still here. Stay safe everyone!

[Racer46]

Originally Posted by ISOParadise

La Habra Drive in! Drive-in movies are making a comeback in the era of social distancing, when the movie theaters can fill at 20% capacity. I think about he La Habra Drive-in (Imperial Hwy @ Euclid(?). Wish it was still here. Stay safe everyone!

Yeah drive-ins were flat out fun. Even if watching the movies.

[chappie2355]

Thanks for the memory. And weren't there trampolines and an arcade at the miniature golf course along with a burger stand named Randy's?

[BMW R1100]

I lived in Whittier for years and years, starting in 1977. I rented a room in the old Pellisser house on Pickering near Mar Vista, then married and bought my first house in the unincorporated area near Gretna and Mines. Lived there for 14 years before moving to Orange Co., where I lived for 25 years, before moving to Texas.