Hello, Our dad was a fanatic about fishing. In our old garage workshop, he would spend hours making his own custom poles, wrapping the lines, eyelets, tips and custom hand grips, some with cork and others a non slip surface. By the time we got our rumpus room, a whole corner of the area was his fishing corner. An old Mercury Outboard Motor, a tall 2 door cabinet with plenty of stainless steel parts, reels of all sorts from a minute spinning reel to a large, deep sea, tuna crank reel, etc. But, his pole wrapping was his thing. He had two piece trout fishing poles and three piece surf fishing poles for easy transport in the trunk of his big Buick sedans. There were plenty of single, short/long custom rods, including a thick sturdy tuna fishing pole that could withstand a bomb explosion. Ha! His old tackle box looked like our slot car wooden tackle box. Although, it was exchanged after a high tide wave smacked it over and luckily it was closed, but not like he wanted it to be. When he could not go out to deep sea fishing, he took us along for his shoreline surf fishing adventures. The word “tackle” was prominent for him. That store on Main Street Seal Beach was one alternative to getting the freshest bait possible from "squiggley" sand crabs to blood worms with claw teeth. Yuk! But, we stopped by this other store on Coast Highway back about two miles toward Long Beach. It was a little red building that drew in more customers and always had the freshest bait of any store. With no development in the area, it was all swampy water, reeds growing all over the place and something where the “Creature From the Black Lagoon,” would appear in our visions. DOUBLE YUK! Add foggy weather to the parking lot and it was lock the doors or go inside the Bait/Tackle shop. Both stores advertised fresh bait… but, not as fresh as if my brother and I grabbed the sand crabs as they scurried away after the white water roll back out to sea. Both stores had similar tanks with sand and kelp to keep the sand crabs alive and running around. They were popular stops prior to going surf fishing. So, the Seal Beach Main Street Store was the next stop if our dad thought they had fresher, more lively sand crabs and other fresh bait. Jnaki Many years later, my brother and I plus our friends would stop at this wonderful place in Seal Beach for dinner. On our way home, the place had a Smorgasbord display of yummy food. It was called “Little Sweden.” We took our mom to the Long Beach Restaurant and she liked it... but, we always ate at the Seal Beach location. This place and the one called “Villa Sweden” in Huntington Beach were outstanding places for hungry teenagers. We did have to wear shirts and pants, but it was worth it. Low cost, plenty of food, second servings and more...all for one price. They both lost some money when the surfers came in to eat dinner. Seconds and thirds cost more for the both places as they were advertised as “all you can eat.” We all know that teenage surfers have almost endless stomachs, empty while surfing and need a full stomach for the drive home. Ha! The flow of surfers slowed down when both places installed dress codes for dinner. Collar shirts, pants and shoes. No sandals and no shorts. What? But, they survived the onslaught of teenage surfers and a few dropped out when shoes were required, but low cut "tennies" without socks was a far as we would go to meet the rules. Downtown Seal Beach was a great place to walk and end up at the city pier and beaches. Summer surf at the Northern Rivermouth and at the Southern end, big waves during the Winter swells at 13th Street. In recent times, this very Main Street is the long running Seal Beach Car Show grounds and what is more to like than a car show that is steps away from the ocean, for the past 35 years? YRMV
Beautiful shot of the Beverly Hills Hotel, taken around 1925. This would’ve been thirteen years after the hotel’s construction was completed, and just a few years before it closed down during the Depression. It reopened in 1932 and has remained open ever since.
The Jalopy Journal
