Hello, Our old Westside of Long Beach area was originally built in square blocks in the smaller areas and where our last house was built in 1946, the square was enlarged to rectangular blocks all numbered East West direction and give alphabet starting names in a North-South direction. (20th street was East-West and Caspian Avenue was North-South) There was a small market several block north near our elementary school. The larger supermarkets were about a half mile away. For daily shopping, it was a long walk, even with wheeled food bag carriers all the way back to our small house. It definitely was a car driving location. But, since it was the 50s and most women did not drive cars in our neighborhood, it was ripe for local vendors in vans, sedan delivery size cars and small vegetable delivery flat bed trucks to cruise the miles of local streets. The neighbors all liked that service. Even a large company knew the value of neighborhood delivery to boost sales and products. Cigarettes and doughnuts, what a combo offered by the yellow/black Helms Bakery Delivery Vans that drove slowly up and down every day in our neighborhood. We all knew what time each area was being covered by the Helms Bakery Truck. Goodies galore was the reward. But, for the housewives and mothers at home, there were other trucks, vans and specialty constructed trucks to offer the freshest fish, vegetables and great cuts of refrigerated meats right in front of your front door. Jnaki So, later on, I realized why most teenage hot rodders and girls did not like smaller sedan deliveries. They were the work force delivery vans of their time. Although, it became a fabulous surfing road trip/camper van that was one of the best ways to spend time at the vast coastline along So Cal’s oceanfront location. Note: Close by fresh fish from the Long Beach/Los Angeles harbors were fast sellers as they were fresh off the boats and not frozen like most grocery stores stock. So, great dinners were the order of the day(s). The vegetables and fresh meats were all a little better than the stock at the local large grocery stores. By the time the larger stores got their wares in place on the counters and refrigerated shelves, the local housewives and kids already had fresh fish on the table. Fresh bakery goods ready for the dinner table and bread straight from the local warehouse bakery locations, just added a great service to the local customers. YRMV Note 2: The fresh fish came from the local harbor in Long Beach or better yet, the fishing fleets out of Terminal Island for the best and freshest fish. The Tuna fleets were locked into the Tuna canning industry located in the Terminal Island compounds. The vegetables came from the fields that lined the wide spread open areas under the high tension electrical wires on those giant metal structures we see in all of the Eastside Lion's Dragstrip photos presented on the HAMB. Farm fresh to the local housewives from the large local growing areas on the western side of the Long Beach city limits.
The Jalopy Journal
