Event Coverage Pit Stops, Speed Shops & Roadside Oddities

Next time you are in the peninsula you might venture west about 2 hours and visit the Gilmore!

 

Looks like a great trip!

 

Hello,

It is nice that there are still places around the USA that still have small shops that cater to the locals. Also since time moves on, there is a re-purposing of old buildings for new stores and shops. That in itself is one way to keep the old feelings around for the next round. Instead of tearing down an old building, it gets refurbished and used as a new idea or center of some kind.

There are some cities in So Cal that continually re-purpose old 40s and 50s buildings for new tenants and businesses. It keeps the city roots flourishing into the next century. As much as its notoriety is concerned, Santa Ana has gone one further on the restoration of old buildings as a re-purposed businesses or expansion for businesses already in place. The famous, Orange County School of The Arts (OCSA) is in several re-purposed buildings rebuilt to school safety standards.

There was a GIANT relative in So Cal back in the late 50’s in Long Beach. We used to see it every time we went their to get stuff for our house and cars. The auto parts section was pretty good and was slightly below any neighborhood certified auto parts store. They had stuff for the ordinary driver, not necessarily for the hot rod custom car builder or restorer. It was a “Jack of All Trades” kind of place.

There were several hot rod/speed shops/chrome accessories shops in the same area of North Long Beach. Buy a plant and a new dish strainer, then head for the speed shops and chrome accessories store for a goody or two. That big guy drew anyone into the store.

People from the area always used this store for “goods.” My wife and I bought our first TV after we got married. They were the only ones that had the “click button” remote channel changer. Then, again in 1976, we bought a real color TV with a click remote. This was the neighborhood…a huge neighborhood… local hardware store that had cornered the market for many years.

“… one of our main sources of entertainment was to go down the street to Dooley’s Hardware, where the giant lumberjack stood, overlooking Long Beach Boulevard. Dooley’s Hardware consisted of three buildings that were spread over three blocks – you could get anything there, from ten-cent hot dogs to eighty-nine cent 45rpm records to a new living room set. Oh, and they also sold hardware. It’s hard to drive by without thinking of the giant lumberjack keeping watch over good, cheap hotdogs, and everything else you could ask for in a hardware store.”

At the time, there was this store that seemed huge and had just about everything. It was a Long Beach Blvd’s famous, neighborhood institution for a very long time. That “Babe Lumberjack” was very prominent outside. The name Dooley’s was so popular that the local school district named an elementary school near the original site after Dooley’s was torn down, many years later.

Jnaki

If you combine the current, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sears, Penny’s Best Buy and the old Toys R Us stores, the name Dooley’s of Long Beach was the equivalent prior to those big box stores. But the big draw, besides buying anything you wanted, were those 10 cent hot dogs for a great lunch or early dinner. They were the best. As teenagers, our hot rods and cruisers always made the stop or short drive from Bixby Knolls if we wanted those hot dogs. They fit the budget and needs of growing, hungry teenagers. It was a pit stop for us and 1000s of other so cal hot rodders and families.