old stuff that provides a window into the past as you describe the windows of the present....stopped by a car lot yesterday that was in the neighborhood I grew up in....it used to be a tool rental place....Mr NEMCO.....their logo had an octopus with a different tool in each tentacle.... thanks for awakening the memory and good hunting for clues of the neighborhood past as you enjoy the present
On foot and pedaling around are great ways to explore/learn a new neighborhood. Miss a ton when you’re driving
Hello, What an interesting neighborhood where you live. Your descriptions always bring to light the way we saw San Francisco. When I was at San Jose State, it was a great drive up the Bayshore to go to my favorite attraction, the Fort Point surf spot under the bridge. Most of the time, it was just a nice quiet place to sit and watch the bay roll around the point and farther out, go out as fast as I have ever seen a tidal movement. My wife and I had plenty of road trips to S.F. during the last two years of college. After we got married, we always stayed at a cute little French Hotel near the Union Station area. It was not fancy nor did it have doormen opening doors. It looked old, but the inside was pretty nice. The other thing was that since parking was a difficult thing anywhere in S.F. across the street was a cool multi-level parking structure that made it easy to drive in, park and walk to our room. There was a space or spaces all day whenever we left to go somewhere. Afterwards, coming back to the garage then walking across the street was handy. When we wanted to go somewhere at night, the trolley pick and drop off was just a block away. That is very handy, too. Jnaki Our attraction to trophies came from our friend having a few in his house and garage. He was the first one to build a modified Oldsmobile motor with a LaSalle transmission and put it in a 1934 5 window coupe. We always saw the coupe, as he was a regular at our house. But, his trophies were a “goal” for my brother and me as they were a symbol of the reward for doing well racing against others of the same power and structure in our cars. At one time, before we moved on to desert racing motorcycles, our bookcase/study area was full of trophies. At the time of the photo, my brother had already moved out and took his share of trophies. So the remaining ones were the ones I won at Lion’s Dragstrip. The top shelf was the place where almost the whole row of drag racing trophies with various cast cars on top were displayed. The ones we kept had cars on top, although one had an old coupe. The casting was always clear as to the shape, but not crystal clear as to details. Others were a lady victory with wings and several other trophies I won as a basketball player in an amateur teenage league. It was not a high school varsity team compe***ion. I tried that for a year, but the folks on the team were so much taller than me and when I won the trophy on a different team, I was the center. But, in high school, I was the guard competing against kids that were 6’ 4” and taller for a guard position. Yikes! But, as one can see, all of the trophies for drag racing were overshadowed by a jumping trout. What? A jumping trout? The tallest trophy had three gold poles for supporting the top tier. On top of that tier was a large “jumping trout” cast out of metal. (plastic casts were not used until many years later) Why was the largest trophy a jumping trout? Well, our dad had gone trout fishing ever since 1948. He was an avid fisherman from fresh water to deep sea fishing. His collection of poles and reels was amazing. But, he used the lightest weight pole, line and reel for his annual opening day trout fishing expedition at Lake Crowley in the Mammoth Mountain Range. It was usually in April after the snow starts its usual melting stage. He caught it in 1958-59 but, he was by himself and a few friends from Los Angeles. It was snowing and the drifts were knee high. But, on opening day, all of the fanatics with their down jackets and gloves were lined up to go out fishing on the big lake. After the whole day fishing, his trout was weighed as the largest trout for that opening day and won the giant trophy. He was happy all the way home on the highways... When he brought home the giant trophy, he proudly placed it on the drag race trophy shelf, instantly making our trophies dinky in comparison. But, his smile was so wide we all enjoyed a happy dad… And, a nice yummy large trout and other smaller ones for dinner... YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
