The dog be like, hey you, yeah you numb nuts, is there a reason youse lookin at this car or do yas just like staring at things?
Hollywood Blvd during the holiday season. Back then, the holiday season ran from Thanksgiving Weekend to the New Year. The Winter holiday season starts right after Halloween weekend. We all are now inundated with the next holiday before the one in season starts or is officially over. Consumerism rules the advertising dollar. Hello, Our dad and mom had specific rules about our decorations for the winter holiday season. They stayed in their boxes until December 1 and for the whole month, decorations were on display. The cut silver tip tree had to be watered everyday and sometimes, it was shedding like crazy by Dec 25. This is what usually was the start of the holiday season, Pine Avenue downtown Long Beach decorations. Jnaki As little kids, our dad took us to the downtown Pine Avenue location for the 6-7 blocks of a fabulous display of Christmas lights and overhead decorations. Compared to today, it is a simple design. But back then, it was one of the only cities that had “above the main downtown street,” that had a display of lights that headed for the ocean and the shoreline park, The Pike. We all craned our necks to see the long road with the bright lights on display. Teenage cruising? Sure, everyone had heard and went to see the displays almost every year. But even as teenagers in our hot rods and cruising sedans, it was an old thing to do, but impressive on dates and just couple’s drives. Before the outdoor malls and inland shopping areas, this was a great place to walk around and shop for gifts. No snow, but cold enough to bundle up... coastal oceanfront beach style... YRMV. In downtown Long Beach, there has been a drastic makeover, over the years. One of the big events from the 50’s was the annual Xmas lights strung out over the whole street, creating a spectacular lit up street. Families came out in droves every year to see these lights, PJs and all. That was mesmerizing in itself as little kids. But, as we got our driver’s licenses, the lights took on a new meaning. Note 2: We used to cruise down the Pine Avenue during the Xmas season to see the whole street lit up with lights and decorations all the way down to the ocean. The high school cruising scene brought many hot rods and cruisers down this main drag to see the street and buildings all lit up while driving towards the ocean. On some weekends, it was teenage dating, “cruise central” as the holiday season ran into December. There were old variety stores, like Woolworths on a prime location down the main drag, Pine Ave. Most of the stores had some kind of lights and decorations. (c-6, c-7, and some stores had bubble lights, etc,) Back then, those big colored lights really lit up the dark street. Those old decorations can’t compare to today’s extravaganzas. But, we were mesmerized by the abundance of lights. If it snowed, that would have been perfect. Actually, in 1949 Long Beach (all of So Cal) recorded 3 days of snow…it was an eye opener and very cold. Belmont Shore’s Alamitos Bay row of trees on the water. A long standing Christmas holiday tradition in So Cal. Add this downtown/bay cruising scene with the colorful lights of the canals of the nearby Naples homes and that is/was a trifecta of sorts. These days, anyone can see the lights on the Alamitos Bay and Naples Canals riding in an old, Venice, Italy style gondola.
The Jalopy Journal
