Ginger Rogers, Diana Dors and Dennis Hamilton in a Cadillac Series 62, after a visit at Aga Khan’s Villa Yakymour, Cannes, France - 1956.
What does a large destination location, along the coastal So Cal area have as significant as could be? Not inland bays, access to the ocean and miles of beautiful coastlines for a satisfied enjoyment all year long… Hello, We grew up in the Cub Scouts because our group of friends’s parents decided to allow us to get together, learn some outdoor adventure techniques and learning to do things with a group of kids with similar ideas. As we did our own thing in the Westside of Long Beach community, we finally were able to go to a national event in our own So Cal backyard. (So to speak… down the coastline…) We were growing up in coastal So Cal, but learned enough to become young Boy Scouts. The barren coastal canyons(to the right of the Newport Coast photo in the introduction, above) provided a perfect setting for this big time National event for the Boy Scouts from all over the world. The modern location was built upon a barren coastal plain and slightly rolling hills for a one time, West Coast event, never before seen in the So Cal area. The organization for Boy Scouts put together an international event in 1953 to be the largest gathering of young boys to come join the festivities, camping out for a week on this barren dry area near the coast in Newport Beach, CA. It was located near the ocean and barren fields that went on for miles inland toward the mountains. It was a perfect place to have 1000s of kids to camp out for a week. 1953 “50,000 Attend National Boy Scout Jamboree “ (as my mom would say, that is a lot of kids to be gathered in one spot out in the barren areas of So Cal.) “The Irvine Ranch hosts the third annual National Boy Scout Jamboree welcoming some 50,000 Scouts from all over the world. It was the first international gathering of Scouts in the West where there was still barren land for any and all events. No homes for miles and barren coastal hillsides were a country road along the coast. This huge event took place in part on what is now known as Fashion Island. The event gave Jamboree Road its name.” Jnaki A few local So Cal young kids at their first international gathering on the barren Westcoast area near the ocean. Within our own group, we set up our own area of the whole complex and watched the festivities. We learned a lot of new stuff and joined in the exploration of the program spread out over the large acreage. I was even given a "shout out" during a speech by the head scoutmaster in his speech to the thousands of kids and their parents. During an estimating event, we all had to see how tall an object was using our hands only. It was difficult, since we could only use our hands at the time. I had remembered that my brother had told me, a long time ago, that my index finger joint, bent into a hook was about one inch and as close to the real inch measurement as possible. So, that gave me a measurement tool to judge the height of the object on display. The estimates were not given out and then the announcement was done at the scout master's speech. It was cool to be pointed out for a good guess... Today, there isn’t a space left on this particular hill/valley area in Newport Beach. A huge shopping center is now built on the location and is a prime shopping/business district. A patch of dirt that hosted the 1953 Boy Scout Jamboree grew into the city’s preeminent business and retail center. “From Pup Tents to Prominence” Note: Right after my wife and I got married, we drove to the newly opened Fashion Island shopping experience. There were outdoor malls, but this one was huge and had a perfect view of the Newport Bay and Pacific Ocean down below, about a few blocks away. As teens, the PCH road below the hilltop location was the main source of our southerly journeys to the best surf spots along the western coast of California. From 1960 and currently, still one of our favorite coastal drives. But, as a young married couple, we celebrated with a nice lunch and a necklace purchased at one of the stores on this coastal hillside shopping center. YRMV Many years later, on one of our many road trips down PCH to Newport Beach, one day this outstanding GMC panel van was parked by the major cross street to the Fashion Island Center. The tall office buildings surrounding the outdoor shopping center is seen in the left side of the photo. Just beyond that spot, were the Boy Scout festivities location. This photo was taken in So Cal’s Corona Del Mar near the location of the old Merle’s Drive-In Restaurant. Back then, the development was not around and the whole horizon we see, today was just a huge acreage of empty fields with grass. It was kind of nice to experience the emptiness and today, 62 years later, a well planned business location with upscale home tracts surrounding the business district. Note 2: One of the major draws to driving down the coastal highways during out teenage hot rod days… the Spring Break or Easter Vacation back then was punctuated by the stop over at Merle’s Drive-In Restaurant. A definite destination for the local So Cal road warriors. Today, it is a series of houses, office buildings and a myriad of crazy roads as far as the eye can see. Boy Scout Jamboree: 1953 Sherman Gardens Collection As fledgling Boy Scouts, we loved hiking and camping out with our backpacks full. But, for the thousands of parents, even as young as they were, the biggest complaint was the steep uphill climb from the 1950s car parking area to the actual assembly and campground area. Remember, it was empty valleys, hillsides and the whole area had a walking dirt road carved into the location. The rewards were that the view of the surrounding area was priceless. From a 360 degree ocean view, North to San Pedro/LA, to South San Diego Coast, to the San Bernardino Mountains and East to the dry deserts, it was a wonderful country side location for everyone. “Newport Center is a business, shopping, and entertainment district located on a high bluff overlooking Newport Harbor in Newport Beach, California, centered around the Fashion Island regional shopping mall. It was created in the early 1960s as part of the master plan for the Irvine Ranch. Newport Center was created as the unofficial "downtown" of the Irvine Ranch, which at the time extended all the way down to Pacific Coast Highway.”
The Jalopy Journal
