Cabrillo Way Marina

 

Gilligan's Island theme song, "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island."

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailin' man,
The Skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour,
A three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
the tiny ship was tossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew,
The Minnow would be lost,
The Minnow would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore of this
Uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan,
The Skipper too,
The Millionaire and his Wife,
The Movie Star,
The Professor and Mary Ann,
Here on Gilligan's Isle.

(Closing Credits)
Now, this is the tale of our castaways,
They're here for a long, long time.
They'll have to make the best of things,
It's an uphill climb.

The first mate and his Skipper too
Will do their very best
To make the others comfortable
In their tropic island nest.

No phone, no lights, no motor car,
not a single luxury,
Like Robinson Crusoe,
It's primitive as can be.

So join us here each week my friends,
You're sure to get a smile,
From seven stranded castaways
Here on Gilligan's Isle!

Before Brew 102?

1946 - Facing west on Aliso St Bridge at Los Angeles River. By 1955, Pacific Electric tracks were removed and the bridge was widened and converted to Santa Ana Fwy (US-101).

LA City Hall in background; gasometers, containing natural gas, at left BPR photo.

Bambaata Bryant those were natural gas storage tanks. Those particular tanks in the photo were around until the early 70s. There was another like the tallest one in that photo that was located on the South- Central/ Westside of Los Angeles. That Tank was actually on W. 60th and Western Avenue. They were dismantled in the 70s because the Tank that was located on W.60th and Western caught fire. Folks evacuated because of fear of an explosion that could have wiped out a portion of South-Central Los Angeles. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished. After the incident, All those tanks were torn down, never to be seen again. The only remnant of those storage tanks, if it's still there, is a small one that's located off of I-405 in the Long Beach/ Signal Hill area.  

Bambaata Bryant they also had those types of storage tanks in the San Francisco Bay Area also. Used to be a tall one in Oakland near Oakland Airport and a Tall one in San Francisco. After the fire in Los Angeles, those in the Bay Area were also dismantled for safety reasons.

Downtown Los Angeles, 1960, and the Richfield Tower, 1929-1969

1960, Downtown Los Angeles, looking south on the Harbor Freeway from the Four-Level.  Thanks to Historic Los Angeles.

1937, View of Richfield Building from a short distance away.  It was razed in 1969 to make way for the Arco Plaza at 505 S. Flower Street.  Thank you to LAPL.

Close-up of the iconic Richfield Tower.  Thanks to Hunter Kerhart for these close-ups of the Richfield Tower.  Martin Turnbull offers some beautiful pics of the building too.  Check them out.

So it looks like the front of the building opens onto 6th Street and to the left is Flower.  But it has a Flower Street address.  Hmm. 

Located at 555 South Flower Street between Figueroa and Flower, north of 6th Street.  

Features a black and gold Art Deco façade.  The unusual color scheme was meant to symbolize the "black gold" that was Richfield's business."

This comment on its architecture was interesting, 

The building was covered with architectural terra cotta manufactured by Gladding, McBean, as was typical of many west coast buildings from this era. In an unusual move, all four sides were covered since they were all visible in the downtown location.

The 12-floor building was 372 feet (113 m) tall, including a 130-foot (40 m) tower atop the building, emblazoned vertically with the name "Richfield". Lighting on the tower was made to simulate an oilwell gusher and the motif was reused at some Richfield service stations. 

Martin Turnbull has some terrific photos of the tower's exterior and interior, including the lobby elevators and ceiling.  It is, er, was beautiful.  

1966.

Sunset and Figueroa, where Tom Donovan's Texaco station was located

Well, I don't see a Texaco star in this shot, so it's not a Texaco station, but it was a gasoline station in 1924.  You might be able to get a larger view of the scene from Facebook.

Okay, in this second shot, the gas station [seen at the bottom left] does have a Texaco star sign right at the corner.  1954.  Kind of neat.  This was Donovan's station.  I don't know how long he owned the station, but Dad stopped for gas here regularly.  It was close to his ride home, the Pasadena Freeway, and his work down at 1st & Hill.

  

Eastside Brewery Is Brew 102

 Brew 102 off the 101, heading east onto the 10 Fwy.

Downtown Los Angeles, 1948

History of Miracle Mile with some decent photos of the area.  

Hall of Records with a Rainer Beer sign in the foreground.

Red Barber, 1908-1992

Dad was a fan of Red Barber, born in Columbus, Mississippi, and studied at Florida State.  Dad was a wordsmith, constantly toying with word combinations and tried and true phrases from another era.  

Here are some of Barber's signature phrases, 

Barber became famous for his signature catchphrases, including these:

• "They're tearin' up the pea patch" – used for a team on a winning streak.
• "The bases are F.O.B. (full of Brooklyns)" – indicating the Dodgers had loaded the bases.
• "Can of corn" – describing a softly hit, easily caught fly ball.
• "Rhubarb" – any kind of heated on-field dispute or altercation.
• "Sittin' in the catbird seat" – used when a player or team was performing exceptionally well.
• "Walkin' in the tall cotton" – also used to describe success.
• "Slicker than boiled okra" – describing a ball that a fielder was unable to get a grip on.
• "Easy as a bank of fog" – describing the graceful movement of a fielder.
• "Tighter than a new pair of shoes on a rainy day" – describing a closely contested game.
• "Tied up in a croker sack" – describing a one-sided game where the outcome was all but decided.

To further his image as a Southern gentleman, Barber would often identify players as "Mister", "big fella", or "old" (regardless of the player's age):

• "Now, Mister Reiser steps to the plate, batting at .344."
• "Big fella Hatten pitches, it's in there for strike one."
• "Old number 13, Ralph Branca, coming in to pitch."

A number of play-by-play announcers including Chris Berman have adopted his use of "back, back, back" to describe a long fly ball with potential to be a home run. Those other announcers are describing the flight of the ball^{[citation needed]} but Barber was describing the outfielder in this famous call from Game 6 of the 1947 World Series. Joe DiMaggio was the batter:

• "Here's the pitch, swung on, belted ... it's a long one ... back goes Gionfriddo, back, back, back, back, back, back ... heeee makes a one-handed catch against the bullpen! Oh, Doctor!"

The phrase "Oh, Doctor" was also picked up by some later sportscasters, most notably Jerry Coleman, who was a New York Yankee infielder during the 1940s and 1950s and later worked alongside Barber in the Yankees' radio and TV booths.

In Game 4 of that same 1947 Series, Barber memorably described Cookie Lavagetto's ninth-inning hit to break up Bill Bevens' no-hitter and win the game at once:

• "Wait a minute ... Stanky is being called back from the plate and Lavagetto goes up to hit ... Gionfriddo walks off second ... Miksis off first ... They're both ready to go on anything ... Two men out, last of the ninth ... the pitch ... swung on, there's a drive hit out toward the right field corner. Henrich is going back. He can't get it! It's off the wall for a base hit! Here comes the tying run, and here comes the winning run! ... Friends, they're killin' Lavagetto... his own teammates... they're beatin' him to pieces and it's taking a police escort to get Lavagetto away from the Dodgers! ... Well, I'll be a suck-egg mule!"

Here is a May 20, 1950 ballgame with the Dodgers against the Pirates at Ebbett's Field.