DAD'S MENU ART

Matthews Malt Shop

DAD'S STAR POWER

Dad shaking hands with the great Frank "The Judge" Robinson.  Ahem, note who is in the background at the left.  That's Walter Alston, the great Dodgers manager.  Dad tread the same earth and moved in the orbit of legends.  The guy did have star power.  

Kevin Larkin, the biggest Dodgers fan coast to coast, writes on Saturday, November 26, 2011, 

If you're referring to the Frank Robinson and Walter Alston pic . . . BIG TIME IMPRESSED!  That is sweet . . . .

Mike Larkin chimed in the following morning, 

Sweet Baby James!!!  I had a Frank Robinson card until this kid in fourth grade snagged it from me in a trade. Walter Alston in the background that is huge.

1969, Chuck Walgenbach processing paperwork for Carroll Baker.

Unsure of who Carroll Baker is? Check this out.  Here are some treats of her on YouTube.  And don't pass up her Wikipedia page. 

I do not know who the two gentlemen on the left are.  It's not Paul Caruso, is it?  No.  That is not Paul Caruso.  This is Paul Caruso.  

Caruso died in 2001.  He was 81.  

DAD'S PLAYGROUND: LOS ANGELES

DAD'S PLAYGROUND: LOS ANGELES

The 80s, for the most part, were pretty good--lots of barbecues, Dodger games, and family gatherings.  Mom always had plenty of soda on hand, beer for the adults.  April 9, 1984, was the last Dodger game that I went to with Dad.  Just him and me.  His knees were bad.  He could walk but only with frequent stops and a little unsteady, so I did not leave his side.  When Dad found himself in Los Angeles, he always tried to locate a moment from his youth.  Dodger Stadium conjured great memories for him.  The smell of hotdogs, roasted peanuts, the promise of cold draft beer, and reviving some of his best athletic moments from his youth.  Dodger Stadium was more of an arena for his glory days than it was for a competition between two National League baseball teams.  Chavez Ravine may be the home of the Dodgers, but that whole neighborhood was the epicenter of Dad's youth.  The Police Academy across the street was his playground where he later took his own kids to enjoy.  Ditto for Elysian Park.  Dan told me once that he used to run around the periphery of Elysian Park for exercise.  

Then there is the River Station Rail Yard train bridge that he used to take me, Tom, and Joe to and run across from Broadway on the north to Spring Street on the south.  For me, that was an epic adventure.  And Little Joe's restaurant was just down the street.  Further west on Broadway, Dad could easily find himself back in Chinatown.  His favorite restaurant in that area was Grand Star, a Chinese place where Dad's retirement party was held.  And his Cathedral High School was one block up from the River Station Rail Yard.  I had some pretty good memories with Dad.  He treated me really well.  But that whole neighborhood was Dad's.  That River Station Rail Yard is gone; its wheelhouse is long gone.  There's a fenced park there now.  No history to the city's past anymore.  Least not like we got to enjoy.  And the history that does exist, LA politicians try to put lipstick on it to make it look like it was part of an earlier era while they bury it so as not to offend the latest monied group that arrives from God knows where.  Dodger Stadium may not have been the epicenter of Dad's moments under the sun, but it came close.  Regardless of what condition he was in, he would always try to extract some love and fun from an event.  And this, his last, Dodger game was no exception.  Both of us had a Dodger Dog and a beer.  The alcohol made his knees a little worse, but it was worth enduring to relive a delicious moment, in memory at least, of his vibrant youth as a productive young man and father.  After the hotdog and the beer, we shared a bag of stadium peanuts.  There's something great about tossing peanut shells on the floor.  I caught a foul ball at that game.  That ball is pictured here  halfway down the post.  And as was his wont, Dad asked to leave early, so at the end of the 4th inning, we climbed up the interminable steps from Row 1 of the Loge up to the concourse where it was level and he didn't have to strain his knees.  This is the thing that I loved most about Dad was his courage.  In the face of pain, he hated that his knees called attention to himself and he tried to play it down always with grace and good humor.  I was so proud of that catch that I brought the ball home and placed it out on Mom's china cabinet for display, for Tom and Joe to see.  The following day I saw that Dad had scrolled the date on it, and I was furious.  But I kept it.  And glad that I did, for I love it now that he did mark the event by dating the ball.  Something, eh?  After Dad retired, he continued to visit Marilyn and Frank Drabickus who invited him, and me by necessity, out to dinner a lot.  But after sitting for hours, when Dad got up he needed an arm to lean on then until his legs warmed up.  That arm was frequently mine.  Miss being in service to our great Pops.  Have to avoid getting too sentimental.  

UPDATE, Sunday, December 28, 2025

Dad used to like going to the Italian restaurant, The Itchey Foote perched atop the Harbor Freeway in DTLA @ 801 West Temple.  Went there a couple of times with Dad and Marilyn, or maybe inly once and the other times we got what was left in a doggie bag or doggie box.  I liked their pizza.  I went there once with Dan Cavanaugh from my UPS says on 1201 West Olympic.  With Dan, the waiter brought the customary pre-meal Italian bread and water.  We placed our order but it took forever, and Dan wanted to walk out.  So he did. I cancelled the order and left a tip.  

  

DRIFTWOOD DAIRY ON LOWER AZUSA IN EL MONTE NEXT TO THE AIRPORT

I stopped here once with my dad to get some milk. Milk was always delivered in glass bottles back then. You see more milk sold in glass bottles today at high-end stores.

CLIFF'S BOOKS

I bought a lot of used books here through the years. It was an almost perfect place for solace away from the hassles of the world.  The store closed back on September 23, 2013.

BULLOCKS DEPARTMENT STORE, LAKE AVENUE, PASADENA, CA

Bullocks Department Store. My dad loved shopping here for upscale and luxury items for my mom.  What's funny, too, is that during Christmas while my dad was shopping for her, he would encourage us to "go visit Santa Claus."  Too funny.  But we did.  And we enjoyed it . . . for the most part.  Here is where he used to buy my mom beautiful dresses and have them shipped through UPS to surprise her and make the event special. This is where we lived as kings. Thanks, Pops!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PA!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PA!!!
One of the things that Dad loved to celebrate was his father's birthday, May 24, 1884.  He was 82 years old when he exited on August 19, 1966.  That is quite a reach--3 generations stretching across 80 years.  I guess that is typical, right.  But that still impresses me.  Happy Birthday, Pa!  Hope that all is well with you and that you're enjoying a morning tumbler of Jim Beam on the rocks.  I don't have many pictures of Pa.  Dan or Charlen have many of them.  To be expected--they have the earliest memories of Ma and Pa.  I am glad that Mary got a few items of Mom's furniture.  She got that modern living room desk lamp.
 
My Dad's mother's birthday was January 19.  I don't recall her birth year.




Though it's not marked, Josephine's birth date was November 30.  I just don't know her birthday year.


It is hard to believe that whoever ordered this gravestone did not see fit to post Josephine's birthdate. I don't know how family can show such disregard.