SAN JOSE/ WILLOW GLEN , THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES. by Cookie Curci They say once youve lived in Willow Glen you never want to live anywhere else. And judging from the many people I know who have spent their lifetime here, Id say that opinion holds true. Through the years, Ive received welcomed letters from childhood friends and neighbors who, like myself, were born and raised in this area, and share common memories. Some of these letters come from old Willow Glen pals who grew up with me on Terra Bella Ave. Reading through these letters jars by own memory, giving me a few goose bumps and chuckles when they mention moments that I can picture in my mind just as vividly as the day it happened. Every letter brings with it a little piece of the past- something never forgotten; maybe it was a day playing three fly up at the corner lot, or building underground forts in our backyards. Then again, it could be the day we got our first TV set and how we all sat together in rapt attention watching a continuous and motionless test pattern. Though these were simple times, the moments we shared were precious and still come back to me almost as clearly as the day they occurred. To myself, and the many people like me, who were born and raised in this Valley, the beauty we experienced as kids was more than visual. We could feel it in the wholesome environment we grew up in, we saw it in the faces of our hardworking parents and we experienced it in our neighborhoods where a mix of ethnic backgrounds put down family roots. It was good to be a kid back then, growing up in a postwar America. A prosperous country had just elected Harry S. Truman president. Television had come along and with it the frozen TV dinner. The Radio Flyer wagon, a baseball bat and glove and the Schwinn bicycle were among our most coveted toys. Our favorite TV personalities: Howdy Doody, Hopalong Cassidy and the Lone Ranger. After the wartime years and a stern Uncle Sam we were happy to know our comical Uncle-Uncle Miltie. Wartime words like bombs, blitz, and battlefield were replaced by happier names and headlines such as: Jackie Robinson joins Dodgers, The Bronx Bombers in 11th World Series, and Citation wins Triple Crown. In those days, San Joses city bus serice ran only as far south as Malone road. Anything beyond that was considered out of the city limits. Terra Bella Avenue was just a block past Malone road so we didnt have far to walk to a bus stop. Actually, we were lucky that our street wasnt under city ordinance. Those who wanted could keep livestock on their property. Some kids raised their 4H hogs, lambs and cows in their own backyards. But, I was content with keeping rabbits, chickens, ducks, dogs and cats. In our beds at night, when all was still and quiet, we could hear a muted assorted of squeals, moos and clucking coming from our backyard menageries. For a kid, in 1948, catching the downtown bus was a grand adventure. Downtown was the meeting place for regional San Jose. Most of our parents worked there and some of the kids in the neighborhood held summer jobs there as well, My Dad owned the Spartan Do-nut Creamery on 4th street. Taking the bus was fun for us kids, but walking the streets of town, observing the myriad of intriguing window displays and street characters was the exciting part. Foot traffic was at an all time high, sidewalk conversations common place. Ladies dressed to the nines when going downtown and few gentlemen appeared on the street without a nappy fedora set firmly on their heads. Downtown San Jose drew kids like a magnet. Within a dozen square block area there were movie houses: The Fox, The California, Studio, United Artist, The Lyric and the Mission, as well as department stores and 5&10 cent stores that beckoned us with their goods and soda shops. Stores such as: Harts, Hales, Pennys, Blums, Roos Brothers, Montgomery Ward, Sears Roebuck, Grants, Woolworths, Kress, Newberrys, and Thriftys . In the 1940s, going downtown was a necessity, we had to go there to visit our doctors, lawyers, and bankers; we went there to get a good haircut, mail a package at the main post office, buy gas for our cars, shop for our clothes, pay our utility bills, or bowl a few lines. Downtown had other indispensables: restaurants, people and accessibly. Later, as our city grew and urban spread took hold, grocery stores became super markets, shopping centers became super malls, and, like most streets, Terra Bella and its residents became part of the expanding city limits. Before long, we no longer needed to go downtown for our supplies, our doctors and our dinner houses. We could find it all right here in our own backyard. In 1952, Dad sold his downtown shop and opened the Pronto Pup Creamery in Willow Glen, just a few blocks from home. Like a lot of men in our old neighborhood, Dad was in business for himself. Our next door neighbor Phil Herold who owned the popular downtown Herolds shoe store on South First Street where several neighborhood boys worked as stock boys during the summer. And there was our neighbors the Spiveys, they owned Spiveys 5-Spot drive-in restaurants. Three of our best friends on the old block were the Jones kids: Phillip, Gary and Patsy. Their dad was a building contractor who headed up the Lew Jones construction Co. Next door to me, in a two-story colonial, lived the Nelson Family, owners of Nelsons Furniture. (Not Ozzie and Harriet, but just as wholesome) The Brinkman family lived across the street. Mr. Brinkman was the proprietor of the auto repair shop, Brinkmans Garage; the Domroses were masonry contractors, (Domrose Masonry) and Mr. Graham was a road contractor (Reed & Graham.) Its nice to imaging that after so many decades have passed, these kids will still remember and treasure, as I do, those tiny moments of time we shared together. Moments that left us with pleasant memories, an imprint on our lives and an ongoing appreciation for the people and places we once knew and the community we grew up in.Phil Herolds shoe store...
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 18:47:16 +0000
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