Southern California in the 1960s wasn’t just a time and place; it was a state of mind. No where else in America could one find all the things happening in, around, and to you that came together in just the right way as they did in Southern California in the 60s. And I would venture to pinpoint Orange County within Southern California as the epitome of that special state of mind. My brother and sister and I certainly thought so growing up there during that wild, wonderful time.

“I can remember meeting in front of Hollywood High with our club guys, The Athenians. Gene was riding in my ’32 Ford fender-less hot rod and showed up with 35 cents. Bob was in his ’34. Louie was in his ’34 Ford roadster and Ed with his ’32 five window Ford Coupe. And nobody had much dough…”

“I obtained a paper route, and found that one high school teacher (who shall remain nameless) was on the route, and she was very particular that her paper be delivered up on her second story balcony. I did just that, but at the end of the first month, she didn’t pay her bill. Being a small, astute business manager, I…”

“In our age of bling this would barely register, but then it was like looking at a pot of gold. They glistened, they shone, they were as tempting as the ballet slippers in The Red Shoes. How could any little girl not covet those shiny gold sandals? And all you had to do was be like Cinderella–have them fit your foot. When the big day came, waiting in line with all the other little girls, I would check their feet, comparing them to mine while I hoped and prayed that this year I was Cinderella. Finally, it was my turn…”

“And so I had the good fortune to see the great iceman race in Balboa sometime during the late twenties. Bob Reed and a man from the Santa Ana Ice Company were the contestants. The race was around the block and started in front of the Green Dragon. Each of the contestants was attired in the traditional iceman’s costume, a long leather cape that hung down the back to keep water from the melting ice on his back from saturating the iceman’s clothes…”

“My family moved to Newport Beach when I was two years old, back in 1955. My grandfather, Donald G. Griswold, moved his manufacturing business from Alhambra to Costa Mesa. Cla-Val Company is still going strong on Placentia Avenue…”