Name: Armand Vaquer ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Feb 11, 2007, 6:03 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1972
City & State: Tarzana, CA
E-mail
Message: "The Great Standard Oil Fire." I believe it was in 1967. I remember it well. We had just gotten into L.A. from a weekend in 29 Palms and as we neared downtown L.A., we saw a big, black column of smoke. We thought whatever it was, it had to be big. We were surprised that it originated so close to home. I don't remember John Wayne being involved with it (although he did make a movie around then called "The Hellfighters," a sort of fictional take on Red Adair who fought big oil fires around the world).

Name: John Crotty ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Feb 11, 2007, 5:38 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1969
City & State: Hermosa Beach
E-mail
Message: Every boy loved his first bike!! Mine was a red Schwinn when I was five. I don't remember the model, but it was a beauty!! And what about Fanner 50's? And your Dad's army stuff? Those were favorites of mine.....

Name: Bonnie Lou Cozby ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Feb 11, 2007, 5:31 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Simmons
Class: 1971
City & State: Ocean Park, WA
E-mail
Message: I had a Tiny Tears too and really loved her. Chatty Cathy was fun but just a little scary...those two white teeth were spooky. When I was 7 or 8, 1960 or 1961 ish, there was a game that I had to have...Haunted House. It was a plastic molded, standing, haunted house that had peg holes you moved around on and some of them made sounds...chains, owls, moans etc.. I remember laying in my bed Christmas Eve, hearing the hoots and moans while Mom wrapped the game as a "Santa" gift. That's when I realized that Santa couldn't do all the work...he needed more help than the elves could give. Looking back, it was an odd game for a little girl to want, lol.

Name: BRUCE HANSON ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Feb 11, 2007, 4:59 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1959
City & State: CATHLAMET WA
E-mail
Message: I SAW A WHAM-O AIR BLASTER MADE OF PLASTIC IN LATE 59 AND I REMEMBER AT THE TIME THINKING I HAD ONE OF THESE IN THE 40S BUT IT WAS MADE OF METAL ALSO A BROWN PLASTIC PING-PONG BALL RIFLE THAT HELD 6 BALLS,LATER CAME THE METAL SPUD-GUN THAT SHOT PIECES OF POTATO AND UNTIL RECENTLY WERE BANNE DUE TO EYE DAMAGE (THEY DID SMART) AND OF COURSE THE GOOD OLD PEA SHOOTER, HOMEMADE WOODEN GUNS AND CLOTHESPINS TO SHOOT CUTUP INNERTUBES OR RUBBERBANDS, SLINGSHOTS MADE FROM A TREE BRANCH Y INNERTUBE RUBBER AND LEATHER. IN THE 50S YOU COULD BUY THEM AT THE STORE MADE OF PLASTIC AND RUBBERBANDS. BY THE 3RD ROCK IT WOULD HIT THE PLASTIC AND BREAK. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR 10 CENTS? AND OF COURSE THE CLOTHESPIN GUN YOU WOULD DISMANTLE A SPRING TYPE CLOTHESPIN PUT IN A NEW NOTCH RE-ASSEMBLE IT WITH THE SPRING ON THE OUTSIDE PLACE A BLUE DIAMOND MATCH IN THE SLOT, PULL THE TRIGGER AND FIRE A LIT MATCH AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST THE ICE CREAM STICK BOMB TAKE 6 ICE CREAM STICKS MAKE A SQUARE OUT OF 4 CROSS 2IN THE MIDDLE INTERLACED SAIL IT OFF AND WATCH IT BLOW UP ON IMPACT CHEEP FUN. IF YOU REMEMBER THESE I WILL SEE YOU IN CATALINA IN MAY. BRUCE

Name: Tom Chadwick ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Feb 11, 2007, 3:34 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1972
City & State: Templeton, Ca
E-mail
Message: I remember the Standard Oil fire well. I'm not sure of the exact date, but it was a few days before Christmas in 1967, I was in 8th grade at St. Anthony's School on the corner of Grand & Lomita in El Stinko. Only two blocks away, our classroom windows overlook the refinery thus subject to all the intimate noises the refinery produces. Our entire class was witness to or I should say victims of (it scared the p#2p out of us) the lightning strike. The lightning didn't seem any more than it was...just lightning until we heard the steam whistle at the refinery going crazy. At that point there was some smoke, but nothing like when the fire was at its peak. The firefighters battled the fire for a week or so but couldn't get it extinguished, so they let it burn itself out. I also remember it raining oil in Hawthorne during the fire...anyone remember getting rained on.

Name: Larry Biller ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Feb 11, 2007, 2:09 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1967
City & State: Portland,Or
E-mail
Message: And what about those baseball cards you had that you wish you still had but ended up clothes pinned to your bicycle. Of course I never did that(heh).

Name: Jan Hyatt ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Feb 11, 2007, 12:18 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Brown
Class: 1963
City & State: Sparta, Mo
E-mail
Message: Does anyone remember the tiny tears doll, she was my favorite toy. I too remember the klick klacks, could be challenging. We had such fun in those days, lots of good memories.

Name: Greg Jones ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Feb 11, 2007, 11:48 am - HHS Time
Class: 1974
City & State: Hawthorne, CA
E-mail
Message: For all who played baseball at HHS during the late 70's and early 80's and those who played Pony/Colt at Dana, Jim Shaw passed away this morning after a long illness. Jim was very dedicated to youth baseball in our area for many years. His passing will leave a big hole in our community. Services are pending and I'll update as soon as I get the info.

Name: Jean MacErnie ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Feb 11, 2007, 10:52 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Caldwell
Class: 1968
City & State: Albq NM
No E-mail
Message: I enjoy reading about everyones favorite toys etc....so I have to throw in mine....My favorite toys were my Patty Play Pal doll, Barbies, Saucy Walker Doll, playing four square with Nancy Martin at school, and at home in our drive way, my old little rubber red hair doll that I fondly named 'Red Head"...my bowling ball. My dad would take us all the time. I was on many leagues and always got first place. That all started at Hawthorne Bowl in the 8th grade. I loved yo yos, play doh, hand ball at Eucalyptus park, my camera, and of course roller skating around the block...My scariest moment on skates was on Penn St in El Segundo. Penn was on a hill and VERY steep...At the bottom was El Segundo Blvd (and Standard oil). I attempted to skate down that hill....but it was to steep and the ride was too fast....I fell (or flew!) and cut up my knees badly. Never tried it again I kept all my skating on 122nd after that. This was at my Aunt Vernas house. She is the sister of Dale Hahlbeck's dad, Laverne Hahlbeck. Better known at Uncle Bud. I can't forget my etch a sketch! My dad took us to the park a lot to fly kites..loved that too. There were a lot more. Back to Standard Oil...Does anyone remember the great Standard Oil Fire? It burned forever...til it burned out. I heard it started from lightning and that the flames shot up to 1000 feet at its peak. I believe that John Wayne made some type of fire fighting movie there. I remember being in the front room of my Aunt Vernas on the top of Penn St....Her front room glowed from the fire....It was scary. Keep those fantastic stories coming....

Name: Ricki Farrell ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 7:55 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Valencia
Class: 1961
City & State: Tucson, AZ
E-mail
Message: The old old Hawthorne Library was very near the Plaza theater as I recall. I used to go there on Saturday mornings to check out my books. I remember it being a long way to walk. I lived near 116th street and Truro.

Name: Keith D. Jones ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 6:46 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1976
City & State: Kona, HI
E-mail
Message: Yes John that is the gun. And the guy on 142st invented a bunch of games used with bean bags. He created his own brand too. He sold the game in stores later on. It was always fun to go to his house. There would be 5 or 10 kids there playing with all his toys and he woudl see which was better and things like that. He lived next door to my friend Steve Lipton.

Name: Bonnie Lou ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 5:07 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Simmons
Class: 1971
City & State: Ocean Park, WA
E-mail
Message: It was popular to edge your driveway with short, one or two level concrete block walls all the way to the sidewalk. Those walls could really stop your downhill ride fast. If you had to hit one, the rounded tops were better than the sharp edged ones.

Name: Walter Holt ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 2:57 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Surf City, CA
E-mail
Message: Last year when I went over to RH Dana the library was still there in Holly Glen. Sure I remember Klick-Klacks they were right up there with Slinky's as being a real brainless time passer. Steve I remember back in 59 or 60 when we tore the tops off our box racers that we made with our metal skates and started using them for skate boards. Our metal skates didn't turn very well without the weight of the box so we would take the trucks apart and slice off part of the rubber and torch the rubber to soften it up so we could get them to turn better. I know other people thought of it before me but one of Keith Robinson's (C/O 60 or 61) girlfriends was in the Roller Derby and gave me a pair of her old derby skates. They worked much better because you could adjust the center of the trucks for turning and the wheels were wider. I don't remember what the wheels were made of at the time but I do remember they had a tendency to slide alot in turns so you had to be careful until you got used to that. They worked ok on a 2x4 but worked much better when we switched to using plywood, except the plywood had a tendency to break in half. Then someone came out with the fiberglassed plywood boards and that solved that problem. No one had a Flexi Flyer in my neighborhood. We would take tricycles and turn the frames upside down, put the seat and handle bars on that side, tear the pedals off replacing them with a long bolt to put our feet on. We would sit on the seat, drape or legs over the handle bars with our feet on each side of the bolt and steer them with the handle bars under our knees. That's what we used in our neighborhood to go down the hill on Oceangate. we didn't have any type of brakes so we wore out many a pair of tennis shoes trying to stop at the bottom of the hill so we wouldn't get run over by any cars.

Name: Michael Kratz ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 1:46 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1971
City & State: Vegas
E-mail
Message: I remember a Library over by Holly Park(120th & Van Ness Av.) Don't know if it's still there. Talking about torn down Buildings, I worked for Max Factor & Co. Corner of Van Ness & El Segundo Blvd from 71 to 79. I see today that it's been removed and rebuilt with homes.

Name: Loretta Cuiper ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 12:59 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Morelli
Class: 1962
City & State: Hawthorne, Ca
E-mail
Message: Yes John, the Library at 126th and Acacia is the one most of us kids from the 50's and 60's remember. That's the place I use to tell my Mom I was going on a school night. Oh, I did stop in the Library, but out in 5 minutes and off to Foster's, A&W and the Wich Stand. Always with Joanie Traynor, Jackie Hawkins, Rose Paterniti and Sharon Shannon. We had some good times Tooling down Hawthorne blvd, alot of good stories and I'm sure others have some great memories too!

Name: Keith D. Jones ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 12:55 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1976
City & State: Kona, HI
E-mail
Message: Is there still a library in Holy Glen next too Cabrillo. I had one of those sleds. They were fun being towed behind a car. Also, I can't remember the last name of the owner of Phils Bike Shop but I knew the son Mitch. We would go to the industrial area in El Segundo with our bike when we wanted new ones and throw them off the 5 story parking lot. It was the tallest place we could find that would crack the frame. Then take it in and they would replace it free since they were guaranteed. I think Mitch dad was a senator too or something like that. The guy who invented the bean bag lived on 142 st. He used to have all the kids test his bean bags and toys he made. I think his last name was Hansen but not sure. Remember that gun that you would pump and it would throw a blast of air. It made a neat noise too.

Name: Steve Fraser ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 12:14 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Laguna Woods, CA
E-mail
Message: Bonnie...We had a "Flexi-Flyer" in the early sixties and we did stand on it. The group I surfed and ran around with had skate boards as early as '59-'60. They were a short 2" X4" with the old metal wheeled skates nailed to the bottom. Anybody still have their "skate key"?

Name: Mary Ann Martin ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 11:26 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Walton
Class: 1961
City & State: Nashville AR
E-mail
Message: JB: the OLD, OLD library at Haw. Blvd. & Grevillea, along with Dr. Fraser's dentist office, etc. All torn down eventually for the mall. Smaller than most houses. Can't remember the librarian's name, but she was a sweet lady. And, for all you Houston Nutt fans - he's got a war going on with Razorback fans. Jake and Sloey, in particular, go to arkansassports.com for all the "slander." Nutt really is one!

Name: Bonnie Lou ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 10:53 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Simmons
Class: 1971
City & State: Ocean Park, WA
E-mail
Message: I remember feeling very daring riding my Flexi-Flyer down our "big hill". Our house was on 141st Street, between Isis and Judah. It seemed like such a tall hill then, but really is just a slight swell. Anyway, Flexi-Flyers were wooden-slat sleds with rubber covered metal wheels and steering handles on the sides at the front. It didn't take long to realize riding head first on your belly was hazardous to your health (no helmets back then...do you think kids will have to wear helmets to just walk around anytime soon?). We decided to sit on the Flexi and drive with our feet. I don't remember anyone trying it standing, no steering control, but then, it wasn't too long until the first skateboards came out. They were so big you could sit on them too. Good memories, made even more precious as we prepare to sell my mother's house.

Name: Mary Ann Martin ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Feb 10, 2007, 7:53 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Walton
Class: 1961
City & State: Nashville AR
E-mail
Message: I grew up with my Schwinn bike, jacks, dodgeball (at Ramona School), Brownies and Girl Scouts, pick-up-sticks, tetherball, caroms, paperdolls and softball. But, the most fun was roller skating up and down the hill on 130th Street - between Hawthorne Blvd. and Ramona, where I lived at the very top. Wore my skate key on a shoe string around my neck Saw lots of soap box wrecks there, too. Does anyone remember the old library on Grevillea Avenue?