Letter postmarked December 5, 1967 (Part 1):
The CCZCC now stands at 7. It is with cautious optimism that I remind you the previous record was 11.
Dear Mother and Mike,
Well, how are things in sunny Denton? Have you been too busy to notice? L. A. is still the same - crowded, smoggy and lonely.
We surely had a good weekend. Friday, I went shopping with Barbara Hansen while Suzie kept David Wayne. I finally got Wayne something and had the store mail it, and I did the same thing on a birthday present for Mrs. Jennings. I bought a wrap-around, after-shower outfit for Dave also. That night (since I had spent the grocery money) we ate out. We went to Olvera Street with Suzie and Gene and ate Mexican food. After eating, we went to Chinatown. We finally found a bank for David Wayne and we also bought matching red kimonos for each of us. Both Davids looked real good in theirs, but can you imagine a pregnant woman in a kimono?
[I don't know for certain since there are no identifying markings or labels to identify it, but this bank (with the obligatory quarter for scale) is most likely the one I got at Chinatown. It is glazed ceramic, and other than the missing stopper in the bottom it is in very good shape except for a few minor chips (like the one you can see in the picture on the bottom of the bag he's holding.)]
Saturday was a big day - we went on the tour of Universal City Studios. It was just great and I wish I had taken you when you visited us. You'll get to see plenty of it though, as we took three rolls of Polaroid film and two color rolls of film in the little Brownie camera.
[Yes, there are a lot of pictures from Universal City Studios in the photo album. Not as many as you would think given how many rolls of film they took, but certainly more than most places except maybe Knott's Berry Farm.]
First, we started off on a tram around the lot. We went through a sound stage and they picked five people from our tour and they made a scene - one of the persons picked was Gene Dirr! This made the whole trip worthwhile as he really "hammed" it up.
Next we got back on the tram (after walking through Lana Turner's dressing room) and drove around and saw several of the houses used in movies, props (such as break-away furniture and bottles), other dressing rooms used by stars, and really I can't remember what all, but it was every bit interesting.
Then we had a rest stop - but no one rested as there was too much to see and do. We took a picture of David Wayne holding Woody Woodpecker's hand. David Wayne and Suzie had a rock (or boulder) fight with great big foam rubber props. Gene got the action on his movie camera and I took a still picture of David Wayne lifting a big rock over his head.
[Here's the picture of me and Woody.]
[And here is the picture of me holding the big foam rock over my head.]
I also got pictures of David Wayne in Laredo jail, a monkey cage, . . .
[The picture of me in the Laredo jail is blurry, but the one of me in the monkey cage came out pretty good. Yes, that sign on the bottom says "Do Not Feed Monkeys."]
. . . and in an elevator from "Thoroughly Modern Millie" which was the show we saw last week. In the show, Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore did a dance in the elevator so Gene took moving pictures of Suzie and David Wayne dancing. What were the other people doing? Watching us, naturally. We had three cameras - Gene's movie, me on the Polaroid, Dave with the Brownie - snapping our two hams, David Wayne and Suzie. They both performed so well, I expected people to clap or throw pennies at them.
[There isn't a picture of me in the elevator from "Thoroughly Modern Millie" from this trip to Universal City Studios, but I can tell you there is one from another trip because I'm wearing a different jacket. I know you're just dying to see another picture of me, but you'll have to wait until we go back. Sorry that's the rules.]
Suzie and David Wayne got in this old car that bounced around and in the background was moving scenery. It looked very real and, of course, Gene captured the whole thing with his camera but all I got was a big blur. There was a stagecoach with moving scenery, but the few people that weren't watching "our show" were riding on it.
[Although I couldn't ride in it, Mom did get a picture of me in front of the stagecoach she was talking about. It was an armored stagecoach used in the film "The War Wagon" starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, which had just been released in May of that year.]
After the rest (Ha, I was so tired I was glad to sit) we got back on the tram and we rode around the outside locations - western towns, Mexican villages, lakes, foreign scenes, the "Psycho" house (remember that scary movie?), and a waterfall where they just pushed a button to make it a tall one or a little one - amazing! We recognized several sets that we had seen in movies.
[Alas, the picture of the house from "Psycho" isn't very good. Too far away and not from a good angle.]
I guess the last part of the tour was the best and it was getting too dark for us to take many pictures. We saw a make-up demonstration, a stunt man show - where they fought, fell off buildings, hit each other with bottles, etc. You can just imagine how little sadistic David Wayne enjoyed all that violence! We saw how they make fake snow and rain for the movies. We went in the "McHales's Navy" set and best of all, the "Munsters" set.
[Here's me and Mom on the outdoor set of McHale's Navy, which ran from 1962 to 1966. Mom doesn't look very pregnant there, even zoomed in, although you can tell she's wearing a loose-fitting top. On the left side of the picture you may be able to see fake rain coming off the roof.]
[And here is the entrance to the set of "The Munsters," which ran from 1964 to 1966. (It's not the full house that is shown in the opening credits, but they probably used this for the front porch scenes, like in the opening credits where Herman Munster busts through the front door before the other cast members walk through.)]
[Little did I know that just beyond those doors would occur perhaps the most memorable moment from my early childhood. But that will have to wait for Part 2 of this letter.]
Diary entry for September 7, 1967:
Took Mother to Olvera Street. Ate lunch in a Mexican restaurant - very good food. Bought many things for souvenirs. Took pictures - had a good day. We were so full we didn't eat any supper, but Dave drove us to Chinatown that night. We went in many shops and again bought souvenirs.
Wow, that must have been some lunch if they were so full they skipped supper. It may sound like the souvenir budget was used up on the first day, but I doubt it was.
Here's a picture of me with my grandmother on Olvera Street.
I like the contrast between Nana dressed up like she was going to church, and me decked out in a Peanuts t-shirt and some swell plaid shorts. My shirt has the word "Happiness" in large letters over Snoopy's dog house, with Linus partially lying inside the dog house and Snoopy on top, I think. It's probably one of those "Happiness is" quotes, but I can't read anything else.
Hey, haven't we seen those plaid shorts before? Yes, I believe we have. In my post about Mom's July 25, 1967 diary entry I posted a picture of me standing in front of The Brown Derby restaurant.
I do believe I am wearing plaid shorts in that picture, too, but is it the same pair?
Here are closeups of my shorts in both photos.
Although you can't see the colors very well in the Brown Derby closeup, you can tell in both photos that darker stripes (blue) are on either side of the zipper. It's also the same number of stripes from there to my left pocket. Fabricated mystery solved.
Letter postmarked August 18, 1967 (written August 17):
Unlike the previous letter, Mom forgot to put the zip code on this one. Tsk tsk!
Dear Mother and Mike,
How are you folks? Mother, are you sticking to your diet and pills? I guess Mike just zooms around in his new car. Be sure to take care of the hamsters because David Wayne wants one. This next sentence is contributed by David Wayne himself: Be sure to take care of Taffy!
[Wow, it sounds like they had quite a collection of animals at my grandmother's house, with our dog, an iguana, birds, and now hamsters.]
The weather here has really changed. The last two weeks have been hot! The nights are cool, but the daytime is unbearable. The temperature is only 90, 91, 83, etc. - but it must be the humidity that is worse than Texas. Needless to say, our daily walks have ceased. I had to go to the store yesterday and since I didn't feel like walking, I actually got the car out of the garage and drove! Of course, I couldn't get the car back in the garage and had to leave it parked on the street, but Dave was pleased that I had tried. He even (since the car was already out) took me to a Penney's store.
On the way home we drove by Griffith Park. This time we drove into it and found a zoo. It is a beautiful drive through the park, all shaded and green. On the weekends, of course, this is where the hippies have their "love-ins." I'm glad we saw it once uncontaminated! At this same park is an observatory with a planetarium show and also the Greek Theater. Harry Belafonte is at the theater now until September 2.
[Below is one of the postcards I have from Griffith Park. It shows the entrance with the observatory in the background. It does look very pretty and is uncontaminated by hippies.]
[Fun Fact #1: Griffith Park is named after the man who donated most of the land for the park to the city of Los Angeles in 1896, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith.]
Man, did we have a weekend. None of us are fully recovered yet. First of all, Saturday afternoon we took David Wayne to the Alligator Farm. You just can't imagine how much he (we really) liked it. We saw big goldfish - bigger than the ones I had once! There were all different colored ones - black, pink, speckled. We saw baby alligators and crocodiles. We saw many of the reptiles that are in David Wayne's book - gavials, iguanas, all kinds of snakes, turtles. The big event though was the feeding of the alligators. Can you imagine one man walking into a pen with 250 hungry alligators? He must get a big salary! He next went to the crocodiles - four of them. One of the crocodiles had just had eggs. The minute he walked in the pen that old crocodile was after him. He couldn't talk much for keeping out of her way. They even had a trained alligator show. The alligators would crawl up the ramp, slide down a slide, and splash! into the water. Some of the alligators had been in fights. Their feet were gone, half the tail of one, and two had broken jaws. As we left, we got an alligator bank for David Wayne. He is really proud of it - already has it filled up, too. No wonder Dave and I don't have any money.
[Another mention of the Alligator Farm and the bank I got there. I bet I was fascinated by the guy walking into the pen with all the alligators. Below is a scan of the inside of the tri-fold brochure, showing the layout of the exhibits.]
[My commentary on the brochure:
1: Although gavials only eat fish and aren't dangerous to humans, I'd still be a little nervous swimming or walking around one.
5: No reptile stops growing. Interesting . . .
9 and 16: Whenever I see the phrase "Nile Crocodile" I think of the song "King Tut."
14: Alligators are cannibals.
15: Alligators are not very bright and don't have much energy.
17: The title character in "The Happiest Millionaire" kept alligators as pets.]
Dave was in such good spirits Saturday he was going to buy me a dress. We shopped for hours, but he wanted a mini-skirt for me and we just couldn't find one - thank goodness! After shopping we came home, ate supper, rested awhile and then off for more adventure.
[First Mom talks about push-up bras and now she's talking about my dad wanting to buy her a mini-skirt. I think I'm a little young to hear that kind of talk from my parents. I just can't imagine Mom in a mini-skirt, and apparently she couldn't either.]
This time we went to Chinatown. It is really something - especially at night with the lights. All three of us were pretty tired so we didn't see it all. We plan to go back soon. We did get some souvenirs - chopsticks, a yellow paper flower, and a decanter that is really cute. We couldn't find much for David Wayne so we got him a donkey made out of paper, and as you unwrap the paper you find little surprise toys. He enjoyed it but next time I want to get something that will last.
[I'll go ahead and state the obvious punch line here: After we visited Chinatown, my little ass was just full of surprises.]
We came home exhausted Saturday night, but we were off again Sunday. We took David Wayne and Jeffrey (the 10-year-old boy upstairs) to Knott's Berry Farm. The boys had a wonderful time. They rode the merry-go-round, a steamboat, a train ride, and antique cars. We went through a jungle land and Old McDonald's Farm. We bought David Wayne a hat with a looong green feather. That hat was Dave's idea - he said when he was little he always wanted one.
[This particular trip to Knott's Berry Farm was previously mentioned in a diary entry, but since this is another mention I will reward the audience with a scan of another ephemeron. Below are scans of the front cover and a few select pages of the menu from the Knott's Berry Farm Chicken Dinner Restaurant, where you could get Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken Dinner for only $2.75 in 1967. That's $20.09 in 2017 dollars, but my goodness, look at all those extras you get with that, including beverage and dessert. The inside pages give a little history of Knott's Berry Farm and include statements from the couple who started it all, Walter and Cordelia Knott. (Walter turned 78 years old in 1967 and Cordelia turned 77. They lived to the ages of 91 and 84, respectively.)]
This weekend we are planning to visit Little Tokyo. They are having a parade Sunday and we thought it would be interesting. Dave has really surprised me about going places. I think he even enjoys it! Of course, during the week we stay home, but he _is_ working.
[I'm glad my parents were brave enough to go to a parade, given what happened at the last one Mom wrote about (which they avoided). Let's hope we don't run across any hippies or Nazis at the parade on Sunday.]
Did you get your birthday present? I am building up a library of pocketbooks. This week I've read the play "Luv," "Mandingo," and "Leave Her to Heaven." About all I do during the day is read, cook, and mend my britches when I bust the seat out. I am really getting fat. Sego in California just doesn't taste good.
[Fun Fact #2: Harrison Ford had an uncredited role as a hippie in the film version of "Luv."]
[Sego was a meal replacement diet drink available at the time. It was eventually replaced by other products such as Slimfast.]
[Fun Fact #3: Alfred Hitchcock discovered Tippi Hedren when he saw her in a Sego commercial during the Today Show. (Tippi Hedren is Melanie Griffith's mother. Melanie Griffith is Dakota Johnson's mother. Dakota Johnson and Kevin Bacon were both in the movie "Black Mass.")]
I've been watching the mail all week, hoping to hear from you. Have you found out anything about plane schedules? We're still saving Disneyland for you. Besides, I need someone to complain to. Dave just won't encourage me at all, except to say I can't afford to get sick. I've already diagnosed my malady as homesickness so keep the letters coming and put a fire under that little brother of mine.
[Seems like Mom and I are both going a little stir crazy. Hopefully we'll start doing more during the week now that Mom is driving the car.]
Love,
Linda
Diary entry for August 12, 1967:
Cleaned apartment and cooked dinner in the morning. In the afternoon went to Alligator Farm. We all liked it. David Wayne especially liked the gavial. Went to an Akron store - bought a sheet for David Wayne's bed. Tried to buy a dress but couldn't find one I liked. Ate supper at home and then went to Chinatown. Bought chopsticks, paper flowers, and a cute decanter. David Wayne got an alligator bank at the farm and a whistle at Chinatown. Very tired that night.
Ah, yes, the Alligator Farm. I'm pretty sure this was my favorite place to visit. Below is the front of a tri-fold brochure Mom saved from one of our visits. (Yes there are two missing apostrophes.) The gavial, or gharial, is a crocodile with a very long skinny snout with almost no taper to it. The back of the tri-fold brochure (shown below) has drawings showing some of the differences between various types of alligators and crocodiles.
As I recall there were all kinds of alligators and crocodiles, but the best part was feeding time. What an incredible free-for-all of teeth and tails and splashing water. I'm pretty sure I saw more than one small alligator get chomped by a larger one, and probably a few legs get bitten off as well. In case it's not mentioned in an upcoming letter, the Alligator Farm was the first place I wanted my grandmother to see when she came to visit us. Disneyland? Meh. Let's go to the Alligator Farm!
The bank I got at the Alligator Farm was apparently the first of 20 to 30 banks I got as souvenirs of our stay in California. I still have many of them, and if I run across the one from the Alligator Farm I'll post a picture of it at some point.
Per Wikipedia, the California Alligator Farm was shut down in 1984 due to poor attendance.
I don't remember anything specific about Chinatown.
