Summer Fires

A couple of weeks ago my son called to let me know about a fire. He had heard about it on the scanner.

It was a couple of miles down-river from us in Coloma.

It started as a structure fire and spread to the surrounding grasslands.

There were two spotter planes and a helicopter (barely seen here in the middle of the photo below).

They got this fire out fairly quickly. No fatalities.

A week later a home burned down in Garden Valley. The elderly owners escaped with injuries.

These have been the closest fires to us so far this summer, both starting with structures.

We have been lucky. My prayers go out to the people in Southern California and Southern Oregon dealing with those large fires.

California State Fair, Part One: Huell Howser

There was a wonderful exhibit at the State Fair , "A Celebration of Huell Howser". It was such a nice tribute to him.
(Click here to go back and read Tina's previous post about him.)

One section had his office:

And there were pieces of memorabilia he had picked up in all of his travels across our Golden State:

A photo of his apartment:

Photos of his "Volcano House"

How cool is this?!

We enjoyed all of his PBS programs so much, and as a true fan, I really appreciated this exhibit.

Love "That Girl"

When I saw the little girl above on a McCall's pattern in a thrift store, the first thing that came to my mind was "That Girl".
Must have been the hat....

I'm kind of obsessed with the show lately. It's on every weekday morning on a TV station called MeTV, and I record it and watch it.
Again, below, you see McCall's pattern No. 9798 - she even has her little white gloves in her hand, too. I do not really think it is a coincidence that the pattern is dated 1969, and "That Girl" with the wonderful Marlo Thomas aired from 1966 to 1971.

The very same week, I also found one of the "Marlo's Corner" patterns. But, this one is from 1975 - a little bit later on.

I LOVE watching "That Girl". I love Marlo, her wardrobe, Ted Bessell as Donald Hollinger, and all of the other regulars and guest stars in the show.
I think I am enjoying it as much as I did when I first saw it all those years ago.
Or maybe even more

Once Upon a Time in Placerville No. 1 Revisited: The Ivy House

Good morning. Tina here. I am sharing some more pictures and old postcards of the Ivy House which used to stand at the intersection of Clay, Cedar Ravine and Cedar Ravine Streets in Placerville. It was an imposing red building with a large balcony. Next door was a motel with a service station. I first posted on the Ivy House three years ago in July 2009.  I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking today.

We have lost many of our old buildings in Placerville, so I take some time once in a while to remember our Once Upon a Time. The old black and white postcard above has the date March 17, 1936 written on the back. Maybe they celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a beer in the bar.

This photo shows our Ivy House, and another lost building, the Methodist Episcopal Church, which has been another subject of my Once Upon a Time posts.  Some of the Placerville city leaders want to put in a round-about here in this intersection, surrounding the Druid Monument. Many of us think it is not necessary.

This old postcard above shows part of the Highway 50 Wagon Train Parade heading down to the downtown Main Street. In the mid-right you can see where the church once sat.  The back of this postcard reads: "Ivy House, 595 Main Street, Placerville, Calif. Was built for use a school for girls in 1855. Later was converted into a hotel where many famous pioneers and travelers stopped in the early days of California. Excellent foods - famous for manzanita broiled steaks ham and chicken - Cocktail lounge - Hotel accommodations.  Emma and Ted Becker, your hosts. Phone NAtional 2-9849.

The above old photo shows the Ivy House surrounded by homes and other larger buildings, including the John Pearson Soda Works.

As I look at these old postcards, I can almost imagine that this place is still there. Then it is a shock to drive into town and see a parking lot instead. A very popular farmer's market takes place here every weekend in the summer.

The printing on the back of the postcard above reads: "Ivy House Hotel, Placerville, Calif. Built in fall of 1861, was early day Conklin Academy, a private school. Ivy planted in 1861 still growing. In the 1880's the building was made over into a hotel." Someone has printed also in ink: "My Aunt who became a teacher went to school here. She has been gone 7 years. Now there's still a hotel and dining room in building."`

I have a photo negative of my grandfather standing in front of the Ivy House, taken in the late 1950's. The building was torn down in 1961.  I do not remember my family ever eating here, at that time we three girls were all young children, and we did not go out to eat except when traveling. I hear the roquefort salad dressing was really good.

This photo shows a different view, from beside the Methodist Episcopal Church looking back from Cedar Ravine.

I am so grateful that persons unknown took pictures of our Once Upon a Time in Placerville.

This is a back view from the railroad tracks over the creek.

Another old postcard. Postcards are a very good way to look back at the past.

When I was small this was a barber shop.

I am ending with one last photo from the El Dorado County Museum. Across the street from the Ivy House, on the corner of Main and Cedar Ravine, when I was young, used to be a lumber company. I can't read the sign on this lovely brick building. I hope you enjoyed our visit back to the Ivy House.

A Vintage Pyrex Ad For Your Enjoyment

What a great, colorful ad from 1970, featuring some of the most gorgeous vintage colors and patterns of Pyrex:

"Still worth discovering".
That's an understatement!

Thrift Finds: The Useful, "Industrial" Edition

Useful finds are today's topic. Do you know how much cheap-looking plastic office staplers cost these days?
Quite a bit  more than fifty cents, which is what I paid for this stylish vintage Swingline one.
It was made to last forever - you know, the way things USED to be made?

My handy little business card file box goes along with it very well:

Weldon Roberts Jet Erasers, with an eraser for pencil on one end and for pen on the other:

And another fifty-cent vintage stapler, from Bates this time.
 The color was probably made to match a Bates List-Finder.
This one was also made to last - that's why it's still around:

Who can't use eighteen little drawers to store things in? 

Place them inside a pretty blue metal housing?

 Even better:

And add on a handy strap on the top - the easier to carry you with, my dear:

I found the desk chair below for five dollars. It was missing one caster, but there was a bin nearby with casters for sale so I just grabbed one to put on it. Later, it needed to be glued into place, but that was no big deal. I like that it actually has wood, and is not all plastic. It's a pretty low chair, and is not adjustable, but if I sit on a pillow, it works for me. Cheap - and more comfortable than what I had been using:

 The last thing, below, was the best deal of all. A filing cabinet that looks brand new, which was free - and delivered to my house!
I saw two cabinets the very same day at two different thrift stores. They were both scratched and thrashed and quite obviously well-used  - one of them was priced at $12, and the other was $15.

Mine was courtesy of my boss, who had been cleaning out a building where lots of stuff had been stored for years.
Thanks, Jeff!

What's Penny Wearing? #95 A Vintage Hawaiian Mini-Dress

Today, Penny is keeping her cool and totally rocking this bright psychedelic print mini halter dress from Hawaii.

 Found (where else?) at a thrift store.

 It ties in the back as well as around the neck and also has a zipper at the back.

 Unfortunately, this one does not fit me.....

.....so it's going into the shop. Hopefully, somebody else will think it's as cool as Penny and I do.

Then And Now #96 Brach's Royals

Today's Then and Now features Brach's Royals, shown here in an advertisement from 1970:

 And here's another from the same year:

And pictured below are some good old Brach's Royals as they look "Now":

And all of these years later, they still stack up to be just as chewy and yummy as ever.

Once Upon A Time in Placerville No. 12: Trains and Depots in (Mostly) Postcards

Good morning. Gold Country Sis Tina here. I am going to show you some postcards of the Southern Pacific Depot which was located in Placerville, California, and a few showing trains.

Trains no longer come into Placerville. I miss the sound of them. Now there are walking trails following the tracks. My favorite part of the trails goes from Dimity Road near where I used to work, to Smith Flat, where the Placerville Lumber Yard was located, and where I also used to live and work. It is a pretty, mostly shady, walk, taking you through black oaks, big leaf maples and ponderosa pine, past cute little homes nestled along a creek.

My sister Lori works at Whistle Stop Yogurt, and next door is a coffee shop in a little replica of this station, the Placerville Coffee Depot.

When we moved to Placerville, the "newer" Highway 50 had come through town and the depot had been moved to the other end of town.

 I love trying to see the old houses on the hillside. I bet they got tired of hearing the whistle blow.

Did this young fellow and his father just come home from a trip to Sacramento? I love the house on the hill, but oh, those stairs!

The tunnel the train is passing over is still there, not far from the yogurt shop,  between Main Street and the highway.

This is the building which became the depot in the 1950s, located on Mosquito Road. This little building is no longer there. I worked just past on the left at the El Dorado Irrigation District. A replica train station depot was also built here to provide parking and serve as a bus stop.

 This is the Shay No. 1 moving though Placerville on it's way to Camino.

This is not a postcard. Here the train has just passed the Courthouse and is on its way East between the old post office and highway 50. When I worked at the Courthouse in the eighties, we would be in the middle of a jury trial, and the train whistle would blow, and of course no one could hear what the witnesses were saying, so we would wait, and Judge Byrne would say "That's the l-o-n-g-w-i-n-d-e-d engineer!"

Missing the depot and the trains, once upon a time in Placerville...