Monday, July 30, 2007

Tell a friend!

Today's image is of the old Alpha Beta sign on 17th St., in Costa Mesa. The store itself had a very cool Mid-Century design. The wide front overhang had a big hole which allowed a palm tree to grow up through it. The building's prominent colors were turquoise and white. The front face of the store had a large neon sign, spelling out "Costa Mesa." The whole thing was torn out in the 1990s. (The photo here at right comes from quovadimus.org.)

Thanks again to the Anaheim Historical Society for having me as their speaker at their annual dinner on Friday. It was great fun! (And weren't those the best carrots you've ever eaten?!)

Mike Cotter of the San Clemente Historical Society just emailed out a valuable document which describes exactly how the California Environmental Quality Act is used to protect historic resources. As he puts it, "Please at least skim it, and you'll quickly become the neighborhood expert on historical preservation." Please link over to the PDF if this subject interests you.

Although the focus of Anaheim's new "Muzeo," isn't nearly as local as I'd hoped, there is good news. I'm VERY pleased that the traveling "Behind The Magic: 50 Years of Disneyland" exhibit will be there sometime in the next couple years. Everything I've seen and heard about this exhibit has been uber-positive. I will probably be among the first in line for this.

Speaking of the Muzeo, I've added a link to their new website in the column at right.

Members of the pioneer families of Santa Ana Canyon will hold their annual shin-dig at Yorba Regional Park on Aug. 4, beginning at 12:30pm. For information, contact Diana Robles at (714) 739-5716 or Tom Grijalva at (714) 579-7945.

2 comments:

Dave said...

Chris - Great site! Here is a link to a 1964 photo on my Flickr page from an AB store in Costa Mesa, could well be the same store. I have a blog, "Pleasant Family Shopping", in which I write about old retail. I plan to cover some SoCal area stores very soon.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pleasantfamilyshopping/856343172/

Chris Jepsen said...

Dave-

I should point folks to your actual website too...

http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com/

I'm looking forward to the West Coast stuff. :-)