It's been almost 40 years since I lived in California so I'm not quite sure what the pay scale is these days. I believe the minimum wage is around $6.25 an hour. Not much considering the cost of living. But far more than the 50 cents per hour I earned washing cars over at the car wash on Broadway and Washington Blvd when I was a freshman (1959) at Pioneer. Two days a week, 8 hours a day, and $9.00 spending money. It was actually quite allot. Those old 45rpm records over at Seivers Record Shop were only 49 cents, and a hamburger, fries and rootbeer or coke was little more. And, of course, shopping over at the Mall was mandatory to keep up with changing styles.Those were good days back then. Uptown Whittier was far less crowded. So too was Santa Fe Springs and Pico Rivera. Many places were within walking distance without fear of being picked off by some nut in a drive-by shooting. And, for those who had cars, gas was cheap enough at less than 20 cents a gallon.
Allot of my email from younger Titans asks about the hair styles and dress back in those earlier days. Well, I could tell you it was all about varying hairstyles, from puffy to straight, poodle skirts a pettycoats; pressed levis and kaki pants, but the best way to answer is to show you. So, I'll shut up and show you on the next few pages.