On the beach at Santa Monica.
ASHLEIGH BRILLIANT 1951 TRIP - PART 3
July 30- August 14. Los Angeles
Monday, July 30th, 1951
(written July 31st) Brian & I slept late in our comfortable
double bed this morning. Last night we had been up til about 2
A.M. Uncle Marsh had sent a telegram home to my family to let
them know that "The wanderers have arrived." Whenever
Marsh sends us a telegram, he always puts on for fun "Kishdeboobe,"
[Yiddish] meaning in English "kiss your grandmother."
It is really 3 words, but when he phoned the telegram in, he gave
it as one word. A short while later the telegram company phoned
back to say that "Kish-de-booba" is 3 words & would
have to be charged as such. We were all amused by this.
A woman named Terry at that house last night, to help us get into some film studios, gave us the telephone numbers of several of the studios & the names of people to speak to there. She is a writer on Hollywood for some small publications. This morning we were not ready to come downstairs until after noon. We phoned Jerry & she said she would meet us downstairs after we had our breakfast. So we went down with our rucksacks to the coffee-room of the hotel & there had a 55¢ breakfast each at the counter & got to talking with several people including the waitresses and a man sitting next to us who said he was a teacher of art & advised us to try to get to Mexico to see the bullfights. After breakfast, we met Jerry in the lobby of the hotel.
Our first job was to telephone some of the L.A. newspapers to see if they were interested in a story on us. We first phoned the L.A. Times, but didn't seem to be able to get the right number. Then we called the L.A. Examiner and I had to wait some time before I could talk to the City Editor. I explained to him that we were British Students who had just hitch-hiked across the continent to visit L.A. & were writing a series of articles for a newspaper in England. I asked if he would be interested in a story, and he said that he would definitely not be interested, so that was all there was to it. The other large newspaper is the L.A. Herald-Examiner, and this time I phoned again, & all went well. The editor was interested, someone took particulars, and we were invited to come around to their building at 3 o'clock this afternoon to be photographed.
But first we had another job to do. Many of our clothes needed washing, and Uncle Marsh had advised us to go to one of the launderettes to have our laundry done. A launderette is a place where there are many modern washing machines and people bring their washing to use the machine themselves. We left Jerry, left our rucksacks at Uncle Marsh's old apt. (he was at work) and took our washing to a nearby launderette. Inside, the walls were lined with Bendix washing machines and all about there were clothes and soap. At the back there was a large hot drier and in the middle there were benches and magazines. We explained to the red-headed woman there that we had had no previous experience with launderettes, and she showed us how to put the laundry into the revolving cabinets. She put "whites" in one washer & "coloreds" in another. She said we could call back for them any time.
So we left & started out for the newspaper office, which we were told was near Figueroa & Pico Streets. We took a streetcar along 8th street to Figueroa St. The streetcars here are old-fashioned - fare is 15¢, & 5¢ for transfer. Brian & I are spending more freely now since Uncle Marsh has told us not to stint ourselves. We had lunch in a delicatessen & had chicken pot - (chicken soup, 1 kreplach & a matzo ball.) Riding along in the streetcar we realized what a large city L.A. is. We later obtained maps which helped us to find our way around more easily. We saw streets of very beautiful houses. I love the palm trees. We walked down Figueroa to Pico, & never have I seen so many places selling cars so close together. There were large lots with groups of 2 or 3 men sitting in them at tables underneath umbrellas.
By asking directions we found our way to the Herald-Express Building, quite a large place, where we had been told to ask to see a Miss Underwood who it seems was the City Editor. We got into one of these large busy rooms with desks & typewriters & papers all about & people moving quickly around & telephones ringing & found our way to Miss Underwood's desk. She was the first woman editor we had met & quickly passed us on to the man reporter who had spoken to me on the phone. He handed us over to a photographer who took us into another room & photographed us holding our hands in hitching position. Our reporter then spoke to us & said that the article & photograph would appear in Wednesday's paper. We showed him the letter from our editor & asked if he could mail copies of the photograph to Edgware. He said that he would send them by airmail. We spoke to him for quite a while & he told us about the movie & radio studios here.
We came away & then made a telephone call. Terry last night had given us as the first person to call a woman named Vivian Wilcox who it seems is connected with the giving out of permits to press agents. We called her, & Brian spoke, saying that we would like to see some film studios. She seemed interested & invited us to call at her office tomorrow at 11 A.M. This pleased us, & we promised to be there. We came back to Uncle Marsh's new apartment after that & met him there. He still had many things to bring over & he employed us several times in bringing things over. Uncle Marsh told us he had got us a place to stay while we are in L.A. & took us to this building just a few doors up the road from his own. Here a woman showed us into our quarters, where we have a room with twin beds, a large cupboard & a bathroom that we share with another man. We did little else, but Uncle Marsh has begun to take a hold of me & try to change my ways. He urged me to smile & hold my head up & look people in the eye. He himself has a delightfully casual manner.
Tuesday, July 31st, 1951
This morning Brian & I had an appointment at 11. Our beds
were comfortable& we were woken up at our request by the woman
of the house at 8 A.M. She gave us breakfast of cereal, milk,
egg, & toast, & we then went to Uncle Marsh's. He told
us how to get to the office where we were going on Beverley Blvd.
It was in a building called "the largest drugstore in the
world." First we walked to Western, then took a streetcar
for Beverley Blvd. & a bus along Beverley. I am impressed
everywhere in America by the newness of things, -- shops and houses
and buildings. We finally got to the drugstore building, a long
low place (there are few tall buildings in L.A. because of the
danger of earthquakes), found the motion picture offices, &
were soon in the office of Miss Vivian Wilcox, a grey-haired,
kindly, but efficient looking woman.
We explained our situation & said we were writing articles for a newspaper in England & would like to see Hollywood from the inside. She asked to see our credentials & we showed her the letter from our editor, our printed articles, and the cuttings about us. She looked these over at some length & made notes while we sat & waited. At last she returned them all to us & said she thought she could do something for us. She would phone us in one or two days time, or if she did not, we were to phone her. So we came away pleased & satisfied. We looked around the large drugstore for some time. It was really just like a small department store. I bought a roll of film there. We took a walk along one street to work up an appetite & then came back to the restaurant part of the drugstore for lunch. I had hot beef sandwich, potatoes & gravy & cherry pie with chocolate ice cream & orange juice. The waitress who served us was very quick & efficient. She literally threw the serviettes onto our laps. Serving me a straw protruding from its wrapper, I just took hold of the straw & she pulled the wrapper away & was off very quickly. Her service was really excellent, and I almost felt like giving her a tip (but not quite.)
After that we went back to Uncle Marsh's. He was not working today & spent much time moving stuff from his old apt. to his new larger one which is on the corner of a street. He got us to make some more carrying trips and seemed to criticize me at every opportunity. He never seemed perfectly serious, but kept telling me that I should not be anti-social & should smile more & go after the money, the "greenbacks." I carry many things around with me in my pockets, especially my big fat wallet & he kept telling me to lighten my load. Finally he insisted on going over all the contents of my pockets & spent some time putting all the papers that I didn't need from my wallet in another envelope.
We had supper out at a nearby restaurant - I had a T-bone steak. I wrote some letters & postcards. Then 2 men-friends of Uncle Marsh came up to take us out for a ride. The name of one was Ruben - (Lonze?) He was a well-known designer. The other was Robert Rockman whose nickname, Ross, we used. He is an accountant & he drove the car. We were all joking most of the time, especially Ruben. They took us on an interesting ride up into the hills past beautiful shops and homes, up a very winding road to a viewpoint where we could see the glittering lights of the whole city. It was a very impressive sight. One could pick out the streets in lights and it was almost like a view from an airplane. They took us afterwards to an ice-cream shop where I had a chocolate sundae. Then we came home.
Wednesday, August 1st, 1951
We slept late this morning as we were up so late last night, &
then had breakfast at our place about 11:15. We planned to visit
the broadcasting studios and try to get tickets to some programs,
preferably audience participation programs. We rode by streetcar
& bus to Vine St. & Sunset Blvd. & called in at several
of the big broadcasting networks - NBC, ABC, CBS. Some were giving
out tickets & some not. We took tickets for some programs,
but there seemed to be nothing that we could benefit by, &
I was somewhat disappointed. We walked up to the famous crossing
of Hollywood & Vine where there seemed to be little of particular
interest. We had lunch in a Rexall drugstore on the corner &
then walked along Hollywood Boulevard to Grauman's Chinese Theatre
& Restaurant. The shops along the way were very attractive.
At Grauman's outside we saw on the sidewalks in the sort of courtyard
the signatures, foot & handprints of many movie stars.
We were too late for a radio program, "The Perfect Husband," for which we had tickets & sat for some while in the lobby of the N.B.C. studios. From there we walked along Sunset Boulevard & there came upon Hollywood High School. Outside was a tree with a plaque saying "To Hollywood's Immortal Dead." This somehow struck me as being amusing. We decided to look round the school, found some open doors, & toured 2 of the classroom buildings. Some of the classrooms were not locked & we walked inside & looked at books & desks. In one room we left a message on the blackboard thanking the school for our interesting tour. The architecture of the school was modern. There were frequent water-fountains in tiled alcoves and all the corridors were lined with combination lockers. But the furniture & school-desks did not seem so modern.
Uncle Marsh had said that we ought to go and see the swimming-pool at the Roosevelt Hotel. The Hotel was nearby, so we went in & asked directions to the pool. For the past 2 days we have been wearing long trousers, but today we wore shorts. The swimming pool was small but beautiful with palms all about & wonderful furniture. We got a man there to photograph us with the pool in the background. From there we went by bus down to Wilshire Boulevard because we wanted to see the La Brea Tar Pits, in which ancient animal remains have been found. In a park we saw one tar-pit, a strange sight. There were some battered statues of animals around. At one point beyond the pit we could see tar bubbling right out of the ground.
Los Angeles has more ultra-modern buildings than anywhere else I have seen. Most of them are very attractive. From the pits we came back. We were supposed to be at Uncle Marsh's at 6:30, but were already late. Before seeing him, we went to get another piece of furniture from the old apt. that he wanted us to bring round. I also went into the drugstore where yesterday I had taken all my exposed films to be printed & developed. 4 rolls cost $3. Only a few films did not come out. Most were fairly satisfactory. Then we went up to Uncle Marsh's . 2 of his friends were in the apt, but he was out looking for us. He didn't come back until 7:30 & was a bit angry at us for being late. He gave us lots of things to do & really orders us around. In the evening Jerry Fineman came around in a borrowed car & she took us & Marsh for a ride to Olvera St., an imitation Mexican St., and to a bit of Chinatown.
Thursday, August 2nd, 1951
Today Brian & I went onto the beach. We slept late again,
and it was after noon before we had had breakfast and were ready
and on our way. I first went to the drugstore to get my other
roll of films, the last 8 I had taken. These were mostly disappointing,
but there was a good one of a Grand Canyon deer. We got a bus
on Wilshire Blvd. going to Santa Monica. The fare was 30¢
& it was a long slow ride. I had of course never seen the
Pacific Ocean before. The shore-line with palm trees reminded
me again of the French Riviera. The sky was rather dull at first,
but it was warm. I had my blanket with me, & we laid that
out on the sand. There we went into the water which seemed warm
once we had got used to it. We had a meal of hamburgers, drinks,
pie at a snack-stand. On sale was Fry's English chocolate for
6¢ a bar. I bought a bar of Fry's peppermint cream which
I had never even seen in England. It was good. We have often seen
Fry's & Cadbury's chocolate on sale over here - also in L.A.
there are many English cars, especially M.G.'s. The ocean was
wavy & it was fun riding the waves. We tried to write some
of our Edgware Post article, but I didn't feel much like doing
it.
On the beach at Santa Monica.
At about 7:30 we returned from the beach to Uncle Marsh's apt. & there saw him. He orders us around a lot & keeps telling us what to do & criticizes us for not doing them or not in the proper way. He says he is ordering people about all day at work. He gave us money for a meal, & as this was his night to attend art classes we went to a movie. After a dinner of beef (for me) we went to the Ambassador Hotel where there is a wonderful collection of shops & services & a large comfortable cinema. There we saw an English picture which came out a year or 2 ago. In England this comedy was called "Whiskey Galore." Here it is "Tight Little Island." It was amusing, about men on a Scottish island who salvage some whiskey from a wreck & keep hiding it from excise officials. Finally we came home. I love chocolate milk. Uncle Marsh gets it for me.
Friday, August 3rd, 1951
For much of the day Brian & I continued on & finished
& sent off this week's dispatch to the "Edgware &
District Post." I did most of the work, & as usual did
all of the copying out. There was much to be written about and
I had exceeded the 1500 word limit long before I was to write
the part about the Grand Canyon. So I had to conclude the account
before we reached the Canyon. This means we are now more than
a week behind in writing the account since I wrote last week's
dispatch at the Canyon itself & still have not written about
the Canyon. We did our work at Uncle Marsh's apt. Brian was very
willing to write. We had breakfast here at the place we are staying
and ate lunch at a restaurant. I made many phone calls today.
Marsh's friend, Terry Fineman, has been very willing to help us
get into a movie studio & today she phoned me & I phoned
her many times. She kept telling me to phone the different studios
& who to ask for & what to say. I phoned Vivian Wilcox
(see July 31st) and she said she had not got around to our matter
yet but that I should phone again tomorrow. I phoned the foreign
press departments of some studios, but couldn't get anything.
We must just wait & hope that Miss Wilcox comes through with
something. If she does, it will be a great day for us.
I also phoned a Mrs. Leventhal, a friend of Mummy's, who invited Brian & me round to her home on Monday evening. Then Terry phoned up with some big news which may lead to something really important. She said she had managed to get us an audition for a TV program in which people to sing or play a tune and say what it means to them. We would have to go on Monday evening. We had not been expecting anything like this, but accepted, & soon began thinking of what song we would sing. The best one, we thought, would be "Sweet Betsy From Pike," which I taught to Brian & which we have often sung together. We could say how it reminds us of our trip across America. And so there are two distinct possibilities for us - in TV and in the movie studios. Who can tell what may result?
This evening Uncle Marsh took us to the home of his friends, the Shoolmans, 3 unmarried men, one unmarried woman, & their mother. We had already met 2 of them before. We talked a lot with them, gave them a brief account of our trip, saw some wrestling on TV & had a small meal there. It was late when we returned home.
Saturday, August 4, 1951
Uncle Marsh had asked Brian & me to be at his apt. at 10 A.M.,
but we had no alarm clock & Brian, who usually wakes me, was
not up until 9:45, and so we were considerably late. When we did
get there we first phoned Vivian Wilcox again (see yesterday.)
Brian spoke to her & she said she had arranged for someone
to take us around 20th Century Fox Studios on Thursday. I don't
know exactly what this means but we are to meet someone at the
studio on Thursday morning. We had hoped to get a press card which
would give us entrance to all the studios.
Last night at the Shoolmans' they told us about the TV program for which we are having the audition on Monday. They said that about 4 or 5 different people or sets of people compete, & the winner, who is chosen by audience applause, gets big prizes, e.g. a refrigerator.
Uncle Marsh is a hard taskmaster & he is constantly criticizing & hurrying us up, especially me. He wants to change my nature & keeps saying I am too much like my uncles George & Leonard [my father's brothers.] He tickles me & grips my arm tight & digs me in the ribs in an annoying manner, & his only form of humor seems to be that of insulting people in an exaggerated way. I have never been able to talk with him really seriously once. Another annoying thing about him is the way he will always be calling one's name, and one has to drop everything & respond, even if it is for something trivial or facetious.
A middle-aged friend of Uncle Marsh, Mary Peterson, had offered to take Brian & me out driving in her car. So this afternoon we went with her. First we wanted to see the U.C.L.A. (University of California at Los Angeles) and went there. I am beginning to realize that Los Angeles is a strangely de-centralized city, with a large area, but with no really central part, and plenty of vacant spaces inside the city. At U.C.L.A. we talked for a while with a librarian and then walked around some of the fine buildings. We went into a radioactive laboratory but noticed only some terrible smells.
From the university we drove through a part of Beverly Hills which does not come within the city of Los Angeles. There, as everywhere here, we saw beautiful homes and trees and gardens, which, I have heard, are tended by Japanese gardeners. We went into the famous Schwab's Drugstore where movie stars are supposed often to be found, but found the drugstore very dull & ordinary & saw no stars. We had sodas there. Then Miss Peterson took us to the "Farmer's Market," a large open-air collection of stalls and stands selling food, gifts, birds, antiques, candles, etc. An interesting, well-kept, & crowded place.
At last we came back to Uncle Marsh's & there Brian & I had supper. I had corned beef sandwiches. Uncle Marsh took us in the evening to the Hollywood Bowl, a large open-air theatre where he has a season-ticket for a box. We went by bus & streetcar & walked part of the way & arrived about 15 minutes late. There to meet us were Jerry Fineman and her 17-year old nephew Richard from Flint, Michigan. Uncle Marsh's box was towards the side near the front. The bowl was filled to capacity for the concert of Gershwin music, with Johnnie Green conducting & Oscar Levant playing the piano. It was fairly good. Apparently the bowl has almost had to close through lack of funds, & at the end Irene Dunne & Jean Hersholt came out to appeal for contributions. We rode home part of the way in the car of a friend of Uncle Marsh's, a man named Ralph from Holland. The rest of the way Jerry Fineman drove us in a car she had borrowed from some friends.
Sunday, August 5th, 1951
Last night Brian & I slept for the last time at Mrs. Beach's
place, just 3 or 4 doors along Normandie Ave. from Uncle Marsh's
apt. building. This morning we said goodbye to white-haired Mrs.
Beach, & moved our belongings into Uncle Marsh's apt. Uncle
Marsh is very like Mummy in some ways, especially in his fondness
for giving instructions. Then at noon Uncle Marsh had arranged
for us to go & spend the afternoon with his friends the Halperins.
We had met Nina Halperin at the party on our first night in L.A.
They seem to have known my parents well in Washington, though
I don't remember them, but I do recall the name. We went by bus
by ourselves to Wilshire & Fairfax & there waited for
a while until Ben Halperin drove up in his son's yellow convertible
& we got in with him. The Halperins are nice people. Ben drove
us to their apt. where we saw Nina again & met their son Martin
who is about 21 or 22 & takes courses in teaching & also
works on an army radio station (although he is a civilian) which
sends broadcasts to the Pacific area & which has, so he says,
a listening audience of 90 million. Martin is a pleasant good-looking
boy. He showed us his room & some of his possessions - his
guns & gramophone records. He seemed interested in us &
asked a lot of questions about England.
I was very interested in the furniture in the Halperins' apt. They had some very interesting reclining chairs which I would like to have, & many electric gadgets, eg. an electric potato fryer. I like the glass-doored "shower-cupboards" that we see in many American bathrooms. We had a lunch of hamburgers with rolls there & then Nina & Ben took us out in the car. I enjoyed riding in the open car in the sunshine, & would certainly always prefer a convertible to a closed car. They took us up into the hills to Griffith Park. There high up is an observatory which has a planetarium. I had never been in a planetarium before, but had always wanted to see one. They bought us tickets to a show which was just about to begin. The planetarium was a large round room with a white domed ceiling. In the center was a large black strange-looking machine, but I have a book at home with a picture of a machine just like it.
Around the edge of the room was a thin silhouette strip meant to simulate the horizon line at the point on which the observatory is situated. The seats all faced the center and they had head-rests and swivel seats. A man gave a talk at a microphone and the show began. During it, the lights went out and we watched the ceiling. The marvelous machine caused spots of light to appear all over it & made the ceiling look just like the sky, doubtless all in accurate detail. The lecturer could point out different things with an "arrow" of light. We watched the sun rise and set and saw the stars move as if time were speeded up. Then we started on a "trip to the moon" in which an image of the moon in the center of the dome was gradually made larger and larger, as if we were coming closer & closer to it. We "stopped" at about 250 miles from the moon's surface, & the lecturer talked about the different features of the moon's face - the craters & mountains. It was all very interesting, & I'm glad I've seen it.
Later Nina & Ben drove us to the home of Marsh's friends the Steins & in their apt. there was another party. Marsh came, & we saw Terry Ellman & the Leibermans again. We had chicken for supper, buffet style. Terry told us about all the phone calls she had to make to get us our TV audition appointment for tomorrow evening. Before she came, we were fortunate to be able to watch the Bill Gwinn Show, the one of the audition tomorrow from 7 P.M to 7:30 on the TV. I was glad we had the opportunity, because now we have an idea of the style & standard of program it is & feel better prepared for it. When we got home this evening, I typed out a one-page letter to Mr. Gwinn on Uncle Marsh's typewriter, explaining our story.
Monday, August 6, 1951
Some very good things happened today. We slept on a small double
bed in Uncle Marsh's new apt. I did not sleep at all well. There
was much noise from the traffic on 8th St. right outside, especially
the streetcars. Also the street & neon-lighting from the street
came in through the windows & was disturbing. [This was years
before I discovered the blessings of ear-plugs and sleep-masks.]
At about 11 A.M. Brian & I went "downtown" on a
streetcar along 8th St. to Hill St. Our intention was to enquire
about the possibilities of a free ride on an airplane back to
New York. Ben Halperin yesterday had told us that it was impossible
for us to get a ride on a military plane as we had hoped, but
that it might be done on a civilian plane of some European country.
He said that often planes are built out here for them & then
flown passengerless to New York. He advised us to try at the different
consulates & we decided to start at our own British Consulate.
We had learned the address, & walked along Hill St. to the
office building in which the consulate is located. We knew that
the name of the consul was Mr. Haddow, because when we were in
Ottawa, Mr. Huson of the British Information Service there had
referred us to him. We asked to speak to Mr. Haddow, but he was
not there, & a woman dealt with us.
Seated by her desk, we explained our position & told her what we knew of these cross-country flights, & asked if she could help us in any way. She at first was rather cold, & seemed to think the whole idea was very foolish. She said she knew nothing about these airplanes, but was quite sure that our plan was hopeless. She softened up a bit, however, when we showed her all our newspaper clippings & she said she would tell Mr. Haddow about us. She made some phone calls, & gave us the addresses of some other consulates which we requested. I spoke on the phone to a woman at the Norwegian consulate, but all she could tell me was that Northrop aircraft company does or did build some planes for Norway. Finally we left the British consulate & went to the French one, which was in the same building on another floor. But there we had even less luck. We did get to see the vice-consul, who happened to be a woman, but she said that it was hard enough to do anything like that for her own people, let alone for us. So we came away & had a nice lunch in a drug-store. Then we wanted to get in touch with the Northrop aircraft company & decided it would be best to go in person. We looked up the address in the phone book, & found it to be on Broadway many blocks down. We began to walk. We always wear sunglasses outside in the daytime.
After we had walked for some time, we discovered that we were not on the right street & that the Broadway we wanted was way out in a different part of the city. And so we had to give up the idea of going there. I had previously phoned up Uncle Marsh at the factory where he works on Mondays & he invited us to come up there & see him. It was not very far to walk, and we started off in that direction along Main St. We looked in many shop windows, & came upon a shop selling government surplus goods, where we saw pith helmets in the window. We had long thought of buying some sort of hat or helmet to protect our heads from the sun, & now thought it would be fun to get these. We went inside & inspected what pith helmets they had at great length. There was a pile of them, none in perfect condition, of 2 main types. One was of very good quality in the "Boer-War" style. These were made in London. The others were of rather inferior quality, but more modern design. The first kind came in definite sizes, & none fitted me very well. The 2nd kind had adjustable head-bands. I would have preferred the better quality kind, but eventually we both bought the cheaper kind, for $1.21 each, & were very pleased with them. With our shorts & light clothes, we must look like "District Commissioners," but we like the hats very much. It makes people look at us more than ever, & sometimes makes them shout things like "The elephants went that-a-way."
The dress factory where Uncle Marsh was, was called Hildegarde of California. It again was part of a large building. There were long benches with material & machines & patterns on them, & a Coca-Cola vending machine where Uncle Marsh treated us to a drink. He was surprised at our hats, but told us to take them off. He introduced us to some of the people there, but most had gone home, for work stops at 3:30. Leaving Uncle Marsh, we returned to his apartment, and there prepared to leave for our audition at ABC-TV, which studios are at Sunset & Talmadge. We went there by streetcar & bus. I was feeling nervous, but as soon as we arrived, everything went well. All we knew was that we were there for an audition for the Bill Gwinn Show & that we wanted to speak to a Mr. Vilardi.
All this had arisen from the fact that Terry Ellman had phoned up someone she knew there & got us an appointment for an audition We had not to be there until 7 P.M., but arrived at about 6:15 & spoke to the guard at the gate. He was a friendly man, & tried to contact Mr. Vilardi, who it seems is in the publicity dept. But he wasn't there, & the guard said we could if we liked go in & watch a program which was about to be televised. We went into a studio where there were several sets & a small audience sitting in chairs. We sat down; but, when we saw that the program was going to be only "cowboys" singing songs, we decided, being hungry, to go out & get something to eat. We asked where we could go & were directed to a grocery shop on a corner near the studio buildings. We went there & bought food. I bought cupcakes, a small cherry pie & a small carton of chocolate milk. We took our food back & ate it on a bench just inside the studio gates.
Just as we were finishing, a car drove by & the man in it called out "Are you the two British boys?" "Yes," I called, "Are you Mr. Vilardi?" I thought he replied that he was, but we later learned that he was Mr. Jack Reeves whom the guard had mentioned to us. We finished eating, & waited til Mr. Reeves came back to us & took us to studio 2D, where we saw the conclusion of the cowboy program and then had a lot of attention paid to us. Although there seemed to be many other people there waiting for auditions, we were seen to first. Mr. Reeves first gave us a form to fill out, which required details e.g. names & addresses. Before we came to the studio, all the people we know, especially Uncle Marsh & Terry, had told us not to bother too much about telling the truth, so long as we spin a good line. That seems to be the general spirit over here. After filling out the form, we were asked about our story. I produced the letter we wrote last night & Mr. Reeves seemed to be glad of that. He introduced us to several other men & seemed to be trying to impress them with us. One of the men might have been the producer of the program. They were very friendly, & we felt quite at ease. We had to explain what song we were singing to the men. I hummed the tune to Mr. Reeves, & he recognized it, but he didn't know what it was, & didn't know our words. Our words are:
Did you ever hear of Sweet Betsy from Pike,
Who crossed the wide prairies with her husband Ike,
With two yoke of cattle and one yoke of hog,
An old Shanghai rooster, an old yaller dog.
Chorus: Sing tooralay ooralay ooralay ay
" " " " "
The Alkali desert was burning and bare
When Ike cried in fear, "We are lost, I declare.
My dear old Pike County, I'll go back to you."
Said Betsy, "You'll go by yourself if you do."
Chorus
They crossed the wide desert and climbed the high peaks,
They camped on the desert for weeks upon weeks,
They fought with the Indians with musket and ball -
They reached California in spite of it all.
Chorus.
I originally learned this song in school in Washington, & sang it recently so that Brian came to know it. But our story is that we learned it at school in England, & that it made us want to come to America. We are not mentioning that I have lived over here before, nor are we saying anything about our previous TV appearance in Washinton.
We went with a man to a nearby organ & sang over the tune a few times, so that he learned it & could accompany us. We held our pith helmets in our hands. They seemed to like us & be amused by our performance, & when we had finished they said that we had a very good chance of getting on the program, & we felt very happy. We arranged to phone them tomorrow between 11 & 12. We came away in high spirits, & set out for our next destination, the home of the Leventhalls at 612 Sycamore Ave., near Wilshire and La Brea. We went by bus & street-car & reached there about 8:40. I didn't know these people, but they are friends of Uncle Marsh's, & through him Mummy met them when she was here [on a visit] in 1949. Their son Morris even sent back a gift for me, a modeling knife, but I was negligent, & never wrote to thank him. At the house, one in a typical street of lovely low white houses, we met Mr. & Mrs. Leventhall, their son Morris (they call him Buster) who is 18 & their daughter Bobbie, who is about 11 or 12. There were also some other guests, a Mr. & Mrs. Katz.
We first sat down & talked for a while, & then spoke to Uncle Marsh on the phone (he wasn't coming over.) As we hadn't had any real supper, the Leventhalls gave us a full meat meal in their dinette. Buster talked with us while we ate. He & his father have many hobbies, including photography, on which they seem to spend a lot of money. Buster also does aeromodelling. He had his own car, given to him by his grandfather, & his father has another car. They have a lovely home, with beautiful rooms & furniture. Buster took us into his wonderfully equipped darkroom outside in the garage. We saw his beautiful collie dog Sandy, & he took us into his room & showed us some of the photos he has taken. Buster works now in some photographic factory & intends to begin medical school in September. I was very surprised to learn that the Leventhalls' colored maid has a car of her own. Their home had all the usual American conveniences. The standard of living we have found in California is remarkably higher than that of England.
Mr. Leventhall was particularly kind to us. I happened to say, almost jokingly, that my mother wanted a Mixmaster mixing machine, and Mr. Levcnthall sail almost immediately that he would send her one & right away began making arrangements to mail it to New York for us to try to carry back to England. We discussed whether I would be able to get it back. It was a staggering gift, and I was very surprised. I gave Ben Pearl & Archie's address & he said it would be mailed to them. But more was to come. Buster took Brian & me out for a drive in his car & we went along the "Freeway," which was the widest highway I have ever seen, taking 4 lanes of traffic going in each direction. Buster took us to a drive-in restaurant. We had ordinary Coca-Colas, but he had a chocolate-flavored Coke. I have never heard of flavored Coca-Colas before.
When Buster drove us back to his home, Mr. Leventhall told us that he had changed his mind & was going to give us both Mixmasters! This was really unbelievable generosity. Mixmasters are quite expensive, and to just give two of them like that was astounding. Anyway, we now expect to find a Mixmaster each awaiting us at New York, kindness which it is impossible to repay. We watched TV at the Leventhalls' & saw some more "wrestling." This is one of the strangest sporting "phenomena" I have ever heard of. Everyone seems to know that none of the bouts are genuine, and that nearly all the blows are faked. It is all a show, and yet it is very popular. We had a very nice evening there, & finally came home.
Tuesday, August 7th, 1951
(written August 8th) Today Brian & I did less traveling than
we have done on any day since we left home. We did not in fact
once leave Uncle Marsh's apt. building. We slept late & I
spent much time writing the previous entry in this diary. We still
had the idea of trying to get a lift on an airplane going back
to New York, & Brian phoned many aircraft companies making
enquiries, but with no success. The BIG GOOD NEWS of the day is
that, as arranged yesterday, I phoned up Mr. Reeves at 11:30 this
morning, and he told me that Brian & I would definitely be
on the Bill Gwinn Show. There is some difficulty, however, about
the song we are going to sing. It seems that all songs put on
the air must be passed by a central office, in case there is any
copyright on them. Mr. Reeves had been unable to trace our song
& asked if there were any other one we could do instead. [It
seems remarkable that they didn't realize this was a folk ballad,
and surely in the public domain.] I told him that although we
preferred to do "Sweet Betsy From Pike," we might also
be able to sing "California Here I Come," but we didn't
know all the words. He said we should try to get a copy of the
words, & I said we would. I still hope very much that we will
be able to sing our original song; but anyway, we are ON and from
here on there can be no bad result.
Mr. Reeves told me some other things as well. I asked if we should bring our rucksacks to the studio & he said that would be good. We should be there, he said, at 1 P.M. on Friday, but we are still not sure what time the program actually goes on. Mr. Reeves said that he would be sending us 25 tickets to the broadcast & that we should give all these to our friends. I thought little of this at first, but after I had hung up, I realized something. The winners of the program are judged by the volume of audience applause - and here are we being given 25 tickets, to select our own audience! The only solution seems to be that the program is "fixed" and that we are intended to win, because I do not think that the other competitors would get that number of tickets. If we do win, we will probably get a TV set as well as some other things. The men last night actually did ask us what we would do with a TV set if we won one, since we couldn't take it back to England. We said we would probably sell or give it away.
Uncle Marsh still seems to delight in persecuting me. He has many stock phrases which he uses over and over again. A typical one is "Get the lead out of your ass, Bub." Today I phoned Helen Loring, the widow of my father's cousin, Gaby Loring. She said she would arrange with Marsh for us to see her one day.
I was amused recently by some stories I read in "Readers Digest" magazine. They told about meaningless sentences which sound as if they mean something. E.g. a sign in a restaurant: "Kindly let those who are going out first." And, as a man said to someone who was pestering him, "Look here, if you don't go away and stop bothering me, I'll find someone else who will."
Mr. Leventhall came round here in the evening & brought me 6 packets of 120 film. Afterwards Brian & I watched TV in the apt. of Mrs. & Dorothy Mark, who live downstairs.
Wednesday, August 8th, 1951
(written August 9th) Brian & I slept til about 10 this morning.
As usual, Uncle Marsh was at work. We had baths & breakfast
before we left the apt. at about 1:45. I had washed the kitchen
floor, on orders from Uncle Marsh, & Brian had done the bathroom
floor. But at last we were ready to leave, & our destination
today was the Los Angeles County Museum.; using our map, we found
it quite easily. We went by streetcar to the crossing of Vermont
& Exposition Blvd. Before going on to the Museum we had lunch
in a café. I had a hot beef sandwich.
The Museum is in Exposition Park, where there is a stadium where I later discovered that the 1932 Olympic Games were held. We sat in the park for a little while after our meal, doing work on the "Edgware Post" article. Then we went inside & checked all our belongings at the desk. No cameras are allowed inside the Museum. We went in at 3:15 & I walked around inside until it closed at 5. It was both an art gallery and a museum, with exhibits of Roman, Greek & Japanese art. The part that I really wanted to see was the display of animal & plant remains found in the La Brea tar-pits in Los Angeles which we visited last week. There was a truly surprising wealth of bones and fossils, and there were exhibits showing how the material found in the tar was sorted out. In the center there were several whole skeletons of mammals, the largest being a huge elephant with very long curled tusks. The museum had some good exhibits, but seemed pretty much like any other museum.
Leaving there, we walked a little bit in the park & I asked a young man passing by to photograph us with my camera in the gardens. He did so. He was a student at the University of Southern California, whose campus was nearby.
For this evening, Brian & I had another date. Uncle Saul's wife, my Aunt Billie, is here in California on holiday with her two children, Howard & Hughie. They are staying on Dunsmuir Rd., at the home of Aunt Billie's sister & brother-in-law. We were to go & visit them. I had spoken to Billie on the phone some days ago. I remembered her well, but thought that the children would be very changed. Hughie is now 7 & Howard about 11. We found our way there easily enough. Billie still seems to be unnecessarily strict with her children, e.g., she wouldn't let them even come out to see us until they had finished their meal & washed their hands. Of course, they were much grown since I last saw them, especially Hugh, who must weigh almost as much as his brother. He is round & jolly, but rather backward. He still doesn't know how to shake hands, and can't seem to speak correctly yet. Billie had recently dyed her hair red. We met her sister & brother-in-law & another woman, & there were many children about. Uncle Marsh came a short while after us & played around with the children & called them names. He did not want to stay long, & told us to tell them that we wanted to get to bed early. We had supper & watched TV for a while. Then went with the brother-in-law in his car to Culver City, a new section, to bring back another of Billie's sisters.
At last we were driven home, and found waiting for us a special-delivery letter containing the 25 tickets to our telecast. But we fear we will not be able to dispose of them all. Before we retired, Uncle Marsh's friend Jerry came up with some friends in the children's garment trade, & they stayed & talked for some while.
Thursday August 9th, 1951
This morning, Brian & I were up early because we had an appointment
at 20 Century Fox Film Studios to be shown round. We did not know
what to expect & only knew that Miss Vivian Wilcox, to whom
we had applied, had told us to be there & that we would be
shown round. We went there by bus & got to the wrong entrance.
We were supposed to be on Pico St., & came in on Olympic Blvd.
It is a very large lot & the guard at the gat telephoned to
the man waiting at the other entrance for us & he came round
for us in his car. He was a fairly young man & introduced
himself as Roy -- (?) He said he worked in the foreign dept. of
the studios & it was now his turn to take people round. He
drove us to a studio where shooting was in progress. He talked
to us at some length about different things connected with the
movie industry, but was not a very interesting man. The film of
which we saw part being made was called "Red Skies of Montana"
& it was about forest rangers. It starred Richard Widmark,
quite a well-known star who usually plays "bad-men"
roles. The scene on the set was a parachute drying room with parachutes
hanging from ropes, a line of sewing-machines, and a filing cabinet
on one side.
The studio was much smaller than those we had seen at Pinewood, & we were told that it was an old one. We stayed there for a long time, & grew bored waiting for something to happen. Many men, as at Pinewood [where for a few days in 1950 I had been an extra in "The Browning Version,"] stood about, apparently doing nothing. At last we saw a little bit of action in some rehearsals for a scene in which Widmark enters through a door, stealthily crosses the room opens the filing cabinet, & takes something from it. Most of the men standing about wore small long-peaked caps. After we had been in the studio for some time, Roy took us out & back to his car. He told us he had only until noon to take us round & then he had another appointment. This was very disappointing as I thought we would probably have the whole day at the studios & might be taken to lunch. But he drove us all around & we saw many interesting things. (* before leaving the studio, Roy got Widmark's autograph for me & he said he would send us autographed photos of some of the stars.)
We drove down streets bordered by buildings which looked for all the world as if they were real - village and city streets looking absolutely authentic. We saw some huge permanent sets which are used over & over again in different films, eg. a well-tended country garden, and the front of a southern mansion. We saw the nurseries where all the plants used in films are kept & cultivated & the garages where many different types of vehicles are stored. We saw large model ships and a remarkably realistic model forest through which burning gas-jets ran, which were to simulate a forest fire. Some of the streets we drove down looked just like ordinary village streets & it was hard to believe that it was all make-believe. We saw the administrative buildings etc. At noon Roy set us down at the gate & we came out. We had been lucky to get in at all, but I could have wished for more.
Since Brian & I had been asked to learn the words to "California, Here I Come" (see August 7th) we went from the film studios to the May Co. Wilshire Blvd. Branch. In the music dept there we asked if they had copies of the song. The woman said they did not have sheet music, but had a record of Al Jolson singing the song. I said we would like to hear this & she gave it to us to take into a listening booth. There we played the over & over until I had copied down all the words. Then we returned the record to the girl & came away & had lunch at a snack-bar. Nearby we saw a place selling air-raid shelters with some locked display shelters outside. Large signs outside proclaimed that it was each man's duty to protect his family.
I phoned Uncle Marsh & he advised us to go up on the roof of the Chalfonte Apts to get some sun. First we went back to his apt. We had the problem of disposing the 25 tickets to our program tomorrow. We got rid of most of them, gave some to Mrs. Beach, to Mrs. Mark downstairs, to Uncle Marsh, to Nina & Ben, & to other people. Then we went on the Chalfonte roof in the sun, & I wrote a letter home & some more of the "Post" article. We spent the evening at Marsh's apt. while I wrote some more still of the article. Still there was much to be written. Marsh is very dictatorial, & this evening he started telling us all about what we should say & do on the program & what prizes we should say we want if they ask us.
Friday, August 10, 1951
Today was to be our big day, the day we were to be on a television
program, the Bill Gwinn Show on the American Broadcasting Company,
Channel 7. It is a big program, is first telecast here & then
films of it are broadcast later in Chicago & New York &
perhaps elsewhere. We were to be at the studios at noon to begin
rehearsals. We had gone on Monday for an audition & later
been accepted. We felt fortunate in having seen last week's Bill
Gwinn Show last Sunday evening, for now, before we started, we
had a good idea of the show was about & knew what it looked
like to the viewer.
The whole thing is rather foolish. Bill Gwinn is the compere & interviewer, and the scene is supposed to be in a room at his home. There are 3 contestants or sets of contestants & they sit in arm-chair & couches. In the center of the set, there is a small bar. Each contestant is supposed to have a story to tell about some song which has been important in their lives. They are interviewed by Gwinn about their song, & then he looks into a crystal ball, & they are supposed to be transported by magic to the place where the story of the song originally took place. They then sing the song. At the end of the program, the audience is asked to judge by their applause who was the best contestant. In intervals announcements are made asking people to write in & tell their stories of the songs in their lives. Last week & this week the program had no sponsor although the names of several firms were mentioned in the donation of the prizes.
We arrived at about 11:45 & this time were directed to a different studio. At the gate I left 3 tickets to the program with the girl for the Foxes if they should come. The Foxes were the people who gave us the 600 mile lift from Vega, Texas, to Flagstaff, Arizona. I have spoken to them on the telephone a few times & invited them to come to the program. But this evening about 5 I telephoned them & Mrs. Fox said that they couldn't manage to come.
The studio we were in was like a little theater, with the set on the stage & seats for the audience below. All the studios at the ABC there, we learned, used to be film studios, and this very one, we were told, was where the first talking picture, Al Jolson's "The Jazz Singer," was made.
Jack Reeves met us & asked us to stay a while in a small room which we later found out was Bill Gwinn's dressing-room. There we sat & waited until after a while Mr. Gwinn came in. I recognized him right away. The producer came in too, a kindly-looking short thick dark-haired man. We all shook hands. Brian & I were wearing our usual clothes, shorts, socks rolled down, me a kaki shirt & Brian a sweater; we carried our pith-helmets. We sat down in the dressing-room & Gwinn & the producer started explaining to us how things would go. Having seen the program, we knew much of it already. Then Gwinn gave us a sort of trial interview, asking questions like how we raised the money to come over. We did not tell the entire truth. We made out that we had earned all the money ourselves, and that, apart from my Uncle in Los Angeles, we had no friends in America at all.
We had to rehearse on & off all afternoon, with about 2 hrs. of breaks The men there were all very nice to us & the producer took us out to a food-wagon outside the studios & told the girls there to give us whatever we wanted & he would pay for it. I had orange juice, a double-hamburger, pie, milk, & a chocolate bar. Gwinn did several private rehearsals with us while the producer timed him & gave advice. Questions had to be altered & the accent laid on particular things. Jack Reeves was there part of the time as well. Then afterwards we went onto the stage to rehears with the other competitors. The two other groups of competitors were (1) a mother & her small cute 4 ½ yr. Old daughter, who seemed very intelligent & wore a red dress. The mother told a story of how when she was young she had to sing a song called "Piccolo Pete" with a little boy. She later married the boy. When the girl was interviewed, she had to say that she like the song because "Mommy says if it wasn't for Piccolo Pete, I wouldn't be here." It was she who sang the song, very well & in a cute manner, with much inclining of the head & waving of the arms & using a little plastic whistle at some points. // The other competitors were a good-looking couple whose story was that they had met at a high-school operatic society. Their song was "Love Me Tonight" from "The Vagabond King."
The set was rather like that in a movie studio. There were banks of lights above & much machinery about, including a microphone on a beam, just like we had seen at Pinewood. We had to rehearse many times on the set. The first one of two times we rehearsed with the singing. We had no scripts. Gwinn used a little typewritten copy of the letter we had written to him. Since there was no script, each rehearsal was rather different from the last & our actual performance was different too. Sometimes a point was included; sometimes it was left out. Then we started doing singing rehearsals with the speaking as well, & the entire program was rehearsed in order. The persons didn't sing in their places, but while the camera was focused on Bill looking into his crystal ball, they crept around to a special singing set. The "backdrop" of the singing set was a projection screen on which was projected from the rear an appropriate picture. For us, it was a picture of a roadway & we also had some "scenery" - a large piece of green stuff meant to be a rock & an imitation tree. For the little girl, Vicky, there was a nursery scene & the others had some sort of stage scene.
In between rehearsals I tried to write part of the "Edgware Post" article which was supposed to be sent in today. We were right next to the organ, & the organist was the man who had accompanied us on Monday. I think his name was Rex. We played around with the organ for a while & were surprised how pleasant it was merely to press the keys & hear those beautiful "organic" notes come forth. It was of course an electric organ We also talked a bit with the announcer, a very pleasant friendly man, who told us about the many programs he worked on. He said he preferred doing commercial advertising because it paid so well. We had a break of over an hour until 6 P.M. when we were to be back to have make-up put on. The rehearsals were very cheerful & happy most of the time, but things were worked out carefully & much attention was paid to detail.
At last the big moment arrived. The audience were all in their places. I saw Uncle Marsh enter the studio. Amongst the audience, I later found out, were about 12 or so people to whom we had given tickets. In a few minutes we were called onto the stage to take our places. The audience clapped. I tried to look away from them & forget about them. How did I feel? I felt that we had a good chance of winning or coming 2nd. I somehow felt that we couldn't come last. I was nervous, though Brian said he wasn't. The audience's view of the show was much obscured by cameras, technicians, the organ, etc., but they had TV screens to look at. And so, after a few reassuring words from our producers, the show went on.
It opened with Gill Gwinn singing his theme song, "I Hear Music." Then he introduced us in turn and announced that we were being given Crosley portable radio sets. Then there was a little game in which we had a chance to win a $100 bond. Bill read out a jingle giving clues to the name of a song & we had to write down the name. The clues were that it began with word "When" and came from a show whose name I have forgotten. Anyway, we didn't know it & neither did anyone else, so no one got the bond. Brian & I were the first people to be interviewed; we sat on stools in front of the bar beside Bill. We had on make-up. It was the first time I had really been made up. A professional man did it in a dressing room. He used brushes & water & different shades of paints & went all over my face, neck & ears.
The audience was fairly large for a studio audience. Everything went fairly well in our interview. I thanked anyone looking in who had ever happened to give us a lift or help us in any way. Then we tip-toed quickly round to the other set to sing our song. 2 cameras alternated upon us & I could tell which one was being used by the red lights on it. I had a little difficulty with the 1st 2 or 3 notes, but the song went alright apart from that. We sang & looked as well as we could. We held our pith helmets. Then we returned to our seats while the others underwent their ordeal. The little girl, though she had been alright in rehearsal, forgot the words on 2 occasions, but managed to get through the song.
At last we came to the audience applause time. As our names were called, we stood to be applauded. I was surprised at the small volume of applause that there seemed to be for us. But the other 2 did not seem to get much more. Quickly the winners & runners-up were announced, and it was our saddest moment - we had come 3rd. The mother & daughter came 2nd & they were each awarded Longine wrist-watches. The husband & wife came 1st & seemed very happy about it. They were awarded a holiday at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas -- the hotel outside which we waited for 3 hrs. on July 30th -- & also air transport there & back, & a console model TV set. The prizes were same as last week. As a consolation prize, we were awarded a $25 bond, which is worth $18.75, between us. The radio was also between is. I was surprised that we had not even come 2nd. There seemed to be very little difference in the applause. Its volume was supposed to be measured by a special machine.
And so it was all over & we had lost. In the audience we found many of our friends including the Halperins & Leventhalls. I did not feel very unhappy, & was able to smile. We were told that the bond & radio would be sent on to us. Afterwards we were taken to the Halperins' apt., where we had a meal & I finally managed to conclude the newspaper article. Later I posted it. . . Well, the TV experience was an interesting & memorable one. We would have been very happy indeed had we won, but were not inversely proportionately unhappy having lost. We had won something though not much & could consider ourselves well acquainted with American TV.
Saturday, August 11, 1951
Today Brian & I slept late. As usual, Uncle Marsh ordered
us around a lot, made sarcastic remarks, particularly at me, &
made me feel rather unhappy for a while.
This afternoon I phoned the Foxes, the people who gave us the long lift from Texas to Arizona & whom I phoned yesterday. Mrs. Fox had invited us to call her any day we would like to come round. I spoke to Mr. Fox - he said they would be glad to have us today & he would come round to pick us up in his car. It was the 2nd time we had visited a family at their home after they had given us a lift. The first time was with the Morins in Chicago. Mr. Fox did not come for some time. Meanwhile Brian & I discussed with Uncle Marsh what we are going to do about getting back to New York. As yet, we have no definite plans. [But we knew we had a plane to catch on September 1st.]
At last Mr. Fox came for us with his son, David, who is 9 yrs. old, a chubby blond boy with a heavy upper lip & a crew cut. They drove us to their home which was not far from Exposition Park which we visited a few days ago. The address was Ralph K. Fox, 712 W 43rd St., Los Angeles, 37, California. They have been living out here about 4 or 5 years now & originally came from West Virginia. Their home was a small one, half of a duplex, but as with all other California homes it was well furnished and decorated & had the usual conveniences. California has a higher standard of living than any other place I have seen in the world, I think. The climate here is very good. It rains only for 2 or 3 weeks in the year & never rains apart from that. It never really snows, and it is always warm. Early mornings are hazy, but the sun always comes out strong about 10 or 11 A.M. It is hot until about 4 P.M., but not uncomfortably so. It is a dry heat. Then after about 4 it begins to cool off & the evenings are pleasantly cool.
There are more cars and used car markets in Los Angeles than any other city I have seen. I believe that they have more cars per population here than anywhere else in the world. Most of the buildings in this city are low because of the danger of earthquakes, but there are some new large blocks of flats erected by an insurance company. We have been along Wilshire Blvd. many times. The city is very large in area, & is, I believe, next to Honolulu, the largest city in the world.
At the house, we re-met Mrs. Fox & talked with them all for a while. David takes violin lessons, & he played a bit for us. It was difficult to recognize any tune. Then Mrs. Fox said that we would be eating in their garden, & we went out & found chairs laid out & a table with food & an electric cooker for hamburgers & hot-dogs. We met the couple who were their neighbors & their little boy who had just started wearing glasses. I had a meal of 3 hamburgers, milk, & potato crisps. Later we had ice-cream & cake. After supper we played around in the garden. I tried using some stilts for the first time & after a while would walk around on then fairly easily. Brian & Mr. Fox tried a long time to make a motor model airplane work, but never quite succeeded, although the motor almost started several times. Then we came indoors & watched TV. We saw a British wartime movie, "The Foreman Went to France." The reception wasn't nearly as good as ours in England. The film was interrupted twice for commercials. Mr. Fox drove us home, & we promised to write.
Sunday, August 12th, 1951
(written August 13th) Today, Brian & I went out with Uncle
Marsh's friend, Percy Rose, whom we met a few days ago. He is
a middle-aged man, separated from his wife (Marsh says), has a
shop selling crockery, pictures, ornaments etc. in L.A. He lives
in a rented room. He came for us in the morning & took us
in his car, a little English Austin. We have seen many English
cars here, more than in any other U.S. city, particularly M.G.'s.
We had bathing suits with us & Percy took us to a municipal
open-air swimming pool. It was a very pleasant one & the water
was very warm. We had a good swim & then stretched out in
the warm sun for a while, before coming away.
Percy drove us to Santa Monica, & there treated us to a good lunch in a cafeteria. (He also took us previously to the place where he lives & we met some other people there.) After lunch we walked down to the front & a little way along the cliff-top. We saw a wooden building crowded with men playing chess & checkers. At another place people were playing shuffleboard outside. We also saw a camera obscura which could be seen free in a special little building. Inside, it was dark, & the image of the scene outside was seen on a large white horizontal round table-top. By turning a control, the scene could be changed to include views in all directions. We had seen a camera obscura at Griffith Park Observatory, but there the screen was vertical & the image fixed. At Griffith Park too we had seen something which to me was very interesting - a mirror constructed so that it showed things "the right way round" & not in reverse. This was effected by fixing 2 plane mirrors at right angles to each other. I had discovered this principle myself a long time ago at home, but had never been able to make a good one. This was a good one & the only unavoidable trouble was that a thin black line ran down the join, & no matter where one stood to look into the mirror, the line always appeared to run right down the center of one's face.
Then Percy took us onto the Santa Monica Pier, which seemed to have many places selling seafood & many people fishing off it, but not much of interest. We sat at the end for a while, during which time I read some comics from a Sunday paper, which I had picked up. The Sunday "newspapers" here contain a really astonishing amount of paper in them. They have several magazine & comic sections, as well as many ordinary newsprint sections. They cost 15¢. Counting the pages of the Sunday "Los Angeles Times," I find that the newsprint sections have a total of 129 sides, the 2 comic sections total 16 sides, & the 2 magazine sections total 64 sides (half the size of the others.) This brings the total number of sides to 209, almost as many as there are in this diary. But of course, much of the space is filled up with advertising.
Leaving the pier, Percy took us onto a section of the beach called "Muscle Beach," where we saw some men in bathing suits, some of whom appeared to be very muscular & well-developed, engaged in a "chinning" contest on a horizontal bar. I believe that the contest was sponsored by a local newspaper. Quite a crowd was there watching. Also on display were some people apparently dong some amateur acrobatics. The man who I believe won the contest was extremely powerful-looking & chinned 43 times. I heard someone say that he had once won the title of "Mr. New York." From there Percy drove us into the district called Ocean Park, but we didn't see much. Then he drove us home. He was a pleasant man & talked rather quickly.
This evening Brian & I discussed again with Uncle Marsh our plans for going back East. It now appears that we will hitch-hike all the way by the Northern route. We agreed to call in tomorrow at the headquarters of the American Automobile Association for advice. At 8:56 P.M Brian & I went to see a show at a movie house not far from here. We had to pay 65¢ to get in. We were attracted by the double-bill of the British picture "Trio" & the American "The Great Caruso." The seats in the cinema were rather hard. "Trio" was based on 3 short stories by the famous British author Somerset Maugham. I enjoyed it very much, particularly the first 2 stories, & thought it a very good film. Nigel Patrick, who played in "The Browning Version," was particularly good in the title role of the 2nd story, "Mr. Know-All." "The Great Caruso," however, was a disappointment. It was supposed to be based on the life of the great Italian singer, Enrico Caruso, but was merely a plotless Technicolor musical with a lot of singing by Mario Lanza & little else. We did not get home unto about 12:30.
Monday, August 13th, 1951
Los Angeles is an interesting place & has much to commend
it, but I am getting the wanderlust again, the urge get moving
& go somewhere else, & Brian & I have decided to take
our departure on Wednesday morning. We would like to leave tomorrow,
but Uncle Marsh says that he couldn't get the money he is going
to give us before tomorrow. He has said that he will give us each
$50, but we don't need that much.
Today we slept fairly late & as usual Uncle Marsh was out at work & we took our own breakfast. Then we went out & went by streetcar to the AAA headquarters & found the men there very helpful. One man took a map & showed us the best routes north to Yosemite Natl. Park & Reno & Salt Lake City & over to New York. I very much hope that we will be able to visit Yellowstone National Park as well. He used an interesting instrument for indicating the roads on the map. It was a fountain pen with a piece of felt instead of a nib so that it made a broad soft line.
At the AAA we were near Exposition Park, which we had visited before, & the campus of the University of Southern California. Before going on to these, we had lunch in a café. I had a hot beef sandwich with potatoes & gravy, a coke, & apple pie. Then we walked to the University campus & through it, pausing to look at an indoor swimming pool & the University bookshop. Then we went over to the park & this time went into a building for which we had been too late last time. It was the California State Exposition Building. Inside we saw exhibits dealing with California industry, agriculture, minerals, animals, etc. It was well set out, but not particularly interesting. As with many other exhibitions, there was too much to be read and studied. From there we went by streetcar up to Douglas MacArthur Park, where there is a long boating lake. Motor-boats for 2 people could be hired out at 60¢ for 30 minutes (30¢ each) & we took one. The sun was bright, & it was pleasant boating about. The boat went slowly, & steering was not difficult. We both did some. Once of twice some pigeons landed on our bows & stayed there for some time.
We were home by about 6:15 & stayed in the rest of the evening. Uncle Marsh made us a meat dinner. He never eats with us here, but always says he must wait on us. He often complains about how hard his life is, & how people are always after him to work for them.
Tuesday, August 14th, 1951
(written morning Aug 15th) Our last day in Los Angeles. In the
morning we phoned Morty Halperin & he came around to take
us in his car to the place where he works. He also brought us
a display package of 12 colored plastic water-pistols, which his
father's firm makes, & which had been promised to us. Morty
is not in the Army, but he works in the offices of the Armed Forces
Radio Service, which beams programs to the Pacific region, primarily
for American troops, but also for anyone else who cares to listen
in. He took us into the building where there were many desks &
offices, showed us the control rooms & recording rooms &
the broadcasting studio. He introduced us to many people there.
Morty told us how a rigid check-up is made on the loyalty of all
government employees. Only a few days ago, while he was out, the
F.B.I. came asking his landlady questions about him. When we had
seen everything worth seeing, Morty took us to lunch at a Drive-In
Restaurant, where we ate in the car. I had chicken pie. Trays
are attached to the inside of the car for each occupant. After
that, Morty drove us home & we said goodbye to him. He is
a pleasant boy & I like him very much.
Brian & I spent the rest of the day preparing for our departure tomorrow. I took my time in packing & sorted out some things, mainly paper souvenirs, which I don't want to carry with me, which Uncle Marsh will mail home in a parcel for me.. We wrote some humorous entries in Uncle Marsh's guest book & bought some provisions to carry with us - fruit, biscuits, jam, peanut butter, bread, etc.
And so it's goodbye to Los Angeles and goodbye to Uncle Marsh. I feel I know quite a lot about the city now. I never expected Uncle Marsh to be like he is. He is completely free and natural, but that is not always good.
[End of Part 3]