Childhood Memories of the Midwick Tract

I grew up in the Midwick Tract in Alhambra, California.

            

The land started out as the Midwick Country Club and Polo Grounds, a prestigious location in Los Angeles County where movie stars, politicians, and royalty, including  King Edward of England, played golf and polo.

       

Films, like the original Robin Hood, were filmed on the polo grounds.

The Great Depression affected the club because fewer people could afford to frequent it. When the owners defaulted on a loan, Dominic Jebbia bought the property. In 1944, the clubhouse burned down, so Mr. Jebbia subdivided the acreage and sold it to a real estate developer. He donated part of the land to Los Angeles County for Granada Park and created a housing tract on the rest.

Returning WWII veterans bought most of the houses for their families. All the streets were named after famous golfers.

My family bought one of the houses in the first phase and moved in during the fall of 1948 when I was two years old. Our house was on Hathaway Avenue. Larry’s family bought on Hitchcock Drive in the second phase and arrived when he was five.

Our house was situated where the golf course had previously stood. We occasionally found golf balls in the neighborhood.

Midwick was the perfect place to grow up. Nearly all the mothers were housewives and stayed at home all day. The downside was we couldn’t get away with anything. The minute we did something wrong, our mothers knew before we arrived home.

The upside was the number of kids our age in the neighborhood. We never lacked for friends.

Just on our end of the street lived another girl my age, one a year older, one a year younger, and another two years older. Kathleen and I became blood sisters. We both had younger brothers and wanted a sister. She was the maid of honor at my wedding, and nine months later, she asked me to be the matron of honor at hers. When we celebrated our fiftieth anniversary in September, my ‘sis’ was there to deliver a speech.

Boys around our age joined us to play games during the summer. We roller skated on the sidewalks, rode our bikes to the park (more about that next week), and played all summer at one another’s houses.

I’ve stayed in touch with many of the neighborhood ‘kids’ over the years. Quite a few are my friends on Facebook.

We had no need for block parents because we always had adults around in case of problems. During the summer, we played outside until dark when a parent finally summoned one of us home and our play ceased. This was a time and place that seemed safe. We hung out in groups and never got into serious trouble.

I am very grateful to have been raised in this special neighborhood with wonderful people.

Next week, I’ll talk about Granada Park, the major hangout for all the kids who lived in the tract.

Magical Midwick Tract

Yesterday we attended the celebration of life for one of the moms of Midwick Tract in Alhambra, California, and this moniker for the place where I grew up was mentioned. It felt perfectly appropriate since we all agree we were truly blessed to have spent our childhoods there.

Built in 1912, the property was originally the Midwick Country Club with a golf course and polo grounds. Movie stars and the rich and famous frequented the place. The membership was highly selective (all white) and the membership fee was steep. In 1932, some of the equestrian events for the Olympic Games were held there.

  

  

It was selected as a set for quite a few movies, including an early version of Robin Hood and They Died With Their Boots On.

Photos from Charles Mullaly

Following a fire, which destroyed the clubhouse, the property was sold and subdivided into much-needed post-WWII housing.

My family moved into one of the first houses on Hathaway Avenue in 1948. (All the streets were named for famous golfers of the era.) Larry’s family settled on Hitchcock Drive in 1949 when phase II opened.

Because most of the owners were returning GIs with young families, we never had to look far for playmates. Nearly every house had kids—often our age. Some of those remain close friends to this day.

The 1950s was a time when all the moms (except ours) stayed at home while the dads went out to work. The entire neighborhood was more like an extended family. We didn’t need designated block parents because all the adults watched out for us. And we could never get away with anything because, by the time we returned home, our folks had already heard about any infraction and our punishment awaited us.

Since my brother and I were raised by a single mother, who had to work outside the home, several of the others on our street took on the role of our surrogate parents. We always felt safe.

During the summers, we spent our entire day at Granada Park at the edge of the tract. At a fairly young age, we either walked or rode our bicycles unaccompanied to the park where we played in the playground. Two sets of swings accommodated everyone from the little kids to adults. I remember sliding down the hot, high, metal double slide in the summer where we took sheets of waxed paper to make our rides even faster. We spun on the merry-go-round (foot-powered, of course) and played in the sand.

For twenty-five cents, we could spend all day at the swimming pool with its double diving boards. I used the lower one often, but only once jumped—with my heart in my throat—from the high one.

We rolled down the hillsides or slid on anything smooth. Cookie sheets worked pretty well, as I recall.

In the early days, a fish pond occupied the northwest corner. However, it became a hazard, so it was fenced off and later filled in.

During the summer, craft classes were offered. The lessons were free, and we only had to pay a minimal amount for the materials. How many lanyards and key chains did we all make? I remember using a manual drill to twist crepe paper into rope, which we wound around and glued to an empty bottle for a vase. And we painted countless small plaster decorations. I also learned how to do copper enameling there. I’m sure we were offered even more activities, but these are the ones I particularly remember.

I also remember reading in the shade of the large trees on the hill as a cool breeze blew.

We attended the Little League games and rooted for our favorite teams, since they were made up of all our friends. Their dads were the coaches. Larry’s dad coached his brother, Casey’s, team. (Back row, second from the right in the plaid shirt.)

On summer evenings, we played outdoors until the street lights came on and someone’s mother called them home.

On countless summer evenings we barbequed with the neighbors. I especially remember the delicious hand-cranked ice cream at the end of the meals.

And slumber parties. Many of those.

It was a different time and a different era. And oh how lucky we were to have grown up there in marvelous, mythical, magical Midwick Tract.