A Small and Very Friendly Town
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- Publication date
- 2017-12-13
- Language
- English
Note:
Early Brea settlers, Willa and Gerald Bowland recall their lives in Brea, California.
Recorded for OC Stories; Brea Historical Society; Brea, CA.
Transcript:
W = Willa Bowland G = Gerald Bowland Interviewer = Linda Shay, Brea Historical Society W: [points to a house in a photograph] I was born on the corner of West Ash and South Madrona, in that bedroom, on July 7, 1930. And I've lived in Brea my entire life so far. Interviewer: "Haven't moved out?" W: Haven't moved out. I moved two miles away from my birth home. Grandpa Russell came in 1912. He was a jeweler. Watch maker. And my grandmother was - had a music store. My father was just a young teenager and he was free to roam the hills, which he loved, and he managed to catch a little bobcat and tamed it. Named it, Stutts, and my grandmother did not like that little cat because it would sleep on the counter of her music store and scare all her customers. So, daddy had to give that little kitty away. G: Came to Brea out of the Ozarks, in Arkansas, with my family in 1938. My dad looking for a better life 'cause he's just a poor farmer. And with a '32 Chevy sedan for myself, 2 younger brothers, and an older half brother, and my mother and father; and it was kind of an interesting trip because you can see we were packed in there. It wasn't exactly, "Grapes of Wrath", but it was pretty crowded. Text: "What was life like during Brea's early years?" W: Just a small, very friendly, town. All the merchants knew who you were and you'd go in shopping and if you didn't happen to have enough money, they'd say, "Bring it next time." Text: "Brea during World War II" W: They had an airplane air watch on top of the high school. My dad was part of that. And he - I think one night a week, he had to go and stay there. There were two or three of them at a time. Interviewer: "And you're talking about plane spotters, correct?" W: Plane spotters. And we had blackout curtains. And it seems to me like there was a siren and then you had to put your blackout curtains up and turn off the lights in different rooms. We had ours so it was just in the living room which had two windows facing west and windows all the way across the room facing east. So we had those black drapes. And, you know, it just was, life goes on. Text: "What did you do after the war?" W: And then we bought our little home on Orange Street and stayed there and we had it paid off when we moved in... G: '60? In 1960? W: In - yeah, in ten years. We - nine years. We had it paid for. G: Payments were 45 dollars a month. W: [laughs] And it was just a two bedroom and we had four kids by then and we moved to the home we're at now on Elm Street and had another child. So we ended up with five. Three daughters and two sons. G: By the mid '60s, they were making a big push. Girls weren't encouraged in science too much. It was a guy thing. And so, I was not that way because, remember, I had three daughters. So, I had a model rocket club that started in the mid '60s. The second one in the state. It took me a year to get a permit from the City Council, the School Board, the Fire Marshal; and I was launching model rockets off the - we have pictures there - of the junior high playground. I had a young lady in that class, Katherine Pittman - I can see her in my mind today. Little red head and freckles and braces; and she was my example of females getting back in science. She went on to be a doctor, da-da, da-da-da-da... I got my - I got my pilot's license in 1980 or '81. I'd take my kids flying. From my classroom. 'Cause I loved to do it. And it became an interest thing to these kids to be 12, 13, 14 year old. I'd take 'em flying and let 'em fly the airplane.
For additional information see California Revealed.
Early Brea settlers, Willa and Gerald Bowland recall their lives in Brea, California.
Recorded for OC Stories; Brea Historical Society; Brea, CA.
Transcript:
W = Willa Bowland G = Gerald Bowland Interviewer = Linda Shay, Brea Historical Society W: [points to a house in a photograph] I was born on the corner of West Ash and South Madrona, in that bedroom, on July 7, 1930. And I've lived in Brea my entire life so far. Interviewer: "Haven't moved out?" W: Haven't moved out. I moved two miles away from my birth home. Grandpa Russell came in 1912. He was a jeweler. Watch maker. And my grandmother was - had a music store. My father was just a young teenager and he was free to roam the hills, which he loved, and he managed to catch a little bobcat and tamed it. Named it, Stutts, and my grandmother did not like that little cat because it would sleep on the counter of her music store and scare all her customers. So, daddy had to give that little kitty away. G: Came to Brea out of the Ozarks, in Arkansas, with my family in 1938. My dad looking for a better life 'cause he's just a poor farmer. And with a '32 Chevy sedan for myself, 2 younger brothers, and an older half brother, and my mother and father; and it was kind of an interesting trip because you can see we were packed in there. It wasn't exactly, "Grapes of Wrath", but it was pretty crowded. Text: "What was life like during Brea's early years?" W: Just a small, very friendly, town. All the merchants knew who you were and you'd go in shopping and if you didn't happen to have enough money, they'd say, "Bring it next time." Text: "Brea during World War II" W: They had an airplane air watch on top of the high school. My dad was part of that. And he - I think one night a week, he had to go and stay there. There were two or three of them at a time. Interviewer: "And you're talking about plane spotters, correct?" W: Plane spotters. And we had blackout curtains. And it seems to me like there was a siren and then you had to put your blackout curtains up and turn off the lights in different rooms. We had ours so it was just in the living room which had two windows facing west and windows all the way across the room facing east. So we had those black drapes. And, you know, it just was, life goes on. Text: "What did you do after the war?" W: And then we bought our little home on Orange Street and stayed there and we had it paid off when we moved in... G: '60? In 1960? W: In - yeah, in ten years. We - nine years. We had it paid for. G: Payments were 45 dollars a month. W: [laughs] And it was just a two bedroom and we had four kids by then and we moved to the home we're at now on Elm Street and had another child. So we ended up with five. Three daughters and two sons. G: By the mid '60s, they were making a big push. Girls weren't encouraged in science too much. It was a guy thing. And so, I was not that way because, remember, I had three daughters. So, I had a model rocket club that started in the mid '60s. The second one in the state. It took me a year to get a permit from the City Council, the School Board, the Fire Marshal; and I was launching model rockets off the - we have pictures there - of the junior high playground. I had a young lady in that class, Katherine Pittman - I can see her in my mind today. Little red head and freckles and braces; and she was my example of females getting back in science. She went on to be a doctor, da-da, da-da-da-da... I got my - I got my pilot's license in 1980 or '81. I'd take my kids flying. From my classroom. 'Cause I loved to do it. And it became an interest thing to these kids to be 12, 13, 14 year old. I'd take 'em flying and let 'em fly the airplane.
For additional information see California Revealed.
- Contact Information
- Orange County Public Libraries, 1501 E. St. Andrew Place, , Santa Ana, CA 92705, Telephone: 714-566-3055, Email: Jon.Gilliom@occr.ocgov.com, http://ocpl.org/
- Access-restricted-item
- true
- Acknowledgment
- Source material provided by Orange County Public Libraries. Preserved and made available online by California Revealed. California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
- Addeddate
- 2020-03-03 20:17:41
- Call number
- OCDS BOWWG 01
- Genre
- Oral histories
- Identifier
- corcl_000164
- Interviewee
- Bowland, Gerald; Bowland, Willa
- Location
-
Brea (Calif.)
1930/2017
- Projectidentifier
- caps016344
- Rights
- Copyrighted. Rights are owned by OC Public Libraries. OC Public Libraries has given California Preservation Program permission to provide access to the digitized work online. Educational use is permitted. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
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- Title-collection-guide
- OC Stories
- Title-series
- OC Stories
- Values
- Note:
Early Brea settlers, Willa and Gerald Bowland recall their lives in Brea, California.
Recorded for OC Stories; Brea Historical Society; Brea, CA.
Transcript:
W = Willa Bowland G = Gerald Bowland Interviewer = Linda Shay, Brea Historical Society W: [points to a house in a photograph] I was born on the corner of West Ash and South Madrona, in that bedroom, on July 7, 1930. And I've lived in Brea my entire life so far. Interviewer: "Haven't moved out?" W: Haven't moved out. I moved two miles away from my birth home. Grandpa Russell came in 1912. He was a jeweler. Watch maker. And my grandmother was - had a music store. My father was just a young teenager and he was free to roam the hills, which he loved, and he managed to catch a little bobcat and tamed it. Named it, Stutts, and my grandmother did not like that little cat because it would sleep on the counter of her music store and scare all her customers. So, daddy had to give that little kitty away. G: Came to Brea out of the Ozarks, in Arkansas, with my family in 1938. My dad looking for a better life 'cause he's just a poor farmer. And with a '32 Chevy sedan for myself, 2 younger brothers, and an older half brother, and my mother and father; and it was kind of an interesting trip because you can see we were packed in there. It wasn't exactly, "Grapes of Wrath", but it was pretty crowded. Text: "What was life like during Brea's early years?" W: Just a small, very friendly, town. All the merchants knew who you were and you'd go in shopping and if you didn't happen to have enough money, they'd say, "Bring it next time." Text: "Brea during World War II" W: They had an airplane air watch on top of the high school. My dad was part of that. And he - I think one night a week, he had to go and stay there. There were two or three of them at a time. Interviewer: "And you're talking about plane spotters, correct?" W: Plane spotters. And we had blackout curtains. And it seems to me like there was a siren and then you had to put your blackout curtains up and turn off the lights in different rooms. We had ours so it was just in the living room which had two windows facing west and windows all the way across the room facing east. So we had those black drapes. And, you know, it just was, life goes on. Text: "What did you do after the war?" W: And then we bought our little home on Orange Street and stayed there and we had it paid off when we moved in... G: '60? In 1960? W: In - yeah, in ten years. We - nine years. We had it paid for. G: Payments were 45 dollars a month. W: [laughs] And it was just a two bedroom and we had four kids by then and we moved to the home we're at now on Elm Street and had another child. So we ended up with five. Three daughters and two sons. G: By the mid '60s, they were making a big push. Girls weren't encouraged in science too much. It was a guy thing. And so, I was not that way because, remember, I had three daughters. So, I had a model rocket club that started in the mid '60s. The second one in the state. It took me a year to get a permit from the City Council, the School Board, the Fire Marshal; and I was launching model rockets off the - we have pictures there - of the junior high playground. I had a young lady in that class, Katherine Pittman - I can see her in my mind today. Little red head and freckles and braces; and she was my example of females getting back in science. She went on to be a doctor, da-da, da-da-da-da... I got my - I got my pilot's license in 1980 or '81. I'd take my kids flying. From my classroom. 'Cause I loved to do it. And it became an interest thing to these kids to be 12, 13, 14 year old. I'd take 'em flying and let 'em fly the airplane.
For additional information see California Revealed.
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