Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Back When

Thirty Years Ago Ruby Yamada was born in Omu, a village of northernmost Japan, in May of 1903, and then came to the United States when she was 20 years old. A short time later she dared to smoke cigarettes. If it hadn't been for the United States and for the freedom it made her feel, she says she would never have taken a habit so disapproved of by her strict mother. Remembering her mother, Ruby still doesn't drink, but she continues to smoke, and can be quite daring for a woman who is 74 and no taller than a pool cue. She runs the ABC Club, a pool hall at Fifth and Market in downtown San Diego, the sort of neighborhood where you can't always get insurance for a plate-glass window. Tonight is Tuesday; Ruby Yamada will be here until two a.m. as she has been most nights since 1934, managing the bar, racking balls, and mixing herself cups of instant coffee from her bronze teapot. -- "THEY DON'T PLAY LIKE THEY USED TO," Robert Paul, June 16, 1977

Twenty-Five Years Ago Perhaps Chief Kolender can be forgiven if he didn't recognize Chadwick that evening several weeks ago; after all, she hasn't been in the spotlight much lately. [I]n August of 1950, she swam the 21-mile-wide channel in 13 hours 20 minutes, breaking by 1 hour and 19 minutes a women's record set by Gertrude Ederle in 1926.... [I]n 1951, she became the first woman to swim it from England to France.

When she was six years old, her parents enrolled her in a swimming class at the Mission Beach Swimming School.... [A]fter a few months she entered her first competition.... The race was over in a matter of minutes and Chadwick was humiliated; she finished last. Several months later she raced again, this time in a pool in San Clemente. Again she finished last. -- "AGAINST THE CURRENT," Kathryn Phillips, June 17, 1982

Sponsored
Sponsored

Twenty Years Ago The county of San Diego may soon tighten its regulation of bed-and-breakfast homes, thanks to the influence of a small group of people living in the Pine Hills area near Julian. One of these people is Tribune editor Neil Morgan. "Even among the placid forests of Pine Hills, the natives are fuming about growth: in this case, bed-and-breakfasts," wrote Morgan in his January 27 column. "By late count, 27 guest homes and B&Bs operate in the woods of Julian country." Morgan didn't mention that he was one of the fuming natives, that he owns a home in the Pine Hills community, and that the guy next door has opened a bed-and-breakfast operation. -- CITY LIGHTS: "MR. MORGAN'S NEIGHBORHOOD," Brae Canlen, June 18, 1987

Fifteen Years Ago On the day that I was to visit the Flame, an all-women's bar on Park Boulevard, my phone hardly stopped ringing. "The important thing is your hair," one friend advised. "Absolutely positively you can't have long hair. Pull it back in a ponytail or hide it under a cap."

"No skirts. If you want to fit in, pants only and a T-shirt."

"You can't wear makeup, not a drop. And no earrings."

"You know your expensive perfume, the one from France? That will be a dead giveaway."

The last call came from a close male friend who asked gloomily, "What will you do if someone grabs you?" -- "STRAIGHT IN THE FLAME," Eleanor Widmer, June 18, 1992

Ten Years Ago On the last day of summer when the ground was as hard as adobe, I hacked down into it and brought up worms so I could enslave them in the compost trade. I felt I could give worms a better life and a good job. I bought them a glass terrarium. I covered them with soil that stuck together like brown sugar. I fed them moist flowers, bruised peaches, freckled banana peels, and wet tomato cores. For them I saved the pungent rinds of my oranges and the cold peels of my cucumbers. Mold like black fur began to coat the soil. Very little seemed to be going on. I fed them less. I worried they would starve. Then I read in a children's book that worm pets should be fed every six weeks with "a bit of oatmeal and a few decaying leaves." -- "VAMPIRES ON MY FRONT PORCH," Laura McNeal, June 12, 1997

Five Years Ago I'm responding to the article of Robert Krumpel on hotel porn ("City Lights," June 6). I can't believe how out of touch and what an old fart and loser he must be to even bother to write this article, as though naming the hotels that offer porn is some kind of public service. Jesus Christ, obviously everybody wants it, so why doesn't he get a clue and why don't you as editors get a clue that this is what people want, and don't try to make a moral issue out of it, and just back off. Then you won't look so stupid and out of touch. -- LETTERS: "PORN," James Dreyfus, Saratoga, June 13, 2002

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?

Thirty Years Ago Ruby Yamada was born in Omu, a village of northernmost Japan, in May of 1903, and then came to the United States when she was 20 years old. A short time later she dared to smoke cigarettes. If it hadn't been for the United States and for the freedom it made her feel, she says she would never have taken a habit so disapproved of by her strict mother. Remembering her mother, Ruby still doesn't drink, but she continues to smoke, and can be quite daring for a woman who is 74 and no taller than a pool cue. She runs the ABC Club, a pool hall at Fifth and Market in downtown San Diego, the sort of neighborhood where you can't always get insurance for a plate-glass window. Tonight is Tuesday; Ruby Yamada will be here until two a.m. as she has been most nights since 1934, managing the bar, racking balls, and mixing herself cups of instant coffee from her bronze teapot. -- "THEY DON'T PLAY LIKE THEY USED TO," Robert Paul, June 16, 1977

Twenty-Five Years Ago Perhaps Chief Kolender can be forgiven if he didn't recognize Chadwick that evening several weeks ago; after all, she hasn't been in the spotlight much lately. [I]n August of 1950, she swam the 21-mile-wide channel in 13 hours 20 minutes, breaking by 1 hour and 19 minutes a women's record set by Gertrude Ederle in 1926.... [I]n 1951, she became the first woman to swim it from England to France.

When she was six years old, her parents enrolled her in a swimming class at the Mission Beach Swimming School.... [A]fter a few months she entered her first competition.... The race was over in a matter of minutes and Chadwick was humiliated; she finished last. Several months later she raced again, this time in a pool in San Clemente. Again she finished last. -- "AGAINST THE CURRENT," Kathryn Phillips, June 17, 1982

Sponsored
Sponsored

Twenty Years Ago The county of San Diego may soon tighten its regulation of bed-and-breakfast homes, thanks to the influence of a small group of people living in the Pine Hills area near Julian. One of these people is Tribune editor Neil Morgan. "Even among the placid forests of Pine Hills, the natives are fuming about growth: in this case, bed-and-breakfasts," wrote Morgan in his January 27 column. "By late count, 27 guest homes and B&Bs operate in the woods of Julian country." Morgan didn't mention that he was one of the fuming natives, that he owns a home in the Pine Hills community, and that the guy next door has opened a bed-and-breakfast operation. -- CITY LIGHTS: "MR. MORGAN'S NEIGHBORHOOD," Brae Canlen, June 18, 1987

Fifteen Years Ago On the day that I was to visit the Flame, an all-women's bar on Park Boulevard, my phone hardly stopped ringing. "The important thing is your hair," one friend advised. "Absolutely positively you can't have long hair. Pull it back in a ponytail or hide it under a cap."

"No skirts. If you want to fit in, pants only and a T-shirt."

"You can't wear makeup, not a drop. And no earrings."

"You know your expensive perfume, the one from France? That will be a dead giveaway."

The last call came from a close male friend who asked gloomily, "What will you do if someone grabs you?" -- "STRAIGHT IN THE FLAME," Eleanor Widmer, June 18, 1992

Ten Years Ago On the last day of summer when the ground was as hard as adobe, I hacked down into it and brought up worms so I could enslave them in the compost trade. I felt I could give worms a better life and a good job. I bought them a glass terrarium. I covered them with soil that stuck together like brown sugar. I fed them moist flowers, bruised peaches, freckled banana peels, and wet tomato cores. For them I saved the pungent rinds of my oranges and the cold peels of my cucumbers. Mold like black fur began to coat the soil. Very little seemed to be going on. I fed them less. I worried they would starve. Then I read in a children's book that worm pets should be fed every six weeks with "a bit of oatmeal and a few decaying leaves." -- "VAMPIRES ON MY FRONT PORCH," Laura McNeal, June 12, 1997

Five Years Ago I'm responding to the article of Robert Krumpel on hotel porn ("City Lights," June 6). I can't believe how out of touch and what an old fart and loser he must be to even bother to write this article, as though naming the hotels that offer porn is some kind of public service. Jesus Christ, obviously everybody wants it, so why doesn't he get a clue and why don't you as editors get a clue that this is what people want, and don't try to make a moral issue out of it, and just back off. Then you won't look so stupid and out of touch. -- LETTERS: "PORN," James Dreyfus, Saratoga, June 13, 2002

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
Next Article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.