Back when the boogie board was selling like the hula hoop

Thirty Years Ago
“I came across polyethylene foam in the 1960s,” he told me recently. “But it took a long time to turn it into something that could he used to ride waves. You could say I developed the Boogie the same way you’re going to develop your article about it — piece by piece, very slowly.”

Three years later Morey had improved the design to the point where he felt he had a marketable piece of merchandise.… In Carlsbad that same year he ran into Jim Faivor, an unemployed carpenter in his early 50s. “He had tooling experience and seemed to know just how to tool the board and shape it.”
— “LESS IS MOREY,” Gordon Smith, August 24, 1978

Twenty-Five Years Ago
According to an eyewitness, one of the whales — identified solely by its nom de théâtre, Kando — held trainer Bud Crames by his left side in its mouth for approximately 60 seconds. During that time, Crames made sounds of the resonance and intensity that one normally associates with cries for help. The other trainers rushed over, ordered the whale to release him, and pulled him from the pool.
— CITY LIGHTS: “HARD ACT TO SWALLOW,” Abe Opincar, August 25, 1983

Twenty Years Ago
When I first learned about the “Marketplace” Mr. [Sol] Price was going to open, I thought, Isn’t it great to see someone take a chance on our community?

Now we find out that for the most part, between the six acres the San Diego City Council donated for his project and the “sales-tax rebate” with which his corporation will be repaid for the money he did invest, it looks like Mr. Price will come out a big winner in this whole matter.

Of course, the big losers will be the Southeast and Logan Heights communities — as usual.
— LETTERS: “HERE’S TO THE LOSERS," Al Ducheny, Chairman, Steering Committee, Harborview Community Council, August 25, 1988

Fifteen Years Ago
There are 18,000 deaths in San Diego County each year. A single San Diego funeral home handles 15 corpses a month. Five of those bodies — former military personnel, late Mexican nationals — are sent back home. Ten are disposed of here. “Out of ten funerals” calculates Frankie Clemens, “four are cremated, for sure. Two are shipped elsewhere, one is buried in an existing grave.”
— “REMEMBER YOU MUST DIE AND SOMEONE HAS TO CARVE YOUR EPITAPH,” Mary Lang, August 26, 1993

Ten Years Ago
My husband and I are in a rock band. It keeps us married. Well, that and the psychiatrist we see monthly. We used to see her weekly, but after ten years, we’re on the maintenance plan. Or that’s what my husband says.

We built a music studio in our garage, insulated it with soundboard, and padded it with those foam mattresses they use in hospitals. We bought out the supply at several UFO stores. The foam we bought looks like a sea of egg cartons. “Lots of surface area” would be the chemist’s explanation (my husband’s a chemist). We crossed our fingers that the neighbors wouldn’t call the police.
— “NO ONE COMPARES ME TO OTHER FAMOUS FRENCH HORN ROCK AND ROLLERS,” Jennifer Ball, August 27, 1998

Five Years Ago
Luckily, someone in Bronwyn managed to arrange a show at the Cherry Bomb, a place I used to know as the Boardroom on First Street. I was still responsible for finding a place for all seven of them to sleep. When they arrived on Friday, they first came to my place. Standing in my room, they were just barely able to fit. I was fortunate enough to have a friend whose place they could crash at. So after a few drinks at Scolari’s Office, we headed over there.
— CRASHER: “PRETTY MUCH A PARTY ALREADY,” Daniel Ridge, August 21, 2003