Shopping At Frasier’s Market

Shopping was definitely different way back in 1957. We lived in the small town of Bloomington, CA and the local store was Frasier’s Market. It was a bit bigger than today’s convenience stores, a concept that was not even on the radar back in those days. My dad was a big believer in shopping locally and a large portion of our grocery budget was spent at Frasier’s.  What we couldn’t find at Frasier’s, we found at the local Stater Bros. Super Market. 

That little local market was run by a husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Frasier, and they knew just about everyone in the neighborhood. Their store had the usual limited selection of grocery items, but they did have a meat and cheese counter. I can still remember when they would run hamburger on special 3#s for $1.00. Yup, that’s right, three pounds for one dollar!! Mr. Frasier ground the meat himself and it was good quality stuff. They also had big rounds of longhorn cheddar cheese that was about the same price as ground beef. I loved to go into the store and watch them cut a big slice off those rounds of cheese and wrap it up in butcher paper. Sometimes they would slip me a free sample too! 

Frasier’s Market was on the main street in Bloomington, Valley Blvd. That was also where the school buses stopped for the neighborhood. It was about 4 or 5 blocks from our house and I was allowed to walk there all by myself. One day my mother asked me to walk to the store for her. She gave me a note and told me to give it to Mrs. Frasier. 

I was SO insulted. I was 8 years old and had been reading for years!! Did my mother think I was stupid? I took the note but I did not give it to Mrs. Frasier. I knew what it said and I looked all over the store shelves until I found the precise item. I made the purchase and headed home. 

I was so proud as I gave the bag to my mother. She looked inside and then looked at me kind of funny and asked if I had given the note to Mrs. Frasier. I had to admit I had not...BUT I proudly pointed out the lettering on the package of Scot White Dinner Napkins, “See it says right here…SANITARY, just like it says on the note.” I didn’t know what mother was laughing at until some years later, but I don’t think she ever sent me to the store again for that particular product. 

That’s me on the right at about 8 years old.

My Earliest Memory

Someone asked me recently what my earliest memory was.  I often can’t remember what I had for breakfast, what the date is, or where I was last Tuesday, but it didn’t take long for my first memory to pop into my head.

First a little background.  My Daddy was not physically a big man but he certainly had a big presence.  Dad had polio as a child and as a result had one leg that was shorter than the other and somewhat withered.  He also was only about 5’ 9’ in height.  His brother Ralph was a big guy – over six feet as I remember, so the polio probably affected my Dad’s overall height as well.
Dad never consider himself disabled though.  He walked with a noticeable limp and his ankle was weak and sometime would give way.  But Dad never let that stop him.

When I was a kid back in the early 50s, we lived near San Bernardino, California.  There were no shopping malls or big  box stores or even strip malls.  When you wanted to shop, you went downtown.  I can clearly remember JC Penney’s, Karl’s Shoes, Harris Co., Sprouse Reitz, and of course, Woolworth’s.  Woolworth’s had a lunch counter and the food was probably terrible, but it was a huge treat to be able to get a Coke or an ice cream soda or a hamburger at Woolworth’s lunch counter.

I remember one day in particular.  It must have been winter as I remember wearing a coat.  We were in Penney’s and my little toddler legs had walked just about as far as they could go.  Rather than tell me to behave and force me to walk, my Daddy, with his bad leg and his bum ankle picked me up and put me on his shoulders.  And there I rode for the rest of our shopping trip.  It wasn’t the last time I rode on Daddy’s shoulders and it probably wasn’t the first time either – it’s just the first childhood memory that I can recall.  



This picture was taken before the trip to JC Penney’s but it shows how my dad loved to pick up the little ones.  I am the baby here along with my brother and sisters.  Yes, I’ve used this photo before but I just love it.  It is so “Daddy!” And I wasn’t the only one to ride on Daddy’s shoulders.  Pictured below is my brother David getting a lift from Daddy way back in about 1940.



My Dad may have had a short leg and a weak ankle but his arms were strong and so was his heart. 

Making Music the Old Fashioned Way

The year was 1949 and I was just a new born baby.  Talk about the “olden days!”  We didn't have a television – only a very few, very wealthy families actually had them in their homes.  We didn’t have a movie camera – UNTHINKABLE!!  We didn’t have digital cameras, cell phones, CD players, or MP3 players…we did have a radio!

Back in the olden days we made our own entertainment.  Very often that entertainment revolved around the family singing together.  Daddy would get out his guitar and all would gather around and the music would flow.  As I got older, I can remember most times we had company (remember that concept?) we would also gather around and sing together.  We certainly didn’t sit around and watch TV together!  

Back in 1949, we didn’t have any way to record most of these moments.  We wouldn’t even own a reel-to-reel tape recorder for another four or five years.  BUT, we had a friend (Porter by name – first or last name I don’t know) who had a marvelous machine that made records right in the comfort of your own home.  I have these original records and they are in remarkably good shape for something 65 years old.  I wonder if today’s digital sounds will be as remarkable 65 years from now?  

Now back in the day, the recording quality was not advanced but we did the best we could when Porter let us borrow his machine.  What fun to listen now to things we recorded so long ago.  Hearing my daddy quietly accompany his kids on his guitar is a memory that I treasure.  Hearing my big brother and sister singing when they were just little kids is beyond fun.  Hearing myself squeal a baby noise is just amazing – remember this all happened more than half a century ago!

I put together a video for my family.  I have been scanning old slides and negatives and was looking for music to go with some of them.  Inspiration struck!!  Why not use our own music?  So I used some of the music from that long ago 1949 recording that we made on Porter’s wonderful magical machine and put some old photos with it.  Not all the photos were taken in 1949, but I got as close as I could.

David and Laila – this is for you.  You were amazing.