NOTE: Click on the appropriate links for letters archives from 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998 and 1997 Also, various Avocado Memories reviews are here.
6/22/10
Hi Wes
Been a while since I wrote but was just looking at the bundle of updates you added since early this year. Wonderful stuff!
Here's a flashback for ya: I see that your first car was a 74 Beetle. Mine was a 71 Camaro coupe which I bought for 800 bucks. All cash, saved up by working with my dad roofing houses in Philadelphia during the Summer....HOT!
I always wanted to get another 70s Camaro if I could afford it. So last Fall I found a nice one over in Ft. Wayne, IN about 3 hours away. I ended up buying it and now have it safe in my garage and am enjoying it on weekends and on evening cruise nights in the area.
Glad you are still updating your site. It has been a blast to watch. Thanks for all the fun over the years since you started, and have a nice Summer too!
Jack
6/15/10
Dear Wes,
Just wanted to tell you that you are an excellent writer - you had me laughing out loud and soaking up your philosophy on life and growing up. I hope you have, or are writing a book.
I was born and raised in Glendale, CA but spent lots of time in Burbank (born 1953, grad. from Hoover High in 1971, moved to Oregon in 1988 where I now live). My sister lives in Burbank where she has lived in the same house on Clark since she was married in 1975. She is very involved in community activites - maybe you know her. Her name is Karen Sartoris. It's a small world sometimes.
Steve
6/14/10
Hi Wes,
I wanted to tell you that I loved looking through your old photos at "Avocado Memories" at your website! So much fun to review those times! I grew up in the 60s in Philadelphia and remember a lot of similiar things going on on the east coast...especially the spy-007 rage!
Take care and have a great summer!
Robert
6/1/10
Your page is fantastic. Being the same age it brings back a ton of memories (and the wish that I'd saved all of that stuff). And you were right to begin saving those memories so early. They really are a treasure, not just for your kids, but for yourself.
When you talked about the soldering iron I cracked up. [See below - Wes.] I used to have a thing called a Vac-U-Form, which was used to make plastic parts that you then cut up to make toys. I can still smell that plastic. It was the cousin to the Creepy Crawler set. Both got hotter than a blowtorch. It's a wonder any of us lived. And I had one of those Japanese metal toys, mine was a tractor. It shot sparks out of its smokestack.
Haven't finished reading it all, but have enjoyed it.
Keep it up.
kj
From my toys page:
My favorite gun couldn't be had at a toy store. It was the Weller soldering gun my parents kept in the original cardboard box. It looked black, industrial and somewhat futuristic, had two lights that glowed when you pulled the trigger and a tip that hummed and got very hot and could melt plastic and cardboard, in addition to metal. (After all, this gun plugged into the wall.) It was a distinct improvement from the Wham-O Air Blaster.
5/13/10
Dear Wes,
I just had to drop you a line after browsing through your web page. I was just looking for some inspiration for a piece I am writing and wanted to see some pictures from the 60's when I stumbled upon your blogs in a google search.
While I am only 23 years old, my mom is a couple of years older than you and grew up during the same time period. I love looking through her old yearbooks and old family pictures to learn about what her life was like back then. While looking through your photos, I felt like I had stumbled upon a rabbit's hole to the past and was watching your family's life play out before me.
I was also fascinated by the avocado paint. My grandmother (my mom's mom) was obsessed with the same color as well. She has an avocado green stove, sink, refrigerator, floor, shag carpet, drapes... the list is never ending. We lost her on November 18th of this past year. Her house still looks very much the same with all of the green. Whenever I see the color, I think of her. You had me laughing right along with you through out the changes that happened over the years.
I do hope this email reaches you. I feel almost as if you're a long lost friend. While I wasn't born until '87, I always felt I might have missed my true era by a few decades. I always have had a special connection with yours and my parent's generation. Maybe because they introduced me to the artists, music, shows, emotions of the time and it was what I grew up with so it makes me feel comfortable. I'm not sure. What I am sure of, however, is that I really enjoyed reading about you and your family.
Best wishes (and avocado memories),
Lizz
4/30/10
Hi, Wes.
I've been poking around in the assorted chapters of Avocado Memories with much enjoyment, perhaps especially so because we're the same age and had most of the same interests back in The Sixties -- also, I lived in North Hollywood from '68 - '70 and attended Walter Reed Jr. High.
Anyway, I found your site while doing some research on Hollywood, and the same research led me to a picture which I am attaching to this email. The caption from the archive where I found the photo read: "COMIC BOOK HEAVEN-Rick Durell, El Segundo, left, operator of a gasoline station, and Burt Blum, manager of Cherokee Book Shop, 6607 Hollywood Blvd., look over comic books in store, largest center for them in the country. 1965"
I hope you get a little thrill out of it!
Regards, and keep up the good work,
Simon
A little thrill? More like a BIG one! Look at those comic books! And.... BURT (grrrrr). Thanks! I have linked it into my Hollywood Boulevard article.
3/31/10
Greetings Mr. Clark
I'm Phillip, a life long resident of Dallas born in October 1961. I came across Avocado memories several years ago and have enjoyed your website very much ever since- thank you for going to the trouble.
My parents also had a number of avocado colored furnishings, and my mother still has the green Wurlitzer upright piano my father bought in 1969. Earlier today I was looking for some 60's TV shows, toys, etc. and came across this site and thought you might enjoy giving it a glance yourself. Hope all is well, take care and I'll continue visiting your site periodically.
Regards, Phillip
2/12/10
Your website just really made my night.
I don’t know why I felt so connected to your pictures, or even what I Googled to get me there, but I was stuck, and looked at everything.
Your writing is amazing, and the pictures were awesome. I wish I had such good photo memories of my past.
Anyways thank you very much, it really did make my night and my week.
Josh
2/2/10
Hello Wes,
1/5/10
Hi Wes,
I've been visiting Avocado Memories for about 2 years now, and continually keep checking back hoping to find new articles. Looks like you added a lot in December!
I grew up in Canoga Park in the 50's and 60's. The Valley was such a great place back then. Keep up the good work. You are helping to keep those memories alive for all of us.
Tom
What a great site.
Reading your story and being a kid from the 70's, brings back alot of great memories.
Gary