California, here we come!

NydaDell Calloway (cousin), Eldon, Delbert, Louis, Charles

During the Christmas vacation in 1938, my mother took us four boys to Los Angeles to visit with Aunt Florence (her sister) and Uncle Evan. Since Dad worked for the railroad, we could get passes so the transportation didn’t cost us anything. We had never been to California before, and so it was a great experience to see the ocean.

Eldon (9), Charles (13), Delbert (4), Louis (15)

Back row: Elder Potter, Mable, Eldon, Louis
Front row: Nyda Dell Calloway, Delbert

An Elder Potter, who had been at our home a lot, lived in LA also, and he took us down to the beach along with Aunt Florence and her children. It was really cold, but we got in the water anyway, but stayed on the beach most of the time. Of course, it was December and not exactly swimming weather!

Louis - notice the transformation from dress clothes to skivvies and a towel!

On New Year’s Day we went to see the Parade of Roses. We went real early and sat on the curb to see the parade. It was really exciting for us as we had never seen anything like this before. This was before TV. Shirley Temple was the Marshall for the parade. I don’t remember who played in the Rose Bowl that year; we didn’t go. I remember that we did a lot of roller-skating around the neighborhood with my cousin, Delvin.