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Emery, Nahum (audio interview #1 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This interview was conducted in Emery's Lakewood home. He brought out family photographs and published material about his grandparents to look at with the interviewer before they began. 5/24/1979
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- 2020-10-05
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- SUBJECT BIO - Nahum Emery retired as a night superintendent of the ARCO oil refinery in Carson. He began as a laborer and worked his way up in the company as its name and refining processes changed. He held several different jobs along the way and observed many aspects of the oil refining process. In this three part interview, Emery talks about growing up in Long Beach and holding a variety of jobs even before leaving high school. He also discusses changes he saw in Long Beach and surrounding areas including those brought by the 1933 earthquake. The interviews were part of a project to study the impact of the discovery of oil on the development of Long Beach and the interviewer became acquainted with Emery when they were both volunteers at the Historical Society of Long Beach. TOPICS - growing up in southern California; working in various jobs as a young man; and recreational activities; working as a young man; education; and recreational activities;
- *** File: lhownemery1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-4:57)... Introduction Sarah Emery, his paternal grandmother, moved into Long Beach along with his two aunts and a bachelor uncle from a farm west of the Los Angeles River. They brought along a horse and Emery used it to pull a buggy in which she tried to race with cars. They also had a dog, Fido, who barked at people as they walked passed the house. The family lived on their income from real estate holdings. (4:57-8:14)... Emery's maternal grandparents lived in Ohio and before they moved to Los Angeles. They were dairy farmers in the Lynwood area and raised alfalfa to feed their cows. His mother told him that she milked cows everyday and helped with the house work. The family sold their milk to the Anchor cheese factory in Compton. His grandparents later sold the farm to subdividers and bought an apartment building in Long Beach. (8:14-12:28)... Emery's great grandfather Hoffman had a farm near Lake Elsinore before he came to Long Beach. After he gave up the farm he moved into the apartment building Emery's paternal grandparents bought in Long Beach, where he had his own rooms. He was very active right up until the time he passed away. He walked about 3 miles everyday and mowed the lawn. (12:28-15:56)... His maternal grandparents were originally from Switzerland. His mother was born in Ohio, and after that the family moved to California. Emery was born in his grandparent's home near the boundary between Compton and Lynwood. His older cousin was born there as well. His mother, Mary Elizabeth Emery, and his father, Nahum Edward Emery, met at a country dance. His father wore a Stetson hat , rode a horse and told his son he was quite popular with women. (15:56-24:09)... Emery lived in Tustin when he was about 5 years old. His family lived in a small wood frame house. His father had a motorcycle and bicycle shop. He had one brother, who was also born in Tustin and his brother later had a wife and three kids. (24:09-29:00)... His family lived in Tustin until 1911 when they moved to Santa Ana. When his father lost his shop, the family moved back to Long Beach. His dad eventually couldn't pay all his bills and declared bankruptcy. Emery remembers that his "dad didn't grow up as fast as the country." (29:00-33:00)... Emery attended Roosevelt Elementary School in Santa Ana through the fourth grade. He enjoyed school sometimes, but was not the most enthusiastic student. He was never allowed to participate in after school activities or athletic programs. His father didn't want the kids running around getting in trouble. When the family moved to Long Beach his father worked in a bike shop for a while and later drove a jitney. (33:00-36:20)... Emery's family lived near Balboa Studios when they returned to Long Beach from Santa Ana. He liked to go to the studio and watch the movie stars such as Fatty Arbuckle. In Long Beach he attended Horace Mann school from 5th to 8th grade. The school 's soccer coach tried to recruit Emery for the team but his parents wouldn't allow it. (36:20-40:04)... Emery worked mowing lawns and tending to yards and gardens in his neighborhood and he worked at a nearby chicken farm. He dusted the hens with lice powder and helped out in a garden. Sometimes he sold produce in the neighborhood. One of his neighbors had long horned goats and used the goats pull carts and take people for rides down by the Pike for a nickel. Emery saved corn husks to feed the goats in exchange for free rides. The ride looped around the pier. (40:04-44:37)... At the Pike there was a fun house and a house of mirrors. He used to swim near Belmont Pier. The water was beautiful and the beaches were clean, but there were a lot of sting rays There wasn't any development in the area at the time. He sometimes camped there and and fished from the pier. The fish he caught were good to eat. End of tape *** File: lhownemery2.mp3 (0:00-4:38)... Other people also camped near the bluffs by Belmont Pier. Sometimes Emery and his friends could sell the fish they caught to the campers. His mother didn't work outside their home. She helped out with the yard work and looked after the chickens. Emery raised several hutches of rabbits. In the springtime there was long green grass on Reservoir Hill. He and his friends would hike out there, make sleds out of two by fours or trash can lids and slide down the hill. There was barbed wire fencing at the bottom of the hill so they had to be careful. (4:38-6:31)... There was a reservoir at the top of Reservoir Hill. There were many truck farms along Cherry in Signal Hill, including a cabbage patch. Emery and his friends used to hike all over the hill. (6:31-12:36)... After Emery graduated from Horace Mann elementary school, his family moved to Florence and he attended Compton Union High School. He rode the Pacific Electric trolley to school. His freshmen class was the biggest the school had ever had. While his family lived in Long Beach, his father drove a jitney bus for about 2 years. There were several of them around town. He made several trips a day around town on a regular schedule. It was a big boxy vehicle. The jitney was the first "bus" in Long Beach. (12:36-17:16)... He started at Compton Union High School when the family moved to Florence. He had to work after school so he did not get to participate in high school sports. Emery, at 6' tall, was the second tallest boy in school and the coach recruited him to go out for the basketball team, but he had to work. (17:16-23:05)... After Emery began working in a lumber yard, he and his family up graded their house, both inside and outside. Their house in Long Beach was a regular frame house and the inside walls were plastered. They had a 250 x 100 foot lot. The next owner put in stables. (23:05-26:09)... Emery sometimes worked on weekends for a Japanese truck gardener. When his family moved, he left high school at midterm. He also worked at a ranch in Cudahy where he pulled weeds, irrigated pear and walnut trees and picked peaches. He earned $2.50 a day picking peaches. The land was already subdivided when he started working there. He remembers that there were several brick houses in the area. (26:09-31:34)... His father worked as a night marshal for the city of Vernon, on the graveyard shift. He was supposed to keep law and order in the city at night. The city was dry at the time and there was some trouble at the Vernon County Club. His father worked as a night marshal in Watts for 2 years as well. He patrolled the town, which had separate neighborhoods for whites, Blacks and Mexican Americans, in a one-seater police car. He also served an unpaid deputy sheriff in Santa Ana. (31:34-34:13)... When Emery worked on the Cudahy ranch all of the workers were White, even the seasonal pickers. Most of the pickers were local residents and more were women than men. Later the land was subdivided and lots were offered for sale to potential home builders. He quit working at the ranch when he started at Compton High School. (34:13-40:38)... While Emery was in high school he worked one summer for the city of Watts trimming trees and patching pot holes in the street. Most of the stores in Watts were on the westside of the Pacific Electric tracks and 103rd Street was the main street. White people lived north of that street and there were better city services there. South of 103rd was originally a Mexican neighborhood and Blacks started moving in later; houses there were older than the ones north of 103rd. Even the better houses in Watts were not as nice as the ones in Long Beach. (40:38-44:32)... The second summer after he started attending Compton Union High School, he worked for Japanese truck farmers near Florence. They raised corn, cabbage, lettuce, lima beans and potatoes. He worked for 2 Japanese families who leased a plot of land and divided it so that each got equal parts of the most fertile part. He cultivated corn and cut lettuce but working with a short handled hoe hurt his back. His boss then gave him the job of driving a horse drawn cultivator. He was paid $2.50 a day for working there. End of tape
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