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Magruder, George (audio interview #1 of 1)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This interview was conducted in Magruder's home. 3/2/1983
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- 2020-10-26
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- *** File: cbgmagruder1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-4:22)... Brief introduction Magruder says he was the 303rd child born in Long Beach. He does not remember much from his early childhood, but remembers from about age six when his first job was filling sandbags that were put in front of the storefronts on the Pike to keep the ocean water out. Also at age 6, he went fishing for the first time and caught a yellowtail off the pier. He used to belly-surf into the shore not far from the Pike. He recalls a time with friends on Thanksgiving when they got food that was being thrown overboard from a Navy ship, which were in Long Beach often. His parents and their friends rowed boat to Catalina when he was 3. (4:22-8:09)... His family came to Long Beach in 1912 to open a candyshop on the Pike. His family had previously been in the confections and bakery business in Kansas. His father and uncle opened a candy store in Colorado, where they pulled candy by hand on the wall and handwrappedit. He believes that his father is the originator of salt water taffy in 1909. The James Brothers claim to have originated salt water taffy in 1912. In 1918, his father opened the B and M Candy Company in Seal Beach making high-quality hard candy, but closed due to competition. (8:09-10:01)... He worked in the family candy business when young and later helped his father making candy at Timmerhoff's. His mother was a chocolate dipper in the business. His father sold the candy store on the Pike to Leininger and the bought it back in 1931. He ran a candy store in Balboa and married his wife Ledene until he returned and worked on the Fire Department. His father had nervous breakdown and stroke and he returned to the candy business. (10:01-13:30)... He liked the excitement of the Fire Department, where he worked from 1939 to 1945. He was on the department when there was the big dock fire and recalls the aid provided by the Salvation Army, Red Cross and Bohemian Distributing Company of food and beverage. He was sationed for 72 hours working against the fire. Getting on the fire department required testing including physical, oral and written components. (13:30-15:55)... Growing up in Long Beach, he spent time with others in the Willows, a part of Long Beach that was a dirt road through willow trees, where they caught animals, skinned them and sold the pelts. There was a Frog Pond that was full of carp that they caught with bow and arrow, and then used as fertilizer. His mother raised carnations that he would sell on Memorial Day, Mother's Day and Easter. Not long later a big truck pulled in and started selling flowers, this is when flower shops started. (15:55-18:22)... He lived on 20th and Lewis and in 1925 his father built a house that had a good view of Poly High School and was surrounded by the Japanese gardens. He took the train to Terminal Island when he was working at the fish cannery. Hill Street was were Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix moves were filmed through Balboa Studios. Recalls going to films at the Rialto Theatre at the Pike. His family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico when he was 9 for 6 months when his father helped his uncle open a candy business. They returned to Long Beach and his father built their home. (18:22-21:31)... He attended Burnett and Roosevelt Elementaries, Hamilton Junior High, Poly High School and Long Beach City College. He played at a gravel pit on Signal Hill when he was a child. In 1921 he remembers the first oil well in SIgnal Hill. He worked as a helper in the oil wells. When he digs in his backyard at the home on Bixby,where he was living at the time of the interview, he often finds cement slabs and bricks that were the base of boilers for the oil rigs. He signed one oil lease with Standard that was unsuccessful. (21:31-25:58)... There was a gun club on land owned by the Montana Land Company and Magruder and his friends would sneak into and go shooting until they were chased off. There were about 15 or 16 private gun clubs in the area. He hunted at the Cerritos Gun Club, which is where near the Long Beach Airport. His father was asked to buy a membership to the Bolsa Chica Gun Club for $1000, which is near Huntington Beach, and he passed up the offer because he really couldn't afford it. The memberships later sold for over $75,000.00. His father also had an opportunity to buy property on Orange and Spring for $500 but passed it up and later the property was where the Lovelady Pool, an oil deposit, was found. (25:58-26:53)... In 1935 he was making 23 cents an hour and when he got married he got a 3 cent raise. His wife made 12 dollars a week at the telephone company and they paid 23 dollars a month for rent. He paid11 cents a gallon for gasoline and the couple had money left over to spend. (26:53-28:02)... After living in Los Angeles he and his wife moved to Balboa for three years. They returned to Long Beach and had three children. His wife was from Spokane and her family came to Long Beach when she was 6 or 7. Her father was an artist who painted at the Pike. Her parents seperated and her step-father was a fireman. (28:02-30:25)... During the Depression his family ate beans most of the time. He was driving from Long Beach to Balboa to run the candy store and his wife was working at one of the games. They were paying $30 a month for rent. He says he was coming home once during the Depression to his wife and had put candles on the table, made dinner and put on a nice dress; they were having hamburgers again because that is all they could get, and he said "hamburgers again" and his wife threw the hamburger at him hitting him in the face. Later his wife got a boarding house job but did not know how to cook so she called her mother or mother-in-law for a menu of the day. Soon she got good at cooking. End of tape *** File: cbgmagruder2.mp3 (0:00-2:40)... Magruder was released from the hospital, where he had been for pneumonia, on the day of the earthquake. He was home when the earthquake hit and was still very weak from being in the hospital. Part of his house collapsed and 3 people on his block were killed. He stayed in Palos Verdes for three weeks until he got his strength back, while he was there he got the idea to go into the fish business. He was going to sell fish but he found out that a law had passed that did not allow him to follow through. (2:40-4:40)... There was damage to the Bathhouse at the Pike from the earthquake. He got an opportunity to work for Walt Disney cartooning but was unable to take the job because his grandmother died and he had to work in his father's store while his father made the funeral arrangements and he was unable to report to Disney for work. He was good at cartooning in school. (4:40-7:06)... He was member of St. Luke's Episcopal church. When he was married he went to St. Anthanasius Episcopal church while living in Los Angeles and when moved back to Long Beach returned to St. Luke's Episcopal church. He saw the destruction of the earthquake to the church when they were cleaning it all up. He knew Perry Austin and remembers listening to the radio broadcasts he did. (7:06-11:50)... The Pike was family oriented in the early days, people came from all over to the Pike. With the war the area was a hangout for the servicemen and later the area got to be "rough" around the Pike. The Pike cleaned up and became more family oriented and then gradually began to deteriorate due to bad management by the Long Beach Amusement Company. The Pike included Lee's Restaurant, Miller's Ice Cream and Custard Shop, Adam Linkey Dutch Lunch, the Bathhouse, Coppy's Tamale Place, the Plunge, bowling alley and pool hall. There was Hoyt's Theatre for professional vaudeville, which cost15 cents. He had a friend named Billy Westinghouse whose father was part of the original Westinghouse Radio business. (11:50-14:00)... He remembers the movement to try to move the civic center closer to the geographical center of town. He thinks the downtown mall was built too late. His family used to shop downtowm, and believes malls started because areas like downtown charged too much rent and charged for parking. (14:00-15:42)... He was forced out of his business in 1979 when the Pike was shut down. He had investments in 2 of the buildings that he never was reimbursed for. There were a lot of undesireables around the Pike and people were not coming to the Pike anymore. (15:42-18:18)... The Jungle was adjacent to the Pike and was one of the first areas to be redeveloped. The area included Looff's Tango and the merry-go-round. He recalls the merry-go-round fire that destroyed one-third of the Pike. In the early days, the area was very nice with bungalows and a lot of farmer's would spend summers down there. The area included the Virginia Hotel, where some of the school dances were held. (18:18-21:19)... In 1947 he got a loan from the Bank of America to build a house on Bixby in Los Cerritos. The area was not yet fully developed. He used to ride a bicycle, go out to the river and hunt ducks, and he remembers the Boy Scouts had a camp out there. There was a lagoon, eucalyptus trees and a few stables where people could ride horses. Once the golf course was built this area "went down the drain." (21:19-23:48)... Magruder watched planes be brought in and out of the hanger at the ariport on Willow and Long Beach Boulevard. He took plane rides with Eldon J. Woods and they saw Earl Daughtery's plane crash. (23:48-25:56)... He is a member of the Lakewood Ducks Unlimited, which started dinners in 1949 for 5 dollars. The money went to Canada where the duck population was propogated. Later the cost of the dinner's increased to 10 dollars. The local chapter is the third highest in the state for raising money. (25:56-30:27)... His hobbies include hunting and fishing. The Ducks Unlimited and the Sportsmen's Club had a Critter Feed, where the men hunt and bring back the game and the women help prepare it and have a barbecue for 80 to 90 people. The wives go along for special events. He wears camouflage when hunting ducks. He belongs to the Mystic Lake Gun Club near Lake Perris. He has fish fries at the church with the fish he catches. The Tuna Club kept records of the size of fish that members caught. They are concerned with conservation as well. He used to fish out of Long Beach, but now he fishes out of San Diego. End of tape
- SUBJECT BIO - George Magruder sold salt water taffy on the Pike in Long Beach. He started out helping his parents in their store and ended up running it until the Pike closed in 1979. He grew up and went to school in Long Beach. He was a student at Long Beach Junior College at the time of the 1933 earthquake. He has many jobs while he was growing up. In this interview, Magruder talks about working on the Pike and the other businesses there. He also describes the way the Pike changed and deteriorated over time. In addition, Magruder served on the Long Beach Fire Department. And he was an avid hunter; he talks about several duck clubs that used to be in Long Beach and, at the time of the interview, he was a member of Ducks Unlimited. TOPICS - Topics on this side of tape include: family background; Depression; the Pike; salt water taffy; Long Beach Fire Department; childhood and educationTopics on this side of tape include: 1933 earthquake; Duck Unlimited; the Pike; St; Luke's Episcopal church and the Jungle
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