My Street Was The Center Of The World

God gave us memories that we might have roses in December. ~J.M. Barrie

Comey Avenue Was My Universe

My first memories were of this location and I lived there from 1944 until 1961.  Comey Avenue is a small dead end street.  In fact, the tunnel used in the movie Volcano ran right under our back yard and the La Ballona flood control channel was at the end of the street.   As a kid, I used to take my bike and ride up the tunnel for miles.

The House

Mom and Dad moved there in 1938 and paid a whopping $2,800 for the house!   Dad was quite a handyman and mom was the creative agent.  When they sold the place in 1961, my recollection is that they got $65,000!

The Alley

Best part of the street was it's alley way behind our house!  La Cienaga (yes, the famous one) was one street over.  The businesses on the alley included a print shop, ice house, Bic Pens, furniture maker, heater/air conditioning supplier, and a gas station.  The area reminded me of the little rascals (which was filmed about 1 mile from our home!!!) So you ask... what's so great about that!   Let me explain!

Neighbors/Friends

May and Brownie - You know to this day, I don't know "Brownies" first name...  May and Brownie Brown lived next door to us on Comey Avenue. Brownie was a head camera man at the Culver City studios.  He often brought home models from sets and he had a complete collection of war vehicle he collected.   He knew many stars and had us visit the sets. He once brought home the canvas from the huge backdrop at the studio... it was dark blue and we had canvas to play with for years!

Gillick - Marion Gillick and her daughter were friends for years and in fact we still talk to Olivia.

Newt and Hazel - These were neighbors who became great friends of the family!  Newt was the press operator for Alcoa Aluminum in Fontana (the biggest in the world at that time) and was always building something!   My folks and they played Canasta and on the weekends Dad and Newt would play poker!

The Coomler's - They had four kids, the youngest was my age!  Donna, Peggy, Billy, and Bob!  Just got an email from the past in February 2001!  And I kinda quote from Bob Coomler.....

OK, go ahead and shock the hell out of me! Its like about 36 years, but when you get into heavy duty double digits, who's counting? Anyway, it was great to hear from you. Thanks for tracking me down.

Geez, where to begin? I'm living in northern Sonoma County  (Cloverdale) these days and work for the County as a real estate appraiser, primarily rural and agricultural properties (hey, what else would a kid from Comey Avenue be doing?). My wife, Rita, and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary in less than three weeks. We have three kids.