Jack L. provided me with a lot of interesting information, the early clubs, and he mentions Imperial Gardens. Yeah, I remember IG! I saw Dan Kuramoto, of Hiroshima, playing his saxophone there, playing for the enjoyment of playing.
December 13th Jack L. wrote:
Hi Betty...............i'm chinese too and an ABC........my dad had a couple of hand laundries ....one near Arlington and Washington and one on Crenshaw in Inglewood..........My mom was the driving force to expand and do agency work, we had a large family.......after school we took the bus to help dad press and iron shirts......we got $2 a week .......There was a lot of Lew families in the laundry business ..........I knew a lot of them, they were close and distant relatives.......we're all somehow related.
I knew one of your posters Gordon Hom........he did work at Olson's Electronics on Pico........we used to tape 4 track cassettes there ...he knew my brother Gary. Dancing for me all began in Mt. Vernon J/H at the noontime dances........this is how we interacted with the girls on Wednesdays noontime dance...They did have ballroom dance class at the time.......and this lead to current dance steps and freestyle...........it was a lot of fun!.......kids from this jr. high went on to either LA or Dorsey.......and that's probably why we know a lot of people.
At LA High we met a lot of new people from the the local jr. highs...............that's when we found out about house parties and dances..Being Chinese it was so hard to get out of the house to go to a party ..............you asked .........if not,you sneaked out and suffered the pain!......I did my share and took buses at nite to get to those dances..............didn't have a car so you walked and took the bus........finally we had our own house parties on the westside...........and that was cool.
Working at a gas station on Slauson partime ..............driviing a 55 chevy and a 62 Impala..........going to house parties from LA to Gardena......westside to the eastside........the valley to Pasadena........we would caravan from house party to house party......and if we didn't find it we would be dancing on some quiet street near Crenshaw................those were the days of innocence and good times ........we had friends from all over LA, predominately Chinese and Japanese..........we all got along, we ran in a large group of people and partied together...........it was fun in those days,very few hassles. We danced and ate together at all of these places.............of course Roger Young(Ronins gave dances there).....Parkview......Gardena Elks....Aeronautical on Beverly......Old Dixie on Western......Mayflower Hotel downtown(Blue Satins played)..........on Boyle across from the old Sears bldg...the Polish hall......and many more I can't think of right now..............a bowl of saimen or chili over rice or chashu eggs over rice after the dance was so good!!!!!!!!!!...............Holiday Bowl.......Hodys............Rodeo Bowl......Carrows Gardena......Triangle on Atlantic.........Tiny Naylors on Sunset........Ben Franks on Hollywood ......Midtown Bowl........and many others
Other Saturday nites we were behind the Crenshsaw Mall with Big Willie and the LA street racers.............the Huntington Beach all day beach partys were a lot of fun for the gang .......lots of sun ,food and girls ...it was great......I think we did this once a year.......anyways, time to go....JL.
December 14th Jack wrote:
these were my experiences growing up . ......we were living in the area between Uptown and Crenshaw off of Olympic blvd......now they call it K-town......there was Chinese and Japanese that we went to school with and played ball up and down the street. If you post the email its ,ok to use my name......... The group called the Ronins started in Gardena as a Club and we held dances at Roger Young Auditorium in the mid 60's...it was made up of guys from LA and Gardena......I think it lasted until some of us got drafted into the army and went to Nam............. Aeronautical was a nice place to dance......it was clean and it had this modern style about it..............I remembered the dances there were given by the guy group and girl group together........I think the guys group started with a K and the girls were the Chanels(wonderful one)....if you mention the name I probably would remember it......its been a long time........... You ask about Old Dixie...........well that was on 42nd st and Western Ave.........that was a place where we slowwww... dance to the juke box .........it was a cavernous place and a fun place to dance.........that was during high school and after.......... When we went to dances we always had these colorful bids to tell us when...where...what time and who gave the dance.......we used to collect them but they're long gone now..............anyways,talk to you soon and Merry Christmas!........t/c Jack L
Q. Everything you have told me is so interesting. There is a pattern, of groups starting social clubs; do you know the origin or reason behind the group name, Ronins??
December 15th Jack wrote:
hey Betty,.............. are you writing a book?.............there's a lot people out there that went to house parties and dances in the 60's.........the Ronins ( I think Ronin has something to do with a lone samurai)..would fill the whole ballroom at Roger Youngs wall to wall .......it was always packed and we had live bands performing.......there was a lot of asians going to dances in groups and they were from all over.................from Long Beach to Sun Valley and from the westside to the east.............you wouldn't believe the number of house parties we went to..........sometimes 2 or 3 in one nite.........we would pick up our friends and hit the 1st party then to the 2nd party and etc......and bring new people along with us.........it was fun!..........then we'll end up at Holiday Bowl.
In the 70's.......the dance scene kinda died out ....didn't hear too much .....baby boomers were settled down with house and kids.............not too much dancing going on except for asian clubs..........George Tong's Golden Tale in El Segundo..............Benji's yearly dances in San Francisco ........Joe Jungs in San Francisco..........Osko's or the Cave near the Beverly center.....Friday nites at Imperial Gardens on Sunset in Hollywood with Dave and the band in the 80's .........John Kims happenings at LA venues..............Chez noi in Beverly Hills.......after IG closed there wasn't any places where asians could see each other and hang out..............so the venues to meet and reconnect were very few...............anyways,if I think of anything else I'll email.....t/c jack.
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