Quote:
Originally Posted by Beaudry
Here's an image of the El Rancho Santa Anita Shopping Center looking the other way, with the 1955 addition of Crawford's Valley National Bank to the south:
 old postcard
{...}
You'll note the El Rancho Market in the distance in the postcard image. That was there first. El Rancho Supermarket opened in mid-1948, near the Santa Anita Racetrack, which Crawford had worked on in the early-1930s. Crawford was a master of the Late Moderne—dig the large sign pylon. Said the San Marino Tribune on June 1, 1948, "The market has two walls almost entirely of glass so that customers have a view of the mountains while they shop."
Once the center had twenty stores and twenty-four offices, it was officially dedicated by Mayor Sullivan in May, 1950. These shots are by Shulman and the Getty says they're 1951 so LAPL's ca. 1955 date is off a few.
 getty
The market is completely demolished; it's basically now the parking lot of a big ol' beige concrete thing with no glass. |
Wow. This really jogged a 'til-now lost old memory. Just scrolling past this at first, I thought, those buildings looked strangely familiar, so I scrolled back, and then the memory of the El Rancho Market and that little shopping center returned instantly to mind.
Back when my age was in single digits (55+ years ago now), there were two markets that my mom would drive far out of her way for: Jurgensen's in Pasadena (to little Me, just another boring place with weird smells), and the El Rancho Market. I remember the bright interior of the latter vividly, but until now, that mental image was disconnected from the actual place. Now I know that was El Rancho Market. Sad to know it is gone now. (Along with so much from those days.)
Anyway, Mom originally went to El Rancho because, when she and Dad were first married, they lived in Arcadia, and that was the closest supermarket to their apartment. I forget now exactly what she went there for in later years, but there was something that El Rancho carried that she couldn't get anywhere else. Same with Jurgensen's. That was quite a distance to drive when we later lived in Glendora and Covina, pre-Foothill Freeway, so those items and those stores must have been pretty special.
Thanks for the restored memory, Beaudry!
-Scott
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