(Youth 3) Second Street gentleman.

After I left the George Junior Republic I moved into my one room suite on East Second. I had a view of the front sidewalk. The room rent was a whopping $4.50 per month. It was four walls. It was about 8 feet by 10 feet. It held a bed and a dresser. My closet consisted of several large nails in the wall. I do not believe that I had clothes hangers. This was before plastic. There was a bathroom down the hall that had a tub, no shower.

My room was under ten blocks to the U and I Cafe which was on West Second. The other side of Gary Avenue. The corner of Gary and Second was considered to be the center of Pomona. Below are two views of West Second taken in the 1940s. These pictures are of downtown. My block was residential.

The five years from age 12 to when I went into the Army are really quite mixed up in my memory. I did so many things and went to so many different places.

A short list. 1938 to 1943.

Work at U and I Cafe.
Go out for the High School football team.
Work at Pomona Tile Plant.
Work as a carpenter at March Field. (Riverside)
Buy car. Get ticket in Oakland, California for driving without a drivers license,
Work in doughnut mix factory in Emeryville, California.
Work on surveying crew in Government research guayule project.
Ride bus to New York City (7 days and nights). Hitch hike back to Pomona (5 days and nights).
Go to and try to get a ship yard job in Portland, Oregon.

I will cover these things in the next posts.