Mom & Pop Markets

      Although we take for granted the large super markets in town, there was a time not so long ago when smaller neighborhood markets were a common sight in Burbank.
     Small mom & pop markets seemed to be a staple of the community up through the 1960's. Because my dad was a salesman for the Geo. A. Hormel Company, (he sold Spam) we tended to shop in a lot of the markets that were his customers. He felt it would help his business if the market owners knew his family shopped there.
     One of the first markets I remember was a small store on the northeast corner of Hollywood Way and Magnolia. It was an old brick building next the that famous landmark, the Pumpkin. It, along with the Pumpkin building were torn down for a gas station, which in turn was razed for a building that became Bar's TV. It's now a Quizno's. Just across the street and down a half block was the Vega Market. It was named during World War II after the Lockheed Vega Aircraft Company. It was small by today's standards, but larger than most market then. I recall seeing the famous wrestler Baron Leone make an appearance there. He was handing out orchids to the ladies.
     Because we lived in Magnolia Park, we would often drive just across the border to Weboy's Market on Victory just past Clybourn. It was owned by the Augustine brothers. I remember they had a big toy rack near the check out stands. If I rounded up carts in the parking lot while my mom shopped, they would let me pick out a toy for free.
     When we moved closer to the center of town in the 50's, we started shopping at Magnuson's Market on Magnolia near Lomita. It was just a store front, but they seemed to carry a lot of stuff. It was my favorite place to get Milk Duds when I was in junior high. Just across Magnolia, at the corner of Shelton was Joe's Market. It was more of a shack built onto the front of an old house. Joe, an older Italian gentleman, used to play Italian opera music all the time. The market's biggest and best feature was a water-filled cooler right in front of the counter where Joe kept ice cold soft drinks in bottles. When you bought one he would dry it off with a towel for you.
     If we wanted meat, we headed to The Village Market on Olive near Catalina. Charlie Taormina was the owner and butcher. You would point at the cut of meat in the case, and he would trim and slice it to your specifications, before weighing it and wrapping it in butcher paper. Then he would write the price on it in grease pencil. I recall the time country and western singer Eddie Dean (he wrote the song "Hillbilly Heaven") was at the butcher counter. Eddie's deep, rich voice, sort of reverberated off the counter. We used to shop there a lot in the 1960's.
     There were many other markets in town, including Tony's over at Victory and Burbank, Curti's on Magnolia at Reese, Johnny's open air market on Verdugo east of Victory where my aunt and uncle used to shop, and Winstead's on Burbank at Wyoming. My friend Tony Trotta remembers a market on Mariposa near Chandler. He can't remember the name, but said they always called it the "Little Green Store," because the building was painted green.
     One market offered a shopping experience like no other in town --- Bill's Ranch Market at Alameda and San Fernando Road. Just going from the parking lot to the market, past all the food vendors and various sellers made it more like going to a carnival than a market. It was special.
     As the bigger chain store moved into town, or built new and larger stores, the mom & pop stores couldn't compete. The Shopping Bag on Glenaoks, the Cracker Barrel and Piggly Wiggly on Alameda, the Food Giant at Alameda and Pass, the Thriftymarts, and the Market Basket on Victory and Chandler, were just too big for the little guys to compete against. By the way, most of those big markets are gone today. Market Basket, where I once worked as a box boy, is now Toys R Us. The Thriftymart at Burbank and Edison is now Smart & Final. The old Cracker Barrel, after being a Von's, is now the Southern California Automobile Club's office. If the big stores weren't competition enough, the advent of the 7-Eleven stores in the 1960's was the final blow. Those 7-Eleven's are still around, but they just don't have the charm and personal quality that we got from the mom & pops.
     Those small stores seemed to have everything we needed back then, but as I wander the miles of aisles in the Pavilions store on Alameda, or Von's on Pass, or the Ralph's on Buena Vista, overwhelmed by all the items and varieties, I wonder how we kept from starving back then.

      --- Stan

Questions or Comments email Stan at Burbank History.Com