Holtville: Back to the Good Old Days #2

WORDS BY LUKE PHILLIPS

This 1958 advertisement for Holtville's Imperial Hardware store marked the 50th Anniversary of the retailer's
 1908 opening. Imperial hardware is still open in Holtville today, (although it has since moved to a different location) making it one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in the city. The location of the store shown in the photo is now the home to the 99 Cent Plus Center and the Imperial Hardware Do-It Center is located at the northwest corner
of Fern Avenue and 5th Street. I love the window displays shown in the photo and I wish Holtville still had more of that kind of thing. Main Street is starting to look a little worn down these days, especially the block where this store used
to be located.

Having a movie theater right here in Holtville would have been a dream-come-true for me as a child. I was a movie addict and we always had to drive all the way to Calexico or El Centro to get my fix. I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to have a theater here in town. I would have been there for every show. Unfortunately the Alamo Theater was destroyed in a fire before I was even born. My mom remembers attending shows at the theater though and she's told me plenty of stories, like how you used to be able to trade in bottle caps to see a show instead of paying. Oh, what an age that must have been! If anybody out there has memories they'd like to share about the Alamo Theater, please leave a comment in the comments section below!

Television star Willard Waterman, who portrayed Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Gildy) on the show 'The Great Gildersleeve' dresses for his performance at the 1958 Holtville Carrot Festival with some help from his co-star Stephanie Griffin who portrayed is niece Marjorie on the show. Movie stars and other celebrities regularly made appearances during early days of the Carrot Festival, often serving as the Carrot Parade Grand Marshall. 

Holtville: Back to the Good Old Days #1

WORDS BY LUKE PHILLIPS

Hello friends and neighbors and welcome to the first entry in our new feature Holtville: Back to the Good Old Days. One of the reasons I wanted to start this Web site was to preserve all of the pieces of Holtville history that I come across in the form of old news clippings, photos, stories from old-timers etc. so that they will be available to future generations in a format that's easily accessible to everyone. So let's get to it:

This photo, taken Sunday, February 16, 1958 shows a group of drag racing fans looking over one of the cars being entered in a drag racing event at the Holtville Air Strip as part of the festivities for the 11th Annual Carrot Carnival celebration. The event was sponsored by the Holtville Lions Club and the Imperial Valley Timing Association (not quite sure what the I.V.T.A is, but I gather that it was the organization in charge of the time trials). I wish we could still have things like drag racing and tractor pulls at the Carrot Festival, but I think the insurance costs involved would probably be prohibitive. Insurance and lawyers are ruining our world. 

This photo, also from 1958, shows Roy Dillon who was the owner-operator of the Holtville Hobby Shop on Holt Ave. The shop closed sometime in the 1970s, but in it's heyday the store supplied Holtville with a huge variety of different hobby supplies including model airplane and car kits, beads, paint sets, woodburning sets, leather kits, and photography supplies, but they also sold a variety of other goods including magazines, toys, candy and cigarettes. It's a shame that Holtville doesn't still have any shops selling this kind of stuff. Now all that money goes to Walmart.  

This photo shows one of the first Carrot Parades rolling down Main Street. I'm not entirely sure which year this is from, but I know it's from one of the first 10 Carrot Festivals, sometime in the late 1940s or early 50s. The Chamber of Commerce Building (at right) hasn't really changed much over the years.