Southern California in the '50s: Sun, Fun and Fantasy Paperback – August 1, 2011

I spent several years of my early childhood with our family in Oakland and in Riverside. That was in the 50's. About ten years ago I toured much of the state on a motorcycle. Yeeoww!! The traffic!! This book reminds me on nearly every page what I had experienced as a child and what has been irrevocably altered in subsequent decades -- maybe not all for the better.

I loved this book, I live in a 1952 built Southern California tract home and I grew up around Orange County, as did my mother, father and all my grandparents. I already knew so much about southern California from living here and listening to my family stories, but I didn't know details about certain cities, certain attractions and the many forgotten places. I have been reading about the history of Orange County starting before the Spanish came and I would consider this to be an integral part of its history.I would reccomend this to anyone who is even mildly interested in California, Mid Century History, or city and county planning.The pictures are great, my only critique is that I wish there was more.I am a lover of the 40s and 50s and I live in California, so this was a perfect fit. I would also buy Populuxe  Populuxe  when you buy this, it has a more national interpretation of the early 50's through the early 60's and it partners well in content.This book is: a great coffee table addition, an enlightening read, a little suprising considering how much things have changed in some areas mentioned.

If you lived in Southern California in the 50s or 60s you will have a great trip down memory lane. It was such a great place then clean, lots of green space, traffic manageable, affordable housing, young adults from all over the country moving to LA for a fresh start at a land of opportunity. I miss it left in the early 80s and hard to find the place we had then. If you were there or wanted to see what an amazing place Southern California was get this book.

A whimsical look back at the California that was way back in the 1950's well illustrated with iconic images from that innocent time, before Cali became so very overpopulated & priced out of reach of most working people. That's why I left Cali so long ago, too many people, too expensive, too dirty & too noisy.I miss the old california with it's white warm beaches that were free to visit, the museums, the free ways, the flowered hillsides that are now paved over with houses, the orange orchards that suffered the same dreary fate.Get this book and see what Cali used to look like in a odd way, it wasn't all high tech office buildings, McMansions, clogged freeways & out of reach recreation areas.

This was purchased as a gift for a friend who spent time in the 60’s visiting all the fun places in Southern California like Disneyland , Knotts Berry Farm, and Universal Studios. He loved the book!

The book is perfect for anyone who loves the past. The book is full of great pictures and information. I bought it as a gift for a friend and love everything about the book.

Received a notice that Charles Phoenix was going to be doing a lecture at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. I had no knowledge of Charles Phoenix so looked him up and came upon this GREAT book. I was born in Los Angeles in 1949 and lived there till 1969(and again in the 1980's). This book really helped me take a delightful walk down memory lane and reminded me of so many things from my childhood that I had forgotten about(Helms Bakery wagons, Van de Kamp Bakery, etc etc.) and so many other familiar sights. The photos are great and there is lots of information which I haven't read as yet. I'm so happy I decided to buy it.

Bought this for my husband who grew up in so. CA. He really enjoyed reading this. Would recommend.

A great book of photographs of classic Southern California in the post war consumer boom years.Stunning photographs of the American Dream years before the American Nightmare years of Vietnam and the early 1970's. Just look at those great buildings in the Googie and Populuxe style, the houses built in the Moderne style, dynamic and clean lines, you can imagine a sleek Cord 810 car parked next to them, the styling of clean curves and speed lines found on both car and building.This book is a great piece of nostalgic viewing, highly recommend it!

Das Buch war ein Geschenk. Es zeigt den amerikanischen Lifestyle der 50er Jahre. Für Charles Phoenix Fans ein Musthave. Hier kann man sehen, dass Mediendesigner früher auch echte Künstler waren.