Arizona Memories from the '60s

[@henrycota9532]

I was born when the county hospital was on 35th Ave and Durango in 1964. It moved to it's current location in 1968

[@sondrasmith-rr4mw]

I moved there in 1963, thanks for the memories, Pat!

[@ArizonaPBS]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@pamelawooten3251]

Born, raised and worked there. It was a great place to grow up and to raise a family.

[@chickinpickin1]

Born and Raised in Gila Bend Az. Coming into Phx. back in the 60s was such a treat for us. Today, not so much. Ill take Legend City any day. I so miss Old Arizona.

[@mgmurphy1]

My family moved to Phoenix from Los Angeles in 1952. The population of the city proper was just over 150, 000 at that time, and Brophy Prep, having closed down during the Depression, reopened that year. Four years later I was a member of its first graduating class. In those days, (before the huge expansion of the city limits), Phoenix's other high schools were Xavier, St. Mary's, North High, West High, Phoenix Union, Phoenix Tech and Carver. Phoenix was officially segregated then, and Carver was the school the Black kids attended. (It was closed in '54, as I recall, and most of the students were absorbed by Phoenix Union, which was the oldest and biggest of the local high schools.) My teen years in Phoenix had a definite "American Graffiti" feel to them. By my junior year at Brophy, a lot of the 35 of us in my class had cars and the "cruising" up and down Central Ave. began in earnest! I had a 1950 Ford convertible that sat about three inches off the ground and its very cool, seriously loud exhaust made me quite popular with the local cops. There were four drive-ins we favored: The Polar Bar, which looked like a big igloo, complete with plaster icicles, etc; The Village, and the new Bob's Big Boy. All three of these establishments were close to one another, near Thomas and Central. The other popular joint was The Three Palms, on Seventh Ave., just south of Camelback. I knew more than a few couples who met at those drive-ins and later married. (Folks got married young in the '50s!) I'm 85 now and sometimes have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast...but I have very clear, vivid and fond memories of "mid-century" Phoenix!

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thanks for sharing your memories with us!

[@TheRoughGentleman]

Wow sir you should be interviewed or leave some where documented as you did here about your az memories and locations associated with. Who knows maybe one day someone might try treasure Mapping these places for an “Then & Now” your expressed details on how you lived here are superb I could read yuur details / experience of growing up here in the valley 200x (as many generations after and several before did ) hopefully with how media and entertainment work now;meaning everything being on the internet with absolute no time restrictions,it possibly inspired a resident to create a newer, further into detail day to day from cradle to grave pov interviews extended content version or series of az hangouts❤ At the vary least leave a comment or a hundred haha! Like a few us have done so. I love az and pbs az memories are guilty of making that happen!!! It’s been almost 20 years ago I first watched. I watched Every year it played on pbs) station the three or four times a year they aired it on 😅idc I live for this series I searched for These everywhere I knew pbs were keeping them locked away somewhere hence the vault intro lol they clearly are vault quality material I don’t blame pbs one bit. I don’t think my love ones Never seen me more happier Then when I ran into these (“Az memories”)on you tube about a week ago now I’ll watch everyday and each day grow a fond bond with the desert as I did out in Florence year ago a youngster with a rca box-end tv and a shoe box for a living quarter starting off my sentence. watching these az memories gave me a sense of pride and deep admiration and obsession then: for az history and the valley! Now! It’s coming back to me it’s been 9+ years I haven’t seen these az memories and I’ve been Lost with out them wit fumes of inspiration of the previous az memories that filed me before I disconnected from broadcast television or tv in general…hopefully it’s contagious and we all get the bug! learn to love and preserve our lil desert oasis been here 15+ yrs

[@kerryrobinson9947]

Only had 2 freeways. Gilbert and Chandler were farms and ranches. Cental was the MAIN DRAG.

[@Victorylap-fy4ke]

I recall only 1 in the 60s called Black Canyon Freeway, which ran through the middle of Phx.

[@BillLaBrie]

Didn’t have 2 freeways until the Superstition opened sometime in the 70s.

[@danielgreen7159]

My family moved to Arizona from Illinois in 1959, I was 5 years old . We lived in the Catlin Court area of Glendale the first few years. My favorite place I ever lived . Then over near 59th Ave and Bethany home rd. Graduated from Glendale high. So many memories of cruising central, going up on South Mountain, hanging out at Chris Town mall . I can't imagine a better place to grow up.

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thanks for sharing your memories!

[@lyleanderson8160]

Came to Phoenix from Page 1961

[@drivingphoenix3019]

Thank you Mr. McMahon for the wonderful memories.

[@ArizonaPBS]

So glad you enjoyed it!

[@kaygibbs8639]

Born @ Good Sam Hosp 1960, came home after 2 days to LaSalle St in south Phoenix. Moved north to 16th St & Cheery Lynn in 1965-2014. Attended Longview Elementary, Phoenix Union HS, North HS. Scholarship to Northeastern A&M College (Okla) graduated 1980, came back to Univ of AZ in Tucson, left for USAF 1981. Stationed at Luke AFB, AZ 1994-2001 retired to the West valley (Sun City). I've seen soooo much change, yet Maricopa county will always be my location. My resting plot & is all ready @ Greenwood Cemetery on Van Buren. Our family(s) have been here since the 1940s and are sleeping now @ Greenwood. Today my heart longs for Legend City! I'm very thankful for such wonderful sweet memories of a great life in this location!

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thanks for sharing!

[@bluegrassgal]

Legend City & that crooked room..marbels run uphill! Lol. Tempetown Lake. North HS class of 66. Now west Peoria. Miss old days 😢 Western Electric.... downtown capital with person ran elevator. Had a cooler...then air conditioner. Farmland near. 😢

[@kaygibbs8639]

Oh yeah! Big Surf, Scottsdale Rodeo Parade, swimming in our backyard flood irrigation waters, yellow slippin slides, backyard BBQs, homemade hand crank ice-cream/frozen watermelon slushes, Popcorn & 8MM Home Made Movies, Wallace & Ladmo & Pat Mac/Gerald), Encanto Park live concerts, Lookout Point @ South Mountain & Schlitz Beers under the starts, cruizen Central Ave, horseback riding trails @ South Mountain, Japanese Rose Fields @ Baseline Rd, Saltriver tubing, MetroCenter/Christown malls, Tower records on Central, Macayo's Resturant on Central, North High Class of 77, Go Mustangs". Bluegrass all the way-Ole! Flatt & Scruggs, Hee-Haw, George Jones, George Strait, Chris Stapelton, Loretta, Dittie Rambo!😁Take Me Home Country Roads" John Denver, hahaha :) @@bluegrassgal

[@DanielRamirez-li6zc]

WOW Love your story.. Heartfelt! Thank You 💕

[@effthegop]

Hub Cap and The Wheels at West Plaza, 35th Ave and Bethany. I also remember The Cascades playing there. Good times! West Plaza was the epicenter of my childhood.

[@DanielRamirez-li6zc]

We’d drive 90 minutes north from Ajo to Phx to the state fair in 64/65.. Miss the times❤

[@lloydzufelt7514]

I miss Arizona

[@philkearny5587]

Phoenix is just East L.A. now.

[@chrisredfield4017]

Hey bud !! You were always the last picture in the yearbook. We're coming up on 50 years since graduation. Unbelievable !!! Class of '76 Maryvale High School

[@markkordyla608]

Legend City, Vonda Kay Van Dyke and Wallace and Ladmo. Legendary restaurants like The Stockyards and Durants

[@ggrizz6066]

Thanks for the memories! I grew up in Carefree/Cave Creek back in the 70's.

[@ArizonaPBS]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@DarrellHoke-gg7ec]

I was three months old when I was brought to Phoenix now I am 66 years old , I can remember the Japanese flower gardens on baseline Rd . And downtown Phoenix which was beautiful , and riding the buses when the bus driver carried a change box on him . back then we had no AC but swap coolers . us children could play outside without our parents worrying . I was 12 years old and had a paper route with the Arizona Republic , and the Wallis and landmo show which I was on . simple times and everyone in the neighborhood knew each other . 😢

[@chrisredfield4017]

I did the Phoenix Gazette. Box handle bars on the Stingray for the bags.

[@eutimiochavez415]

Was a nice place to live ,but it over grew and became just another big city !

[@KH-mq4rg]

Excellent documentary!

[@frankietyree1953]

💕 I was born in Phoenix in June 1964 😇

[@jgstargazer]

Wow, I remember listening to KRIZ and KRUX radio when I lived in Phoenix in the early 70's. There was also another radio station called KUPD. I lived right off Central and Holly and who knows I might of seen Alice Copper pass by. Remember Criss Town, Thomas Mall and the downtown area.

[@smplfi9859]

Alice Cooper is on the radio here almost everynight now! He is a great disk jockey here

[@bluegrassgal]

I remember all. Legend City?

[@atatterson6992]

No, it was called KUUUUPD. :-) And don't forget "KDKB - Roooccckkksss Arizona" 7th Ave & Northern myself... (way north Phoenix)

[@jgstargazer]

@@atatterson6992: Had a great time in Phoenix. First time away from home while attending trade school. Worked at "la Pinata" Restaurant when they were located on 19th. Ave. just south of Osborn. Now they are located on 7th. Ave just north of Missouri. Hope to visit the city soon and say "hi" to my old boss and see if he still remembers me and pass by where I lived and went to school. Memories.

[@KevinHaddock-vs5bg]

@jgstargazer DeVry at 24th. Street and Highland near Camelback? I worked at Lansdale Transistor & Electronics and A-1 TV and Appliance. Sold a television to Alice Cooper's Dad!@@jgstargazer

[@Sabotage_Labs]

44:48 Now that....was cool, Alice! Very cool....lol!

[@SamuelKern-k7e]

Well, at least we know who started this insane city growth.

[@21299]

Do you know where the San Carlos Hotel is? If you watch the opening credits of Psycho they pan past the bank on Central ave thats just being built, you can see the steel girders. Not long ago they tore that old bank building down and constructed the high rise condo building that is there now. Seamus McCafreys is right there with the hotel pool over the top of the bar.

[@velexiachannelling4730]

I love this and the q950s and 1970s documentary. When did it initially air?

[@ArizonaPBS]

This one was made in 2002, and the others date from 1999 and 2008, respectively. We dusted them off last year to make them available again. Glad you enjoyed them! (And apologies for missing your comment until now.)

[@villuminatibeats]

​@@ArizonaPBSyou guys did an excellent job. Is there anything about vanburen street? I would love to see some history on it

[@bluegrassgal]

@@villuminatibeats hooked lol!

[@TheRoughGentleman]

@@bluegrassgal best way to describe it I remember watching this when I was 21 (2010) and analog tv was a thing but on its way out Az /the valley was much much slower and different in comparison to what we all get to see and experience now 🥲from “development to the homeless” both have over ran the valley and have made it unrecognizable and constricting to the point of faint now with the 101 freeway 99 ave so on suburbs being built the valleys last remnants of agriculture and sense of being able to see far and wide will no longer be I use to be able to from the 101 to the I-10 by the end of this year…some young new comer smoking a cigarette from his overly priced SmaLL apt and will loose a lil bit of the valley and Arizonas natural look

[@amandakropen3273]

Cruising....what a great way to meet hot guys!

[@jeffreykoran4820]

IN 1980...I WAS A WAITER AT BESIDE THE POINT RESTRAUNT AT THE POINT RESORT ON 16TH STREET SOUTH OF NORTHERN AVENUE...ONE NIGHT PAT MCMAHON SAT AT ONE OF MY TABLES...I SHOOK HIS HAND THANKING HIM FOR THE WALLACE & LADMO SHOW...HE TOLD ME IT WAS THE 25TH ANIVERSARY SEASON FOR THE SHOW...SUPER NICE GUY..EASY TO TALK TO...

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thanks for sharing your memory!

[@dks13827]

Frank was a key Apollo astronaut..... Apollo 8.

[@jonsand7216]

"however you slice the pie" come on AZ PBS. He was stating facts.

[@denniskeefe1979]

This film is mistitled. It should not say Arizona, but rather Phoenix -- Phoenix Memories from the 1960s. I am surprised that Arizona PBS would mislabel the film so badly. No complaints about the film, just the title. The name Phoenix is mentioned perhaps a hundred times, with a little Scottsdale, Tempe -- all nearby cities. But nothing about Tucson, Yuma, Flagstaff, and so on.

[@ArizonaPBS]

That's a fair point -- clearly there are lots of Arizona stories left to tell! Thanks for watching.

[@JohnWogan]

I was thinking the same thing. I was born in Phoenix...raised in Scottsdale. Brophy...Saguaro High...Mockingbird Lane...Safari Hotel...Goldwaters Department Store/ Fashion Square. Asu football games - when I was a kid. However, I graduated from the UofA!! Lived in Tucson for 8 years. That opening video on Sun Devil football of the stadium is not Sun Devil Stadium but, it is actually Arizona Stadium on the UofA campus. I recognize the east side curve stands and Coffins Corner in the end zone. This video is not going to mention this - because this is ASU's T.V. station. Also, Frank Borman was from Tucson.

[@zamami]

what year was this filmed?

[@ArizonaPBS]

This one was produced in 2002. We posted it here two years ago when we dusted it off and re-aired it as part of a series we called "From the Vault." We have everything in a From the Vault playlist if you want to delve into more Arizona history!

[@69Applekrate]

1960s Arizona and no mention of super popular places like- Beeline and Mel Larsons dragways plus, Mazanita and no mention of cruising on Main st in Mesa. disappointed

[@chrisredfield4017]

I won tickets to Manzy on the radio. My Dad wasn't a car guy but he enjoyed it. Wooden bleachers freezing our butts off. MANY trips to Beeline. It was the first dragstip I ran on. Mel Larson WOW ! I haven't heard that name in 50 years. We cruised and raced on Central. First time I ever saw a street car wheely. It was a big block, 4 speed 55 ChevyM

[@brakeme1]

Unfortunately $$$ has a hard time getting to Tucson. Roads are crap. Tucson probably wouldnt use the money wisely anyhow. Tucson is hole. People come here to die.

[@nojunkwork5735]

It's too bad PBS has such a liberal agenda these days. They should have remained neutral like a public supported Station should.