TREASURES OF THE VALLEY

A Walk Through Montrose in 1929 (Part 8)

Let’s continue our time travel adventure. We’ve gone back to 1929 and we’re walking west down Honolulu Avenue. In our last episode, we went inside the Crescenta Cañada National Bank (now Starbucks) and marveled at the spectacular architecture of that building.

We have stepped outside the bank lobby onto the sidewalk on the southeast corner of Honolulu Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard. Looking at the intersection we see that it is a four-way stop with stop signs rather than the traffic lights we have in 2024. We look across the street to the southwest corner (where Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is today) and see a small gas station – Richfield Hi-octane according to the sign on its roof.

We decide to cross Ocean View and as we do we look south. Amazingly, we can see the ocean in the far distance, giving credence to the street’s name Ocean View. But as we cross the street, a car chugs along Honolulu, putting out a choking cloud of blue-grey exhaust and we realize that the view of the ocean will soon be obscured by a new phenomenon – smog.

We hit the corner where the gas station is and note the price – 21 cents a gallon! Then we cross Honolulu to the northwest corner. Prominent on this corner is Valley Pharmacy, advertising ice cream and soda on its sign. All the pharmacies had a soda fountain and served ice cream treats in that era. We also note the elaborate brickwork on the building itself and a wide awning shading the front. (This is Froyo Life frozen yogurt today. The brickwork is still there, hidden under a layer of stucco.)

We hear a liquid gurgling sound coming from the gutter on Ocean View and step over to the curb to take a look. There’s a stream of light brown liquid flowing down the gutter. And the smell! It smells like some kind of alcohol – maybe whiskey. What the ?

We look up Ocean View to see where the liquid is coming from. There’s a huge crowd in front of the next building up from the pharmacy so we walk up there to check out what’s going on. As we reach the building we see that this is the Montrose Sheriff Station (now Simplee Boba and Je t’adore Pet Salon).

There’s a crowd of well-dressed men gathered at the curb. In front of them are several five-gallon metal containers turned on their sides. The tops have been screwed off and each container is gushing this light brown liquid into the gutter where it flows down Ocean View. It’s moonshine!

We see a tall slender man in a three-piece suit, hands in pockets, looking pleased. We recognize him from old photos. That’s Judge Dyer, the local judge. We ask him what’s going on here. He tells us that this is illegal alcohol that has been confiscated in a big raid just yesterday. It seems that federal Prohibition agents swooped in on a huge operation in one of the canyons of the Verdugo Hills, just off Honolulu. Confiscated in the raid was a 200-gallon still and 500 gallons of homemade whiskey. That’s what we see being dumped in the street in front of us. The moonshiners got away as they must have gotten a heads up from some local in the know. Also confiscated in the raid was a supply of creosote that was used to color the freshly made alcohol to make it appear to be a fine whiskey.

As the containers empty, more are brought up and tipped over until a fine stream flows down the street. Besides Judge Dyer, several others look on, including a couple of news reporters busily scribbling notes on small pads. A photographer stands in the street to take photos of the spectacle.

Across Ocean View is an icehouse where trucks deliver ice to household iceboxes around the valley. Two of the workers look on at the alcohol pouring into the street and sadly shake their heads.

We turn back down Ocean View to Honolulu to continue our 1929 adventure.

Mike Lawler is the former president of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley
and loves local history.
Reach him at lawlerdad@yahoo.com.