The Memories of Norma Quinn Potter – Part 4

A few weeks ago I began a series on the memories of Norma Quinn Potter, who moved to the valley as a kid in 1931. She wrote about her childhood in an essay she titled, “It’s All About Me!” and I’m quoting directly from that.

Last week we learned about Norma’s dogs and her first experience with cigarettes when they lived at 2828 Altura Ave. That house still looks the same, as does the next house that they moved to, two blocks to the east. I’ll insert my comments in [brackets].

Norma writes: “We were all very sad when the owner [of 2828 Altura] informed us that his daughter was getting married and would be needing the house. So once again the folks were house hunting for a place big enough for the five of us. They really were fortunate to find one, and it was even larger, with a super big landscaped yard, and it already had a large fishpond with a large rock in it and a gazebo beside it! This was at 2555 Altura and the owner, Mr. Andreason, lived down the street. It also had a full basement and was great for playing and even shooting my BB gun. In fact, it was so large that this is where we had my La Crescenta Junior High graduation party. It was great! The property went clear through from Altura to the back street where we had the goat shed and where we would take our greyhounds to run.

“We didn’t have these dogs, Lassie and Lady, very long. I think they went to a man who wanted to train them for racing. We had our goat Tillie for several years and while we were on Altura she produced a pair of twins that were totally white. As we lived down the street from the school football field, they were briefly accepted as the school mascots. I say ‘briefly’ because, after attending just one game, they were no longer welcome due to the fact that they relieved themselves all over the place. The twins turned out to be hermaphrodites. They were really good for nothing and were given away. Tillie’s goat shed was situated on top of an alfalfa-covered embankment at the rear of our property. It was a nice solid little shed with a raised stanchion inside where Jeanne could milk Tillie twice a day. We quickly learned to like goat’s milk, and then cow’s milk tasted like chalk water to us.

“My early teen years were spent here and I loved them all. Jeanne and I were introduced to real roller-skating in an actual skating rink. It was the converted old Glendale Post Office on Broadway. It had four support posts in the center of the floor and a separated section off to the side, which we called the bull-pen. This area was used to practice our spread eagles and backward skating. We very quickly progressed to wanting our own shoe-skates and moved on to a much larger rink called Moonlight in Pasadena [the one in Glendale hadn’t been built yet]. This was truly our ‘home away from home.’ It took over our every thought and ambition – to be really good skaters. And it was a really good place to meet boys who could already skate. The whole thing worked out as years later, after experiencing many of life’s ups and downs, Jeanne and I both ended up married to good skaters who also happened to be good husbands.

“In 1939 the folks bought a large lot at 2935 Montrose Ave. [now an apartment building] where they built the family home which was to become a family focal point for years to come. We had five generations pass through those welcoming doors.”

These writings by Norma have just been delightful. We do have more from her – specifically her brush with polio as an adult. Those memories won’t be “delightful” but there is some humor there. I’ll pick those up next week. Thank you so much Norma. These glimpses into Crescenta Valley’s past are just wonderful.