Man, I can almost retrace the route. Up Bascom, turn on Hedding, under freeway past the Red Barn behind Valley Fair -still standing - Down Winchester, up and down Stevens Creek. And I do remember that Babyland at Bascom and San Carlos was the British Motors! Great memories.
My old stomping grounds when I was young. What a blessing to have this piece of history preserve for others to see. Captured a moment in time that I will never be able to relive.
Yep! That's my San Jose as I remember, I was in kindergarten in '68 and I recognized the route, so sad most of all the awesome neon lighting has been replaced or removed entirely. Thanks for the memories!
I graduated from Mother Butler Memorial HS in 69. I was at Saratoga Rd. And the 280. I remember these signs! Rode my bike all over as a kid- down Stevens Creek Rd. All the way to the reservoir. Saratoga Rd. Quito Rd. Prospect Ave. Century 21 Theaters, Bob’s Big Boy, Marie Calendars ( huge pies in those days - the best). Quite a few of my Friends worked there! I went to SJS, worked at the Campbell HS pool for five summers, with great young people! Santa Cruz! What a great time to grow up in CA. I have lived in AZ for 50+ years.
Sambo's home of the silver dollar pancakes. Chan's Chinese food was a special occasion take out. Richard Machado and Gary Morales thank you for documenting my childhood!!
What a wonderful piece of San Jose history! I just watched it, muting the soundtrack (which is incidentally great) and playing Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" (7 minute version from the album). WHOLE different experience! Thanks, guys!
This was great! Brings back all the memories of cruising Stevens Creek/W San Carlos. Now I'll have to look for some video of the old-time hot rods running up and down First/Second Street!
LiberalsAreWorthless, yes it started out that way. My uncle was the person who owned it first. He also owned the Woodhams lounge and Otto’s Garden Room in Los Gatos. A couple others too.
@@tomandaj1 Was Otto's Garden Room a biker bar, back when your uncle owned it? As a kid driving by that place, it looked pretty foreboding. Then again, I'm sure other kids saw those bikers and thought, it was a cool place.
Great capture of a moment in time. My own memories of stuff like this start about ten years after this and about 20 miles north, but this is a great memory jogger.
As a teen, whenever i needed to use the car i had to drive my mom to work at OConner Hospital in the OMG-ITS-EARLY hours of the morning, during witch I could have shot 80% of the scenes from this video. All that urban neon blight never made much of a impression on me till I began watching this short film abour 6 minutes ago. I can see now how beautiful the west side truly is (or was) at night. Thank you for sharing. =)
I was born in San Jose (1955) and my beloved Dad was too...(1928)...Wish there was more of these cool videos unearthed! I saw the Lime Tree Liquors sign...My Step-Dad built and ran the bar in that strip mall..."The Maverick" Cool for those days!
I grew up there in the 50's and 60's. Graduated San Jose High in 1963. Loved my teen years there. Cruzing down the Alameda in my '57 Bel Air on a Friday , or Saturday night , or going to Mel's Drive in ! It "was" just like American Graffiti ! Miss those carefree days of youth !
@c.g.3931 Actually, Santana,Row looks pretty nice ! I left San Jose in 1964, when I was 19, and headed to L.A. I haven't been to San Jose since 1984, so NOTHING is familiar to me. My parents sold their home in Santa Clara in 1984 and moved to L.A. as well
Century Theatres at 1:03 - wish they'd shown more of them. Hope the people of San Jose are successful in making sure they stay there for decades more to come!
I'm sad to tell you that they are gone now. I've seen so many movies at those Century theaters. 🙁 I remember that there used to be a Bob's Big Boy right there too.
@@TheMediaHoarder I hear ya'. I hardly recognize much of the area anymore. They tore down Town and Country to make Santana Row, they got rid of the old El Paseo... Now they want to tear down the ugly strip mall they replaced it with, and put up more pack and stack like Santana Row.
Way cool!! In the late 60's we used to drive up from Morgan Hill and cruise up and down First St, past St James Park, then turn around at San Carlos or E Reed St. ... and then make the trip over and over again, stopping a few times at the McDonalds for a midnite snack..
I remember back in the pre-280 days that the Courtesy Chevrolet sign was visible at night as far west as Cupertino High School on Stevens Creek Rd. - Tony Arioli
That was my SJ when I was born. I sat at the bus stop across from the Poodle a lot, then cruised El Camino and San Carlos in my '63 Old and my '67 Camero.
I worked at Red Barn aft. school! Loved to cruise with my friend Albert in his 67 GTO, ah so pretty and red! Loved crusin' in Fresno and Stockton with friends. Last cruise night I saw was living in Hollywood in the early 80's and the police closing down Sunset and sweeping the crusiers and the girls that worked Sunset down the street on horse back!
I had to rewatch a couple of times because I almost thought around 4:08 the Liquors sign might have been Lyon's Restaurant! A friend that wrote a great book on Western Appliance and the San Jose area said that after the giant sign went up they had to remove the three lighted orbs on top because they were becoming too much of a distraction to pilots flying in to the San Jose Airport! Haha!
So sad. I remember ALL of those things. Lou's Village, Spivey's, Stickney's, Winchester Shopping Center, Emporium, Valley Fair, Courtesy Chevrolet, Discount Records - all of it. Y NOT Liquors is now an 'adult' bookstore and theater.
Wow, brings me back. Cruise'n with my best friend Terri Meserve listening to Creedence on the 8 track in her boyfriends (Rick Burrows) white mustang. 31 flavors in Los Gatos and Der wWeiner on Hillsdale at 11:00. Bitchen! as we used to say.
Plz more san jose projects tho of san jose ca plz xD i live on the eastside n i go to san josr high so id like to see more archives of san jose tho theirs not too many only u guys hve em
Lol yup pretty true, looks like they flipped a bitch at Winchester where burger barn is behind Valley Fair back then it was Montgomery Wards . Still pretty cool
In the early '60s I remember sometimes we would drive over Hwy 17 from Felton/Ben Lomond just to get a strawberry cheesecake from Stickneys. I have to wonder if Stickneys is still there...
A few of those old neon signs, a very few, can still be found on Bascom Avenue in Santa Clara. Almost washed away now by the rapid growth of the tech era.
Oh wow where is first street n second street cruising? I just got my new hs graduation gift 1970 camaro n Fri nite cruising to find where all the parties at? I recall driving all over even down el Camino real in Santa clara, alum rock up to capitol Ave, always stopped at weiner swizzle. Sorry spelling lol I had so much fun causing I my hometown with my cousins.
Most of the stores are gone, long gone. The signs have changed, tastes have changed. But in the end, SJ hasn't changed all that much in the last 50 years. Still no soul, lots & lots of useless stuff bought & sold, etc. I'm actually glad I left. First to Sonoma County in the 80's, where houses cost less & where a young family could live more 'traditionally' & raise kids who were free to breathe fresh air, see farms & watch food being grown, and explore, more like it was for me & my then wife in SJ of the 50s & early 60s. Now I'm retired in Napa Valley, peaceful, less congested, slower paced. SJ is none of things, and hasn't been for at least 50 yrs, as this excellent film attests. SJ is what it is. Perhaps best expressed by Joni Mitchell - "they paved paradise, put up a parking lot." (Me? Pioneer High, Class of 73, graduate of SJSU in 1982, resident of Blossom Vly "neighborhood" in SJ since 1962 (during which I attended the original Almaden Elem School, my father owned & operated Bab's Dairy Drive-In on White Road, next the Fiesta Lanes bowling alley, in east SJ from 1968 to about 2000. Swam & skinny-dipped in the Guadalupe River circa 1965, explored the prune & cherry orchards for hours on end, chased out a couple times by owners who said we were trespassing, … ahh, so many fond memories - THAT's the SJ I left behind, and was able to re-live a little in the north bay in my later years. I would recommend leaving SJ & moving up here, but there aren't many jobs up here. And the few jobs there are pay very little. Nowadays, I would advise any young family to just leave the Bay Area - and California - altogether. Go somewhere where u can put down some new - and real - roots.)
Let me explain to you young folks what it was like dining in San Jose during the late 20th century. If you wanted to go to an off brand Denny’s, you went to Lyon’s. If you wanted to go to an upscale Denny’s, you went to Stickney’s. If you wanted to go to a racist Denny’s, we’ll then you went to Sambo’s. Any questions?
Wow good times for sure for me it was San Mateo mid 70’s and 80’s. We would go up to Canada road by Filoli to race. Ran from the cops a few times. So much fun. Don’t think that sort of thing can happen again today’s mentality is all wrong it was an easy-going time people are just wrapped up in themselves now And looking to find fault with everything
Wow have times have changed now its either homeless or millionaire stuck up hipsters still got no downtown life though but their trying,whos stupid idea was it to build an airport of the path of a downtown..?That was a huge mistake!!! They should of built the airport towards morgan hill away from the city like they did san francisco and other cities.To me san jose will never be the same... :(
Man, I can almost retrace the route. Up Bascom, turn on Hedding, under freeway past the Red Barn behind Valley Fair -still standing - Down Winchester, up and down Stevens Creek. And I do remember that Babyland at Bascom and San Carlos was the British Motors! Great memories.
Wood’s Ice Cream🥰. We use to go get hot fudge sundaes after smoking a joint while at SJS…good times😊
Hey this is where I learned about life . Great memories along with a touch of pain.
My old stomping grounds when I was young. What a blessing to have this piece of history preserve for others to see. Captured a moment in time that I will never be able to relive.
Warren Jansen? I remember you. Very kind.
You got my dad's Chevron in there, I'm 73 now.
takes me back to when I would cruise in my teens in my dads car back in the late 70's. thanks for the memories
Yep! That's my San Jose as I remember, I was in kindergarten in '68 and I recognized the route, so sad most of all the awesome neon lighting has been replaced or removed entirely. Thanks for the memories!
I graduated from Mother Butler Memorial HS in 69. I was at Saratoga Rd. And the 280. I remember these signs! Rode my bike all over as a kid- down Stevens Creek Rd. All the way to the reservoir. Saratoga Rd. Quito Rd. Prospect Ave. Century 21 Theaters, Bob’s Big Boy, Marie Calendars ( huge pies in those days - the best). Quite a few of my Friends worked there! I went to SJS, worked at the Campbell HS pool for five summers, with great young people! Santa Cruz! What a great time to grow up in CA. I have lived in AZ for 50+ years.
Awesome,you had to have lived it ❤!!! I'm fortunate to have.
I can't get enough of this!
Sambo's home of the silver dollar pancakes. Chan's Chinese food was a special occasion take out. Richard Machado and Gary Morales thank you for documenting my childhood!!
Thank you soooo much for the memories of this time I love!
Ah!
The good ole days.
My home town.
I was 9 and remember it all.
Thank you😊
What a wonderful piece of San Jose history! I just watched it, muting the soundtrack (which is incidentally great) and playing Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" (7 minute version from the album). WHOLE different experience! Thanks, guys!
Yeah, I changed the music to the time period, much better.
This was great! Brings back all the memories of cruising Stevens Creek/W San Carlos. Now I'll have to look for some video of the old-time hot rods running up and down First/Second Street!
Richard and Gary thanks for putting this up ... WOW my uncles bar, the Y Not, was even in it ... Really brought back memories Thank you so much
tomandaj1 ....the "Y Not" was a bar? It's now a sex shop where one can purchase the kinkiest smut you can imagine....
LiberalsAreWorthless, yes it started out that way. My uncle was the person who owned it first. He also owned the Woodhams lounge and Otto’s Garden Room in Los Gatos. A couple others too.
@@tomandaj1 Was Otto's Garden Room a biker bar, back when your uncle owned it? As a kid driving by that place, it looked pretty foreboding. Then again, I'm sure other kids saw those bikers and thought, it was a cool place.
Great capture of a moment in time. My own memories of stuff like this start about ten years after this and about 20 miles north, but this is a great memory jogger.
STICKNEYS! I HAVEN'T HEARD THAT NAME IN OVER 20 YEARS...
As a teen, whenever i needed to use the car i had to drive my mom to work at OConner Hospital in the OMG-ITS-EARLY hours of the morning, during witch I could have shot 80% of the scenes from this video. All that urban neon blight never made much of a impression on me till I began watching this short film abour 6 minutes ago. I can see now how beautiful the west side truly is (or was) at night. Thank you for sharing.
=)
One of my favorite videos in all of TH-cam. I was 5 at the time, 50 miles to the north. Love the Mister Donut sign at 1:40.
I was born in San Jose (1955) and my beloved Dad was too...(1928)...Wish there was more of these cool videos unearthed! I saw the Lime Tree Liquors sign...My Step-Dad built and ran the bar in that strip mall..."The Maverick" Cool for those days!
I cruised all over San Jose in the late 70's and 80's.
I recognize these signs. very cool. It's very different now.
Love the soundtrack! Good stuff
Very cooool! I remember all of these scenes, many near Lincoln High School. You guys get an A+ on your film project! Thanks for posting!
$5 lunch specials over at SHAKEY'S was our hang! We were too young to hit the Pink Poodle! awesome!
San Jose I miss ya....!!!
The memories...
I grew up there in the 50's and 60's. Graduated San Jose High in 1963. Loved my teen years there. Cruzing down the Alameda in my '57 Bel Air on a Friday , or Saturday night , or going to Mel's Drive in ! It "was" just like American Graffiti ! Miss those carefree days of youth !
Santana Row just doesn’t quite compare, does it 😉
@c.g.3931 Actually, Santana,Row looks pretty nice ! I left San Jose in 1964, when I was 19, and headed to L.A. I haven't been to San Jose since 1984, so NOTHING is familiar to me. My parents sold their home in Santa Clara in 1984 and moved to L.A. as well
Very good job!
Oh, man! I remember nearly all of these! Never made it to Stickney's before it closed.
Century Theatres at 1:03 - wish they'd shown more of them. Hope the people of San Jose are successful in making sure they stay there for decades more to come!
I'm sad to tell you that they are gone now. I've seen so many movies at those Century theaters. 🙁 I remember that there used to be a Bob's Big Boy right there too.
@@ZetaReticuli_ I know, I will never go back to that area again unless Century 21 which is standing empty shows movies again.
@@TheMediaHoarder I hear ya'. I hardly recognize much of the area anymore. They tore down Town and Country to make Santana Row, they got rid of the old El Paseo... Now they want to tear down the ugly strip mall they replaced it with, and put up more pack and stack like Santana Row.
the western appliance sign is still there at least
I didnt see mel cottons on here.Even though I hardly shopped there I was sad to see it go.
Dannng i forgotten mel cottons and mmm mats
I will never forget the Lemon Meringue pies at Stickneys !
Way cool!!
In the late 60's we used to drive up from Morgan Hill and cruise up and down First St, past St James Park, then turn around at San Carlos or E Reed St. ... and then make the trip over and over again, stopping a few times at the McDonalds for a midnite snack..
Yes first st in summer 1970 with my new 1970 Cameron so cool
I remember back in the pre-280 days that the Courtesy Chevrolet sign was visible at night as far west as Cupertino High School on Stevens Creek Rd. - Tony Arioli
@@FoundingTH-camr-2005 eidetic...good word!
Whoa!! Interesting factoid, thanks for sharing 😎💖🚘✌🏻
Lums! What a great restaurant, as was Stickneys, Lous Village... Century theater sign needs more time that was a fantastic 3 movie theaters..
That was my SJ when I was born. I sat at the bus stop across from the Poodle a lot, then cruised El Camino and San Carlos in my '63 Old and my '67 Camero.
Wow, this is awesome!
Bravo!!!
Wow, this is great. Do you have any more films by these same filmmakers? Would love to see more of what they did. Thanks for posting.
I worked at Red Barn aft. school! Loved to cruise with my friend Albert in his 67 GTO, ah so pretty and red! Loved crusin' in Fresno and Stockton with friends. Last cruise night I saw was living in Hollywood in the early 80's and the police closing down Sunset and sweeping the crusiers and the girls that worked Sunset down the street on horse back!
Wow! San Jose was so much darker back then. Not near as many people as now. I was 16 when this was filmed. I could also talk about every place here.
Very nice!
Heyo, In 1965 our little film class at College of Marin did the same thing in the middle of the night on the streets of San Rafael.
Do you have the film, would love to see it.
I had to rewatch a couple of times because I almost thought around 4:08 the Liquors sign might have been Lyon's Restaurant! A friend that wrote a great book on Western Appliance and the San Jose area said that after the giant sign went up they had to remove the three lighted orbs on top because they were becoming too much of a distraction to pilots flying in to the San Jose Airport! Haha!
So sad. I remember ALL of those things. Lou's Village, Spivey's, Stickney's, Winchester Shopping Center, Emporium, Valley Fair, Courtesy Chevrolet, Discount Records - all of it. Y NOT Liquors is now an 'adult' bookstore and theater.
Stickneys had the best fried chicken. My dad would take me there when I was a kid
Wow, brings me back. Cruise'n with my best friend Terri Meserve listening to Creedence on the 8 track in her boyfriends (Rick Burrows) white mustang. 31 flavors in Los Gatos and Der wWeiner on Hillsdale at 11:00. Bitchen! as we used to say.
Plz more san jose projects tho of san jose ca plz xD i live on the eastside n i go to san josr high so id like to see more archives of san jose tho theirs not too many only u guys hve em
You can straight tell theyre just driving up w san carlos and Stevens creek. Then back down.
Lol yup pretty true, looks like they flipped a bitch at Winchester where burger barn is behind Valley Fair back then it was Montgomery Wards . Still pretty cool
A little bit of Winchester too and Hedding. Burger Barn and the old Century Theaters.
If they went a little farther west, they could have captured the Futurama Bowl sign. I think that was there in 68
In the early '60s I remember sometimes we would drive over Hwy 17 from Felton/Ben Lomond just to get a strawberry cheesecake from Stickneys. I have to wonder if Stickneys is still there...
It was the one on Winchester in front of the Century theaters.
Anderson VW on Stevens Creek...bought my first new car there, Aug 1965, VW Beetle, $1825 driven off the floor. I was 19.
A few of those old neon signs, a very few, can still be found on Bascom Avenue in Santa Clara. Almost washed away now by the rapid growth of the tech era.
did you go guys go to Mt Pleasant?
An more films like this?
As a person that has a gas and oil collection i really like the old gas stations signs
Can you shoot a movie/ video driving this same strip at night here in 2021? We'd be talking 53 years difference!
Nice neon. In the 60s, there was still a lot of neon signage around. Started disappearing en masse in the 70s. Too bad.
Oh wow where is first street n second street cruising? I just got my new hs graduation gift 1970 camaro n Fri nite cruising to find where all the parties at?
I recall driving all over even down el Camino real in Santa clara, alum rock up to capitol Ave, always stopped at weiner swizzle. Sorry spelling lol I had so much fun causing I my hometown with my cousins.
Most of the stores are gone, long gone. The signs have changed, tastes have changed. But in the end, SJ hasn't changed all that much in the last 50 years. Still no soul, lots & lots of useless stuff bought & sold, etc. I'm actually glad I left. First to Sonoma County in the 80's, where houses cost less & where a young family could live more 'traditionally' & raise kids who were free to breathe fresh air, see farms & watch food being grown, and explore, more like it was for me & my then wife in SJ of the 50s & early 60s. Now I'm retired in Napa Valley, peaceful, less congested, slower paced. SJ is none of things, and hasn't been for at least 50 yrs, as this excellent film attests. SJ is what it is. Perhaps best expressed by Joni Mitchell - "they paved paradise, put up a parking lot." (Me? Pioneer High, Class of 73, graduate of SJSU in 1982, resident of Blossom Vly "neighborhood" in SJ since 1962 (during which I attended the original Almaden Elem School, my father owned & operated Bab's Dairy Drive-In on White Road, next the Fiesta Lanes bowling alley, in east SJ from 1968 to about 2000. Swam & skinny-dipped in the Guadalupe River circa 1965, explored the prune & cherry orchards for hours on end, chased out a couple times by owners who said we were trespassing, … ahh, so many fond memories - THAT's the SJ I left behind, and was able to re-live a little in the north bay in my later years. I would recommend leaving SJ & moving up here, but there aren't many jobs up here. And the few jobs there are pay very little. Nowadays, I would advise any young family to just leave the Bay Area - and California - altogether. Go somewhere where u can put down some new - and real - roots.)
Same here
Lots of fond
Memories😊
East side 65 to 72
MH LOHS 77 grad
SJSU 85 grad
Good times
no union ave?
Let me explain to you young folks what it was like dining in San Jose during the late 20th century.
If you wanted to go to an off brand Denny’s, you went to Lyon’s.
If you wanted to go to an upscale Denny’s, you went to Stickney’s.
If you wanted to go to a racist Denny’s, we’ll then you went to Sambo’s.
Any questions?
2:52 arbys still there 3158 Stevens Creek Blvd. San Jose, CA 95117.
3:54 1872 WEST SAN CARLOS SAN JOSE CALIF.????????????????
Some of that stuff is still there like Arby’s, Ford, Western Appliance (barely)...
wonder if town n' country village was around back then? :/
Yes..In it's full wonderful glory!
yes it was there where santana row is now
Rainy summer night
I was there..
It was.
I think it's now the Flames in front of Century Theaters.
Before 280 San Jose was more fun
Nice film! A little obsessive about the watermark though...
Love Sambo's!
Oh then, you MUST BE a very bad, horrible person! Right?
Looks like captiol ave long stretch pioneer chicken pizza and pipes
Was this a school project?
El Camino Real?
The “red barn”
Hahaha
Wow good times for sure for me it was San Mateo mid 70’s and 80’s. We would go up to Canada road by Filoli to race. Ran from the cops a few times. So much fun. Don’t think that sort of thing can happen again today’s mentality is all wrong it was an easy-going time people are just wrapped up in themselves now And looking to find fault with everything
/petitions/save-the-winchester-domes
I see pink poodle 😎
😂😂😂😂 FLASH BACKS NICE
Yeah, but at least it doesn't stay on all the time.
reminds me of taxi driver
I used to pick up prostitutes on 2nd street there were 100s in late 60s early 70 s
Lucky, I wish I around back them.
Wow have times have changed now its either homeless or millionaire stuck up hipsters still got no downtown life though but their trying,whos stupid idea was it to build an airport of the path of a downtown..?That was a huge mistake!!! They should of built the airport towards morgan hill away from the city like they did san francisco and other cities.To me san jose will never be the same... :(