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Author Topic: Hobby shops in L.A. area?  (Read 25951 times)

Offline FLOYD CARTER

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Hobby shops in L.A. area?
« on: May 20, 2018, 07:24:18 PM »
I think this topic has been covered.  However, I would like to talk with anyone who visited some hobby shops in the L.A. area during the '40s to '6os

I lived in South Gate and Downey during that time.  My closest shop was Walt's in South Gate.  After I was able to drive, I visited Snyders in south L.a., home of Modelcraft kit models.  In the mid 1950s, I worked with Bob Dunham establishing his hobby shop and helping with the design of his Orbit 10 channel reed receiver.

I never got around to visiting any of the shops in East L.A.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2018, 01:58:07 PM by FLOYD CARTER »
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Offline Tony Drago

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Re: Hobby shops in L.A. area?
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2019, 08:33:23 PM »
Floyd. Back in the day. A fellow coworker. His father owned a hobby shop.
 It was called Hobby Lane. I just can not remember its location. He relocated the business to Fountain Valley in the early to mid 70's. He finally retired in 1980. His last name was Arnold.
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Offline Steve Helmick

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Re: Hobby shops in L.A. area?
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2019, 09:30:20 PM »
In '60/'61, while we were at Edwards AFB, we went to Barney Snyder's "ModelCraft" shop...but I had no idea where it was, since I wasn't the driver or navigator. The first place we went was Reginald Denny's, but it was closed. Dad knew Reggie from drone work before WW2. We must have gone to the nearest shop from there. I recall R. Denny's being on the corner and it was raining. ModelCraft was a pretty decent LHS to us, compared to the PX, a small counter shared with BSA equipment in a small town department store, or an 80 mile drive to a shop in Spokane.   y1 Steve
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Offline paw080

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Re: Hobby shops in L.A. area?
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2019, 04:58:59 PM »

Hi Floyd, the very first Hobby shop I went to was Colonel Bob's on Pico in West Los Angeles around 1947.
I lived on 30th St near Arlington Ave then. In 1950 we moved to southwest LA and I couldn't stay away
from Barney and Peggy Snyder's Modelcraft shop on Western Ave near 92 St.  Barney helped me so much
I am forever thankful.  In 1956 we moved to Hawthorne and there I went to a hobby shop on Hawthorne blvd
a couple of blks north of the theater. Also I went to Jack O'Blenness's shop in Lawndale and another shop across
 the street from the Alondra park swimming pool(Chuck's ??).

By the way, in the early 1970's my wife and family moved to South Gate and I discovered that Salt Lake park
had a flying field dedicated to controlline flying; but there had not been any modeling activity for years. :(

Tony G
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Offline FLOYD CARTER

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Re: Hobby shops in L.A. area?
« Reply #4 on: December 25, 2019, 05:10:43 PM »
Hi Tony.  Salt Lake Park was very active in the '40s and '50s.  Flyers from other parts of Los Angeles liked that site because grass was well kept, and parking was close.  We often had visits by Bob Palmer and JC Yates at the Salt Lake site.  I attended occasionally because we already had a nice flying site in South Gate Park, and later at Lynwood Park.  Our Lynwood site had a paved take-off strip and we were encouraged by the city, in spite of being close to St. Francis hospital.  I often expected complaints from the hospital, but never got any.  I lived in South Gate until late 1952 when I entered USAF active service.
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Offline Larry Renger

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Re: Hobby shops in L.A. area?
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2024, 06:47:48 AM »
Jack O’blennes’ shop in Hermosa Beach was my main go to in the late 50s. But there was a great shop in Redondo. Majle’s name comes to mind. There were Pico Models and Colonel Bob’s, also Ace Hobbies in Pasadena, but the best of them all had to be Tony and Addie’s shop on Victory Blvd. (I think in West Hollywood).

I do remember some of the others mentioned above. I miss them all! 😩

The best two shops now are Pegasus in Monrovia and Smith Brother's in Reseda. Ultimate Hobbies in Orange is OK. Hobby Lobby has some stuff, mostly tools and adhesives.

🤠
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Offline Dennis Saydak

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Re: Hobby shops in L.A. area?
« Reply #6 on: May 03, 2024, 02:00:37 PM »
Back in the 70s I made two vacation trips to California. I visited several shops in the LA area as well as one in Frisco. The one in Frisco was difficult to get to because of the double parked cars blocking access to it. The LA area HS that really impressed me was Tony and Addie  Naccarato's shop in Orange, or was it Ontario? These folks were super helpful and friendly. I was very impressed with a large multi-engine model hanging from the ceiling. IIRC, it was the DC6 airliner that was featured on the cover of F.M. magazines.
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