... a violent bunch of bikers, set in Pasadena in the late 1950s, perhaps you never noticed them!
Probably not. I was still a high school-college kid living safely with my parents in the San Fernando Valley in the late 50's. The Valley was great then - no smog, low humidity, gentle climate. We never even saw a "violent biker," because in the Valley, our generation's stereotype hero was the
street-racer. For the girls, we had the
Natalie Wood prototype.
The archetypal scenario that held sway in that era was embedded in consciousness via the film,
Rebel Without A Cause.
That same era was captured (in retrospective recreation) in the stunningly accurate
American Graffiti. I was there. Here is my proof:
I didn't get to live in Pasadena until 1979.
Here's pics of Devil's Gate canyon (arroyo) bridge and the mysterious dam itself - all right nearby to uptown, upscale Pasadena.
.
The (Colorado Street?) bridge opened in 1913:
Pasadena was similar in climate to the Valley, but it had more old growth, heavy duty shade - like massive oak trees. But its "violent bikers" were a long ways away from the Valley. But yeah, we had an image of them.
Anything having to do with Pasadena should be examined carefully, for we see that ... "
Then, sometime in 1939, the Lodge fell under the patronage and leadership of John Parsons, a young L.A. aristocrat and pioneer of Cal Tech rocketry (later a founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory). During the day, Parsons worked at the Cal Tech labs or the Devil's Gate test range ... perfecting propellant systems for liquidÂfuel rockets; at night, he returned to his mansion on Pasadena's "millionaires row" (South Orange Grove Avenue) ..."
Here's a nice shot of Jacks playground ...
