<Begin Segment 3>

MN: Now you mentioned earlier a little bit about your father's work, so what kind of work were your parents doing when you were born?

BS: So it was in the grocery business.

MN: And where was the store located?

BS: In the heart of Los Angeles on Main Street. 411 1/2 North Main Street was the first grocery store that he had.

MN: And then his neighborhood where he had the grocery store, what kind of people lived predominately in that area?

BS: Actually it was Mexican town. North Main street was all Mexican town, but many of the businesses were run by Japanese people. So I always thought that it was sort of the overflow from Little Tokyo on First Street.

MN: So your father's customers, who were they?

BS: The customers were, like I said, all Hispanic or Mexican people, and they came from the area called Chavez Ravine, actually the site of the Los Angeles Dodgers' stadium today. And as I recall, many of the streets were dirt yet. So dirt road, maybe probably no sidewalk, where it's really the country.

MN: So did your family deliver into Chavez Ravine?

BS: Yes. We had, actually, we sold on credit. So people purchased on credit, then when we delivered their goods, they would pay then, sometimes at a later date.

MN: So as you got older, you were able to go to Chavez Ravine on these deliveries. What did you do?

BS: I basically stayed in the truck to make sure no loss by pilfering or anything else. Because I was a little bit too young to carry those big boxes, so they didn't want me to really help.

MN: And then who made the deliveries, your father?

BS: No. We had the hired hands, so the sales clerk. At that time we had customer service, not self service store. So we had extra so-called manpower there.

MN: And then were they Japanese Americans or Latinos?

BS: No, they were all Latinos, yes. So I think my mom probably spoke better Spanish than English because by speaking Spanish, it brought money into the business. So I think she was more fluent in Spanish than in English.

MN: What about your father?

BS: I think he was fluent in both.

MN: Your father spoke English, Spanish and Japanese?

BS: Yes.

MN: And then you were growing up in this neighborhood, when you were a child, who were mainly your playmates?

BS: My playmates were all Hispanic with one exception. I had one Japanese American, and their family ran the hotel that we first lived in. So he was only a year younger than I was, so we were in the same -- not in the same class, but we're playmates. But all the rest were Hispanic or Mexican people.

MN: So did you speak Spanish or learn Spanish at a young age also?

BS: Just a little bit. I learned lots of the grocery store items, but that's about it.

MN: Now, when you were very young and growing up in that area, I guess near Olvera Street, what kind of games did you play?

BS: We didn't have a real playground around there, so the street was our playground. So actually, we played hopscotch there, male and female together, we played hopscotch. And then Kick the Can, Hide and Seek, but it was dangerous because we just played on the sidewalk or sometimes on our side street we played on the street, but that was our playground. Then we had what we call States, so we just looked at the automobiles and looked at their license plate, and every time you saw a foreign state, you get to punch the guy, give him one punch. So we were always trying to look for it first.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.