Densho Digital Archive - Henry Nakano Interview (denshovh-nhenry-01-0011)

<Begin Segment 11>

RP: In north Hollywood, what kind of change was that for you? The community...

HN: Well, I went from Hollenbeck Junior High to North Hollywood Junior High School. That's the only change, just different people.

RP: Not as diverse ethnically?

HN: No, more Caucasians than anything else.

RP: So you went from kind of an urban life to more of a, was it more, a little more rural than east L.A.?

HN: Yes, right.

RP: A lot of farming?

HN: All farming. North Hollywood was a farm community. And...

RP: And you had, you had to work on the farm?

HN: I had to work on the farm, yes. That's very hard work, but...

RP: Remember some of the things you did to help your dad out?

HN: Yeah. We used to do everything, weed. That was the hardest part, weeding every row. You had to take the weeds out from produce and it'd take you almost a whole day to go down a quarter mile row of weeds, on hands and foot, knees.

RP: Was that something you did before you left for school or, when...

HN: Before school and after school. And you didn't have to weed all the time, you know. Sometimes it's picking crops. It was weeding when the crops were first planted, when the shoots come up then you got to differentiate shoots from the weeds. Pull the weeds out.

RP: You have to know your weeds.

HN: Yeah.

RP: So what did you harvest from, from your dad's field?

HN: All the produce, beets, carrots, turnips, and we had green onions, watermelons, cantaloupes --

RP: Did your father --

HN: -- radishes.

RP: Oh, I'm sorry.

HN: Go ahead.

RP: Did your father deliver his produce to the market or did somebody come and pick it up?

HN: No, there was a man that used to come by to pick up all the stuff that we picked the day before. In fact, there were two of 'em. My dad ran into a man that wanted baby produce, young produce, before they matured, like small carrots, small turnips, small beets. And the farmer's market in west L.A. you've heard of that? In Hollywood, west Hollywood area?

RP: Uh-huh.

HN: Right at Fairfax and Third Street?

RP: Uh-huh.

HN: There was a place called Farmer's Market. And right there they had baby vegetables that he promoted and sold so my dad used to pick 'em when they were young and sell it to him. He used to come by every morning, pick up the crates of baby vegetables to sell in his market downtown.

RP: A little specialty niche?

HN: Yes.

RP: How did your father's farming operation succeed? I mean...

HN: Well...

RP: Keep the family going?

HN: Yeah, it was, he was making enough to feed the family and going, but he wasn't gonna become rich doing it. And...

RP: Did he enjoy farming?

HN: I think more enjoy... not really enjoyed it. But it was something to sustain the family so it was something that he had to do. And his brother talked him into it so that's how we got into it. But he thought maybe it'd be an easier life. But it turned out to be harder on him then working in a store. 'Cause working in a store entailed... he had to go to the market, you know, every other morning, to buy all the vegetables and the different produce to sell. I remember riding with him on the car to go to the market in the morning before school. We used to leave at five in the morning and get back at about seven. The markets were at Seventh Street Market and Ninth Street Market, downtown L.A.

RP: What do you remember about the markets? Can you share your, what it looked like out there?

HN: Well, yeah, my dad's market or the produce market where we'd go buy?

RP: The produce market.

HN: Produce market were just a bunch of stalls. All the different farmers come to town with their wares and goods. And my dad would just go around the market and buy the things that he needed. And it was a pretty big market. It must have been what, at least half a mile square, maybe quarter of a mile square, maybe I'm getting my distance kind of skewed. But, they're still there, Seventh Market and Ninth Market. They're still downtown L.A. They're still there. And all the farmers in the area used to go there and sell their goods. It's like the flower market. All the flower producers went to the flower market to display their goods to sell to all the different florists. They used to come there from all over southern California to buy flowers.