San Diego Watercolors, 1960s scenes...

San Diego Watercolors, 1960s scenes..., a photo by roberthuffstutter on Flickr.

The first of a set dedicated to the memories of San Diego in the early 1960s. Watercolor pencils with brush washes and some pen and ink details.

LIBERTY IN SAN DIEGO 1960S STYLE By Robert L. Huffstutter

When I got out of USNTC Boot Camp in 1960, I received orders to COMNAVAIRPAC across the bay at NAS North Island. It was a great duty station, working for the flag officers and Naval Air matters. At that time, there was no Coronado bridge and the only way to get downtown was via the nickel snatcher, a USN boat that went from NAS to the foot of Broadway. The walk up to the center of San Diego to Union Square was an experience with the various tattoo parlors, cafes and beer joints. The drinking age, however, was strictly 21, and most of the clubs enforced this with no exceptions. But there were some place off Broadway that would bend the rules. The bar above was not one of them. The old bar named Pearl's Harbor was strictly for the old vets who were in World War II, so that was not a hangout for us young guys. At the time, many of the guys who were in WWII were still on active duty and finishing up 20 years of service. Wow, time flys. When I think of being in the service at the same time the guys who won the war were in the service it blows my mind. Anyway, that was the way it was in 1960, and it was a different America back then. The coffee tasted different, the hot roast beef sandwiches were richer and thicker and nobody was worried about how much fat we consumed.

There was no major racial strife--most all the guys got along well; it mattered little about color or religion then. Despite the tales that might be spun by the left, there was equal treatment and equal opportunity in the USN in the 60s.

So, that's the way it was in the summer of 1960 around Pearl's Harbor. The beer smelled good drifting through the door, but all of us who were not 21 had to find a lesser establishment to buy our draft beer for 20 cents a mug. Bottles were about 35 cents. When we finished up the night, we walked back down to the foot of Broadway and caught the nickel snatcher, a little craft that was a bit bigger than an admiral's boat, and headed back to the Naval Air Station, eating our cupcakes and drinking our coffee or pop, hoping we wouldn't stumble getting off the boat. That was a liberty in downtown San Diego, 1960s style.