Fabulous ‘50s Get New Day in the Sun : Community Festival at Golden West College Draws 22,000

Shelly Ryan, 15, has never seen Marilyn Monroe’s movie “The Seven-Year Itch.” She prefers Motley Crue and Van Halen to Buddy Holly.

But the theme of the Community Festival on Saturday at Golden West College in Huntington Beach was a salute to the ‘50s, and her mother insisted. So there she was, standing on a chair in a platinum blond wig and white fake fur.

With a Sears, Roebuck fan beneath her sending flutters up her silvery halter dress, the ninth-grader pouted her lips and threw come-hither glances to passing strangers.

“Re-created here,” stated a sign in the Alpha Gamma Sigma booth, “Marilyn Monroe’s Famous Fan Scene.”

“Hey, Marilyn! You look pretty great--for being dead 20 years,” a man shouted.

“My mother was supposed to do this, but she chickened out, so here I am,” Shelly sighed.

Shelly, a Corona Junior High School student, managed to have a good time at the all-day gathering, which featured scores of community group booths, costume and dance contests, vintage music and cars and 50-cent hot dogs. Festival organizers estimated that more than 22,000 people turned out for a day in the sun.

Peddlers Aplenty

A carnival atmosphere prevailed as clowns and costumed strollers wandered around the college’s grassy quad area. Along with the Marilyn Monroe booth, where the college’s honor society sold chili dogs and soft drinks, there were hundreds of stands peddling ice cream, wood carvings, used jewelry and handicrafts. Community service groups sought new volunteers, and local police and fire departments displayed their crime-fighting paraphernalia and rescue gear. A local singles club called F.L.I.R.T. (Fun Loving Individuals Relating Together) posted color pictures of members and actively recruited joiners.

As the Beach Boys’ version of “Surfin’ Safari” blasted across the lawn, David Moyle sat gazing at the hoopla around him. “This looks more like a swap meet,” said Moyle, a member of the Orange County Cruisers Assn. who considers himself a genuine ‘50s buff. In his wallet are pictures of his 1951 Chevy truck and his 1959 Cadillac.

Moyle and his friend Pat Lett--he in a black leather jacket, Levi’s and slicked-back blond hair, she wearing a pink poodle skirt and bowling shirt--were among the minority of festival-goers in authentic ‘50s attire. “This must seem like ancient history to some of these kids,” Moyle said.

On the stage in front of him, comedian Jason Chase seemed to read Moyle’s mind.

“We’re gonna go back now in time; we’re talking way back; we’re talking ancient history, when T-shirts didn’t say anything,” said Chase, who also performed Buddy Holly songs and other 1950s music.

“We’re way back now, man. Back when making out was kissing (pause), for 72 hours! It was called dating, when you called a girl ahead of time for, like, an appointment. Today, they have those four-bedroom vans . . . wet bars, Jacuzzis . . . .”

Cars Top Attraction

Perhaps the biggest attraction of the day was the dozens of vintage cars parked around the campus: a blue 1958 rag-top Impala, a 1949 chop-top Mercury (James Dean drove one in “Rebel Without a Cause”), and a 1957 Chevy Nomad, owned by Jerry Prefontaine of Laguna Beach.

“The biggest and heaviest station wagon Chevy ever made,” boasted Prefontaine, 25, who is the drummer for a ‘50s-style band called the Rockin Rebels and a member of the Hell on Wheels car club. He has owned the black wagon since he was 16.

While he didn’t grow up in the ‘50s, Prefontaine said, that generation is “the best part that American history or culture is--the most wholesome part of what America was.”

Thus, he and his friends insisted, they were not in costume Saturday. Their ducktails, pompadours, loafers and sharkskin suits, they said, are “just everyday clothes.”