Readers Remember

It was 1955 when Mom and I made a bus trip to Mexico. We were waiting at the Greyhound Bus Depot in El Paso.

I needed to get a drink of water, but I didn’t know which water fountain to use. There were two of them. One said “Whites only” and the other said “Coloreds.”

Since I am Mexican American, I didn’t know which one I was allowed to use. I was just a kid, but I’ll never forget the awful feeling in my stomach.

MARGARET GUERRA

From the Internet

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In 1933 the film “Eskimo” started its weeklong run at the Fox Redondo Theatre in Redondo Beach. Management in a promotional gambit rented an authentic Eskimo sled along with complete outfits. My brother “Pep” and I were asked to pose as Eskimos and parade around the sled, in full regalia, in front of the theater each evening for the length of the run.

Playing our roles to the hilt, we responded to all questions with the all-encompassing “Naga, naga,” which meant whatever the questioner wanted it to mean. Payment was a theater pass that enabled my brother and me to attend the Saturday afternoon matinees for a month, a great reward to an 8- and 9-year-old. The passes made up in some little part for the humiliation and indignity we underwent of not being allowed to swim at the world’s largest (at that time) indoor, heated, saltwater pool located in Redondo Beach, because of our Mexican ancestry.

ARNOLD FIGUEROA

Temple City

In 200 words or less, send us your memories, comments or eyewitness accounts of the 20th century. Write to Century, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or e-mail century@latimes.com. Letters may be edited for space.