Another California symbol soon will disappear.
Canary Island palm trees, imported to the Southland 100 years ago, are dying of old age and disease.
But guess what: Mexican palm trees, planted in the 1930s, are thriving.
California also once was home to citrus, avocado and olive orchards, Bobs Big Boy hamburgers and brownies, drive-in carhops on skates and the submarine ride at Disneyland.
Also long gone are Burma Shave signs, houses of mystery, miniature golf courses, snake pits, juice stands, tuition-free higher education and jumbo shrimp at Muscle Beach.
Mountainside motorcycle climbs have given way to tiered residential subdivisions, green-colored concrete has replaced grass and Saint Nick always has limp wrists in Hollywood’s Christmas parade.
Rush-hour traffic now is 24-7, American cuisine is politically incorrect and Botox is sold door to door.
And yet you can’t buy a one-bedroom home there for less than $400,000. Go figure. (29 OCTOB ER 2006)
