Left : Coast Highway in downtown Laguna around 1935 , including The Broiler restaurant owned by Dick Metz ’ s dad ; bottom : a pier at Main Beach ( circa 1933 ), which was later destroyed by a series of storms . all the time ,” Metz says , noting that Sunday was the only day off for attending church and spending time with family .
Even though Metz was a kid , he worked , too . “ This was all during the Depression , so nobody had any money and I sold newspapers ,” he says of hawking the Los Angeles Times on the corner by his dad ’ s restaurant . “… In those days , the attitude , the culture , the mentality was you gotta learn to work and be a worker .” He recalls the truck rolling by — without stopping — and tossing out a wirewrapped bale of papers onto the sidewalk . “ They were 10 cents and I got a penny for selling one ,” Metz says . “… I had to earn $ 2.50 for the whole summer — that ’ s how much a pair of Levi ’ s cost — and my mom would drive me to Santa Ana , because you couldn ’ t get them in Laguna . … Every September I would buy a brand-new pair of Levi ’ s for $ 2.50 that I had earned selling newspapers .”
Another job ( although he didn ’ t get paid for it ): Around age 12 , he would watch the bar at the restaurant for a few minutes here and there , getting customers a beer if they came in when his dad had to run an errand . Later , as a teenager , he ’ d start learning to bartend ; the rules weren ’ t as strict back then . Since he spent so much time in the restaurant and bar , eating all his meals there and helping out , Metz was witness to a lot of local happenings .
COLORFUL CHARACTERS In addition to Hollywood actors , some of the artists who worked on the movie sets would come to Laguna . “ One of the artsy guys , … he had a bulldog named Jigs and he would come down every weekend and come to the bar … and he would bring Jigs along ,” Metz says . “ And he ’ d come and say , ‘ Hey , Dick , I want a case of Acme [ beer ]. … He ’ d always bring a pie pan and he ’ d have one bottle of beer and he ’ d give Jigs another bottle . And the two of them would drink the entire case of that beer . … He ’ d have to carry Jigs [ home ]— he couldn ’ t walk , he was so drunk .”
Metz recalls another guy , a lightweight boxing champion named Charlie Furlong , who worked as an engineer building highways and bridges in Brazil before returning to Laguna where he lived at Top of the World . “ Every time he would come back from Brazil , he ’ d bring an animal ,” Metz says . “ And he brought a parrot one time , and he ’ d come into the bar with a parrot on his shoulder and the next time it would be a monkey . And I remember
so well , he brought in a black panther on a leash . A black panther ! … He tied up the panther in a booth … [ to the ] round pillar holding up the table . … And the panther would just get up on the Naugahyde booth and , unbeknownst to me or Charlie Furlong , … he started clawing and eating the Naugahyde .”
Metz also remembers when Dick Smith , the son of Pappy Smith ( who owned the Coast Inn ), became the city ’ s first motorcycle cop . He rode a Harley-Davidson and would often park it near The Broiler , sitting inside the door and drinking coffee — since the stop sign would get rolled out right in front of the restaurant — and watch for people to speed past the sign . Then he ’ d hop on the bike and pull them over down the street . One day , Metz says , his dad , Furlong and a local painter in town were at the bar and asked Dick Smith if they could ride his motorcycle around the block . He agreed and comedy ensued . “ They said , ‘ Let ’ s see who can drive the motorcycle … with your cocktail resting on the gas tank .’ ”
But those friendly bets weren ’ t the only gambling in town . Metz ’ s uncle came to work at the dining car ( before The Broiler took its place ), washing dishes during the Depression .
38 LAGUNABEACHMAGAZINE . COM