Izzie Hallock | Signal Tribune
To Mary Hinds, the history of cars in Long Beach is a story of her childhood. As a member on the Historical Society of Long Beach (HSLB) board, Hinds explained how she was the mind behind new exhibition, Chrome! Cruisin’, Car Clubs and Drag Strips. “I am the one that came up with the idea for it,” she said. “I got the idea because I am a native of Long Beach. I grew up here in Bixby Knolls, and I graduated from Poly in 1963. So, the car clubs and drag racing at Lions Drag Strip are things I remember very vividly.” The exhibit’s grand opening was on Saturday, July 14 along with a featured car show at the newly reopened George’s ‘50s Diner. Julie Bartolotto, executive director for HSLB, said that the exhibit will be free and open to the public until March 8, 2019. Bartolotto explained that donations are appreciated for future projects. The exhibit, according to Hinds, is broken up into three parts: cruising, car clubs and drag strips. “The cruising is what we did. We would cruise in cars from drive-ins. […] We would go to the drive-in theaters. That was an integral part of dating. If you didn’t have anything to do or it was after on a weekend night or it was after an event, you would cruise the restaurants,” Hinds said. “Teenage boys could get their hands on cars, and then they would form car clubs, because they were all fascinated with all of these engines. […] So, the third part of it was drag strips. Lions Drag Strips was this iconic, mythical– because it got wiped out– drag strip. […] It was just this wonderful place if you like cars, and it was part of Long Beach’s history. So, that is the drag strip part of it.” Hinds added that the exhibit serves as a model of what life was like for those growing up in Long Beach during the ‘50s. “[The exhibit] is just this glorious, fun memory of the best time in the history of the world to be a teenager, and the best place to be a teenager at the time was Southern California.”
