Glimpses of South Pasadena: Remnants of the Past (#1)

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Remnants of the Past (#1)

I never knew Cappy's back when it was more than just an iconic South Pas storefront with locked doors. I've heard some great stories about it, though. What are yours?

10 comments:

Mister Earl said...: Don't have any stories, but they had a great collection of collector bottles in the shape of Cadillacs, trains, Elvis, all kinds of stuff. I believe the family still owns that building - why they don't rent it out I have no idea. Seems like it's been vacant for 10 or 15 years.; May 28, 2011 at 9:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Oh, too many stories about that place. It was great.; May 28, 2011 at 4:14 PM
Who cares what I think? said...: The bottles were great. Didn't the owner die last year?; May 28, 2011 at 4:50 PM
Anonymous said...: Whatever happened to the old hardware store?; May 28, 2011 at 4:50 PM
Mister Earl said...: Balk's hardware closed, I believe, because it couldn't compete with the likes of OSH and Home Depot. And so it goes...

Cappy died, but I'm not sure how long ago. More than a year, I think. I did a bit of research on him when this subject last came up, and I found his obit, but don't recall when it was. I believe one of his daughters lives in Alhambra.; May 28, 2011 at 8:06 PM
TheChieftess said...: What's weird...is that it was unoccupied when I first was involved in SoPas, yet completely intact inside...as a matter of fact, it took me awhile before I realized it was not open for business!!! Then one day they finally put paper on the windows so you can't look in...it's like a little ghost store in town!!!; May 29, 2011 at 9:40 AM
Pasadena Adjacent said...: I knew one of the daughters. She had a horse at Wartses stables before it became the ritzy San Pasqual bording facilities.; May 29, 2011 at 12:30 PM
Pasadena Adjacent said...: Wartzes or Wartses? as in the Wartz or Warts family; May 30, 2011 at 12:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Those of you that ever frequented Cappy's would agree with me that it was not the cleanest store in South Pasadena. The joke of the century came when Cappy posted a sign on the counter. It read "Please do not scratch off your lottery tickets here for sanitary reasons" I guess he didn't want to bother the roaches.

You will also notice that the entire back porch of the building is paved in the same material as the crosswalk were on Fair Oaks. This was completed at approximately the same time that crosswalks were completed. When I questioned Cappy about the similarity he just said well what a coincidence. Cappy was a nice man and I miss him; August 1, 2011 at 11:53 PM
parker said...: I was always kind of scared as a kid to go into cappies to buy baseball cards in the '80's. It was an intimidating atmosphere for a 7 year old, all those liquor bottles and weird items and it was always kind of dark inside...I'm sure the people were nice though...; November 10, 2011 at 8:30 AM