A Look Back

Jerry Person

How many of you have in your garage a small machine that when you

press a key, a mechanical arm comes up and hits a piece of cloth into a

piece of paper?

This is how our first word processor worked, back then it was known as

a typewriter.

And when you needed to replace the cloth ribbon you went down to Main

Street to Myhre Stationary where Oscar Myhre would hand you a fresh new

one.

This week I’m keeping a promise to Rusty Shepard to tell the story of

Oscar’s life.

Oscar Magnus Myhre was born in the faraway city of Oslo, Norway on

Aug. 29, 1897.

Myhre received his formal education there and when he graduated, he

served his country in the King’s Guard from 1917 to 1918.

After his service he went to work for the Carl Lassen Steamship

Company where he traveled from his native Oslo to work in Hamburg,

Germany from 1919 to 1923.

In 1923 Myhre came to America to settle in Grand Forks, ND. Not long

after coming here, Oscar became a naturalized citizen. He must of felt

right at home in North Dakota for there was a large influx of

Scandinavians in the area. Plus the weather likely reminded him of Oslo.

In 1927 he came to California, and from 1929 to 1946 he worked for a

Texas Company in Long Beach. Myhre and his wife Mary Elizabeth (Betty)

lived in Long Beach before coming to Huntington Beach in 1946 to open his stationary and gift store on Main Street. Myhre and his wife lived at 608

Olive Ave. in 1950.

For 22 years his store was at 116 Main St., and Shepard told me that

he could go in and ask Myhre for something and sure enough, he would

disappear and when he returned he would have the item in his hand.

When the city held its annual Christmas parade on Main Street, the

Myhres always held an open house where they would serve homemade

Norwegian pastries.

In the late 1950s the Myhres moved to 218 Baltimore Ave. to live.

There are some people who think of Norwegians as cold and humorless,

but that was not the case with Myhre. He would entertain his friends and

customers with humorous monologues like a fellow Scandinavian -- Victor

Borga.

In 1968 Myhre moved his store to 210 Main St. where it remained for

many years.

He was a member of our Masonic Lodge, having joined the Masons in

Palos Verde when they lived in Long Beach.

While in Long Beach Myhre was a member of Scottish rite. He was an

active member of our community where he served as a director on the board

of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce from 1950 to 1962.

In 1955 he was made vice president of the chamber working along side

the great Bill Gallienne and helping plan many events that made our city

famous.

Huntington Beach resident Ann Minnie remembers how her dad, and most

of Main Street businesses, got their business forms from Myhre.

She told me that Myhre was the kind of person that everyone liked.

Myhre left us forever on October 5, 1976. His Norwegian wit stilled

but not his memory in those who knew him, especially my good friend Rusty

Shepard.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.