Another thing I remember is the police phones scattered about the city. There were a ton of them. If my terrible memory is working I think they were called "Gamewells" or something similar. When I first heard the term I was as confused about them as most of the other things I was hearing, even though the LAPD has never used the 10 codes. You had to go to a large library to find a copy of the penal code so you could figure out a 211 and a 459, until one day you discovered "Police Call." I'm told that "Gamewell" was a brand name. They were in a large silver box mounted to street light poles or just mounted on pedestals on sidewalks. There weren't any or there were very few in residential areas. I don't remember any fire alarm boxes on the streets, either I was too young to remember or they were gone by the late 1950's. Maybe large commercial areas had them or downtown still had them, I just don't remember. I do remember that candy bars were a nickel and on Saturdays, at Sav-on Drug Stores they were 3 candy bars for a dime, but just on that day only.
When embossed label makers first came out my dad made a blue one for the PD number, red for the FD and green for the ambulance. I think McCormick provided the ambulances, which were actually hearses painted green.
Without handhelds I remember the PD cars turned their radios up pretty loud, at least at accident scenes and similar. They didn't always have them turned up real loud in residential areas. I can't imagine going inside a house and getting into a tangle with someone unexpectedly with the radio outside in the car.
