It took a quake and two fires

Lolita Harper

She was barely out of school. A young, attractive Newport Beach

brunette looking for her job. Forty-eight years later, Laura Williams

retired from what was then Vincent’s Lido Drug Store.

Her bright pink lips part in a wide smile as she laughs about her

contribution to the American workforce.

“I had a part-time job that lasted 48 years,” she joked. “Shows

how smart I am.”

Business savvy or not, Williams said she cherished her years at

the classic site. She remembers her longtime place of employment

fondly, and her wizened eyes grow wide with memories of the “most

glamorous drug store in California.”

Williams, who was the store’s first employee, said she was so

excited to work at the brand-new glass-front store on the corner of

Via Lido and Newport Boulevard. The view was unsurpassed, she said.

The store was the perfect place from which to watch each sunset.

An earthquake hit the very day it opened. At the time, nobody

thought anything of its symbolism, but time would tell: The location

was a target for disaster.

Williams worked a variety of tasks at the local drug store,

including the cosmetics counter and soda fountain, selling candy in

the community and ordering the drugs and prescriptions for the store.

As time went on, she simply couldn’t leave because she loved her job

so much. She loved the atmosphere, the area, her colleagues and the

clientele.

She was once described in the Lido Scrapbook as “one of the

loveliest ladies to ever grace the pharmacy counter.”

“And I got to meet all the movie stars,” she said excitedly.

John Wayne, Lana Turner, Bob Hope and Robert Wagner were just a

few of the Hollywood icons who graced the quaint Newport Beach drug

store with their presence.

Vincent’s had everything, far ahead of today’s convenience stores,

Williams said, including music, cosmetic, baby and tobacco

departments and a large pharmacy. But the main attraction was the

unsurpassed 33-seat soda fountain, which was surrounded by shocking

pink walls and beveled glass panels, she said.

The counter was open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and served the most

scrumptious homemade food, she said. Most people bellied up to the

fountain in the evening for a soda after “the show.” With the marquee

movie theater next door, the drug store catered to a fun-loving

crowd.

Vincent’s Lido Drug Store survived its first fire, but could not

withstand the second, which ravaged the interior and caused its

ultimate demise. Even after the structure itself was destroyed, the

drug store continued to operate from a temporary building with the

help of extremely loyal customers. The vintage drug store was finally

moved and renamed under new ownership as Via Lido Drug Store.

* LOOKING BACK runs Sundays. Do you know of a person, place or

event that deserves a historical look back? Let us know. Contact

James Meier by fax at (949) 646-4170; e-mail at

james.meier@latimes.com; or mail at c/o Daily Pilot, 330 W. Bay St.,

Costa Mesa, CA 92627.