Staying Hip to the Past

Turning back time is as easy as turning a corner in downtown Fullerton, where more than a dozen buildings predate 1930 and where venerable businesses anchor just about every block.

But more than tradition and traffic flow along downtown arteries. New blood has fostered new shopping, dining and entertainment options, making it impossible to dismiss the area as yesterday’s news.

The Vinyl Frontier

Pam and Mike Atta all but dare you to pass their Commonwealth Avenue store without stopping to ogle. Picture windows display slick furniture and slender lamps in every color of the ‘60s rainbow.

For many a baby boomer, one look triggers an orange, avocado and turquoise flashback to the styles of childhood.

The Attas opened Out of Vogue (109 E. Commonwealth Ave., 1/8714 3/8 879-6647) less than two years ago to tap their interest in the trappings of the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.

They describe it as a vintage department store, home to everything from clothes to housewares, wall hangings to guitars, all aimed at the retro-minded shopper who prefers originals to reproductions. Most everything they offer is modern or contemporary in style.

“A lot of these designs are hot in stores like Ikea, but instead of particleboard, you get real wood,” Mike Atta said.

A hot seller this season: silver aluminum Christmas trees. The Attas started with five, but two weeks before Christmas, only one remained. A 7-footer sold for $250.

Other popular items include barware, fondue sets and “any kind of bowling stuff,” Pam Atta said.

Near the center of the store, a chrome dinette set with four yellow vinyl chairs ($375) glistens like new. A 1940 Heywood-Wakefield birch desk ($1,500) draws stares near the front window, while against the back wall rests a black 1968 Schwinn Sting-Ray bike ($650), complete with banana seat and spring shock absorbers. The only things missing are the baseball cards for the spokes.

The Attas say the store attracts shoppers from as far away as Europe and Japan, some of whom are on rail tours and plan stopovers so they can walk to the store from the nearby station.

“It’s fun to just talk to people who love this stuff as much as we do,” Pam Atta said. “It’s definitely a social thing as much as a business.”

In the Loop

A social setting and shared affection are also important to Michele and Dennis Fugiel, who seven months ago opened the Harbor Lights Bar and Grill (211 N. Harbor Blvd., 1/8714 3/8 680-3663).

The object of their love is as obvious as the Sears Tower on the sign hanging out front. Already their place is one of Southern California’ favorite hangouts for transplanted Chicagoans.

From the portrait of Shoeless Joe Jackson in the front window to the two dozen Illinois license plates and the giant airbrushed likeness of the late Cubs announcer Harry Caray holding a frosty mug behind the bar, it’s clear where the Fugiels’ allegiances rest.

The two are natives of Milwaukee--just kidding. They’re Southsiders through and through, and they missed everything about their toddlin’ town after they moved to Fullerton 12 years ago. Well, everything but the cold and snow of winter. You see, Dennis Fugiel works in construction.

“The things we missed most were the quaint, friendly places you see all over the place in Chicago,” Michele Fugiel said. “The kinds of places where you go in not knowing anyone and you walk out with a bunch of new friends.”

She also missed the Chicago barbecued beef, Polish sausage and hot dogs, which she said just aren’t the same out here. So with her daughter Dawn, she cooks them up at the place.

Word of the Chicago-style favorites spread fast, and Harbor Lights is as packed as an El train at rush hour, especially on Sunday mornings and afternoons when da Bears are on da tube. Fans warm to the Rush Street Ruben ($5.95), the Cubs Club ($5.50), the Grant Park Pastrami ($5.50) and the Navy Pier Patty Melt ($5.25).

But what about patrons without an interest in Chicago or its sports teams?

Hey, they can always order the Buffalo Wings ($4.50).

Stage One

Perhaps no entity exemplifies downtown renewal better than Theatre Whereabouts (112 E. Amerige Ave., 1/8714 3/8 871-1517). In a space that previously housed an antique and curio shop, children as young as 3 now take their first tentative steps as dancers and thespians.

Anne Dunkin and co-founder Brad Willis opened the nonprofit studio and performance space in March. Dunkin, an instructor in the theater and dance department at Cal State Fullerton, teaches classes in ballet, jazz, modern and African dance.

There are also courses in acting for children and adults. The troupe plans to mount productions using actors and attracting audiences of all ages. Dunkin produced a well-received staging of A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia” earlier this year in Theatre Whereabouts’ 44-seat space. The theater also hosts shows by professional puppeteers once a month.

But the primary focus remains dance, Dunkin said, with an aim of bringing together youngsters of varied backgrounds.

“The performing arts are an excellent way for young people to get to know each other and to cross different ethnic and economic barriers,” she said.

Dunkin is soliciting donations from foundations and businesses to fund scholarships for local youths. She said downtown is the perfect place for the theater, because many of the youngsters she hopes to reach can walk to classes.

“By having our own small theater, we can put on performances more often without feeling the same push to wait until things are absolutely perfect,” she said.

“We want our students to learn together, to create together and then to go out and feel the magic that draws us into live theater.”

Starting Anew

Several downtown streets will close to cars but will teem with foot traffic Friday night as the city celebrates First Night Fullerton.

The 10th annual New Year’s Eve party will feature entertainment at more than 20 sites, including five bands, two magicians and hypnotist Cindy Layne.

For youngsters, there will be Kids’ Karaoke, a fun zone of rides and activities and two bounce houses. Festivities culminate with fireworks at midnight.

First Night tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for children 12 or younger. For more information, call (714) 738-6545.

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IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: From the westbound Riverside Freeway, take Lemon Street north for two miles and turn left on Commonwealth Avenue to Harbor Boulevard. From the eastbound Riverside Freeway, take Euclid Street north to downtown. From the Orange Freeway, take the Chapman/Nutwood exit and go west on Chapman Avenue to Harbor.

NIGHTLIFE: Good restaurants and clubs abound downtown, including: Mulberry Street Ristorante (114 W. Wilshire Ave., 1/8714 3/8 525-1056), with its nicely varied menu; family-friendly Angelo’s & Vinci’s (550 N. Harbor Blvd., 1/8714 3/8 879-4022); and Steamers Cafe (138 W. Commonwealth Ave., 1/8714 3/8 871-8800), which features live jazz nightly.

ACTIVE RETRO: Living in the past has never been more fun than at the Reagan Years, a throwback arcade that’s home to dozens of ‘80s video games.

Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders live again. Bring your quarters, or, if you want to take one home, your checkbook. The Reagan Years is in an annex behind the Hub Cafe (124 E. Commonwealth Blvd., 1/8714 3/8 525-1984).

ONLINE GUIDE: A virtual walking tour of downtown is available at the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce Web site: https://www.fullerton.org.