When Don Samuels stepped into the museum one Spring afternoon to offer to donate an 800-pound, vintage safe once used by the Monrovia Telephone and Telegraph Co., we were all ears! But behind the story of the safe is Don's family's long history as local residents and owners of Monrovia Van and Storage, a family-owned and very successful business operation spanning four decades. Read the short story below.
Monrovia Van and Storage was a business owned and operated by the Samuels family from the early 1940s to 1979. Clifford Samuels moved his family to Monrovia from Iowa in 1937. He used funds from the sale of the family farm to purchase his home at 956 West Olive and to buy his first truck. The trucking business started slowly during the war years. However, with the end of World War II and the subsequent influx of people to Southern California, the business thrived.
From the beginning, the business office was located at 141 East Colorado, the current home of the Peach Café. By the mid-1950s, Monrovia Van and Storage had five trucks and was moving families and businesses, locally and across the state. Their trucks displayed the name of Monrovia wherever they went. In 1958, the business opened a used furniture store next door at 137 East Colorado. The original office at 141 East Colorado as well as five store fronts on the 100 block of East Olive were used for temporary storage of their customer’s belongings. My grandfather's woodshop was located on an elevated platform at the back of 141 East Colorado. To this day, that same elevated platform is at the rear of the Peach Cafe.
In 1953, Clifford continued to work in the office but turned the business over to two of his sons, Kenneth and Duane. My father, Kenneth, brought his family to Monrovia shortly after Clifford and built his first home at 514 West Olive. By the late fifties the grandsons Larry, Dick and Don (myself) were old enough to spend their summers helping out with the family business. Both Kenneth and Duane were active members of the Monrovia business community. Kenneth was long time member of the Monrovia Elks Club and Duane an active member of the Monrovia Kiwanis club.
Clifford continued to answer the phone until his death in 1968. Eventually, the company was purchased and absorbed by a large national affiliate and the doors of Monrovia Van and Storage at 141 East Colorado were closed for the last time in 1979.
From the beginning, the business office was located at 141 East Colorado, the current home of the Peach Café. By the mid-1950s, Monrovia Van and Storage had five trucks and was moving families and businesses, locally and across the state. Their trucks displayed the name of Monrovia wherever they went. In 1958, the business opened a used furniture store next door at 137 East Colorado. The original office at 141 East Colorado as well as five store fronts on the 100 block of East Olive were used for temporary storage of their customer’s belongings. My grandfather's woodshop was located on an elevated platform at the back of 141 East Colorado. To this day, that same elevated platform is at the rear of the Peach Cafe.
In 1953, Clifford continued to work in the office but turned the business over to two of his sons, Kenneth and Duane. My father, Kenneth, brought his family to Monrovia shortly after Clifford and built his first home at 514 West Olive. By the late fifties the grandsons Larry, Dick and Don (myself) were old enough to spend their summers helping out with the family business. Both Kenneth and Duane were active members of the Monrovia business community. Kenneth was long time member of the Monrovia Elks Club and Duane an active member of the Monrovia Kiwanis club.
Clifford continued to answer the phone until his death in 1968. Eventually, the company was purchased and absorbed by a large national affiliate and the doors of Monrovia Van and Storage at 141 East Colorado were closed for the last time in 1979.
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