Avenida Rizal in the ’50s 20th-year Special (2nd of 4 stories)

Rizal Avenue has now gone to seed — dirty, noisy. The LRT killed business and entertainment establishments. Sidewalk vendors and beggars and vagrants are everywhere. Pickpockets and other criminal elements, too.

But in the ’50s, Rizal Avenue — then more popularly called by its Spanish name, Avenida Rizal — was a fashionable street, especially the stretch after Recto (then Azcarraga), extending to Tayuman and beyond.

By the way, this Sunday edition of Remember When? is part of the month-long celebration of this column which first saw print 20 years ago. It was the month of May when I started writing this Remember When? But back to Avenida Rizal.

One of the many dress shops along Avenida in the ’50s was Manila Fashion owned by good friends Flora Espiritu and Sophie Gonzales. They dressed beauty queens, socialites, debutantes and prominent ladies of the era.

Their clients included Imelda Romualdez (future First Lady), Miss Philippines of 1957 Larcy Villar, Miss Visayas 1958 Rosalind Yulo, Bicol socialite Belen Baylon, society and lifestyle chronicler Chona Trinidad.

Other fashionable establishments were Gunding Noguera’s Tres Chic, Vicky Galang’s Madonna, Fely Capati’s Debonaire, Society Creations/Carolina’s, Aureo Alonzo’s, Rita Karmichael’s.

Beauty salons were also in the Avenida area, among them, Beny Baluyot’s salon, Lino Ramos’ Kayumanggi, Rosa Soliman’s and Nomer Pabilona’s.

I might add that Bob’s photo studio was very near Manila Grand Opera House and Galaxy Theater, where I watched many stage shows and movies as a teenager. The family-owned Dolor Pharmacy was nearby.

These days, whenever I passed by Rizal Avenue, which is rarely, I have mixed emotions. Looking back, I smile, but when I realize how much Avenida Rizal has changed — for the worse — I can’t help but feel sad. Oh, those good old days when it was a fashionable street. How I miss them. — RKC