Sunday, Mar. 03, 2013 | 08:15 AM
Question: I own a piece from one of Sam Naman's automated exhibits from the Big Fresno Fair. What years were they displayed, and did he do all the work himself?
-- Oran Hildebrand, Fresno
Answer: Sam Naman's handmade mechanized figures posed in scenes of life in the 1800s were popular attractions in the Commerce and Industry building at the Fresno Fair from 1948 to 1975.
Naman was born in Turkey in about 1893. His family first moved to New York and came to Fresno in 1907 when Naman was about 14.
For his displays, Naman dressed mannequins in costumes and used small motors to make them move. In 1958, he used 13 motors to drive the figures in an 1890s wedding scene, including a bride cutting the cake, a figure playing the organ and a man mixing punch.
"The fact that they were animated pleased fairgoers," Naman said in the 1960s.
Some of his other whimsical displays included a mother in a kitchen stirring cake batter, a storekeeper wetting the tip of a pencil on his tongue and a rocking chair just missing a dog's wagging tail.
Naman also decorated a float with a display that he entered in parades throughout California, including San Francisco's Chinatown and St. Patrick's Day parades.
The displays were a hobby for Naman. After working for a dried-fruit packing business, Naman started the Santa Lucia Winery in 1933. He became the public relations director for Valley Motor Lines in 1948.
Naman's son, William, often helped him build the figures and displays, which consistently won top awards. "I've collected so many trophies I don't know what to do with them," Naman said in the 1950s.
Before Naman died in 1978 at age 85 he sold all his displays to Fresno businessman and historian Frank Caglia. The collection filled a 6,000-square-foot warehouse.
About 40 of Naman's figures made a return appearance at the 1984 Big Fresno Fair. In 1990, a Christmas display of Naman's figures was set up in a Fulton Mall store.
Q: The Kern Cafe downtown was owned by a wonderful couple who were excellent cooks. They made the best ham-and-cheese crepes and home-baked desserts. The building was torn down, but did they ever open another restaurant?
-- Marguerite Macias, Clovis
A: Armen and Odet Hamayelian retired after the Kern Cafe closed ahead of the wrecking ball in 2002. "That was enough," Armen Hamayelian said of the 17 years they owned the tiny diner with 17 stools at the counter.
"We enjoyed it a lot. We made a lot of good friends," he said. Many former customers have remained close friends. "We go to their weddings and graduations. They're my family, my children," he said.
The cinder-block building that housed the cafe was built on Kern Street between L and M streets in the 1930s. The original owner, Gary Sakajian, was a regular customer at the cafe.
The Kern Cafe closed in October 2002 and the building was torn down to make way for a parking lot.
Q: What is the history of the building on the northwest corner of Shaw and Palm avenues that has been torn down?
-- Michael Boone, Fresno
A: The recently demolished Fig Garden Shopping Center opened in 1954 with Black's market, Potter Drug store, Byde's hardware and Combs Cleaners.
The center was owned by the late O.J. Woodward, father of the late Ralph W. Woodward, for whom Woodward Park is named.
"We made a careful study of the neighborhood," O.J. Woodward said when plans for the center were announced in 1950. "We found a shopping center is needed badly in the area. More than 900 families live within a 1-mile radius."
The brick-and-steel building was "a ranch-type structure of early California architectural style," according to a 1950 Fresno Bee story. A 14-foot-wide arcade supported by columns surrounded the building.
Black's market was the anchor tenant. The company owned five other stores in Fresno and eight in Stockton.
The hardware store was the third Fresno location for Walter Byde, whose other stores were on Fulton Street and in the Tower District.
There were four other Combs Cleaners. Potter Drugs was also located on Fulton Street and in the Mayfair Shopping Center on McKinley Avenue.
The larger Fig Garden Village opened on the northeast corner across Palm Avenue in 1956.
