Uploaded April 2011 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
91 year old Isabel Mournian talks about growing up in Calexico, California. The heat in the Imperial Valley was so intense that it melted tar used in the seams between blocks of concrete sidewalk, but it was a measles epidemic that eventually caused her family to move to San Diego.
It was the Great Depression, money was scarce, and Isabel and her sister, Victoria, had to get to school. Street cars plied the avenues; a nickel a ride. A nickel Victoria and Isabel often lacked. Isabel fesses up to how they made one ticket work for two girls, and why she feels no guilt about it.
Great Grandmother: Isabel Mournian
Videographer: Anthony Mournian
91 year old Isabel Mournian talks about growing up in Calexico, California. The heat in the Imperial Valley was so intense that it melted tar used in the seams between blocks of concrete sidewalk, but it was a measles epidemic that eventually caused her family to move to San Diego.
It was the Great Depression, money was scarce, and Isabel and her sister, Victoria, had to get to school. Street cars plied the avenues; a nickel a ride. A nickel Victoria and Isabel often lacked. Isabel fesses up to how they made one ticket work for two girls, and why she feels no guilt about it.
Great Grandmother: Isabel Mournian
Videographer: Anthony Mournian
