When we discovered the vintage iron crown which is on our store front 3 years ago at a second hand shop in San Diego, we never dreamed that someday...the original owner of this crown would walk into our shop. Well, that's just what happened last Friday. When he walked up to our counter and asked, "Where did you get that crown on the front of our shop?", we knew in an instant it had to be him.
George McGuire, who is now in his 90's, owned Crown House Florist that was located at 817 Orange Ave during the 1960's. It is now Crown Veterinary Hospital. George now lives in North park, but was visiting Coronado with an old friend (in blue shirt) who actually worked as his delivery person back in the 60's!
We had a nice long chat about life back then, and how he acquired the iron crown. A good friend of his from Los Angeles was an artist in iron design work and he designed and made this as a gift when he opened his business. George tells us that the crown originally held jewels, but they are long gone and he thinks might even be somewhere on the roof of the building! He occasionally returns to Coronado to dine at a few of his favorite spots - Clayton's Diner and Night & Day Cafe, which is where he was headed after he left our shop. He seemed happy to have seen the crown again after all these years and when I asked him if he knew how it ever ended up in a second hand shop, he didn't have an answer. We just love the fact that it's back in Coronado!
