Bill Owens

1972 (print 2004)

He's a typical Californian who doesn't know how to relax.

1972 (print 2004)

Doing laundry is death defying; as soon as you're done you have to start all over again.

1972 (print 2004)

Bourbon and Seven is my favorite drink.

1972 (print 2004)

We don't have to conform.

1972 (print 2004)

Every Sunday Abe and I read The New York Times and have roast beef for dinner.

1972 (print 2004)

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1972 (print 2004)

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1972 (print 2004)

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1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

Sunday afternoon we get it together. I cook the steaks and my wife makes the salad.

1972 (print 1998)

One of the joys of living in the suburbs is taking care of your own lawn.

1972 (print 1998)

I find a sense of freedom in the suburbs... You assume the mask of suburbia for outward appearances and yet no one knows what you really do.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

I bought the lawn in six-foot rolls. It's easy to handle. I prepare the ground and my wife and son helped roll out the grass. In one day you have a front yard.

1972 (print 1998)

We moved up to a nicer house. We thought we'd do better, but the real estate man got us. Closing costs were supposed to be $295 but they turned out to be $750. They have you where they want you--you've already moved into the house.

1972 (print 1998)

People throw away a lot of good things: clothes, toys, broken toasters, record players, and in the newer areas they throw out tables and chairs that don't fit in their new house. The ecology movement doesn't matter. I make over $250 in coke bottles. People here can't realize there are poor people in the world. They can't think about the needs of other people.

1972 (print 1998)

We had a ball on the Fourth of July. The whole neighborhood came out for the parade.

1972 (print 1998)

I enjoy cooking, dogs, cats, kids, soccer, and living here.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

We lived in our house for a year without any living room furniture. We wanted to furnish the room with things we loved, not early attic or leftovers. Now we have everything but the pictures and the lamps.

1972 (print 1998)

Togetherness really exists in our family. My daughter and I operate the lunch room at the Valley Inn. My sons work part-time with their dad, hanging sheet-rock. And my eldest two sons work at the Gulf gas station on P St. We have seven cars and two motorcycles in our family.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

I believe in women's liberation. I'm tired of the image of the woman who has the most sanitary toilet bowl, the cleanest floor, and the brattiest kids as the supermother. I want to be able to change with my children and to change with my life as I grow older. Staying at home and taking care of the kids doesn't help.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

My husband, Pat, has a theory about watering our newly seeded lawn. The water has to trinkle from heaven and fall like tender rain drops... otherwise the lawn won't grow properly.

1972 (print 1998)

I get a lot of compliments on the front room wall. I like Italian Syrocco floral designs over the mantle. It goes well with the Palos Verde rock fireplace.

1972 (print 1998)

We've been married two months and everything we own is in this room.

1972 (print 1998)

This isn't what we really want - the tract house, the super car, etc.... But as long as we are wound up in this high speed environment, we will probably never get out of it! We don't need the super car to be happy; we really want a small place in the country where you can breathe the air.

1972 (print 1998)

We're home three weekends a year. Our camper is our real home. Being a member of the National Campers and Hikers Association gives our family the opportunity and the enjoyment of getting out of town every weekend... and to camp with other families.

1972 (print 1998)

The California garage today, out of necessity, requires that you move the cars out and the tools in. To a point I enjoy working in the garage, but I'd rather be doing something else.

1972 (print 1998)

This is our outdoor garage sale... last minute kids' items for Christmas shoppers.

1972 (print 1998)

I find the tensions of the day go away when I run a few miles before dark. The light is different, I hear new things and smell new odors like a fireplace burning oakwood. Sometimes I find that dogs are not man's best friend.

1972 (print 1998)

We enjoy having these things.

1972 (print 1998)

Tuo-Tuo, our dog, is a very expensive household pet. It costs 30¢ a day to feed him--that's $109 a year--and $13 a month to have him groomed--that's $155 a year--not including the vet bill. We spend over $350 a year, but we don't care. We love him.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

I'm OK You're OK is a study of transcendental meditation.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

This is Valerie's world in miniature. She makes it what she wants it to be... without war, racial hate or miunderstanding. Ken and Barbie (dolls) are man and woman rather than Mom and Dad. They enjoy living and having a camper truck is the good life. Today Valerie has the chicken pox and can't go out and play.

1972 (print 1998)

I enjoy giving a Tupperware party in my home. It gives me a chance to talk to my friends. But really, Tupperware is a homemaker's dream, you save time and money because your food keeps longer.

1972 (print 1998)

It's a great pleasure to watch yourself make love in the six dozen mirrors that line the ceilings and walls. I've spent a tremendous amount of thought and planning to get the total effect of the bedroom. It's fascinating to watch our friends' reactions to seeing the luxury and sensuousness of the room. Our bedroom is the most enjoyable room in the house.

1972 (print 1998)

We feel most people have the wrong attitude towards sex, that it's nasty and has to be done only in the dark. With us sex takes care of itself.

1972 (print 1998)

I put it off until I can't stand it anymore. THe rottenest job in the whole house is cleaning the bathroom.

1972 (print 1998)

I wanted Christina to learn some responsibility for cleaning her room, but it didn't work.

1972 (print 1998)

I believe in strict discipline of my children, but they also deserve the right of self-explanation.

1972 (print 1998)

Andrew doesn't like to go to the bathroom alone.

1972 (print 1998)

I don't like the space walk. It's Saturday morning and I want to see cartoons.

1972 (print 1998)

We'd rather play games than watch TV.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

How can I worry about the damned dishes when there are children dying in Vietnam.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

We're really happy. Our kids are healthy, we eat good food, and we have a really nice home.

1972 (print 1998)

I enjoy the suburbs. They provide Girl Scouts, PTA, Little League, and soccer for my kids. The thing I miss most is Black cultural identity for my family. White middle-class suburbia can't supply that. Here the biggest cultural happening has been the opening of two department stores.

1972 (print 1998)

I love to cook. Meal time is the only time the family is together. In spite of my modern kitchen, cooking dinner for six takes two hours. Then the kids inhale the food in minutes. After they are grown maybe they will remember the meals that their mother cooked.

1972 (print 1998)

Because we live in the suburbs we don't eat too much Chinese food. It's not available in the supermarkets so on Saturday we eat hot dogs.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

My hobby is drinking. On the weekends I enjoy getting together with my friends and boozing.

1972 (print 1998)

We really enjoy living in a mobile home. My hobby is collecting coins and my wife plays her Wurlitzer for entertainment.

1972 (print 1998)

We've been collecting rocks since 1958. It's enjoyable to get out into the open and hunt for rocks, and it's really fun to cut open a rock and find a gem inside.

1972 (print 1998)

I have all the cares of home ownership and the privacy of apartment living. We have an investment in the house. So I find myself doing all the undesirable chores to protect our investment.

1972 (print 1998)

Before the dissolution of our marriage my husband and I owned a bar. One day a toilet broke and we brought it home.

1972 (print 1998)

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... and Friday I have my hair done.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

We really enjoy getting together with our friends to drink and dance. It's a wild party and we're having a great time.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

This is our second annual Fouth of July block party. This year thirty-three families came for beer, barbequed chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, green salad, macaroni salad, and watermelon. After eating and drinking we staged our parade and fireworks.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

If Bank of American knew the truth...

1972 (print 1998)

I bought the Doughboy pool for David and the kids and now no one wants to take the responsibility for cleaning it.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

I put my hair up once or twice a week. It's the only way I can get curls in it. When it's combed out, I'm willing to be seen in public.

1972 (print 1998)

Some days when there is no one to play with I build Glenn a tent play house out of two chairs and two blankets.

1972 (print 1998)

My kids love soccer and this is Saturday morning before the game.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

I don't feel that Richie playing with guns will have a negative effect on his personality. (He already wants to be a policeman). His childhood gun-playing won't make him into a cop-shooter. By playing with guns he learns to socialize with other children. I find the neighbors who are offended by Richie's gun, either the father hunts or their kids are the first to take Richie's gun and go off and play with it.

1972 (print 1998)

The best way to help your city government and have fun is to come out on a Saturday morning and pull weeds in a median strip.

1972 (print 1998)

My dad thinks it's a good idea to take all the leaves off the tree and rake up the yard. I think he's crazy.

1972 (print 1998)

I believe organized sports make better citizens of children. I have four boys and they all play baseball and soccer. They learn to cooperate with others...and that winning isn't always the most important thing to do.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

Bonnie and Bob Powers

1972 (print 1998)

Milton and Sylvia Grissom

1972 (print 1998)

Jane and Norm Volponi

1972 (print 1998)

Aaron Myra Latkin

1972 (print 1998)

Paul Dumas and Linda McPherson

1972 (print 1998)

Judy and Walt Hanhy

1972 (print 1998)

Bruce and Pat Barney

1972 (print 1998)

Richard and Ivy Osyerude

1972 (print 1998)

Ann and Mel Lemos

1972 (print 1998)

Janet and Lee Keene

1972 (print 1998)

Celia and John Baker and John Jr.

1972 (print 1998)

Rhonda and Joy Gilbert

1972 (print 1998)

Sara and Abraham Goldberg

1972 (print 1998)

Renee and Dennis Alberts

1972 (print 1998)

James and Nora Ross

1972 (print 1998)

Nonie and Jerrold Schwartz

1972 (print 1998)

Cleo and James Pruden

1972 (print 1998)

Frances, John and Steve Wheelock

1972 (print 1998)

Katherine and Bob Riley

1972 (print 1998)

It's fun to break up the glass. We're doing our thing for ecology and the Boy Scouts will give us a badge for working here.

1972 (print 1998)

We like to play war.

1972 (print 1998)

Washing cars is a great way for a group of kids to make some money.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

I really love him.

1972 (print 1998)

There is nothing to do in Suburbia.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

They're still going together.

1972 (print 1998)

Basically we are very much alike, the same individual. Our temperaments however are different, we reflect on things differently. My son was raised to think for himself. My father is an ex-army officer, I'm an ex-Marine. My life-style changes were hard for my dad to understand. I'm a freer individual, not different. He doesn't understand that.

1972 (print 1998)

The furniture is worn out. Don and Tom have grown up and soon will leave for college. Pat will have to cook for two.

1972 (print 1998)

Last year I got 4 pounds of candy. 72 jelly beans, 67 Candy Corns, 26 Tootsie Rolls, 18 Tootsie Pops, 21 licorice sticks, 15 jaw breakers, 14 bubble gums, 11 packs of gum, 10 Baby Ruth Bars, 11 Hershey bars, 4 Peter Paul Mounds bars, 3 Sugar Daddies, 3 popcorn balls, 3 Milky Way bars, 2 bags of cookies, 2 salt water taffy, and a candy apple. It took me three days and I ate everything.

1972 (print 1998)

Every year I go to my mother-in-law's for Thanksgiving and every year I swear I'll never do it again. But I always do, do it again.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

Bill Owens' family and his in-laws.

1972 (print 1998)

For the last four years we have given a caroling party. We sing for at least forty families in our neighborhood. We do this because we feel that Christmas has become too commercial.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

We have to move. My husband's been transferred to Southern California.

1972 (print 1998)

Our house is built with the living room in the back, so in the evenings we sit out front of the garage and watch the traffic go by.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

Fourteen years ago Dublin, California was a crossroads on U.S. 50 and Highway 21. The population was less than 1,000 (most of them cows). Today Dublin is the crossroads of Interstate Highways 580 and 680 with a population over 25,000 people. We now have fifteen gas stations, six supermarkets, two department stores, and a K-Mart. And we're still growing.

1972 (print 1998)

Once you hit the Freeway you can be in San Francisco in forty minutes.

1972 (print 1998)

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1972 (print 1998)

Bill and Janet Owens, 1970

c. 1976

United States Postal Worker

c. 1971

Untitled from Suburbia

c. 1973

The Twin Valley Mothers of Twins Club got started when four mothers all with twins decided we needed moral support . . . physically and mentally. We now have twenty-six mothers and belong to the national organization of Mothers and Twins Club. More important we wanted our twins to know that they weren't different from other children they were individuals even though they were twins. Today is our annual Easter egg hunt.

c. 1972

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c. 1975

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c. 1976

Massage opens up the soul. That's why I chose it as a profession. I also make good money.

1969

Hell's Angels at Altamot

c. 1973

The forester's is an old fraternal organization we started back in the time of Robin Hood and his forest. Each of our new president's makes his grand entry in a different way. One year it was a boat, a train, and this year by horse.

1975

The Masons is the oldest fraternal organization in the world. We believe in God, Brotherhood and Charity. We stick together and stay middle-of-the-road. As a Mason you are never down and out. There is always a brother to help you.

c. 1973

A lot of people say we're chunks of meat, like cattle, but we're not. We're all individuals with dreams and aspirations like everybody else. Being a beauty contestant has taught me about myself, other people, poise and public speaking. If I had to do it over again, I would.

c. 1975

The Military Order of the Louse is a veterans group, so-named because many servicemen got lice while ride in boxcars during World War I. The women's auxiliary, the Cootiettes, started in 1930. Our first Supreme Crawl was held in Denver, Colorado in 1936. Our main activities are assisting veterans and keeping alive the spirit of fellowship; our allegiance is to the government of the United States of America.

c. 1975

The Elks

c. 1973

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c. 1973

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c. 1976

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c. 1971

Sunday Afternoon (Arnold Lakin)

c. 1973

My witness is here for Jehovah. Usually people walk by, but if you catch someone's eye they will stop and take the magazine

c. 1976

Playboy Golf Tournament

c. 1976

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c. 1976

Newspaper Editor

c. 1976

Disc Jockey

c. 1976

Television cameramen are a special breed. When you read something in a book you say that's someone's opinion. When you see it on TV you say that's gospel. I have one minute, thirty seconds to make a statement. It has to be accurate, it has to be the truth.

c. 1976

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c. 1976

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c. 1976

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