Community Corner
San Bruno CA: Another's View of San Bruno As We Celebrate Our Centennial
San Bruno CA: San Bruno Jargon
Paul J. Constantino wrote this article because the City of San Bruno is celebrating its Centennial on December 18, 2014.
I have lived and worked in the San Mateo County area all my life and have raised a family here. I feel that it is important to give back to the community; I also have been a member of the San Bruno American Legion Post 409. So, I have inquired, collected and refined the following local lingo and jargon and wish to share it with you.
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San Bruno Jargon
San Bruno (The Name)- Captain Bruno Hecela in 1755 named the San Bruno Area after his patron Saint Bruno. Around 1900, San Francisco land developers promoted the area as Show Place Estates. Other names have been: Friendliest Spot on the King’s Highway, Where the Sunshine Spends the Winter, The Crossroads Community, The Friendly City and currently The City with a Heart. At one time, it was also known as The Two Dollar Town which was the minimum bet at the Tranforan Race Track.
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Airport City - What some call San Bruno just west of the San Francisco Airport (SFO).
Bayhill - Name of a San Bruno shopping center on San Bruno Avenue between I-280 and Cherry Avenues west of El Camino Real.
Bru BART- Nickname for the San Bruno BART Station.
Brunas- Slang for San Bruno girls.
Bruno- Slang for San Bruno, AKA Uno, Bru/Brutown, San Boo Boo, or B Town
Brunoids- Slang describing local residents.
Camp Thompson- A WWII Navy base and housing area which was where the Bayhill Shopping Center office park and housing now exist.
Chips- Short for Chips Serenade, a former and popular restaurant at the Tanforan Race Track.
Country- Term for the San Bruno area before its growth and development; also, some called the area Navy lands because of the former Navy base.
County Road- The original name of the El Camino Real.
Crestmoor- Area south of Sneath Lane to Crystal Springs, Skyline on the west and 280 on the east where the former Crestmoor High School (now Peninsula (Penn) High School) was located.
Crusin’ the El- Driving the El Camino Real was a youth’s rite of passage.
Cupids Row- Nickname for a San Bruno housing development built in the 1930’s which streets form the shape of a heart AKA The Heart or Hearts.
Dairies- Nickname for the rural hillside area west of the El Camino Real that were formerly farms/dairies.
Del Monte Special- Name for the Southern Pacific (SP) train that stopped in San Bruno during the summer en-route from San Francisco to the Del Monte Hotel in Monterey, CA, AKA Suntan Special.
Eastside- What some call the neighborhood east of Huntington Avenue.
ECR- The abbreviated name for the El Camino Real (the Royal Road), which some called the main drag.
El Camino- Besides being the Peninsula’s main road that runs through San Bruno, it was also the name of the movie theater at the south end of San Mateo Ave. at the El Camino Real.
Executive Order 9066- The WWII mandate that ordered all Japanese-Americans civilians to be placed into internment camps along the West Coast. The Tanforan Race Track, that was called the Tanforan Assembly Center or relocation camp, was used as a staging /living area for Japanese-Americans, who were temporarily detained there in the horse stalls.
Flatlanders or Lowlanders- Name for those living in east San Bruno.
Fog City- What some call neighboring Daly City; AKA little Manila.
GGNC- The Cemetery- Short for the Golden Gate National Cemetery where U.S. military veterans are buried bordered by I-280,Sneath Lane, and El Camino Real.
GGNRA- Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is just west of San Bruno.
Grizzlies- Name of a former military unit that saw service in World War I and had an encampment at Tanforan.
Gums- Popular name for the blue gum eucalyptus trees which line some San Bruno streets.
Hamlets- A name for the early towns of San Bruno and Millbrae.
Hill People- What some called the residents of the San Bruno Highlands.
Jersey Farm Dairy- It was owned by Richard G. Sneath for whom Sneath Lane was named and covered much of west San Bruno, the Highlands.
Joe’s Short for Artichoke Joes, the popular downtown card room and casino. It got its name from Joe’s Pool Parlor (opened 1921). Its owner Joe Sammut was very liberal at accepting horse-race bets. Someone asked how he would pay if he lost a big one. “In artichoke leaves,” he answered; thus, the name Artichoke Joes.
Little Italy- What some called San Bruno in the early 20th Century because of all the Italians and Maltese residents.
Lomita Park- Name of the area between San Bruno and Millbrae that was incorporated into San Bruno in 1954.
Lullaby Lane- This wasn’t a local street but a former popular children’s clothing and furniture store for many years on San Mateo Ave.
Milbrasia- What some call Millbrae because of the large Asian population. AKA Mingbrae
Mills Field- Original name of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) that was named after Darius Ogden Mills, a California pioneer who formerly owned the land.
Narita- The name of the Japanese sister city of San Bruno.
Ohlone- Name of the area’s first settlers, the Ohlone Indians.
Polio Pit- What some formerly called a shallow wading pool in San Bruno Park.
Posy Parade- Name of the San Bruno children’s yearly parade held the first Sunday in June and dates back to WWII.
Refugee Shacks- A name for the small homes built in the area for refugees of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, AKA earthquake houses.
Rollingwood- Name of a neighborhood west of the El Camino Real.
San Bruno Herald- Name of the former local newspaper
San Bruno Toll Road- Initial name of San Mateo Ave., which some called the Turnpike.
San Francisco Sunshine Suburb- What some call the Peninsula south of San Francisco- out of the fog and into the sunshine.
Scoop- This was the nickname for the late Warren Wynkoop, a popular reporter and columnist at the San Bruno Herald.
SB- Short for San Bruno
SBA- Short for San Bruno Ave.
Schools:
CAP- Short for Capuchino High School
Mustangs- The Capuchino High School mascot.
Crestmoor High School- Now Peninsula (Penn) High School
Bottle Cap- The sports cattle cry of some former Crestmoor High School students when playing Capuchino High School.
Skyline-Short for Skyline College in San Bruno, one of the three campuses of the San Mateo Community College District. It is also the name of for Skyline Blvd., AKA state Route 35.
Seabiscuit- This wonder horse’s home was Tanforan Race Track. There is a statue of the horse at Tanforan Shopping Center. One Tanforan joke was- Who has better legs, Seabiscuit or Hollywood actress Betty Grable?
Soft Drink Parlors – Popular name for Prohibition era watering holes or speakeasies which sold soft drinks but had a hidden back or adjacent room for the real stuff.
Sweeny Ridge- The area west of San Bruno that was the discovery site where explorer Gaspar de Portola on November 4, 1769, first saw the San Francisco Bay.
The Avenue- What some call San Mateo Ave., the main street in downtown San Bruno, AKA the Turnpike or San Bruno Toll Road.
The Crossing- The name for a former US Navy site across from the Shops at Tanforan which was redeveloped into housing and businesses, AKA Navy Lands.
The 40 Line- Name for the Peninsula’s streetcar service that ran from San Francisco through San Bruno south to San Mateo that ended in 1949.
The Flume was the name given to the Crystal Springs water pipeline running from Crystal Springs Reservoir to San Francisco (built in 1884) and was visible in San Bruno.
The Jail- Short for the SF County Jail, which is just west of Skyline Blvd. off Moreland Drive.
The Lakes- Name of San Andreas Lake and Crystal Springs Reservoir along the San Andreas Fault and I-280.
The Trail- Name for the walking area along the Crystal Springs Reservoir.
Tanforan- Short for Tanforan Race Track. Greyhound racing was also conducted there. The horse racing track started in 1899 and was destroyed by a spectacular fire in 1964. It is now a major mall called the Shops at Tanforan, AFA Tanfo.
Tanforan Golf- There formerly was a nine hole golf course in the infield of the Tanforan Race Track.
Tree Streets- All of the streets off Jenevein Ave., from 280 to the El Camino are named for trees.
Two Dollar Town- The minimum bet at the former Tanforan Race Track was $2.00.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin- A former and popular El Camino roadhouse (restaurant), which burned down in in the 1950’s It was previously called the 14 Mile House.
USO- United Service Organization was in San Bruno during WWII and the Korean War. The present USO facility is located at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
Westside- Name of West San Bruno which residential growth took place after WWII. Formerly the area was flower and vegetable farms.
Whistle Stops- What some called the railroad stops along the Peninsula south of San Francisco.
World’s First Carrier Landing- On January 11, 1911, a Curtis biplane took off from Tanforan airfield in San Bruno and landed on wooden planks erected on the USS Pennsylvania, a US naval cruiser, which was anchored in San Francisco Bay. It later took off from the USS Pennsylvania and landed at Crissy Field in the Presidio of San Francisco.
o.o.o.o.
Robert Riechel
Photo Credit: San Bruno Patch Archives
Source Credit: Paul J. Constantino
Paul J. Constantino
Kubota & Constantino
Attorneys at Law
433 Airport Boulevard, Suite 323
Burlingame, CA 94010
kanc@sbcglobal.net. 650 579-7535, Fax 650 579-7445
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