Someone asked me recently what Lima was like back in the “good old days,” and I hesitated. Despite the fact my first visit was in December of 1958, I decided to go back a little further. I turned to my good friend, Hal McNicol, a retired professional pilot and businessman who now resides in San Diego, California with his wife, Ursula.
There are few people who have enjoyed the pleasures of Lima like Hal McNicol. Hal was born in California some 87 years ago and raised in the Palos Verdes area. At the age of 12, he was one of the original 30 surfers enjoying the Pacific waves along the local beaches. When he was 19, he bought one of those huge wooden boards from a friend who was entering the military and he didn't hang it up until he joined the U.S. Navy and became a pilot in 1942. It was 14 ft. long, 18 inches wide, 4 inches thick, weighed 100 lbs. and had been made in a Japanese boat yard in Honolulu, of all places, in 1937.
The board remained in his mother's garage until just recently. After a visit to his home by another old surfing contemporary, Pepe Schiaffino from Lima's Waikiki Club, he happily donated it for the new Surfing Museum at Club Kon Tiki, Playa Hermosa, just south of Lima. This little surfing paradise was discovered by Hal one day during one of his routing flights back to the Limatambo airport in the early 50´s, and a week later, all the boys from the Waikiki were invited down to explore the new waves.
When WWII ended, Hal landed a job with POA, Pacific Overseas Airways, which had sold a DC-4 to a budding new airline called Peruvian International Airline, PIA. His first assignment was as Flight Officer delivering the first unit. Hal flew with PIA until the competition with long established carrier, Pan American Grace Airlines (PANAGRA) was too much to bear, and he was invited to fly with PANAGRA.
“Lima was beautiful, quiet and extremely picturesque. I rented a house in San Isidro near the Lima golf course for S/.300 Soles a month which I shared with some fellow American pilots. The official exchange rate at the time was S/.6 Soles per dollar, but you could get S/.15 on the street. The Lima Golf Club in San Isidro along with the Cricket Club were extremely popular among Lima's upper social classes as well as many from the foreign population. Lima, San Isidro and Miraflores were all laid back residential areas.
The Hotel Bolivar on the Plaza San Martin downtown was the center of society and Jiron de La Union was "The" Main Street for shopping. Lima's large brick prison called the Panoptico* was nearby and a reminder for the locals to behave themselves. It was fortunately torn down in the late 50´s, and today the Sheraton Hotel sits on the same grounds. The U.S. Embassy was only blocks away. As to population, Lima had between 500,000 to 600,000 residents, and now I understand there are more than 8 million people.
The weather during those years (1946 to 1954) was extremely predictable. Summer was a "definite" 15th of October until 15th of April. Full sunshine, no fog, no clouds. Every year they held lotteries where everyone bet on what day “winter" would start. That's the day the clouds rolled in, a foggy mass stretching from 400 feet to 1000 feet up in the air. Limatambo Airport which preceded the present Jorge Chavez Airport finally got its ILS (Instrument Landing System). Up until then, there was a hill close to the Central Highway leading to Chosica and the foothills of the Andes. The peak of the hill had been painted white so the pilots could have a reference to let-down out to sea and then come back into Lima under the 400 foot overcast during the winter months.
Herradura Beach was the southern border of Lima. After that it was only desert sand all the way down the coast to the Inca ruins of Pachacamac. The road between Lima and the port of Callao was just vacant land until you hit the docks. The Pan American Highway ran south of the Limatambo Airport and there was nothing east of Limatambo except vacant land which is now the populous San Borja district.
Ancon beach resort, an hour north of Lima, was really a distance from town but a nice place to spend a vacation in the summer. The Hipodromo horse track was also way out and very popular. There were paved streets and empty sub-divisions all the way to the cliffs over the ocean and very few homes at that time. Miraflores was just a small village and the largest buildings were the church in the park and the municipality. The Terrazas tennis club on the cobblestone road leading down to the Pacific Ocean was a very popular spot for gringos, and at the bottom of the road was the Club Waikiki. The road along the bay was dirt but no problem.
My favourite hangout was, of course, the Club Waikiki. I and two fellow American pilots who also surfed were tagged "Los Tres Gringos," and we had the great life rubbing elbows with the local jet setters of the time. The personality behind the Waikiki and its founder was Carlos Dogny, son of a former French military attaché assigned to Peru. Carlos was a strapping bronzed athlete and lady's man, and extremely well connected. He was Mr. Public Relations for the local elite. We soon became friends. Then a curious incident developed.
Peru needed American Dollars. The Peruvian Government had contacted Hollywood to let them know the advantages of filming in Peru. Hollywood grabbed the bait, as they had several movies planned that could be filmed in Peru. They sent a team of six top location scouts to Lima on Panagra´s “El InterAmericano,” our DC-6B that had picked them up in Panama. I happened to be at the airport when they arrived and was in the customs area. Here were these top Hollywood scouts who dressed and travelled first class. The custom officers told everyone including the Hollywood exec's to open up their suitcases. Each travelled with two or more bags. The customs officers began pulling everything out that was new or looked new.
The visitors called the Panagra agent and asked what was going on. Meanwhile, the custom officers and their boss said that all the clothes and shoes looked new and they would have to pay duty. They explained to the Panagra agent that they were Hollywood scouts looking for film locations and that all the contents of their suit cases were for their own personal use. The Customs agent wouldn't back down. The head of the group turned around to the Panagra agent and said "STOP! Put us back on the Panagra aircraft and we'll do our filming in Chile." So off they went. Next day at the Club I told Carlos Dongy about the airport incident and how Customs had screwed up a golden opportunity for Peru. Wow! Three days later, the entire airport Customs staff was reassigned to Callao. Carlos was furious and got hold of his friends in Hollywood and assured them that nothing like that would ever happen again.
John Wayne came down the following summer and, of course, had no Customs problems. One of my close friends and head of Panagra publications at the Lima airport was Dick Weldy. I had invited Dick and his girlfriend Pilar to Club Waikiki as my guest frequently. Dick was well liked and Pilar was a beautiful young Peruvian and of course no one at Waikiki objected to anyone bringing a guest, especially a beautiful young girl. I didn't know it at the time but Dick and John Wayne had been good friends for years and when John Wayne arrived, the first thing he did was to contact Dick. Yes, John Wayne also came down to the club several times with Dick and Pilar. During that time, Dick and Pilar were starting to have problems and John asked Dick if he could date her. Dick said “be my guest” and you know the rest. John Wayne married Pilar Palette and they had three kids. Pilar still lives in Orange County, not too far from the John Wayne Airport and also has a beautiful home overlooking the Pacific in Acapulco.
A big event that shook the gringo community in early 1954 was a fatal political mistake made by the Peruvian government. At that time, there were about 1,000 employees on the Panagra payroll living in Lima including 175 pilots and their families, plus all administrative, maintenance, operations, food supply and bookkeeping staff and their families. In addition, Braniff, the competition, also started assigning crews and employees to Lima as they expanded operations in South America. It was estimated that all these American families contributed about 85% of their income to the local economy in addition to paying Peruvian Taxes, which were reasonably low.
The government decided that all foreigners should pay taxes in the currency of their native country and at the same rate they paid back home. This became a major issue, especially with W.R. Grace & Co. that had ships, an airline, and employees all over Peru. There were sugar mills, paper factories, distilleries, paint factories, textile plants, and even a cookie factory. There were also American employees here with National City Bank of N.Y., City Bank, ESSO, etc. The U.S. Ambassador and the top executives did everything they could to dissuade the Peruvian authorities, but to no avail. They pointed out that schools, shops, and other local businesses catering to the gringos would suffer dearly. To make things worse, the government then said it would be retroactive up to two years.
Panagra and Braniff said it was unacceptable and that they would have to transfer all foreign personnel to the States immediately. The notice fell on deaf ears. Panagra and Braniff sent their crews to Miami and Dallas, respectively. We all were required to pay our “back taxes” in order to get our exit permit. We were shocked. Six months after we all left, the Peruvian government contacted W. R. Grace and the other American companies and said they had made a mistake, inviting them all to come back under the old tax structure. No one returned. Businesses in San Isidro and Miraflores were hard hit. Most of the schools closed.
Those were the dark moments. I left with the fondest of memories. I even married a lovely young German girl I met near my home who was an au pair with a German family in San Isidro. After a year of flirting with her as she passed my house with her young charges, and a brief courtship, she bid farewell. She had finished her contract and was returning to her family in Germany.
"You're leaving? I was going to ask you to marry me."
"Oh really? I accept."
We have lived happily ever after. Talk about fond memories of Lima!”
