Huntington Sans Sauna and Oriental Gardens Spa

In the 1970s my mom began working for a company called Huntington Sans Sauna.  It was located at 16385 Bolsa Chica Road, Huntington Beach, California, 92649.  The cross-streets were Bolsa Chica Road and Heil Avenue.  There were 2 spas in the same center, 2 doors from each other, my mom's and another spa.  The other spa had a jacuzzi and my mom had the dry sauna.  Although it seemed there would be competition, my mom and the other owner, Norma, were great friends and sent each other clients.

My mom eventually bought Huntington Sans Sauna and the name from the previous owner.  This image is an ad from March 25, 1981 in the Orange County Register. My mom's ad is second from the top-right.  To the left of the ad there's an advertisement for Cal-Copa Spa.  My mom learned of Cal-Copa Spa because of the then-owner of the CalCopa massage school, Roland Clark (she called him Rollie).  She was good friends with him, and he was someone who my mom turned to as a mentor.  Roland Clark's name is in the baby book my father started for me, as someone who gave my mom a babyshower when she was pregnant with me.  My mom bought Cal-Copa Spa and changed the name to Oriental Gardens Spa in the mid-late 1980s, after she closed Huntington Sans Sauna.  Oriental Gardens Spa was located at 17061 Newland Street, Huntington Beach, California, 92647 at the corner of Newland and Warner in "Dutch Haven Plaza."  

March 25, 1981 - Orange County Register - pg. 72

August 22, 1986 - Orange County Register - pg. 96

In the beginning of the massage industry in Huntington Beach, there was no license or certification required to work or operate a spa.  By the time my mom owned Huntington Sans Sauna, 100 hours of massage education was required and she attended CalCopa to become a certified massage therapist.  During the operation of Oriental Gardens Spa, it went up to 200 hours, then 300 hours, and it kept going up and then the new requirement was to become Nationally Certified.  

English being her second language, made things difficult for her, and she chose to not become a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist, yet continued her Massage Therapy education.  In 1997, Oriental Gardens Spa came to a close and she relocated to Fullerton, California where we had a family-owned massage spa.  In 1998 I became a certified massage therapist, also having attended CalCopa massage school.