I have fond memories of the King Norman toy store that used to be on Clement Street near 8th Avenue. As a kid, I used to ride my bike a couple of miles to the store to spend my latest earnings or allowance (usually for Legos).
King Norman’s was a mecca for kids; the shelves were jammed with toys all the way to the ceiling.
The store on Clement was just a small part of the King’s empire which included 21 toy stores across Northern California. He also hosted his own children’s television program from 1954 to 1961.
So I was happy to see a story in a Roseville, CA online newspaper about King Norman’s current whereabouts. Known by his legal name of Norman Rosenberg, the King is currently onhealthy diflucan without prescription residing in a retirement community there called Eskaton Village.
The article has some interesting background on King Norman, including his stint in the Navy and how his business empire started as a way to sell candy that his uncle was producing. After taking over the Clement Street space to open a stationary and toy store like his father-in-law’s, they quickly discovered that “the toys sold much better than the stationary so the Rosenberg’s began focusing on building up their toy inventory.”
And the rest is history. In January of last year, Rosenberg’s wife, Doris, passed away after a battle with cancer. He recently relocated with his new bride, Gilyn, to Roseville to be close to his son who lives nearby.
Long live the King! 🙂
Sarah B.
I grew up on clement street. I LOVED hanging out at King Normans. I had a huge space Lego collection (still do) and after a while, they asked me to start building Lego sets for the window display. How exiting was that for a 9-10 year old! They even put a little card in the window stating: Built by Jordan – in cursive no less!
I was also allowed the behind the counter and saw the super scary doll-head filled attic a couple of times!
I also could not help stopping at the Baskin Robbins a few stores down for Peanut butter and banana ice cream.
Pics pleass……..
His store on Clement St had always been a special store to me. When I was younger, my wish was to work in this toy store and to own a credit card with my name on it. Being Norman Toy, I thought it was special to have a credit card and name that matched exactly. Though I never met the man, I’ve heard nothing but nice things about him.
My father norman lawrence vogel owned and managed his bowling alley just down the street from king normans toy store. We would come visit from madera california. He would hand my twin sister and i a 20 dollar bill and we would walk down to the toy store. This was in the 1960. That was some great memories.