Armond King grew up with a legacy of stories passed down from his grandfather, Herman Bleibler, who established a fruit orchard on Cherry Avenue in Los Altos in 1913. King's parents moved into the house after Bleibler died in 1951. King remained at the family home after his parents died. He told the following account during a 1998 interview at his home with Don McDonald.
I've heard stories that my grandfather had built this little blacksmith's shop in the back of our place here on Cherry Avenue. He was given a contract during the second World War to make peening hammers for the welders in the shipyards. They were little chipping hammers, and they would chip the slag out of the welding. The federal government would supply him with the metal for that. He'd cut the round stock, then temper the tips and grind them sharp. Then they'd go up to the shipyards where the welders would use them. Then they would be sent back dull, and he'd re-sharpen them and send them back. So he had a regular business during the war.
The Becker property went out to Los Altos Avenue. Uncle George Becker raised apricots and he had quite a facility of chickens.
During the war, George Becker was a young man and was going to be drafted, so they asked him what he did. He said he was a single man. They thought, "That would be great. He's single. He has no ties. We'll put him in the front line." But, then, they asked, "What's your occupation?" And he said, "I have 1,000 chickens." They asked, "How many eggs are laid a day?" "Oh, about 10,000 eggs a day." So they said, "No, you're needed here during the war." ... These (military) facilities needed fresh eggs for the boys who come into town. So, Uncle George was here in the egg business during the war. He had what they called a "vital defense business."
I remember that sometime around 1953, my dad was watching a large, digging machine as it started plowing a ditch down Cherry Avenue for the new sewer lines.
As the enormous rig approached the frontage of our house, dad stepped out in the street and signaled for it to stop. (Dad) Earl replied, "I suggest you dig the next 50 feet by hand, because my dad once told me that in about 1915 he put a 4-foot iron water pipe in here to water his orchard.
The foremen said, "Our official county maps don't show a water line." He then signaled for the rig operator to continue ...
The machine started up. As it neared the boundary of our property, there was a horrendous crash. A large 4-foot pipe had been hoisted aloft by the wheel. The machine stopped cold. Dad could only shrug his shoulders and say to the foreman, "Well, I did tell you so."
- Courtesy of Donna Shoemaker and the Oral History Program
of Los Altos History House