• First car of a Lapogueño in San Juan belonged to Engr. Zacarias Guerrero. 
• First radio in San Juan also belonged to Engr. & Mrs. Zacarias and Mina Racca Guerrero. 
• First movie in San Juan was brought in by Segundo Padua who came back from the USA with a movie projector.  He also brought home with him a noisy car, hence his name "Gondo Werwer". 
• First yoyo in San Juan was introduced by Antonio Aquino.  People were amazed by the toy that kept going back and forth to his palm and earned him the name which outlived his earthly life - "ni Tata Anton a comeback yoyo." 
• First ricemill with cornpopper in San Juan was owned by the Agbayani family, Eustaquia and children Vicente and Antonia Mullen. 
• First bus of San Juan was owned also by the Agbayani family  and for sometime plied the Vigan-Dagupan line with Meliton Viloria as driver and Jaime Benzon as conductor.  Second bus owner was Honorio Padua who brought the vehicle from the USA with his "Kayong Godo" (Godofredo Gorospe) as driver and became the favorite ride of Lapogueños then studying in Vigan. 
• First band - the Blue Rhythm Band - was organized by Miguel Aquino ("Maestro Miguel") who brought in the musical instruments from the USA and trained musicians mostly from his neighborhood in what is now Barangay Lira.  Lira (lyre)  became the name of the place. 

Post War

• First top down convertible was owned by then Mayor Rafael Vera Cruz (late forties) and amazed people because the cover would move in and out at the push of a button.  Rafael Vera Cruz, Felipe Villa, Sr., Atty. Serapion Guerrero and Jose "Sipin" Guerrero were the only car/jeep owners at that time. 
• First electric powered sound system was introduced in San Juan by Rev. Fr. Cosme Fang.  It caused a sensation for it was so loud - from the belfry, "mangeg mi diay Saoang, Apo ... dumanon idiay Camindoroan ... dumanon diay Nagsuputan ti unina, Apo!" And so for a month people from all parts of the town and from many barangays came to the convent to see for themselves the "loud ispiker"/"trompa". That was in the early fifties.  He then introduced nightly praying of the holy rosary via the public address system and the people religiously prayed in their homes; young men unabashedly came to the convent to request the playing of their favorite love songs which they secretly dedicated to their sweethearts.  One evening among the many,  Lidorbino Agbayani, then a dashing young basketeer, came to the convent to request the playing of "I Don't See You." 
• First commercial sound system was owned by Porfirio Agbayani not long after Fr. Fang brought his. Top tune at that time was the love song "Rosalinda," Hi Lily, Hi Lo."  The Agbayani sound system revolutionized dancing parties and popularity contests in San Juan.  A shift from a 4-8 man band led by sax player Modesto Aquino and a shift from the weak "gramofono a makuardasan a" to the modern battery powered sound system.  Fee then was P10.00 per engagement but can be reduced to P7 or P6. 
• First Polaroid camera, mid-fifties, was brought in from the USA for use during the Vallejo-Corpuz (Nanding and Charing) nuptials.  Instant ... very fast ... admirers gasped in awe at the "nagsirib ket ti taon, apo" technological innovation. 
• First tricycle in San Juan was a USAID equipment issued to Jose Guerrero, then an employee of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Vigan, Ilocos Sur.  That was 1952-1953.  It was a big Harley Davidson.  The problem was he did not know how to drive.  He requested his brother-in-law Meliton Viloria,  who was a former USA motorcyclist to drive it and Jose backrode and made rounds around the processional road of San Juan drawing many fans cheering at the "motorsiklo a tallo ti pilidna!"  After two days of driving around, Meliton got tired and Jose next asked the help of Melito Centeno, a motorcycle acrobat.  The problem was he was always overspeeding so that one day he and Jose met an accident at Bessang Dakkel, in front of the now Bacsil National High School.  Jose gave it up, returned his damaged vehicle to his office for good. 
• First movie documentary film shooting in San Juan was undertaken by the USIS (United States Information Service) brought in by then agriculturist Jose Guerrero.  Filmed then was blacksmithing shop of Simplicio Asuncion. 
• First acrobats in San Juan were Ernesto Manalang and Renato Rojas in 1955-1957.  Several Sundays they had plenty of fans  who gathered under the tamarind tree behind Gervacio Pablo's house in Lira where the "argolya" and chinning bars were located.  They performed acrobatic stunts to the amazement of their non-paying admirers. 
• First inter-purok basketball tournament, 1954-1955.  There were neither the basketball courts nor basketeers in the  barrios.  Four courts were in town.  Purok Bomber (Lira), Robinhood (Pandayan), Fighter (Bannuar) and Eagle (Resurreccion).  Fighter won the tournament;  coach was Hospicio Corpuz; prize was the 1st trophy in San Juan donated by Rev. Fr. Cosme Fang.
• First combo, first recording artists were the San Juan Troubadors organized during the late sixties/early seventies and is still operating today under band leader Alfonso "Chito" Aquino.  They were a sensation in the Ilocos region.  The first singers Hospicio Corpuz, Florencio Peneyra and company delighted the crowds inside the Vigan carnival and Lapog.  With a recording studio at Laoag City, they went into commercial production.