All of Us

I picked up this photo here, in southern California, so it's tempting to write that it's a shot of an outing to Catalina. (Click on Catalina in the labels section to pull up some examples.) Then again, the 1920s when this picture was most likely taken, was the era of passenger ships. Travelling from Los Angeles to San Fransisco, Seattle or Victoria, British Columbia was more likely to be done on a coastal steamer than by car. Too, liners were the main way to get to Hawaii, Asia, Europe or any place else not in North America. Then again, the twenties was also the era of gambling ships. With prohibition in force, and no handy casinos, southern Californians took small boats to ships anchored just outside the three mile limit where they could gamble to their heart's content and drink all the booze they could pay for. Written on the back, "All of us." Is it just me, or does the guy in the upper left look a lot like Eugene O'Neill?

Catalina in Photographs

This is a companion piece to my last post, Catalina in Postcards. All of these images are dated, 8-24. The picture of the town, docks, and beach is captioned, "AVALON BAY CATALINA ISLAND." In my other post, there are some nice views of the Casino. Looking to the upper right center of the photo there is a different building at that site. The current casino was built to replace the original seen in this photo. The new casino was built in 1929, the original was torn down in Feb. of 1928. The original was not only the island's dance hall but it's high school as well. The photo of the gentleman in the straw hat is captioned, "STEAMER CABRILLO AT ISTHMUS (AND ME)" The isthmus is a narrow part of the island. The Cabrillo was a steamer built by the Banning Brothers, owners of the island from 1891 to 1919. They also owned the Wilmington Transit Company of Red Car fame. Purchased as a tourist resort, they were forced to sell to William Wrigley Jr. in 1919. A devastating fire in 1915 that destroyed over half of Avalon, including most of thee tourist facilities coupled with a reduction of tourism during World War 1 and the great flu pandemic that followed left the Bannings short of funds. The grass huts image is captioned, "MOVIE SET HAWAIIAN VILLAGE AT ISTHMUS." There is no way to identify the movie. The island was used for dozens of films, and 1924 doesn't narrow things down enough. The docked steamer shot isn't captioned, but take a close look at the bow of the ship and it can be identified as the S.S. Avalon. The Avalon was originally the S.S. Virginia and was used as a ferry between Chicago and Milwaukee. It was requisitioned by the military in World War 1. After the war it was sold to William Wrigley and sailed through the Panama Canal for use as an island ferry. It arrived at Avalon, for the first time, on April 5, 1920. The Avalon was a single funnel ship. Click on the image to enlarge it, and a bit of the bow of a second ship can be seen behind the Avalon. The lady in the swimsuit, "ON THE BEACH AVALON." And the picture of the same lady in a dress, "LAST DAY AT AVALON." There is more info about Catalina Island in my last post.

Catalina in Postcards

By and large, I've strayed away from collecting postcards, but recently, I've decided to try and pick up a few, in a few select areas. Old California, especially southern California, Pittsburgh, and old gas stations, motels, and stores. Since I have a small group of Catalina Island photos that I'll be posting next, these four images of Catalina Island, 26 miles across the sea from Long Beach, seemed like a good start. These are linen postcards, made from a high rag paper with a textured surface of parallel intersecting lines. Introduced in the early 1930's, they were the most popular type of postcard sold in the United States until the mid forties. Photo chrome postcards, which would come to dominate the market, were introduced in 1939. Even though the bright inks that were used in production, and the paper surface itself gave linen cards a painterly feel, the original images were primarily black & white photographs that had been hand colored. 99% of Santa Catalina Island was purchased, in 1919, by Chicago millionaire, William Wrigley, Jr. During his ownership, and the ownership of his sons, the Wrigley family poured millions into Catalina, building homes, resorts, hotels, the Casino, bird park, roads, airports, and fresh water reservoirs. The card of the two boats were part of the fleet that Wrigley owned to transport tourists to the island. The caption, "Happy vacationists board fast speed boats that skim the placid waters of Santa Catalina. As they whiz by, with their cheers of happiness and laughter. with greetings to the new arrivals is a thrill and delight to the passengers aboard the approaching steamer." It was mailed on Aug. 6, 1946 to "R.E. Brown, 816 Jackson St., Sioux City, Iowa" The message, "Hi Pop. I rode on both boats in Picture. We got here on the big one & took a 10 min. ride on the speed boat. Lot of love xxoo Charles. Having fun here." There is no message on either the Wrigley residence card or the bird park image. The caption of the Wrigley home card, "This palatial home was built by the late W. Wrigley Jr. and occupies a site on Mt. Ada, with a commanding view of Avalon Bay and coast-line of the island." No caption on the bird park card. Construction began on the Wrigley residence in 1920 and was completed in 1921. Mt. Ada was named for his wife. After Ada's death in 1958, it became a tourist attraction. In the 1970's it was given to USC, and used as a conference center. Since 1985 it's been an hotel. The bird park was built on 8 acres in Avalon Canyon by William Wrigley Jr. and opened in 1929. It had 500 cages and housed over 8,000 species of birds and was one of the largest aviaries in the world. It closed in 1966. The night scene is captioned, "Avalon Bay, a thrilling scene of bustling activity by day-"Fairyland by night." Like a jewel in an exquisite setting, the view of Avalon, at night from the hills above, is a never to be forgotten sight." Mailed Sept. 19, 1953, to "Mr. & Mrs G. We. Johnson, Laurene, Iowa." The message, "Dear Folks, We are up near the high point of this Island now and having a wonderful time. Reggie and Enid are with us. Now we are just about back to the bay and the boat will leave about 3:30. Minnie and Lester were over for dinner last night, Fri. We came up thru San Bernardino." Written in a different hand, "This has been the most enjoyable weekend we've had in ??? Love L.B. and Jean" Catalina was used for training in World War 2 and was closed to tourism. Coupled with the explosion in car ownership and cheap airfares to places like Hawaii and Baja, Catalina has never recovered as one of the major vacation spots in southern California. Pre-war, big bands played in the Casino, the circular building seen to the left of the ships and on the right of the night scene, swimming beaches were crowded, restaurants and hotels were full. Catalina is still a popular destination, but no where near what it was.

Santa Catalina Island Across the Sea

And yet another souvenir photo, this time from Santa Catalina Island. Catalina is 26 miles across the sea, or so the line in the song goes, from Long Beach, California. Today, most of the island is owned by the nature Conservancy. There is a small town on the island, Avalon, that was once pretty much owned by Philip Wrigley of chewing gum fame. Written on the inside matt, "August 5, 1947. El Encanto, Catalina, Is." El Encanto is a small market place with souvenir shops and a couple of restaurants.