Post-War Orange County

The week started out really busy. Then I got this nasty cold and really wasn't in the mood for blogging. I'm still not. But here's a cool graphic showing Orange County in a 1963 newspaper ad for United California Bank. I've colorized the version above, but the original black and white version is shown below. (Now that I see both, I kind of like it better without color.)

It's a poolside barbecue with friends and family, in the backyard of a Mid-Century tract home. Rolling green hills and Disneyland's castle are within view, just past the big orange tree. The only way it could be better is if Dad grilled the steaks wearing something manlier than black tights and a miniskirt.

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Seriously though, the dream of surburban living was fulfilled by hundreds of thousands of families who came to Orange County during the Post-WWII years. In 1946 the county's population was 175,000. By 1956 it was 489,850. And by 1966, the population had grown to 1,235,700! For what had been a somewhat sleepy agricultural region, this kind of growth was unbelievable.

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It seems most (or many) of those new families bought tract homes. Even accounting for the G.I. Bill, it seems amazing that so many could afford these homes -- And usually on only one income. Today, two-income families find themselves struggling to pay rent on even a small condo. Most of the educated younger people I know have long since fled O.C. and its high cost of living.

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I'd leave too, but do you have any idea how hard it is to be an Orange County historian while living in another state?

Roads, theme parks and the Lapu Lapu

Today's photo shows a County Road Department equipment auction in the 1940s. Notice how much of their old equipment was still horse-drawn! What a contrast to the booming center of modern development Orange County would soon become.
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Ever wonder how the Royal Hawaiian restaurant in Laguna Beach (one of the last tiki/Polynesian-style places around) makes their famous Lapu Lapu? L.A. Times Magazine has now taken the mystery out of it.
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If you enjoy the various theme park history blogs, here's another one to add to your line-up: "Main Gate Admission." (Thanks to Vintage Disneyland Tickets for pointing this out.)

RSM, black history, Boy Scouts, time capsule

In response to my post about his Rancho Santa Margarita book, author Mike Moodian writes, "Yes, the book does cover the histories of two separate places. The reason for this is because the histories of Rancho Santa Margarita, Rancho Mission Viejo and Rancho Trabuco are intertwined. My approach with this book is (1) to focus on the ranch history of southeast Orange County/north San Diego County, and (2) to demonstrate the connection between the ranch heritage of the region and the current City of Rancho Santa Margarita. ...To tell the story of the city of RSM, one must first focus on the ranch heritage of the region..." The photo at the top of today's post shows cowboys on the actual Rancho Santa Margarita (now part of Camp Pendleton) sometime around the 1930s. The photo immediately above is from a groundbreaking in what is now the city of Rancho Santa Margarita. According to Moodian, the folks in the lineup include (L to R) Michael Harris, Douglas Avery, Alice O'Neill Avery, an unidentified priest, Richard J. O'Neill, Melinda Moiso, Anthony Moiso, Tom Blum and Gilbert Aguirre.
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This being Black History Month, it's especially appropriate that Bob Johnson will discuss his collection of oral histories, A Different Shade of Orange, at the Fullerton Public Library, on Feb. 23, 7-9pm.
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The Boy Scouts are celebrating 100 years of scouting in Orange County, a event which, as I mentioned earlier, has also been commemorated with a book by Phil Brigandi.
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To wrap up their centennial year, the City of Huntington Beach buried a time capsule at City Hall on Wednesday.

San Juan Capistrano, RSM, and O.C.'s railroads

Here's a photo of the second San Juan Capistrano Depot building, taken not long after its construction in 1894. You can see the Mission in the background. (Like all the photos on my blog, just click on the image to see a larger version.)
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Rob Richardson's new book, Railroads and Depots of Orange County, is now available through Arcadia Publishing. Lots of great photos and information in there! (You may remember that Rob also provided some of the best photos in Arcadia's Santa Ana books.) I imagine I'll be posting more about this book later, but I wanted folks to know it was out. Not many books about O.C. railroad history have been written, and they sell out fast when they appear.
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Also new from Arcadia is a rather unexpected history of Rancho Santa Margarita by Dr. Michael Moodian. It's a curious book, seeing as it encompasses the histories of two separate places called Rancho Santa Margarita (one quite old and one very new). It also includes some general history about the southerly portion of Orange County. Again, I'll probably post more about this book after I spend a bit more time with it. It's set to go on sale in a few days.

MCAS El Toro, Neutra, Eichler, Villa Sweden, etc.

Today's images come from a 1965 booklet about Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. The image above shows the base's landmark watertowers, and is posted at the request of Lee F., who misses them. Below is an image of the enlisted barracks.

Was Neutra's Mariners Medical Arts Building really saved after all? Read the Register's Arts Blog to see how the current owner is chipping away at the site's historical and architectural integrity.

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An exhibit of 50 drawings of Eichler homes in Orange by Jeffrey Crussell will open Sat., Feb. 20th, 4-8pm and February 21, 4-8pm and will run through March 20th 2010. More information about times, location, and how to RSVP are available on Crussell's website.

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I'm amazed that one of my earliest posts here at the Roundup is still among the most popular. Specifically, my post about Villa Sweden restaurants still gets long and enthusiastic responses -- both via email and in the comments section. Above all, people want to know the recipe for Villa Sweden's famous limpa bread. If you have that recipe tucked away somewhere, please share it! The masses have spoken and they want that bread!

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The theme park blogs continue to share great old photos. Stuff From The Park has posted some cool snapshots of Knott's Berry Farm. And Vintage Disneyland Tickets has a nice two-part (one and two) post on Videopolis -- Disneyland's teen dance venue during the 1980s. Scroll down to the list of "Theme Park History Links" on the right-hand side of this page for even more interesting stuff.

Crystal Cove, Talbert, UCI, Brigandi & Interlandi

This collection of County Flood Control Dept. photos continues to yield gold! The 1937 photo above was taken to show flood damage, but it's also one of the best old photos of Crystal Cove I've seen. The photo below was taken the following year, and shows rural Talbert (Fountain Valley) under quite a bit of water. Note the oil derricks of Huntington Beach visible on the horizon at left.

Phil Brigandi will give a talk about the history of Orange County's place names and do a book signing at the Nevada Mineral & Book Co. on Feb. 19 at 7pm. "No, it's in Orange," Phil writes. "Really. They just moved here. They hope to do more Orange County stuff in the future, some of it historical."

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The Anteater Antics blog has posted some pages from the 1971 UCI Student Handbook, and BOY does it look like 1971! Check out their other recent posts also. Those folks at UCI Special Collections are clearly having fun with this.

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Noted Laguna Beach cartoonist Frank Interlandi has died at age 85. He was the identical twin brother of another famous cartoonist, Phil Interlandi. The L.A. Times article about his passing gives more details about his life, Laguna connections, services. "A memorial service will be held at noon Friday at the gazebo in Heisler Park in Laguna Beach. Afterward, friends will gather at the Marine Room Tavern, where many of Frank and Phil Interlandi's cartoons are displayed on the walls."

Garden Grove, floods, OCHS, old postcards, etc.

I'm posting two more interesting flood photos that recently came to the Orange County Archives. The one above shows the Emerson Hardware Store of Garden Grove in the wake of the 1916 flood. Note the high-water mark on the windows.
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The photo below shows the intersection of Harbor Blvd and Wilken Way in Garden Grove, on April 8, 1965. This image should please the people who've been talking online lately about the old White Front Store. It pleases me because it provides a clear view of the Pitcairn Motel -- a tiki-style place with one of most outstanding backlit signs ever to grace Orange County. It should have gone to a museum instead of a landfill.

Reminder: The Orange County Historical Society's meeting on Thurs., Feb. 11, will be held at 6pm at the Old Orange County Courthouse. (That is not our usual place or time.) Because of space limitations, it will also require an RSVP call from you: 714-973-6610. William Peck will perform as Lincoln and discuss the lesser known aspects of the president’s life. Although the topic isn't O.C. history-related, it will bring together the Orange County Historical Society, the Old Courthouse Museum Society, OC Parks and the Orange County Archives.

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The Vintage Paper & Postcard Fair is coming back to Glendale again this weekend. It's a schlep, but it's usually worth it. I usually find some great Orange County stuff there.

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I know it's not O.C.-related, but someone has posted some great footage of San Francisco just shortly before the big 1906 earthquake.

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And speaking of California history, there is now a Talk Like A Grizzled Prospector Day group on Facebook. Become a fan!

Saints Go Marching In

Here's a photo of those heroes of the gridiron, the Saints! Er,... make that the Santa Ana High School Saints. This photo is undated, but I'm guessing it's possibly from the late 1940s or early 1950s. The team is posing (in their new uniforms) with coach Bill Cook.

Historical open houses, etc.

Here's a postcard showing the Howe-Waffle House in Santa Ana in 1909. I'm including the back of the postcard too, since it was actually signed and mailed by Dr. Willella Howe-Waffle.

Just a quick reminder that the Howe-Waffle House, the Orange County Archives and the Old Courthouse Museum will hold an open house tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am to 4pm. All three are located in or near the Old Orange County Courthouse in Downtown Santa Ana.

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I think I failed to mention before that the Howe-Waffle will have a special exhibit of vintage valentines, and the Old Courthouse will play host to a contingent of Civil War re-enactors. How's that for a curious combination?

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Anyway, I hope to see you at the Archives,... even if it's raining.

Keaton, Anaheim, HSR, Santa Ana, Huell, Knott's, Keith Crown & Henry Fukahara

Yes, that's Buster Keaton caught in the "frog" on the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad at Knott's Berry Farm in 1956. That was the same year he appeared as a train conductor in the film Around the World In 80 Days. By that point, he was far from his comedic prime, but Keaton's earlier work was incredible. Anyone who hasn't at least seen good prints of The General and Seven Chances has a hole in their life.
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If you see big plumes of steam coming from the direction of Anaheim, it is probably not a train. More than likely, the steam is coming out the ears of preservationist/historian/blogger Cynthia Ward. She's recently been writing about the effects of the proposed California High-Speed Rail project on Anaheim's historical districts -- Both on her Anaheim Life blog and at Red County.
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She also has some choice words about the City of Santa Ana's recent (major) change of heart about its historic resources. She's scooping the press on a lot of this stuff and it's definitely some interesting reading.
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There is now a Huell Howser Drinking Game. What more can I say? It's amaaaaaaazing!
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As a great appreciator of California's master watercolor artists, I'm sad to report the deaths of both Keith Crown and Henry Fukahara. I was lucky enough to meet Fukahara briefly at Milford Zornes' 100th birthday party, two years ago. These guys were among the last vestiges of an amazing era in California art.

Abe redux and Archives/Museums open house

Here's Glenn Roosevelt, Lincoln re-enactor William Peck and Charles Beal at the grand opening of the Lincoln exhibit I discussed in my last post. Charles and Glenn loaned some great G.A.R. materials from their collections to be part of the exhibit. (The stuff from the Presidential Library is in much snazzier display cases, but I naturally have a soft spot in my heart for the material that relates to Orange County.)
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The first lecture accompanying this exhibit will be this Wednesday, Feb. 3, 6-7:30pm at the Old Orange County Courthouse. Don McCue, Curator at the Lincoln Shrine in Redlands, will explain Lincoln’s relationship with the American West in a lecture called “Lincoln and California?” Please RSVP to 714-973-6610.
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You'll also be able to visit this exhibit, the Orange County Archives, the Old Courthouse Museum, and the Victorian Howe-Waffle House Museum (across the street), during special weekend hours at this Saturday's Open House event, 10am to 4pm.
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We're trying to do these open houses about four times a year, and they've been very, very popular. For us in the Archives, it's a great chance for patrons who couldn't normally visit during the week to do research. We also offer "behind the scenes" tours.
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Upstairs in the Museum, families will be able to create nineteenth century-inspired crafts and play with replica toys. At noon, the Orange County Historical Commission will sponsor the showing of the 1940 classic movie “Abe Lincoln in Illinois." (See the trailer here.)
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Admission is free and you can park in one place and see all of it. Hope to see you there!
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I almost forgot to mention, (shame on me!), that Charles Beal will give a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation on his Orange County Civil War Graves project at the Yorba Linda Historical Society, Feb. 8, 7pm, at the Yorba Linda Community Center, 4501 Casa Loma Ave. I've been very impressed with the progress he's made over the years, and this should be a very interesting program.