Saturday, September 11, 2010

A glimpse of 1905

This morning, at a meeting of Compadres con Libros, William Hockinson gave an interesting talk on the "Balloon Route" trolley excursions in the early 1900s. He also brought with him a wonderful collection of Southern California ephemera from that era, including the 1905 booklet featured in today's post.
The advertisment for Sunset Beach, above, is similar to newspaper ads I've posted here before, but the image is a little more refined and detailed.
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The ad for Huntington Beach, below, highlights the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) encampment at the Methodist Tent City and the easy access from Los Angeles via the Pacific Electric Railway. The Huntington Beach Company (developers of the town) and the Pacific Electric were, of course, both majority owned by Henry Huntington.
Little promotional booklets like this can be a real treasure trove. I may post a few other images from Hockinson's collection in the coming days.
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