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.

President Lincoln is coming to Orange County

I snuck in and got a few sneak preview shots from the "Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America," exhibit which is still in the installation process at the Old Courthouse Museum in Santa Ana. The exhibit is sponsored by OC Parks and the Orange County Archives, and will be complemented by a series of lectures. For details on the exhibit and lectures click here. The exhibit will run throughout the month of February.
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The photos above show casts from life masks made of Lincoln. Both are part of the exhibit. It's as close as you'll ever get to seeing the man with your own eyes. Quite amazing.
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The core of the exhibit comes from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, and focuses on the story of Lincoln himself. But today I'm giving you a peek at some of the additional materials that have been added to help connect Lincoln's story to Orange County. For example, this is a copy (above) of the document Lincoln signed to give Mission San Juan Capistrano back to the Roman Catholic Church. (Reproduction courtesy of the Mission).
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And below is a small sample of a large display of original materials relating to the Grand Army of the Republic (Civil War veterans) annual gatherings once held at the Methodist Campground in Huntington Beach. These ribbons are from the collection of Charles Beal.

Also among the exhibits is this panoramic view (below) of G.A.R. veterans at a Huntington Beach encampment around 1915. Barbara Bellot and the Lovitt family have made copies of this image available to a number of historical organizations here in Southern California.

I understand there will also be some materials on display courtesy of Disneyland and their Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction.
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There will be lots more to see, but you'll just have to go see it in person during February. (And while you're there, be sure to see the rest of the Old Courthouse and visit us in the Archives downstairs.)

Orange Street Fair & Orange Community Hist. Soc.

Historian Phil Brigandi will discuss the history of the Orange Street Fair at the Orange Community Historical Society's annual dinner on Thursday night (Jan. 28).
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The first Street Fair in Orange was held in 1910 and is shown in the photos I've posted today. It was reborn in 1973 as the Orange International Street Fair, which is still held each Labor Day weekend and which now draws hundreds of thousands of attendees.
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"My talk will be on both 'first' street fairs, in 1910 and 1973, and will include photos from both events,” says Brigandi. “I attended the 1973 Street Fair and remember it very fondly.”

At the same event, J. J. Friis will posthumously receive the Orange Community Historical Society's William T. Glassell Award. I'm honored to have been asked to present the award to his widow, Harriet Friis, who will accept the award on his behalf. I hope to see some of you there Thursday evening.

Note the apparent lack of people in this nighttime photo. In the time it took to expose this negative, the moving mass of people simply became a blurry ghost-like patch in the middle of the street.

Sheriff's Office Annual Report, 1959

Today I'm just sharing one of my favorite bits of graphic art in the Orange County Archives. The cover of the Sheriff's 1959 Annual Report is a wonderful slice of Mid-Century Orange County. Oddly enough, the style of the individual illustrations is more 1930s than 1950s, but the subject matter captures the look and feel of post-war O.C. Unfortunately, we don't know who the artist was.

This fanciful view of the coast (above) might be intended to represent any of several O.C. seaside communities. The topography looks a bit like San Clemente, but the oil derricks on the horizon (in neighboring Huntington Beach?) would tend to indicate Newport Beach. Note Catalina Island in the background and a "TIKI" bar in the foreground.

Dad mows the lawn in front of his new Modern tract home while Junior flies a kite. The tract undoubtedly took the place of an old orange grove, which is why remnants of a eucalyptus wind break can still be seen in the background.

Ten years earlier, agriculture would have played a much larger role on the cover of this report. But by 1959, orange trees and row crops were definitely fading away, with suburbia taking their place. And finally, we have a nod to Orange County's industrial growth. There are still more than a few of these crate-like buildings with snappy Googiesque entryways scattered around the industrial parks of Orange County. It appears this particular fictional building belonged to the "ABCDE Company," which probably made some kind of aerospace components.

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Sorry there isn't a bit more substance to this post, but you have to admit the pictures are pretty great, no?

Flood of 1969, H.B. Lifeguards, bungalows, etc.

Today's three photos were all taken Feb. 24, 1969 ("the Flood of '69") and are from the same Flood Control Dept. materials I wrote about Wednesday. The photo above shows the Villa Park Dam spillway, and the photo below shows the Santiago Dam spillway.

The third photo (below) shows the flooded intersection of Bolsa and Harbor Blvd, in Santa Ana. Businesses shown include Food Ranch Market, Bolsa Auto, and one of the old Stanley Meston-designed McDonald's restaurants. Note also the Huntington Savings billboard. Does anyone know the significance of the lifesized sailor in a crow's nest overlooking the intersection?

Kai Weisser, who wrote a book about the history of the Huntington Beach Lifeguards, now has his own blog. He says "it will primarily be book related, HB lifeguard and beach related. I may from time to time include general H.B. [history], which I have a few photos of, or [other related] stuff that comes my way."

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The Register reports that a Vietnam War museum has been proposed for Orange County.

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Architect Richard Dodd will give a talk about "The Bungalow Era in Orange County - The Embodiment of the Arts & Crafts Movement" at the Mary Wilson Branch Library, 707 Electric Ave., Seal Beach, Jan. 28, 7pm. If you attend, be sure to also check out the Seal Beach Historical & Cultural Society's restored Pacific Electric "Red Car" adjacent to the library.

Flooding in Orange County

Life is full of coincidences. The Orange County Archives recently received a lot of great photos from the old County Flood Control Dept. (now part of Public Works). No sooner had I scanned some of the better images than the skies opened up on us!
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Anyway, here are a few of my favorite images from the newly aquired materials. The image above shows the evacuation of the "Mexican quarter" at 4th St. and Artesia in Santa Ana during the 1916 flood.
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The image below was taken March 3, 1938 "at 5th Street, west of the Santa Ana River, looking west" in Santa Ana. It shows the old KVOE ("Voice of the Orange Empire") radio station at right, and an "auto lot" in the background. Today, the 1938 flood is certainly the best-remembered "big flood" in O.C.
(By the way, if you can't reach the Archives by phone or email this week, you can blame that on stormy weather, too. Let's just say the storms are creating more than a few headaches for us.)

I was totally amazed when I first saw the photo above. It's an image of the Orange County town of La Jolla in the aftermath of the 1937 flood. That's right, 1937 was a flood year too, but the magnitude of what happened in 1938 made people sort of forget about the year before. In fact, in 1938, La Jolla was all but washed away by the Santa Ana River when it broke through its banks. The photo above provides some truly ominous foreshadowing.

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The photo below shows the Pacific Electric Railway bridge over the mouth of the Santa Ana River during the 1927 flood. A note attached reads: "Thousand foot channel when impounded flood waters broke through to the Ocean. The Coast Blvd. [PCH] and P.E. Railroad suffered extreme damage as shown." Indeed, we're seeing the River cut a path directly to the ocean (as it does today), rather than turning southeast to empty into Newport Bay the way it once did.

Hope you're staying safe and dry this week.

Talk Like A Grizzled Prospector Day, Jan. 24th!

Help me start a fun way to commemorate an important moment in California history. On Jan. 24, 1848, James Marshall discovered gold while building a saw mill for John Sutter in Coloma. These few nuggets ultimately led to the Gold Rush.
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To honor this historic event, I'm proposing "Talk Like A Grizzled Prospector Day," to be celebrated on Jan. 24th of each year. All you have to do to join in is to talk like a grizzled prospector.
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This idea obviously has roots in the popular "International Talk Like A Pirate Day." But it was also inspired by the Prospectors' Day event that Knott's Berry Farm once held each Jan. 24th. The photo below shows the parade from that event in 1973. (Note Walter and Cordelia Knott in the car at right.)
Finally, the event was also partially inspired by a brief exchange in a episode of The Simpsons:

Bart: That ain't been popular since aught-six, dagnabbit.
Homer: Bart, what did I tell you?
Bart: No talking like a grizzled 1890's prospector, consarn it.

You might be wondering how, exactly, one talks like a grizzled prospector. Opinions vary, but for my money, Dallas McKennon's narration for Disneyland's Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland, and Big Thunder Mountain is just about perfect.
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However, there's also much to be said for the voices of Gabby Hayes (either drunk or sober), Gabby Johnson (from Blazing Saddles), or even Will Farrell as the "Old Prospector" on Saturday Night Live. Or watch and learn from countless grizzled prospector characters in your own favorite Western TV shows and movies.
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Of course, if you really want to get into the spirit of things, you also do the "Walter Huston Dance" from Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
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Here in Orange County, the ranchos benefited dramatically from the Gold Rush, as miners provided a huge market for beef. Previously, only the hides and tallow from the cattle were particulary marketable. This prosperous period is still enshrined in California lore as the romantic era of the ranchos.
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Also, some of Orange County's early gringo pioneers and luminaries first came to California as 49ers. One of these was J.E. Pleasants, who was (among many other things) among the founding members of the Orange County Historical Society.
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Anyway, mark Jan. 24th on your calendar, spread the word among your friends, and be ready to talk like a grizzled prospector, dadgummit!