A bit of California art history

Diane Ryan (who often teaches Orange County history classes) will teach an art appreciation class on California Regionalism beginning later this month. The class runs for five weeks, Feb. 24 to Mar. 24, on Thursdays, from 1:30 to 3:30pm. It will be held at Oasis Senior Center in Corona del Mar. The cost is $40. For more information, contact Diane via email.
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She writes, "The late 1920s and early 1930s saw a dramatic change in the art scene. The beautiful landscapes of the California Impressionists were replaced by subject matter reflecting changes taking place in America that transformed the country from a rural agrarian society into an industrialized world power. Come learn about some of the artists of this dynamic period and see how they took watercolor painting into a whole new dimension."
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She's definitely playing my song, since I love the work of artists like Millard Sheets, Milford Zornes, Phil Paradise, etc. The image at the top of today's post is a Phil Dike painting called "Regatta," which served as the cover of the Aug. 1956 issue of Western Family Magazine. Note the Balboa Pavilion in the background.
Some time ago, I stumbled across a great website where you can order prints of works by many of the best California Regionalists / California Scene Painters / California Watercolor School artists. It's called (not surprisingly) CaliforniaWatercolor.com. The Mary Blair painting, "Beach Party," shown above, is one of the thousands of prints available, as are the two paintings below.

The watercolor above is "Moore Hill, Los Angeles, 1940," by one of my favorite artists, Emil Kosa, Jr. The one below is "California Coast, 1936" by another favorite, Rex Brandt.

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If you can't take Diane's class but still want a good introduction to the style, I recommend finding a copy of American Scene Painting: California, 1930s and 1940s by Ruth Westphal and Janet Blake Dominik.

Orange County was lucky enough to have many of these artists living and working here. Rex Brandt and Phil Dike even ran a summer school in Newport Beach, influencing generations of local artists.

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Moreover, key collectors like E. Gene Crain, and authors and experts on the subject, like Gordon McClelland, live here. And every five years or so, some museum or another manages a retrospective of this kind of work. Being in the midst of all this is just one more reason to like Orange County.

Knott's Berry Farm exhibit

Sometimes an unforseen roadblock forces you down a road that's better than the one you were on.
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At the Orange County Archives, we were told that a "new display case" was to be installed soon, and could we please assemble an exhibit to showcase our wonderful Knott's Berry Farm Collection? We assumed the new case would be like our old ones -- Flat, wide, and "one story," and developed the exhibit accordingly. (Much of the early version was assembled by our intern, Nichole.)
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When I saw that the new case had exactly the same dimension of the phone booth that once stood in its place, I knew we had to rethink everything. I started by rummaging again through the Archives and then through my personal collection. But that barely made a dent.
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Luckily, necessity afforded me the opportunity to twist the arms of our friends at Knott's and ask to borrow some 3-D artifacts. As you can see, they were most obliging. We rummaged around "backstage" for a couple hours and came up with great stuff. The effort also resulted in finding some additional historical materials they were willing to donate outright to the Archives. (Thanks again!)
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Anyway, I posted a photo of the exhibit to Flickr, and included notes that pop-up as you roll your cursor over each item, telling you what each one is and where it came from.
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I think my favorite artifacts are the hats from Walter and Cordelia Knott, Walter's shoes, and the barrel which once hung on the side of the wagon in the old Covered Wagon Show in the Gold Trails Hotel.
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This exhibit will be on display through at least April 2011 in the lobby of the Hall of Finance & Records (Building 12 of the Civic Center), 630 N. Broadway, in Santa Ana. Come by and see it! The building is open from 9am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday (although this Monday the building is closed for the holiday). Also be sure to stop by the Orange County Archives, just across Broadway in the Old Orange County Courthouse.

Anaheim's Chinatown

Most people don't realize that a number of Orange County towns once had their own Chinatowns, including Santa Ana, Anaheim and Orange. The image above (from the Anaheim Heritage Center) shows the last building in Anaheim's Chinatown to be demolished. This house, at 119 W. Chartres St., was torn down in 1940.
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According to Leo Friis' book, When Anaheim Was 21,

"Chinese commenced settling in Anaheim in the early [Eighteen] Seventies, most of them crowding into an area facing Chartes Street between Anaheim Boulevard and Lemon Street. In 1876, the [Anaheim] Gazette editor estimated that one-sixth of the town's population was Oriental. Many Chinese engaged in truck farming northeast of Anaheim and their vegetable wagons were a familiar sight. ...Actually, Anaheim was a good place for Chinese to live. Its citizens never carried to extremes the prejudice found in many other towns."

Tonight, the Anaheim Historical Society will celebrate their city's Chinese heritage with a special meeting for Chinese New Year. The program will include traditional Chinese dancers, music, and a presentation. The public is welcome to attend this free event. The program will be held at 7pm, Feb. 15, at the Loara Elementary School Auditorium, at Broadway and Loara St.

Greenville Bean Growers Association

Today's photo shows the Greenville Bean Growers Association warehouse at S. Greenville St. and W. Alton Ave. in Santa Ana in 1973. For last week's Orange County Historical Society "Show & Tell" meeting, I brought a bunch of railroad spikes from this spur and shared some information about the site's history...
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In 1909, the Pacific Electric Railway opened a new line between Huntington Beach and Santa Ana. The "Big Red Cars" also shared the tracks with freight.
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The Greenville Bean Growers Association was established in 1918, and their "fireproof warehouse" (so far, so good) was built that same year. The Association's founding and long-time member families included the Borchards, the Plavans, the Tedfords and the Wakehams. It was a virtual who's-who of Gospel Swamp pioneers. Board meetings were held in the warehouse.
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The Greenville (a.ka. Gospel Swamp, a.k.a. Old Newport) area was chiefly known for its limas and other beans. Sugar beets were also common.
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In 1922, the railroad tracks washed out along the Santa Ana River in a flood. From then on, the remaining track between Greenville and Santa Ana was used for freight only.
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The warehouse was still a busy operation. In 1926, about 70,000 sacks of beans were expedited through that building to market. (I suspect that quantity of beans would be expedited through anyone.)
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The Association used the warehouse into the 1980s. Later, it was purchased by longtime Association members, C.J. Segerstrom & Sons.
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My thanks to everyone who attended the OCHS Show & Tell. It was a great program and went in fascinating directions I never would have expected. I think we'll make Show & Tell one of our annual traditions.
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Thanks also to those who attended the "Amazing Neutras of Orange County" program today at the Old Courthouse. I was very pleased by the large turnout, and the good questions from the audience. If you'd told me 10 years ago that I'd be sitting on a panel with Dion Neutra, Alan Hess and Barbara Lamprecht, I would have said you were crazy. In the strange world I live in, these folks are sort of the equivalent of rock stars.

Orange County Modernism revisited

This is the Orange County Central Justice Center, in Santa Ana. It was designed by the famed architect Richard Neutra and the local firm of Ramberg & Lowrey. It was completed in 1968 and offically opened in 1969.
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I blogged about Neutra back in October, when the "Amazing Neutra of Orange County" exhibit opened at the Old Courthouse Museum. Now that the exhibit is about to end, there will be another panel discussion on Orange County's Modernist heritage, the works of Richard Neutra, and efforts to preserve them. The panel includes Alan Hess, Chris Jepsen, and Dion Neutra -- seen (left to right) in the photo below -- and Neutra expert Barbara Lamprecht. The program will be held tomorrow, Sat., Feb. 12, 2:00-4:30pm, at the Old Orange County Courthouse, 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana. The event is free and open to the public.

Happy Lincoln's Birthday!

Come to O.C. History "Show & Tell" Night

Are you ready for Show & Tell? The Orange County Historical Society is holding "Show & Tell Night" this Thursday, Feb. 10th, 7:30pm, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. The event is open to the public.
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Rummage through your garage, files, scrapbooks, or trunks for a choice artifact or bit of memorabilia or ephemera that helps tell us something about Orange County of yore.
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Maybe you have a local orange crate that connects to a story about a parent who worked in a packing house. Perhaps you have your name badge from when you worked at Disneyland on opening day. What about great-grandpa’s branding iron, or a piece of flatware with the name of an early local hotel stamped on the back?
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Or maybe you just have an outstanding photo or map of early Orange County that hasn’t seen the light of day in many years.

There will be a sign-up sheet when you arrive at the meeting. People will be called up in order of their position on the list. If we run out of time, we’ll save the list for another meeting, so you’ll still get your chance to share your “piece of history” and a bit of the story behind it. (We're a pretty friendly and informal bunch, so don't be intimidated!)
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Have fun with this one. And surprise us!
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Photos: The photo at the top of today's post shows County Bee Inspector Roy Bishop in Dec. 1946, displaying a tray of beetles found in Orange County. (I'm not sure that's the sort of Show & Tell item we're looking for, Roy.)
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The second image shows County Supervisors Cye Featherly and Willis Warner at the 50th anniversary of the Old Orange County Courthouse in 1951. They're holding one of the photo prints that were given away on the opening day of the Courthouse in 1901. The gold seal and orange ribbon in the upper left corner make it easy to identify as an original. (That's a great Show & Tell item, guys!)
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Both photos come from the Bob Geivet Collection, held by OC Parks.

Reagan centennial, Tustin book, and vintage paper

Sunday, Feb. 6th would have been Ronald Wilson Reagan's 100th birthday. No matter what your party affiliation, it’s hard to argue that Orange County wasn’t the heart of “Reagan Country.” Support from Orange County played a crucial role in his 1966 gubernatorial campaign and both of his presidential campaigns. Reagan himself once said (somewhat cryptically) that “Orange County, is where the good Republicans go to die."

The photo above shows Governor Reagan at Knott's Berry Farm in 1971, celebrating the 60th anniversary of his friends Walter and Cordelia Knott. The image below shows Reagan as one of the three hosts of the national broadcast of Disneyland's opening day in 1955. As president, Reagan's greatest contribution was ending the Cold War and the threat of what he aptly called the “Evil Empire.”
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He also played a crucial role that some presidents have sadly overlooked: National cheerleader. This wasn't a political thing so much as an innate capacity that some presidents (regardless of party) have, and others do not. Reagan's earnest yet cheerful optimism and his faith in America were contagious, and helped pull our country out of the “malaise”/pity party of the 1970s.

Governor Reagan bestows a medal to Huntington Beach lifeguard Eric Emery in the photo above. The image below is from the Newport Beach event that launched his gubernatorial re-election campaign in 1970.

This last photo shows future Orange County Supervisor Bruce Nestande, Governor Reagan, and Coach Herb Hill on the field at Loara High School in Anaheim in 1970. Happy birthday, Mr. President.

Guy Ball will be signing his latest book, Images of America: Tustin, on Sat., Feb. 5, 10am-2pm, at the Tustin Area Historical Society Museum, 395 El Camino Real. I’ve only had a chance to thumb through the book briefly at this point, but it looks great so far. I’ll post something more about it after I actually read the thing.

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The Vintage Paper & Postcard Fair is returning to the Glendale Civic Auditorium this weekend. It’s worth the drive, and you can usually find some good Orange County stuff. I'll be there on Saturday. Try the enchiladas at the lunch window, they're great!

From Herman-Miller's 1769 catalog?

Oh, the things you find in old magazines and newspapers when you're researching something totally unrelated. This Spaniard -- presumably Gaspar de Portola -- comes from an ad for Orange Empire National Bank in the October 1964 issue of the late lamented Orange County Illustrated magazine. It has all the elements of 1960s Orange County: Ranch homes amid dwindling orange groves and wind breaks (these appear to be in the Tustin area), a touch of the ultra-Modern (the chair), an attempt at local appeal (the bank's name), and a healthy dose of somewhat hokey faux-Early-California.
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Orange Empire National Bank was based in Anaheim, and collapsed a year after this ad was published. The bank was the victim of some kind of "check writing scheme" that sent financial consultant Samuel A. Longo to prison.
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Portola, on the other hand, died in Spain in 1784.