Seals of Approval

And you thought there we no seals in Seal Beach! This photo is from about 1921.

Huntington Beach Fourth of July, 1951

This 1951 image of Lake Park in Huntington Beach is one of my favorite Fourth of July images in the Orange County Archives collections. (Click image to embiggen.) Taken just after the famous Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade, it's full-to-overflowing with classic Americana and Orange Countiana. (Paging Charles Phoenix! Paging Mr. Charles Phoenix!)
Drum majorettes wait for the milkman to dole out ice cream cups and sporks. The local Shriners are working the barbeques (which still stand today) in the background. And to go with the burgers and hot dogs, there are Cokes (in glass bottles) and Laura Scudders potato chips. Among the crowd are the various equestrians, still in their "Wild West" and "Old Mexico" costumes. And of course, on the horizon, are the ever-present Huntington Beach oil derricks.

The ice cream was from Excelsior Creamery, which also had a big floral float in the parade to carry "Queen" Joanne Morrison of Santa Ana College, and her "Princesses," Pat Calloway, Diana Charlton, Darlene Higgins (daughter of pioneer surfer Bud Higgins), Betty Jones, and Marilyn Kamphefner.

The parade's theme was a tribute to those serving in the Korean War. Both the El Toro Marine Band and the U.S. Naval Recruiting Band from San Diego marched and played the length of the parade route. Admiral Wilder Baker was the military grand marshal.

All told, there were 300 units in the parade. It was followed by a bathing beauty contest at the foot of the pier, the aforementioned picnic in Lake Park, a horse show at Tom Talbert's race track, and a fireworks show launched off the end of the pier.

I hope you enjoy an all-American Independence Day celebration in your own community this year.

The world's largest electronics plant that never was

Today's image comes from the 3-11-1968 issue of the Laguna News-Post. It's an artist's concept of the forthcoming North American Rockwell aerospace plant in Laguna Niguel, which was to employ 7,500 people. (It's a fuzzy image, and it's not all that old -- But how often do I have opportunities to showcase Laguna Niguel?) If built as shown above, it would have been the biggest electronics plant in the world.

But shortly after this image was created, the aerospace industry hit a downturn, with both the space program and the Vietnam War ramping down. Plans for the plant were changed, and we ended up with the William Pereira-designed "Ziggurat" building we all know today. But even that iconic building had to be sold as soon as it was completed, around 1970.

After some horse-trading, the government ended up with this strange landmark, which became known as the Chet Holifield Federal Building in 1978. Today, it houses offices for the IRS, Homeland Security, and other popular agencies. Until recently, it also housed the Pacific Region branch of the National Archives, which were recently moved to Perris, where they're less likely to be bothered by pesky patrons.

Evangeline restoration, living history, and parks

Glad tidings! First of all, my computer is (mostly) working now, so I can post again. But also, I was just sent a link to the very impressive plans for the exterior restoration of the historic Evangeline Hotel (1906) in Huntington Beach! (Links to old photos here and here.) Just for starters, they're tearing off the asbestos siding, putting back the cedar shingles, and replicating the original porch pillars. And better yet, it's going to be a residence, not a rehab facility or halfway house. I've lost count of how many times the Evangeline seemed doomed, so this is an especially pleasant surprise. (See the plans here.)

The Orange County Historical Commission is hosting three days of how-to workshops on "living history" later this month. It will begin with a two-day intensive training entitled, "What is Living History: Techniques to Bring History to Life" on July 14 & 15, 9am to 4pm at Heritage Hill Historical Park in El Toro. On Saturday, a class entitled “Past Voices, Present Faces” will be held at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana. The instructor will be John C.F. Luzader, V.P. of Programs for the National Association for Interpretation. He is also a principal with Living Museums of the West, a historical consultant, and an actor. For more information, contact Sue McIntire at (949) 923-2231.

The Voice of OC recently posted an article about the history and development of parks in Orange County. It's very interesting, and I learned a number of things from it. Link on over.

Huntington Beach, Yost Theatre, and bye to pie

My computer is still thrashed and awaiting delivery of TWO new harddrives. So the posts are still few and far between here -- using a borrowed computer. Anyway,... Today's photos show one of the most under-appreciated (but very cool) buildings in Downtown Huntington Beach: The deco/moderne Cut-Rate Drug Store, which still stands today at the corner of Main St. and Walnut.

The store was built in 1938 by well-known local oil-tool mogul S. R. Bowen. A number of sources place the construction date earlier, but this photo (below) from the 3-3-1938 issue of The Huntington Beach News settles the issue.

I received the following email about Santa Ana's historic Yost Theatre today, and I thought someone might be able to help:

Hello. I'm working on the Yost Theatre, reconstructing the upper part of the stage area, and I was wondering if you had (or knew of anyone with) photos from say 1940 to 1960. If so, please pass along my email address. ...Thanks. oddjobfortwo@gmail.com

Sad news: Orange County restaurant chain Marie Callender's is in Chapter 11, and many locations are closing. The story is in the Register.

Los Alamitos and technical difficulties

Today's photo shows Downtown Los Alamitos in about 1920. Note the dirt roads, false front Western buildings and the sugar factory in the background. You can see why Hollywood filmmakers used Los Alamitos as a location for shooting westerns. The image comes from the Orange County Archives.

I'm afraid my computer at home is seriously screwed up at the moment. Accordingly, I'm not posting much to this blog or even getting much access to my home email account. My apologies. I hope to get the problems dealt with over the next week or so. Thanks for your patience. (Not that I really gave you a choice.)

From Golden Horseshoe to Pearly Gates

The two biggest stars of Disneyland's record-setting Golden Horseshoe Revue (1955-1986) died only a day apart from each other this past week. The "Clown Prince of Disneyland," Wally Boag, who played Pecos Bill for 39,522 performances between 1955 and 1982, died Friday. His long-time co-star, Betty Taylor, who played the role of Slue-Foot Sue for about 30 years, died Saturday.

The Golden Horseshoe Revue was the longest continually running stage show in history. Both actors and the Revue itself are in the Guiness Book of World Records for their record-setting run. Taylor and Boag also appeared in a made-for-TV movie version of the Revue which also starred Annette Funicello, Ed Wynn, Gene Sheldon, Fulton Burley and Walt Disney. Taylor also performed on stage with well-known Big Bands and performing alongside stars like Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas.

Boag was an inspiration to many comedic performers. Steve Martin, who grew up working at Disneyland, tweeted, "My hero, the first comedian I ever saw live, my influence, a man to whom I aspired, has passed on. Wally Boag."

Speaking of Steve Martin at Disneyland, a rare 1957 photo of a very young Martin selling guidebooks at the Main Gate has surfaced in a recent post on the Daveland Blog. It's definitely one of those "holy grail" photos we never thought we'd see. (Speaking of which, have any of you found a photo of Walter Knott and Walt Disney together yet?)

Silent Movies Shot In Orange County

Today I'm posting a series of photos from the special Saturday open house we held today at the exhibit, "On Location: Orange County in Silent Film," at the Old Orange County Courthouse. This afternoon we screened Buster Keaton's "College," with live accompaniment on the organ by William Campbell. It was a packed house! Today's Register featured a very nice article about the exhibit and this event.

The exhibit, as I mentioned earlier, is about the many movies shot in Orange County during the silent film era. The staff of the Orange County Archives put the exhibit together, with funding and technical help from OC Parks. I know I'm biased, but I think the mix of original props and movie equipment, photos, movie posters, replica costumes and other artifacts is fairly impressive for our first build-it-from-scratch exhibit. And it tells an interesting story that few people know. The exhibit is free to the public and can be viewed on the third floor of the Old Courthouse, 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday, until Aug. 5th.

I should have posted this earlier. Sometimes I'm so busy prepping for events that I don't realize I haven't blogged about something. But if you missed out on today's event, all is not lost. Not only can you still see the exhibit, but you can also be part of yet another Silent Movies Shot In O.C. screening this Thursday.

The very first movie shot in Orange County, D.W. Griffith's "Two Brothers" will be shown in its entirety -- along with clips of other silent films shot locally -- at this month's meeting of the Orange County Historical Society. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m., Thurs., June 9th, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., Orange.

"Two Brothers" is a tale set in California's Rancho era, and shows many identifiable scenes of San Juan Capistrano as it appeared in 1910. Long considered lost, a copy of the film was recently found by the Smithsonian. It is essentially a Western, set in the "days of the Dons." Still-unknown talents Mary Pickford, Hoot Gibson and Mack Sennett are featured in bit parts.

This OCHS program is free and open to the public. Popcorn and refreshments will be available in the "lobby," and copies of Jim Sleeper's book, "Great Movies Shot in Orange County" will be available for sale.

But let's go back to the exhibit at the Old Courthouse,... The exhibit (and thus, these accompanying events) couldn't have happened without Jim Sleeper's aforementioned book. Although the artifacts were provided by a variety of generous sources, Jim's thorough research gave us the framework and background to make the exhibit more than just a roomful of interesting stuff.

In the photo above, County Archivist Susan Berumen introduces theater organist, Bill Campbell, of the Orange County Theatre Organ Society. He did an amazing job for us! (See a film clip of his performance here.)

This last photo shows the audience watching "College" in Courtroom 2 of the Old Courthouse. Seeing a big crowd of people laughing loudly at Buster Keaton's inspired hijinks, it's hard to imagine that this is the same room where the nationally infamous Overell murder trial was held in 1947.

Anyway,... Whether you make it to the exhibit in Santa Ana or to the program in Orange, (or hopefully both), please stop by and say hello.