Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A photographic query


[Upshot? The above photo memorializes completion, in 1926, of a stretch of PCH connecting Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. On hand were Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. --RB, 4/3]

Earlier today, I posted a few spiffy old photos that I found in the Orange County Public Library archive, and I included the one above. I knew about it only that, supposedly, it was taken in Laguna Beach.

But when I looked at this photo again today, it occurred to me that the man at the anvil is none other than Douglas Fairbanks. I blew up his image at right:

Compare the image with this pic of "The King of Hollywood" with his wife, Mary Pickford, in 1920:


Bingo. Well, naturally, it occurred to me that the gal at the right would likely be Mary Pickford, aka "America's Sweetheart." Here's a blowup of the gal.

And here's Pickford in 1918 (at right):

Ditto Bingo.

Pickford and Fairbanks are known to have frequented Laguna Beach during their time together (c. 1920-1933), so I figure it's likely that I've correctly identified these two. And I'm guessing that the picture was taken in the early 20s.

But what is the occasion memorialized in this photo? It appears to be some kind of opening. But of what?

Note that several persons in the photo are wearing costumes. Laguna Beach was known for its "Indian" (i.e., Native American) pageants, but not all costumes in the photo fit that theme.

What do you think? And can you help me to identify others in the photo?

UPDATE: BeachCalifornia.com offers a brief history of Corona del Mar, including Pickford and Fairbanks' involvement in the opening of PCH—connecting Laguna to Newport Beach:

Plans for Corona del Mar at the turn of the 20th century were as a vacation resort destination. On June 29, 1904 George Hart signed an agreement with the Irvine Ranch for the purchase of a 706.08-acre corner of land on the Irvine Ranch for summer cottages. His concept quickly changed in 1904 when visitors came to play and wouldn’t leave so perfect a spot. Until the late 1920’s, Corona del Mar was a tiny village reached from the peninsula by small boat at high tide, or by a muddy dirt road that crossed the Irvine Ranch and continued along the bluffs around Newport Upper Bay. With the opening of Pacific Coast Highway in 1926 (Mary Pickford & Douglas Fairbanks were there for the ribbon cutting), a period of slow growth began, not accelerating until after World War II.

Could our pic be of that “ribbon cutting”? It does include a little girl wearing a sash that says “Miss Newport Beach.” But they're definitely not cutting a ribbon, and they don't seem to be opening a road. And why wear costumes for such an occasion?

UPDATE (April 1): whole hawk

Our good friend Bohrstein (Bohr+Einstein) has located this factoid in the Orange County Almanac:
1926: …Pacific Coast Highway opens between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. Screen stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, costumed as the god Vulcan and "Spirit of Progress," attend the opening ceremony….

BS’s theory is/was that the pic includes actors involved in the 1922 movie “Robin Hood” and thus depicts an event during its filming, probably at some "Hollywood" location. In fact, it really does seem to me that several of the people in the crowd are among the actors for that movie. But BS’s new data suggest that the pic is of the “ribbon cutting” for the new stretch of PCH after all—cuz Fairbanks is surely doing a “Vulcan” kinda thing here. And Pickford might well be some kinda "Spirit" (what do spirits wear?).

As I told BS, I am now officially on the fence about this. PCH or RH? I be discombobulated!

And I will not remain on the fence. I am now on a quest! As my German mother would say right about now, “I am in dis ting whole hawk!”

UPDATE:

Craig Chalquist, in his book
Deep California, briefly discusses Laguna Beach, describing its growth:
Another boom arrived with the Pacific Coast Highway. For its 1926 opening, Douglas Fairbanks dressed up as the god Vulcan welding links in a chain of friendship running north to Long Beach while his wife Mary Pickford stood by as the Spirit of Progress admiring the crippled blacksmith. In photographs taken at the event the two seem a trifle embarrassed.

Yeah, in the photo, Dougie Boy does seem to be making links in a chain. Is he embarrassed? Don't thinks so, but we've not seen all the pics. --RB

10 comments:

Bohrstein said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bohrstein said...

Deleted old post to double check that I was actually googling the RIGHT Douglas Fairbanks. So long as he is the same one from the Robin Hood, I might be okay.

I said:

I used my Google-Fu to find a few things that might be of interest.

So, as you are probably aware Douglas Fairbanks was Robin Hood. Apparently to make this movie happen they bought "the old Jesse Hampton place" in Santa Monica. It was a big patch of desert which was used to build a life sized replica of Nottingham. This all occurred in 1922.

After finding this, I checked out IMDB and got a list of the stars in the movie. Since IMDB is lacking in pictures of the stars, I googled or wiki'd each individually doing my best to match the faces. Kind of difficult!

I'm going to put in a guess (maybe you can verify the faces, and places better than I can since I really have NO idea who these people are). I want to say that the "girl dressed as an indian" is Enid Bennett (hair doesn't seem to match, and I base my comparison pretty much on the cheek bones) and that the big guy next to her holding his hat down is her spouse Fred Niblo (But I really don't know, it looks kind of similar to his photo on the wiki, but his nose looks smaller in what I assume are older photographs). I also want to say that the guy in the glasses is Sam De Grasse. Again, this is all sort of difficult to make out so I could be entirely wrong, and reserve the right to pretend I never participated just in case this turns out to all be horribly wrong.

Oh, and I bet this is all some ceremony for the movie set of Robin Hood.

I googled around for "Anvil Ceremony" and found a few pictures of wedding ceremonies that have the same anvil-on-a-stump thing going on (but that seems like the normal place to put an anvil). Who knows though, it might have different meanings (aside from weddings)?

Fun!

Roy Bauer said...

You are one wacky guy, BS, but I like your spirit. A friend of mind seemed to have a theory much like yours, but I immediately shot it down. Now, I'm not so sure.
Really? There's more than one anvil ceremony? Sheesh! What on earth is that all about?

Bohrstein said...

Well thanks Chunk, I think. But I think you were right to shoot your friend and mine's theory down.

According to the OC Almanac:
http://www.ocalmanac.com/History/hi01f.htm

In 1926 - "Pacific Coast Highway opens between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. Screen stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, costumed as the god Vulcan and 'Spirit of Progress,' attend the opening ceremony"

So, IF this picture of yours is of this event, well...
The god Vulcan is the Roman god of the forge.

And a little harder to find, because apparently there is a freakin' train named "The Spirit of Progress"
The spirit of progress. Which, in my opinion makes the pose a little more understandable.

I'm feeling like one of those crazy conspiracy people now. Looking for evidence in the weirdest of places. Such are the errors of one who seeks to confirm one's beliefs, I suppose. I'm going to stop now. Good luck, history bound Chunk!

Roy Bauer said...

BS: in truth, you had me utterly convinced that the scene was related to the filming of "Robin Hood." I spent an hour or so looking up the cast of that movie and was (am?) sure that some of the people standing around in the pic were actors in that film. The film was made in 1922 and the "ribbon cutting" was in 1926. So, given your new data, I'm just freakin' discombobulated, with arms and legs akimbo (I never miss an opportunity to use that last word). I do think your detective work was quite good. Your "conspiracy theory remorse" (CTR) is a clear indication that you are a careful thinker who maintains a healthy skepticism about his hypotheses. My hat's off to you! At present, I'm perched precisely on the fence (OTF) about whether the pic concerns the PCH episode or something during the filming of RH. I won't drop this until I fall into your yard or mine. It is, I fear, a QUEST.

Anonymous said...

Does this help? Craig Chalquist, in his book Deep California, briefly discusses Laguna Beach, describes the growth of Laguna Beach:

Another boom arrived with the Pacific Coast Highway. For its 1926opening, Douglas Fairbanks dressed up as the god Vulcan welding links in a chain of friendship running north to Long Beach while his wife Mary Pickford stood by as the Spirit of Progress admiring the crippled blacksmith. In photographs taken at the event the two seem a trifle embarrassed.

Yeah, in the photo, Dougy Boy does seem to be making links in a chain. Is he embarrassed? No, but we've not see all the pics. --RB

Bohrstein said...

We must find those pictures! I'm also curious about that house in the background... hm...

Also, where did you get this picture?

I can't find it in the archives, though I haven't been through them all either. Tonight, after class, maybe.

Roy Bauer said...

If by "this" picture you mean the photo we've been talking about, I actually don't remember, although I think I identified the source as the Orange County Public Library archive. Yeah, that was likely it. I try to explain or identify my sources, whenever possible.

Roy Bauer said...

Yes, I found the original photo at Orange County Public Library archive.

Bohrstein said...

Ok, the information is running dry.

I've set my sites on finding the other photos as an all or nothing.

But, I am feeling convinced that this is the PCH ribbon ceremony where all the people who lived in the area (as you might note, lots of them died around PCH) happened to be pretty famous.

Is there some sort of bibliography in the back of the "Deep California" book that might mention who took the photo, etc.?

Otherwise, a trip to an OC Lib might yield something fruitful. Scanning the newspapers of the time, etc.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...