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Tourists and prospective home-seekers were lured to California by real-estate promoters and salesmen in the boom of the Twenties. Land was cheap … oil discoveries created frenzied speculation … postwar America was determined to create a more attractive and less arduous way of life. |
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State picnics were held in Sycamore Grove with placards of county names fixed to the tree trunks. The emigrants signed in and joined their friends to listen to the music and eat from tables heavy with ham, fried chicken, baked beans, melons, coffee and pie. |
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Influenced by the lavish Hollywood - Beverly Hills lifestyle, Californians wanted the latest and the finest. Batchelder art tiles for their Spanish-Colonial homes, crafted boots, handsome furniture - all helped create a feeling of serene luxury. |
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In the 20s, mothers and fathers were told to place their faith in science rather than religion and to expect correct nutrition and scientific training to produce good habits. Baffled parents joined the proliferating parent-education organization and the problems they discussed show that times have not change as much as we think. |
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California's dry, sunny climate was ideal for outdoor shooting and American business efficiency soon built up chains of cinemas to show the films produced in Hollywood by Demille, D. W. Griffith and others. By the 1920s the production of motion pictures was the largest industry in Los Angeles. |
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Moviegoers watched from films starring Mary Pickford,
Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Rudolf
Valentino, Tom Mix, Clara Bow and countless others. The salaries of
these matinee idols were high and income taxes low. Tastes became extravagant
as the stars vied with each other regarding homes, clothes, cars and
jewelry. |
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“How you Travel is who you are,” said Lucius Beebe, America's connoisseur to everything. Long sea and rail voyages were restful, happy experiences - sea travel offered opulent rooms, deck games, concerts, bridge tournaments and fancy dress for evening. Half a million Americans each year headed for Europe. |
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The evening presentations of the “Life of Christ” opened in July and ran for approximately twelve weeks. The play was advertised as a “Serious religious drama, attractive to the more thoughtful type of visitor.” |
