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Army activities at San Pedro during World War I consisted of building fortifications for the protection of the harbor. Huge concrete revetments were built on the bluff at the latter site to house mammoth fourteen inch guns. Local residents never mistook battery practice days, for the whole harbor area literally trembled when the guns were fired, and the sound often could be heard clearly in downtown Los Angeles. |
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During this era of barnstorming, may individuals paid a modest sum for an airplane and flew freely from town to town, unrestricted by any government regulations.
On the beach, rides were available for 25¢. The younger generation watched as new heroes, men and women, competed in daredevil stunts - flying under bridges or racing at speeds of 140 miles an hour. |
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Emery Rogers took over the Chaplin Airport on Wilshire Boulevard in 1920 and later added the DeMille Airport across the street. The next year he was killed while racing his C-1 Monoplane and his wife continued the company. Air mail service began in 1925 and overnight increased tenfold, establishing Los Angeles as the nation's heaviest per capita user of air mail. |
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Driving in the Twenties was haphazardly learned from fathers and friends, but skillfully applied. You had to be able to judge “revs” before you changed gear. Everyone learned to “double clutch” and young men spent Saturday afternoons “taking down the big end” and doing their own “decarbonizing.” |
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Life wasn't prosperous for everyone in the Twenties - it only seemed that way. Long Beach was definitely one of the places where life was lived to its fullest. Contests, parades, parties … and junk car races entertained the crowds and filled the streets. |
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Thanks to the automobile, Californians could escape to the mountains, the oceanside or the desert. Auto camps sprang up overnight, offering a place to set up a tent, buy a few provision and “bask and sport in the great clean out-of-doors.” |
