So much stuff is already out there about Walt Disney’s original Magic Kingdom, that I always hesitate. But this is one that I honestly don’t remember. Maybe because it didn’t last long as a “futuristic” feature at the entrance to Tomorrowland. (But most likely because I was one of those crazed kids rushing pell mell…
“Novelty,” “mimetic,” “programmatic,” “vernacular”—all are terms used to define the same crazy kind of “art imitates life” architecture that once dotted the L.A. cityscape (and much of the rest of the country, for that matter) starting in the 1920’s. You knew it when you saw it (and that was the point, of course). Puppies, chickens,…
Back in 1937, super wealthy San Franciscans William and Lurline Roth became the second owners of the grand Filoli estate located in Woodside, California. (Think “Dynasty,” the 80’s TV show that was actually filmed there.) Well, the link to Hawaii tourism lies in Mrs. Roth’s maiden name, Matson. From the early 1920’s until the 1970’s,…
After the death of her husband in 1893, Jane Lathrop Stanford became sole trustee of Stanford University. For the next ten years, she involved herself in the daily running of the institution. She worked closely and often butted heads with Stanford University president, David Starr Jordan—particularly over issues of academic freedom and political patronage. By…
I remember the first time I stumbled across the statue of the weeping angel on campus. I had no idea that the entire Leland Stanford family (father, mother, and son) was buried right there, in a dusty and secluded grove of oaks between two towering palm trees. This part of Stanford University (at the juncture…
