Long Beach has islands. Four of them. And you can clearly see them as you fly into the airport (LGB) or traverse Ocean Avenue. But these are artificial islands. Wonderful fakes, designed to vibe palm trees, waterfalls, blue-and-white condos and more. At night, the islands sparkle in Long Beach Harbor with colorful lights. Amazingly, they…
While researching Southern California’s Wooden Crate Art: Or the Romance of Fruits and Veggies, I set aside a few labels that feature growers from the San Fernando Valley. Hard to believe now, but once upon a time the Valley was an agricultural paradise, dotted with farms, ranches, wheat fields, and seas of citrus groves. The…
Back in the 1880’s, West Coast citrus growers began to seriously compete with each other for both local markets and East Coast distribution. With the development of the trans-Continental rail network, farmers were able to ship fruits (and veggies, once refrigerated rail cars were invented) in wooden crates clear across the country. So, how could…
A singing lark and a speeding Lark, both are creatures of the dawn. From 1941 until April 8, 1968, the Southern Pacific Railroad Company operated the Lark overnight passenger train on the 470-mile run between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Lark was train #75 (northbound) and #76 (southbound). It was the only all-room/roomette sleeping…
AND SO IT GOES . . . BOYS, BEER AND THE LAKE’S DEMISE As the years passed and we became older, we were no longer attracted to the joys of Lancaster Lake for the same reasons we were when we were younger. Such things as bailing out the rental boats for a free boat ride…
