Mystery History -- Solved!

I'm giving my heart to Wanda for her 1:55 p.m. Tuesday guess "Maybe it is an initiation of some sort."

In the 1940 photo above, members of the Sorelle Club, a Pasadena City College sorority, look on as one of 14 prospective new members goes through the rite of initiation in a Pasadena barn.

The women's hair was smeared with molasses and raw eggs, they were dressed in nightgowns and masks, and made to smoke foul cigars and grovel on the barn floor.

After the humiliating hazing was complete, they were offically welcomed into the sorority during a formal ceremony:

When I was a senior in high school, I was initiated into the Belle Filles, a community service organization/junior sorority. The other candidates and I were blindfolded, taken to a very dark spot on Proctor Valley Road in rural San Diego County and made to kiss a severed cow's head on the lips without realizing what it was until the blindfolds came off (I knew it was something horrifying; turns out the father of one of the members owned a meat packing plant).

Thankfully, hopefully, this kind of hazing doesn't happen very often any more, if at all!

Many thanks to Pasadena City College.

Mystery History -- Solved!

Bellis wins with her 9:06 p.m. Tuesday guess "Looks like one of the annual Caltech Mudeos, where the students play around in the mud."

In the photo above, students try to capture tires buried in mud and take them out of the pit during the 1941 Caltech Mudeo (like rodeo - get it?).

For many years this annual contest, which began in 1915, was held at Tournament Park on the Caltech campus.

Annual Mudeo events included tug-of-war in which 20 students were allowed on each side, wheelbarrow race with 10 teams of two with one man grasping the legs of the other and propelling him forward, a sack race, horse and rider featuring two-man teams engaging in battle with one sitting on the other's shoulders, and the tire spree pictured above.

Now the Mudeo, revived in 2004 after a hiatus of several years, is held on the Caltech campus and it's coed. This photo was taken during the tournament north of Avery House in March 2010:


Ultimate Frisbee has been added to the list of Mudeo games; the tire spree is lost to the ages.


Many thanks to Caltech.

Mystery History -- Solved!

Julie wins with her 11:39 a.m. Tuesday guess "When the circus came to town...."

In the photo above, the tents are all set up in the Arroyo Seco for the Clyde Beatty and Russell Brothers' Combined Circus, which was in town for two days in May 1944.

Here's an excerpt from a Pasadena Star-News article published May 4, 1944:

Highlighting the two-hour, star-studded program is Clyde Beatty, world's foremost wild animal trainer, who appears in person at every performance with the world's largest group of performing jungle-bred lions and tigers.

Daring death twice daily...Beatty presents a startling and thrilling exhibition exemplifying man's dominance over the most savage, cruel, bloodthirsty and ferocious beasts of the jungle...

...Additional thrills are provided by the world-renowned Flying Concellos exemplifying the poetry of motion in the air in a sensational exhibition of aerial agility on the flying trapeze; Miss Estrelita, top-ranking exponent of thrilling heel and toe patches at dizzy heights; the Great Olveras, world's most astounding head balancing perch act; Mario, unrivaled and amazingly versatile genius of the tight wire, and scores of other aerial, arenic and trained animal exhibitions punctuated by the absurd antics of a comical contingent of clowns.

Here's a photo from the article:


Caption: Clyde Beatty, world's foremost wild animal trainer, who dares death twice daily in the Clyde Beatty and Russell Bros. Combined Circus battling 40 ferocious, blood-thirst, jungle-bred lions and tigers in a mammoth steel arena.

And a photo from a May 2, 1944, article:


Caption: An aerial ballet girl files the toenails of Big Margaret, one of the star pachyderm performers of the New Clyde Beatty and Russell Brothers Combined Circus coming to Pasadena Friday and Saturday of this week. According to attendants, the elephant really likes the treatment.

Circuses that feature "wild or exotic animals" are no longer allowed to set up shop in public rights of way per the Pasadena Municipal Code, which also outlaws rodeos in public areas. The amendment to Title 8 of the code was approved by the Pasadena City Council on Feb. 5, 2001.


Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library.

Mystery History -- Solved

Chris wins with his 7:05 a.m. Tuesday guess 'Beer or? boys'?? They look like the Women's Christian Temperance Union gals who protested at bars around the country, especially in Pasadena, in the 40's. Or maybe they're that evening's live karaoke. The bartender likes them."

In the 1947 photo above, members of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union chide a customer in a Pasadena bar. The WCTU visited several drinking establishments in Pasadena that day, and they knew how to work a publicity machine.

Life Magazine covered their day-long mission and published several photos in the May 19, 1947, issue.

These marching grandmothers will seem strange to many younger Americans. But to older people, who can recall the violent days of hatchet-wielding, saloon-smashing Carry Nation, they will seem like nothing more than a wisp out of the past. In their own simple and direct way these women are exhibiting a peculiarly American penchant for reform by a peculiarly American form of enterprise.



These ladies have replaced the direct action of earlier days with persuasion. Like members of other dry organizations who are becoming active again, they are advocating measures short of an immediate campaign for outright prohibition. Using only prayer and petition, and guided, as they believe, by God, they paraded last week into barrooms of Pasadena, Calif. There they urged barkeepers to seek "more honorable" jobs. They pointed out possible law violations to proprietors. They pleaded with customers to sign no-drink pledges. At one bar they found a mother with her daughter, embraced the mother and prayed for her. Later the mother joined them in singing "Onward Christian Soldiers."



The marchers are, of course, Woman's Christian Temperance Union members. They are led by Mrs. Bessie Lee Cowie, 86, one of demon rum's most persistent foes. Tears came to Mrs. Cowie's eyes as she said, "Again and again girls have told me that their fall began with a glass of wine."



The barroom customers, however, appeared to have the attitude of Finley Peter Dunne's Mr Hennessy, who once remarked to the more famous Mr. Dooley, "Th' man who dhrinks modhrately ought to be allowed to have what he wants." Dooley's reply was, "What is his name? What novel is he in?"

There's a Southern California chapter of the WCTU.

I keep promising to do a post about how liquor was involved -- or not -- in Pasadena's founding. It's a fun and fascinating history, but too much info for this post. I will, I will!

Mystery History -- Solved

JM in Pasadena nailed it. (Email me, JM, to claim your fabulous prize!)

In the photo above, Mrs. C.G. Wopschall christens the USS Pasadena during launching ceremonies at Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Mass., on Dec. 28, 1943.

Mrs. Wopschall's husband was the mayor of Pasadena at the time. Here's his photo from the Hall of Mayors:


The ship was launched that same day.


The USS Pasadena was commissioned into official World War II duty in autumn 1944 to take part in the Pacific operations against Japan, during which she escorted aircraft carriers as they hit targets in the Philippines, the South China Sea and other areas. She also provided gunfire support during the difficult campaigns to capture Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and was in Tokyo Bay when Japan formally surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945.

Here's a photo of the ship entering Pearl Harbor in 1948.


The very first rendition of her official emblem was designed by Walt Disney himself.


She was decommissioned in 1950 to begin two decades in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1970 and sold for scrap in 1972.

She was the second USS Pasadena, the first having been commissioned into World War I service in 1918.

And the third USS Pasadena is a U.S. Navy submarine that is in active service with its home port at Pearl Harbor. Her emblem is an updated version of Disney's original drawing, including a rose.

My dad was a Navy man, so this kind of thing is very close to my heart.


Many thanks to the Naval Historical Center and the USS Pasadena Foundation.

Mystery History -- Solved

Barbara Ellis wins with her 8:49 a.m. Tuesday comment "My guess is that this is one of the more than 600 Japanese-Americans assembled at the Rose Bowl who left before dawn on March 23rd 1942 in a huge convoy heading for Manzanar, with almost 200 driving their own vehicles." Others were warm but Barbara hit it right on the head!

In the photo above, an unidentified man waves farewell just before dawn on March 23, 1942, after being processed at the Rose Bowl Stadium for residency at the Manzanar internment camp.

The stadium, Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia and the Fairplex in Pomona were among the processing centers and assembly areas for persons of Japanese descent living in western regions of Pacific coast states who would be relocated temporarily to camps in interior regions of California, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming.

I didn't know until I heard Joel Sheldon speak at an event on Sunday that Vromans Bookstore regularly sent boxes of books to Manzanar during this period.

Excerpt from the Los Angeles Times, March 22, 1942:

Tomorrow morning approximately 1000 Japanese will leave for the evacuation city on a special train and in busses, while a huge motorcade, again under the convoy of the Army, will depart from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for the same destination.

General instructions to Japanese leaving here for Manzanar tomorrow morning were issued yesterday by Maj. Gen. Walter Wilson, commanding the Southern California area.

Each person, the orders declared, will be required to bring all bedding except mattresses, all tools of his trade, clothing, cooking utensils, a one-gallon container of drinking water and his personal belongings. Baggage will be limited to what each person can carry with him and to what can be carried by baggage facilities on train or bus.

Before the war there were several businesses in Pasadena owned by Japanese American residents, most in the area bordered by Walnut Street, California Boulevard, Orange Grove Boulevard and Marengo Avenue. See a map showing businesses in 1940 here.


Many Japanese American residents belonged to the Pasadena Union Presbyterian Church. There is an honor roll displayed on the front window in this photo that lists the 117 Japanese Americans from Pasadena who were serving in the U.S. military at the time. The church offered free storage for the belongings of Japanese Americans who were interned at camps during the war years, then served as a dormitory and job placement facility when they returned to Pasadena.

It was one of hundreds of buildings demolished to make room for the 210 Freeway. Although the structure is no more, the ministry lives on as part of the First Presbyterian Church in Altadena.

Pasadena City College is looking for former Japanese American students who were forced to leave PCC because of World War II internment. Honorary degrees will be bestowed by PCC during commencement festivities in June as part of the California Nisei College Diploma Project.

President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, legislation on behalf of the U.S. government that apologized for the internment of Japanese Americans, called for public education about the camps and provided for restitution. More more than $1.5 billion in reparations were paid to individuals and heirs.

The Japanese culture lives on in our community with organizations such as the Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute and the Pasadena Buddhist Temple.


Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library.

Mystery History -- Solved

A lot of great guesses but I stumped everyone this time!

In the photo above, people flock to a helicopter that has landed in front of Pasadena City Hall on July 8, 1946.

This was during the first week of an experimental program by which airmail flown by plane from all over the world to the Los Angeles Municipal Airport would be delivered by helicopter to several cities throughout L.A. County, including Pasadena, Pomona, Santa Monica and Long Beach.

Intended to save time, the L.A. County program was the first of its kind in the nation.

Pasadena Star-News -- July 4, 1946:

Owing to the holiday and final adjustments to the required equipment, the inauguration of helicopter mail service in and out of Pasadena has been postponed from Saturday to Monday, when service is expected to go into effect sometime in the early afternoon.

Particulars regarding address and rates may be obtained by calling the information clerk at the main post office.

Here's an envelope from 1948, flown by helicopter to Los Angeles Municipal Airport and then on to Cleveland.


Many thanks to Pasadena Museum of History and Pasadena Public Library.

Mystery History -- Solved

Sometimes you have to get up early on Tuesdays to win Mystery History!

Liz wins with her 7:56 a.m. Tuesday guess "raising or repairing or erecting the war memorial on the corner of Colorado and orange grove next to the Norton Simon Museum."

In the photo above, shot by Howard Ballew on May 19, 1948, a worker painstakingly removes the 135-pound bronze eagle from the top of the World War I memorial flagstaff while sidewalk superintendents look on. (I've always been especially intrigued by the Pasadena police officer and the guy with the stogie.)

The flagstaff had just been removed from the intersection of Orange Grove and Colorado by a giant crane because it had been deemed a traffic hazard.








In a few weeks, after having been cleaned up a bit, the flagstaff would be relocated to the little patch of grass at the northeast corner of Colorado and Orange Grove.

World War I began in April 1917 and ended Nov. 11, 1918. Nearly 2,500 Pasadenans served; 46 were killed in action.

The idea to build the memorial flagstaff originated in 1919 when the Board of Pasadena City Directors established a community committee to shepherd the design and construction of a memorial flagstaff. The $36,000 project was funded by contributions from 2,000 local donors. It was decided that the memorial would be placed in the middle of the intersection of Orange and Colorado to enhance Pasadena's west gateway.

The creative talent for the monument was among the cream of the crop of that period: architect Bertram Goodhue and sculptor Lee Lawrie.

Upon seeing the final design in 1925, Charles Moore, president of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C., said he considered it "the finest flagstaff base in the country if not the world."

The monument was dedicated Feb. 12, 1927.

In 1999 the City of Pasadena submitted an application for restoration funding to SOS! (Save Outdoor Sculpture!), a joint project of Heritage Preservation and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The restoration process included removal of corrosion, stains and graffiti plus structural repairs. It took some time, but the results were magnificent! The memorial was rededicated on Veterans Day 2001.

Many of you are aware of the incredible 115-foot-tall monument to Pasadenans who served -- and fell -- in World War I. But if you haven't seen it up close, I really encourage you to park across the street on Green or Grand, then walk the couple of blocks to see the memorial and study every detail. It's truly magnificent.


Seven-foot-tall bronze figures in three-quarter relief go all around the cylindrical base, depicting soldiers, sailors, an officer, an aviator, and a Red Cross nurse helping a wounded soldier. Above them, also in bronze, are a California bear, a ship, a fasces (bundle of rods with an ax, signifying authority) and the names of World War I battles.




The inscription in the granite going all around the base of the flagpole reads:

IN PROUD REMEMBRANCE OF OUR GLORIOUS DEAD
MCMXVII MCMXVIII

You'll also find the find the mark of the foundry -- John Polachek Bronze & Iron Co. Inc./Long Island City, N.Y. -- in the granite.

The cast-bronze eagle is proudly perched at the very top of the flagstaff.


The pole itself weighs four tons and is made of steel overlaid with teakwood and clad in copper.

The memorial is on one of our many public art walking tours.




Many thanks to Los Angeles Public Library.

Mystery History -- Solved

Dianne wins!

In this 1949 photo, mothers have brought their little ones to the well baby clinic at Pasadena Public Health Department. The department was established 117 years ago and has been serving community health needs ever since.

Pasadena is one of only three cities in California with its own public health department (the other two are Berkeley and Long Beach) and therefore is not under the jurisdiction of the L.A. County Public Health Department. Thank your lucky stars for that!

Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library for the photo.