Betsy J. Green

Rock Soap - Part 2

On May 23, 1878, the Los Angeles Herald reported, "Rock Soap – Some of the Rock Soap from the vein located by Mr. Frank Walker, on the Santa Barbara beach [on the Mesa], a few months since, was sent to San Francisco for trial, and the report comes back that it is far superior to the Ventura article . . . In a short time, a number of tons of the crude material will be sent to the city for manufacture into marketable shape, and no doubt, Santa Barbara Rock Soap will, ere long, be a staple article of commerce."

Only five weeks later, on June 29, 1878, Santa Barbara's Weekly Press reported that Frank Walker and his business associates sold the rights to their Rock Soap mine on the Mesa to the Pacific Soap Company. The paper did not call him "Fast Frank," but that could well have been his nickname in Santa Barbara.

There is no record of Rock Soap being mined on the Mesa cliffs, or anywhere else in Santa Barbara. In the 1800s, Rock Soap was principally used for polishing jewelry and silverware. 

Two movies directed by Lois Weber were filmed in Montecito.

The movie Too Wise Wives, was made at one of the estates here in 1921. Weber preferred filming on real locations, when possible.

"Spanish Flu" Advice

(I had no idea when I was writing about the Spanish Flu epidemic in Santa Barbara for my 1918 and 1919 "Way Back When" books that another flu would be in the news in 2020, but I thought folks would like to read about how we coped with the flu a century ago.)

Back in August 1918, there were no cases of the Spanish Flu in Santa Barbara yet, but articles in the local paper recommended that people start wearing masks if they became sick.

A local doctor gave a talk at the Rotary Club meeting this month. "Every one of you . . . should wear a mask until your cold is over," the doctor warned. "There is no other way, and unless it is started soon, the disease, grippe, will seize you in its clutches."

There was no talk of handwashing. One hundred years ago, viruses and their transmission were not as well understood as they are today. I'll have more items about the Spanish Flu in Santa Barbara in future posts.

Rock Soap - Part 1

They didn't have TV pitchmen in the 1870s selling chia pets, thigh minimizers, or copper bracelets guaranteed to cure arthritis, but they did have the infamous Rock Soap fad (or scam).

It began in Ventura County in 1875. The white chalky stone was discovered by a miner looking for coal. He claimed that during his digging, some of this rock fell into the water and dissolved into a soapy film. Rock Soap was heavily promoted in newspapers around the U.S., and was even exhibited at the World's Fair in Philadelphia in 1876.

Rock Soap, we now know, is composed of the skeletons of microscopic sea creatures called diatoms. Today it is known as diatomaceous earth, and Lompoc has mountains of it, and there was some on the Mesa. More about this in next week's Mesa Memories Monday post. 

Mollie of the Follies

This was one of two movies released by Santa Barbara's "Flying A" movie studio in February 1919. Mollie Malone is a dancer at a Coney Island carnival. She's in love with a guy and he loves her. But due to a case of mutual misunderstandings (where would movies be without misunderstandings?), they have a falling out and she leaves the carnival to marry another guy who she just met.

A series of mishaps happen (where would movies be without mishaps?), and they don't really get married, which is a good thing – his name is Chauncey. Really! Chauncey? In fact, Mollie ends up marrying the first guy, they open a delicatessen, and live happily ever after. Hold the mayo.

The Baltimore Sun described Mollie of the Follies as "a play of ginger and pep replete with novel thrills." 

Olive Trees on the Mesa - Part 2

Way back in the 1800s, Mesa farmers knew that olive trees grew well on the Mesa. In 1866, Santa Barbara lawyer Charles Enoch Huse, a Mesa landowner, posted an ad in the Sacramento Daily Union, hoping to sell some of his Mesa land to farmers. "Best Farming Lands . . . Particularly well calculated for the growth of olives . . . Climate unsurpassed in the state." Mesa farmers who had olive trees included Jonathan Mayhew, Henry Lewis Garfield, Ludwell Gains Oliver, Peveril Meigs, and John John (no that's not a typo; his name was John John).

Peveril Meigs (for whom Meigs Road is named) even produced his own olive oil here. The oil was said to be "the equal of any produced in California." And the Pacific Rural Press noted that his olives had won a prize at the Santa Barbara County Fair.

The 1928 film Oh, Kay! was based on a Gershwin musical comedy that takes place in a mansion. While it might seem strange to us that a silent film based on a musical would appeal to audiences, it was popular in smaller towns where the live version of the play had not been performed.

"Colleen Moore sure fire ... Stage show of "Oh Kay" had never reached here, which gave the picture a nice break." [Kansas City theater owner opinion] – "Variety" [New York, New York], September 19, 1928

A couple of Santa Barbara men wrote a popular patriotic song in 1917

During World War I, John Christian, an African-American man who worked as a steward at the SB Elks Club, wrote the lyrics to a patriotic song titled, "Uncle Sam is a Grand Old Man." The music was written by another local, George Clerbois.

The chorus ends:

"When he starts to fight, you bet he's right:

Uncle Sam is a grand old man."

On New Year's Eve in 1918, a group of folks assembled on the steps of the Post Office [now the Santa Barbara Museum of Art] and sang the song. Christian later received a letter of thanks from California Governor William Stephens.

Olive Trees on the Mesa- Part 1

The olive tree is native to the Mediterranean and has been growing there for thousands of years. Some of the trees in that area are believed to be more than 2,000 years old. Generally, the older the tree, the broader and more gnarled the trunk. Based on this description, there are several very old olive trees right here on the Mesa, near the main door of Washington School on Lighthouse Road. Not thousands of years old, but possibly more than a hundred. Mesa farmers were growing olive trees in the 1870s.

So how old are the olive trees near the Washington School? I asked Steve Junak, former botanist at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, what he thought. He agreed that the olive tree in the photo looked ancient, but said it would be difficult to put an exact age on the tree.

The "Riso Rivo" (laughing brook) estate in Montecito, CA was the location for several films, and it's easy to see why.