Who Needs Horses?
Dateline: August 1924
Not these guys who were called "auto poloists." They played polo using stripped-down automobiles, instead of horses. Here they are practicing in Pershing Park.
This is believed to be the first year that auto polo was played in Santa Barbara, although the sport had been around almost as long as cars have been around.
The Star of the First Fiesta
Dateline: August 1924
One of the stars of the first Fiesta was the visit of an amazing movie ship. The replica of a historic Spanish caravel that had recently been used for the filming of the silent movie version of The Sea Hawk, sailed to Stearns Wharf where thousands of Santa Barbarans were able to go onboard and step into the past.
This majestic ship is pictured on the very first Fiesta poster. You can visit the Santa Barbara Historical Museum (free!) to see this poster, and other colorful posters of years gone by.
Courthouse Mural Artist
Dateline: July 1924
This 9-by-12-foot mural was the largest in Santa Barbara in 1924, and it took three weeks and hundreds of working hours to paint it. Artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck painted the mural depicting Cabrillo landing on one of the Channel Islands for a bank on State Street.
The colorful mural would be on display in the bank, assuming that it was possible to get the mural inside the bank. "The ingenuity of the bank officials will be taxed to get it through the door, Mr. Groesbeck prophesied."
[Spoiler alert – In 1929, Groesbeck painted the even more spectacular murals in the mural room at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. His 1924 mural is now in the courthouse in a hallway near the mural room.]
Ancient Romans in Montecito
Dateline: July 1911
The New Faith was a religious drama that was the first commercial movie filmed in Montecito, CA. Scenes were filmed at James Waldron Gillespie's El Fureidîs estate. This was the most popular spot for filming silent movies in Montecito.
"James Waldron Gillespie's Italian villa in Montecito was used as the background for a Roman play, The New Faith." – Morning Press, July 8, 1911.
The location got rave reviews. "The settings of many of the scenes are extremely beautiful; white summer palaces, sunken gardens, with fountains and mirror pools, making backgrounds very suggestive of Roman days." – Moving Picture World, July 15, 1911
Shake, Rattle, and Roll!
Dateline: June 29, 1925
The earth moved, and Santa Barbara was never the same.
Ninety-nine years ago today, a powerful earthquake hit our city in the early morning hours.
Buildings tumbled to the ground, a dam burst, and the ocean shuddered.
A year from now, there will be ceremonies, activities, and – of course! – books to mark the quake's centennial.
I'll keep you posted in the months to come.
SBHS Looks Ahead to the Future
Dateline: June 1924
"Officials, Parents, Students Gather in Spacious Building to Observe Ceremonies Marking Opening . . . The thousand persons who attended the dedication of the new high school, the hundreds who worked on the bonds and the building of it are ephemeral; but, according to the speakers, the great school structure will still be fulfilling its purpose 100 years from now, when they have passed away." – Santa Barbara Morning Press, June 20, 1924
Happily, the school building is still here a century later.
A Frightening Discovery in SB
Dateline: June 1915
"Excited Italian Finds Sword, Then Trouble. Santa Barbara Police Thought They Had Murder Mystery on Hands. An excited Italian recently rushed into a Santa Barbara, Cal. police station and, placing a shining two-edged sword on the lieutenant's desk, his eyes showing the terror he was laboring under: 'I finda theese in de woods. De blackhand, I tinka, is guiltee.'
"Then began one of the liveliest little mystery chases the police of that city have participated in for some time. The trail finally led them to the woods, just outside the city, where one of the bluecoats had the Italian point out the spot where he found the sword. Not 10 feet away from the spot, lay the scabbard to which the sword belonged.
"While the search was under way, Irving Cummings and Harold Lockwood, members of the cast of The Lure of the Mask [a silent movie being filmed in Montecito] . . . came up all out of breath and asked if a sword had been found.
"They explained that they had fought – for film purposes only – a duel near where the sword was found, and that, on departing, they had forgotten all about it. The explanation was accepted, and Santa Barbara and the excited Italian resumed their ordinary occupations." – Tribune (Great Falls, Montana), June 27, 1915
Filming on Santa Cruz Island
Dateline: June 1917
More than 40 silent movies were filmed on California's Santa Cruz Island. Many were made by Santa Barbara's "Flying A" studio, but there were others who took advantage of this picturesque isle.
In 1917, the Butterfly Pictures Company of Los Angeles filmed a five-reel (c. 1 hour) adventure drama called The Flame of Youth on this island.
"The larger part of the scenes was taken on Santa Cruz Island, and are as beautiful as anything seen in recent pictures." – Moving Picture Weekly, June 16, 1917
Another Rough Fight
Dateline – May 1915
It wasn't easy being the star of an adventure serial in the silent movie years. Actors suffered damage to their wardrobe as well as their anatomy. (Many film actors and actresses in Santa Barbara's "Flying A" studio had to provide their own costumes.)
"Irving Cummings . . . who is playing the lead in The Diamond From the Sky, has acquired a limp as the result of his encounter with a crowd of tramps in the boxcar fight. It was all for the sake of this ["Flying A"] romantic film story . . . and he doesn't mind even if he did put a new dress suit out of business." – Motion Picture News, April 29, 1915.
"Cummings says that he has done nothing but ruin clothes since the picture started." – Billboard, May 8, 1915
Surfing By Car?
Dateline – May 1924
The latest watercraft dashing through the waves in Santa Barbara a century ago were Dodge Watercars. A couple of local men had purchased these cutting-edge speedboats.