Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Songs of La Reina
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Visual Materials
The Citrus label collection contains more than 1,500 lithographed labels related to the California citrus industry in the United States from 1880 to 1960, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1890 to 1940. The vast majority of the collection consists of lithographed labels produced for Californian growers, packers, and distributors to identify brand names and packing locations on wooden shipping crates of oranges, lemons and grapefruits. Many of the labels were printed by Los Angeles and San Francisco lithographers. The collection includes a range of lithography techniques from crayon drawing and hand stippling to the use of Ben Day screen patterns and half-tone lithography. The collection also includes more than 100 examples with "bronzing," a printing technique where varnish is printed on the label, followed by a dusting of fine bronze powder. A significant number of labels are stamped on verso with a received date by the Fruit Growers Supply Company, and some include signatures of approval or notations about printing corrections. The collection provides a broad view of the development of citrus fruit advertising over time, and also touches upon topics of commerce, manufacturing, travel and tourism, and promotion of the western United States. In the earliest examples, themes include naturalistic designs of flowers, animals, women, historical subjects, and scenic landscapes. Brand names, simple designs, block letters, and geometric patterns dominate in later examples. Many of the labels depict orange groves, scenic views, or flowers, though the collection also includes a wide variety of imagery beyond these themes including Native Americans, transportation, children, and portraits of famous or fictional people.
ephCL L_10
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Visual Materials
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of architect Martin Eli Weil (1940-2009), relating to Weil's work as a restoration architect and consultant in Los Angeles and Southern California. The collection contains correspondence; project and business records; reports; contracts; notes and research files; appointment books; drawings, including approximately 2920 rolled drawings; approximately 5000 photographs, chiefly snapshots depicting work in progress; material samples, including approximately 2000 fragments of wood or other surfaces containing paint samples; and 46 media files documenting the career of Martin Eli Weil; the materials date from 1964 until 2009. Files document 428 individual projects, including Frank Lloyd Wright structures such as Barnsdall Park and Hollyhock House; the restoration of the El Capitan Theater; and jobs undertaken as a consultant for the cities of San Gabriel, La Verne, Porterville, and Monrovia, California. The collection also includes papers reflecting Weil's service as Restoration Services Director for the Restoration Services Division of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in Canada from 1971-1978; his work as an instructor in historic preservation at the University of Southern California from 1981-2009; his writing, chiefly as an architecture columnist for the Larchmont Chronicle; his involvement with the Harvard Heights community in Los Angeles, where he lived; and his Master's thesis project.
archWeil