Visual Materials

Laguna Beach, Calif. A Seaside Gem

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Description: Panoramic view of Laguna Beach showing the restaurant "Victor Hugo Inn" on the cliffs above at far left. Hotel Laguna is on the beach next to houses in the hills, the Laguna Beach dance hall and people on the beach.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1938-1940s
Call number: photCL 555
Creator: Marquez, Ernest (1924-)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased in part by the Library Collectors' Council from Ernest Marquez, January 2014.

Laguna Beach, Calif., 1937

Visual Materials

Panorama of Main Beach in Laguna Beach, California, with streets, stores and buildings at left and people on the beach at right. Signs on buildings include "El Solano Apartments," "Hotel Laguna," and "Laguna Beach Ball Room Dancing."

photCL 555

Santa Monica Beach, California

Visual Materials

Image of the beach in Santa Monica, California, with beachgoers and buildings visible, including Michael Duffy's bath house visible in the background at the foot of the stairs along the Palisades cliffs.

photCL 555

Redondo Beach

Visual Materials

Image of Redondo Beach, California, showing the beach and ocean at left, and streets, a streetcar, homes, buildings, railroad tracks, a train depot, and wharf with ships moored at far right. Signs on buildings read "Coca-Cola," and "The Columbia bowling alleys."

photCL 555

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Laguna Beach

Visual Materials

This is a collection primarily of negatives and photographic prints depicting the growth of Santa Monica and Los Angeles, California, from 1860s to 1980s. Many views are cityscapes or street views, showing buildings, storefronts, homes and roads, and documenting the use of railroads, trolleys, streetcars, and automobiles. There are many card photographs by early professional photographers, and also a number of snapshots made by amateurs, some in personal photo albums. The collection's scope also includes early views of many other communities in Southern California (and a few in other states); the beginnings of aviation in Santa Monica, including the first Douglas Aircraft Company buildings; a photo album of residents in Topanga Canyon, ca. 1913; automobile racing in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, 1920s; maritime views; a photo album of U.S. troops in France during World War I; a 1949 real estate development in Apple Valley, California, and others. Besides photographs, a portion of the collection consists of scarce publications and historical ephemera, primarily related to Santa Monica and Los Angeles, including brochures, advertising cards, menus, event programs and other materials. Highlights of the Santa Monica images are aerial views of the buildings along the coast and pier (1920s); several views of the Arcadia Hotel (1880s); the Long Wharf and adjoining railroad and train depot; the first bath houses on the beach; the beach club culture of the 1920s and 1930s; the amusement piers of Santa Monica, Ocean Park and Venice; and the beginnings of the Douglas Aircraft Company. There is a large set of promotional photographs made late 1920s-1930s by Powell Press Service depicting people enjoying Santa Monica's beaches, clubs and outdoor recreation. An important subset within the collection is 407 negatives made ca. 1890 - 1908 by Los Angeles historian and amateur photographer George W. Hazard (1842-1914). Hazard travelled around Los Angeles and vicinity photographing the adobes, houses, streets and storefronts that told the early history of the city. Many of Hazard's negatives have handwritten identifications, naming streets, former homeowners, ranchos, and other historical details. There are a large number of cabinet cards and other card-mounted prints and stereographs. There are 1,264 stereograph prints, highlighted by the works of photographic pioneers William M. Godfrey, Francis Parker, Hayward & Muzzall, and Carleton Watkins. Other formats represented are: glass and film negatives; panoramic prints; 7 photograph albums, photographic postcards, 20th-century color prints and transparencies; and a small number of tintypes, cyanotypes and a set of chromolithographs.