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  • August 17th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1969, this ad in the Long Beach Independent touting the wonders of Seal Beach’s latest real estate tract, the exotically named “Suburbia.” Later this tract would become better known as “Bridgeport.”

    Aug_17_1969_Suburbia_Ad– Michael Dobkins

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  • August 16th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1963, Village Bazaar ran this ad in the Long Beach Independent.

    Village Bazaar was a women’s fashion store that operated by Marie Rogers at 137 ½ Main Steet (although BankAmericard ads listed it as 139 Main Street). 

    Aug_16_1963_Village_Bazaar_ad

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 15th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1949, the Seal Beach City Council passed what was described by the Los Angeles Times as “an ironclad anti-gambling ordinance.” 

    There was already a city ordinance against gambling on the books, but the new ordinance was designed to close loopholes in the previous ordinance. This followed a failed city initiative to allow poker rooms in Seal Beach that was voted down by Seal Beach voters in July 1949. 

    The city council meeting was packed with a charged crowd as Mayor Frank Shufelt, councilmen F. O. Brostrom, Albert R. Leonard, Emil F. Jacobsen, and Oliver L. Bowers voted unanimously to adopt the new ordinance. Richard Steyling, chairman of the Seal Beach Civic Improvement Association, the organization sponsoring the ordinance, told the Long Beach Independent that the new ordinance would ban virtually every type of game of chance from Seal Beach.

    Well, that settles that.

    Aug_15_1949_gambling_ban_headline

    Of course, nothing was settled. The battle between gambling interests and anti-gambling forces would continue in Seal Beach well into the next decade.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 14th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1975, Rix Rack Sportswear placed a Back-To-School ad ran in the Long Beach Independent.

    Rix Rack reminded readers that “It’s time to get ready for the school days ahead… From the foxiest, funkiest fashion… to all the wild groovy accessories.”  Use your BankAmericard or Master Charge!

    Rix Rack was a clothing store chain that operated during the sixties and the seventies with several locations in Southern California, including one at 12447 Seal Beach Boulevard in the Rossmoor Center.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 12th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1977, The Great Antique Five and Dime Store ran this ad in the Long Beach Independent. Aug_12_1977_The_Great_Antique_Five_and_Dime_Store_adToday the only gold you can find at 142 Main Street is the color of the pizza crusts at A Slice of New York Pizza.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 11th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1963, the following ad ran in the Long Beach Independent for Rossmoor Leisure World.

    August_11_1963_Leisure_World_Full_Page_Ad

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 9th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1919, the following ads ran in the Santa Ana Register.

    Aug_9_1918_Hotel_Tourist_Ad__amp__Seal_Beach_Garage_adNot very glamorous or novel, but if your automobile ever breaks down in Seal Beach during 1919, you’ll know where to take it for repairs and where to stay if you’re forced to wait a few days for back-ordered parts to arrive.

    Main Street Seal Beach in 1917. The hotel is the last building on the right before the Lodge Cafe. Like many local brick buildings, it collapsed in 1933 during the Long Beach earthquake.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 8th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1969, the following ad ran in the Long Beach Independent.

    August_8_1969_Sport_Fishing_barge_ad-3

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 7th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1886, the Los Angeles Times ran a news item worth quoting verbatim:

    Anaheim Landing is at present a lively camp. Mrs. Scott, of Anaheim, leased the old warehouse and has fitted it up as a camp life hotel, dividing it up into rooms and making quite a comfortable retreat. Persons so inclined can have all the pleasures of camp life without the trouble of concocting food supplies for the inner man. There are also about twenty tents there, occupied by Anaheim families. Editor Melrose wends his way down there Saturdays, and hopes the change will coax a little flesh onto his bony frame. The boating and fishing are excellent, as is the bathing.

    This item is worth quoting because not only it is one of the earliest examples of public relations copy for our locale, but it also uses the lovely turn of phrase, “all the pleasures of camp life without the trouble of concocting food supplies for the inner man.”

    Here are some photos taken two years later that show what Anaheim Landing was like after the shipping trade abandoned it for the railroads. I think Mrs. Scott of Anaheim might have been on to something.

    1888 Anaheim Landing
    1888 Anaheim Landing – Perhaps editor Melrose is one of the healthier gentlemen in the water after two years of coaxing flesh onto his bony frame.
    1888 Anaheim Landing b
    1888 Anaheim Landing – Tents probably occupied by Anaheim families
    Anaheim Bay 1888 c
    1888 Anaheim Landing – More tents

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • August 6th in Seal Beach History

     On this date in 1904, the Pacific Electric Railway ran this advertisement in the Los Angeles Times. This was only the second PE ad to mention the newly named Bay City and Anaheim Landing as destinations (The first ad was a holiday spread for Independence Day that ran in the July 3rd Los Angeles Times.)

    Transportation to Bay City and Alamitos Bay via Red Car was not even two months old at this point. The first passenger run to Anaheim Landing was on June 12th when the Long Beach to Newport line only continued to the Bolsa Chica Gun Club. On July 1st, service was extended to Huntington Beach. Easy and affordable beach holidays had become possible for thousands of inlanders.

    August_6_1904_PE_ad– Michael Dobkins

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