On this date in 1978, the Alliance for Survival staged a protest outside the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. The protest was against the purported storage of nuclear weapons at the station, but the stockpiling of nuclear weapons in Seal Beach has never been confirmed by the Defense Department.
Photo Credit: AP Laserphoto
Out of town protesters, some from as far away as Santa Barbara, were bussed in from Cal State Long Beach to join local activists at J.H. McGaugh Intermediate School. Police closed off Seal Beach Boulevard for about two hours to allow an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 marchers and picketers to peacefully demonstrate along the perimeter of the Naval Weapons Station. After the march, a picnic was held at McGaugh with anti-nuke speakers and a rock band.
– Michael Dobkins
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On this date in 1875, three men drowned at Anaheim Landing, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The men were returning to Anaheim Bay in a lighter around noon from the steamer Mohongo anchored beyond the breaking rough waves when their boat capsized. The men were John Westerling, an employee of the Anaheim Lighter Company, and, according to a later report in the Arizona Weekly Citizen, two sailors, Tom Lloyd and Jame Yarallorith. The Arizona Weekly Citizen also differed by reporting that the men were rowing out to meet the steamer.
The Orizabo, Sister Ship to the Mohongo
The surf at Anaheim Landing could be treacherous and the bay was not deep enough for steamers to dock. Goods from an Anaheim Landing warehouse were rowed out in lighters to anchored steamers similar to the one shown above, and then cargo and mail would be rowed back to Anaheim Landing. Steamships from the Goodall, Nelson, Perkins Steamship Company provided shipping along the California coast until the railroads made the steamers obsolete for continental passengers and shipping.
2019 Addendum: Since I first posted this, I’ve come across a 1920 interview with James Ott looking back at his days working as an agent for the Anaheim Landing Company. He worked with the three men who drowned and speaks of the treacherous conditions of Anaheim Bay back during those days. You can read it here.
– Michael Dobkins
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On this date in 1967, the 101 Ranch House ran this ad in the Long Beach Independent.
The 101 Ranch House originally used a Western motif for its branding back in its first two decades, but a subtle Greek influence slowly began to dominate the place during the sixties due to new ownership. The restaurant started serving Mavrodafni wine, and Greek cuisine was introduced to a special Monday night menu in addition to the usual 101 Ranch House fare of American style seafood and prime steak.
Host Bill Smyrniotis had co-owned and run 101 Ranch House with his Greek immigrant brothers since 1963, George, Steve, and Chris, but he bought them out four years later. Running the restaurant on their own, he and his young wife, Toula (from Argus, Greece), must have decided to just go for broke and fully embrace a new Greek identity for the restaurant.
During the last half of 1967, 101 Ranch House advertised a Grecian Room and provided Greek entertainment most nights of the week. In 1968, it was briefly renamed the Grecian Inn, but closed a few months later, ending this brief experiment of bringing a little Greek culture to “Mayberry by the Sea.” The restaurant became the 101 Ranch House again and operated under that name until the mid-seventies, but its heyday had passed.
But on that Thursday night in August forty-nine years ago, the 101 Ranch House’s ultimate fate was still in the future. Diners hungry for a little fun could look forward to “a delightful evening of entertainment and dining” presented by hosts Bill and Zoula Smyrniotis. Appearing twice nightly was Tasos SofoPoulos, the world-renowned bouzouki player who had played on the movie soundtrack for Zorba The Greek, and his famous orchestra (actually a quartet according to reviews).
If that wasn’t enough, more Greek music was performed by George Geirgiadas and his cordovan accordion, a Turkish drummer named Zeki, and Nitza Villas, the famous singer from Athens.
Finally, sex appeal was provided by Dara, the fabulous Oriental belly dancer from Israel, who had twelve colorful, but brief costumes and whose muscle control was, according to Tedd Thomey of the Long Beach Independent, “remarkable.”
– Michael Dobkins
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On this date in 1914, the Santa Ana Register ran this ad for the new “Atlantic City of the West” — Seal Beach!
By now, we’re all familiar with the Seal Beach booster pitch: incredible real estate opportunities, safe beach, fun for you and your family, act now or you’ll lose out! Seal Beach took decades to take off the way its promoters had hoped, but it’s hard not to love an ad with a seal with a cane and a top hat.
C’mon, who doesn’t want a lot near the spray? Only $500!
– Michael Dobkins
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On this date in 1918, the Santa Ana Register ran an ad for that night’s program at the Temple Theater in Santa Ana.
Topping the bill was the new Constance Talmadge moving picture, “Up The Road With Sallie,” featuring “RAINSTORMS!! SMALL POX!! BURGLARS!! SPOOKS!! BRR!!” and Constance, it is promised, will smile through it all, because apparently that’s the sort wacky upbeat kid she is.
Also on the bill was a documentary featuring the real-life adventures of famous author and playwright Rex Beach as he fishes and hunts on a 12,000 mile motor boat trip with his big game hunter pal, Dr. Edward Salisbury. If that wasn’t enough for a full night of entertainment, The Temple Theater had a few live vaudeville acts performing as “Hippodrome Vaudeville.”
There are plenty of fun facts about Constance Talmadge’s and Rex Beach’s careers and the history of vaudeville, but we’re going to focus on the one tantalizing item on the bill that pertains to Seal Beach history — the official pictures of the Seal Beach Bathing And Fashion Parade taken on Sunday, July 14th, 1918.
What is so tantalizing about this is that only one photo from the parade survives (as far as we know), but this ad seems to indicate there were enough photos for an exhibit in the lobby or maybe even a slideshow. Not only would these extra photos help identify the bathing suit beauties from the parade, but perhaps the photos were taken during the actual parade and might feature local landmarks in the background.
And there’s another mystery attached to this parade. In September 1918, a film starring Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was shown in Santa Ana’s Lyric Theater called “The Seal Beach Bathing Girls Parade.” So there was also a film camera documenting the July 14th parade and Arbuckle serving as the judge for the contest.
So what happened to those photos and the film? They were only exhibited locally, so there probably weren’t multiple prints. Ninety-eight years later is seems unlikely that they’ll turn up, but there’s always faint hope they may show up. For now, we’re going to have to accept that this is the only visual record of that day:
– Michael Dobkins
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On this date in 1960, La Scarpa ran this ad in the Long Beach Independent targeting the lucrative feet and toe loving market.
La Scarpa was another fondly remember Main Street that operating during the sixties and into the seventies. The store’s advertising had a unique style of its own:
In addition to these ads, the Long Beach Independent ran fashion columns focusing on new clothing styles. These stories also featured fashion illustrations with descriptions that listed stores where the outfits could be purchased. La Scarpa was mentioned a number of times underneath these illustrations.
You won’t find any Capezio shoes at 133 Main Street today, but you can satisfy all your Italian delicatessen needs at Angelo’s Italian Deli.
Source: HoneyKennedy.com
Capezio still sells shoes today — specializing primarily in dance shoes. You can find out more about the company’s 128 year history here, or, if you feel a retro hankering to wear a 1960 specific Capezio shoe style, the company offers a custom-made shoes service that will recreate the company’s past fashion glories for your specific feet and toes.
– Michael Dobkins
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On this date in 1916, Aileen Allen and Her Company of California Mermaids gave a diving and swimming exhibition from the Seal Beach pier, both during the afternoon and during the night. These night-time splish splash-capades were probably scheduled to highlight (Ha! A pun!) the “surf bathing at night” recreational activity made possible by the powerful lighting from the scintillators at the end of the pier. In 1916, Seal Beach’s publicity mill did its best to grind out as many attractions for the new city as possible. Sunset dinners! Carnival and prize dancing! Scintillator surf bathing Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday nights! Weekend fireworks! All this to convince the public that there were “Just Two Places To Go — Seal Beach and Home.”
Aileen Allen with or without her mermaids was an impressive woman. A member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club and one of the first female athletes registered with the Amateur Athletic Union, she placed fourth in the women’s 3 meter springboard diving competition for the 1920s Olympics and once held the world record for women’s high-diving.
Born in 1888, Allen discovered swimming and diving after she married and remained devoted to water sports for the rest of her life. She coached at the Los Angeles Athletic Club after her personal competition days were over and guided many world class athletes to success. She even had a brief movie career as a double for Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties when they did water stunts.
But Aileen Allen’s connection to Seal Beach doesn’t end with the one-day only diving and swimming exhibition on July 30, 1916. She was back in town twice more for more water sport athletics in September 1918 and July 1919, but perhaps her most notable connection to Seal Beach came in 1947 when she saw a young diver, Pat Keller, at a Long Beach dive meet and invited her to join the Los Angeles Athletic Club’s team.
Keller honed her diving skills at the club and won her first national meet in 1949 (and she also got married.) In 1952 and 1956, she won the Olympic gold medals for springboard and platform diving under her married name and the name she still uses today.
She is, of course, Seal Beach’s own Pat McCormick, local businesswoman and Swimming Hall of Famer.
So let’s all raise a special splashy toast to Aileen Allen in honor of her contributions to Seal Beach’s divey history!
–
– -Michael Dobkins
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On this date in 1921, the following advertisement ran in the Santa Ana Register trumpeting the merits of waterfront lots at Anaheim Landing where you can bathe and fish in your backyard and tie your boat to your front porch. And, unknown to tract agent R. D. Richards, the Navy would be taking over in twenty-three years.
An aerial shot of the real bay frontage a few months after this ad ran:
– Michael Dobkins
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On this date in 1923, the Santa Ana Register ran a short profile of Ilah Claudine Whitely under the headline, “Seal Beach Whistler Learned To Warble At An Early Age She Doesn’t Believe Old Saw.”
The kindest version of the old saw referenced in the headline and the profile is “Whistling girls and crowing hens will always come to some bad ends.” This definitely did not apply to Ilah, who was performing publicly at age nine.
She was the first child whistler to perform on radio station KHJ (which had its first broadcast in April 1922, so Ilah was part of early Southern California radio history) and received billing on local community programs.
Ilah was born in Santa Ana and became a pupil of Elizabeth Worthley when her family moved to Whittier. Elizabeth Worthley was a professional whistler who was well-known for whistling at the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, but she took a job to teach high school science in 1917 (while teaching music and whistling on the side, it seems). Ilah’s performance on KHJ came about from her connection with Elizabeth Worthley, who brought her to the station for two whistling solos in a musical comedy revue in early 1923.
Ilah’s musical pursuits were also encouraged by her father and mother.
By the time her family moved to Seal Beach, Ilah was an accomplished whistler and pianist. She was on the program for the opening of the opening of the new location for Seal Beach’s Methodist Church at Tenth Street and Central Avenue on July 28th, 1923 (so this is a double “This Date in Seal Beach History” post.) Her performance was mentioned in a later Santa Ana Register article as having “won hearty appreciation from the Long Beach representatives as well as Seal Beach.” Ilah was also a guest at Miss Elizabeth’s Epworth League gathering on Eighth Street a few weeks later. Music and games were planned, so it’s likely Ilah contributed to the evening’s activities.
Her family then moved to Redondo Beach where Ilah attended Redondo Beach Union High School, where she was a member of the Ettiquette Club and took Organ class (the high school had a three manual organ installed back in 1915.) After Ilah graduated, she attended UCLA and was a member of the musical sorority Mu Phi Epsilon.
Ilah Claudine Whitely’s 1938 Bruins yearbook photo on the MU Epsilon Pi page.
After college, Ilah became a teacher, inspired no doubt by Elizabeth Worthley. She married Milford Montgomery in 1940, and had three children. And I’m happy to share, she did not abandon music.
As her daughter Rita Montgomery shared in an e-mail:
As to my mother’s history in music, she may best be referred to as a Choral Director. She put together a group of women which she directed and trained to be performing singers. As a matter of fact, a record (45 Record) was made.
This was between 1953 and 1954. I know for sure because I was 5 ½ years old. This 45 Record was actually made at the Capitol Record Building where the day and night it was made, was right next door to Frank Sinatra, also recording at the time a record.
The 45 Record that was produced, was the following: ONE SIDE included me as the solo singer (5 ½ years old) and my mother’s choral group in the background. The other side of the record was my mother’s choral group only and so the songs were the following: I Believe in Santa Claus (my solo performance with coral group in the background) and the other side, only the coral group which sang in excellent harmony, Many, Many Xmas’s ago.
The 45 record she recorded was Liberty Records #55049 (1957) Rita Montgomery – “I Believe in Santa Claus/Many, Many Christmases Ago.” I can’t find an image of the 45 or a copy for sale online, so I’m assuming sales were limited.
Another tidbit that Rita shared about Ilah:
As to her whistling history, I recall her telling me (not sure if this is true) that she was trained on whistling which included bird whistling by the local circus that came through her town where she lived. My mother’s mother asked the whistler in the circus to please help train my mother with whistling because my mother’s whistling was so piercing at home. Apparently my mother took some lessons from this circus person on whistling but my sister does not recall being told this.
I’m not sure this story wasn’t a bit of a colorful exaggeration, especially since the 1923 profile mentioned that Ilah’s mother had musical ambitions in her early life. Maybe circus performer sounded more fun than local high school science teacher.
Ilah Claudine Whitley passed away in 2007 in Laguna Niguel.
I want to thank Rita Montgomery and Ilah’s granddaughter, Maggie Mae Montgomery for being so generous and sharing with family information.
– Michael Dobkins
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On this date in 1919, the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce held what was referred to in the newspapers as the First Annual Water Carnival.
Seal Beach is still waiting for its second annual Water Carnival.
– Michael Dobkins
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men’s high-diving. 
