Nurserymen Bookshelf

California Association of Nurserymen

• First meeting      1911 Photo of participants, Los Angeles, November, in PRP
• Second Meeting 1912 1912, Oakland
• Third Meeting    1913, Fresno
• Fourth Meeting  1914, San Diego
• Fifth Meeting     1915, San Francisco, August 12-14, at the California Nursery Co.

Pacific Nurserymen

• 1911, San Jose, June 21-23
• 1912, Tenth, Salt Lake City, June 4-6, GR is abroad

Magic Lantern slide shows for the PPIE

From Branson DeCou collection, U.C. Santa Cruz.
This is advertising the "Bowls of Joy".

Branson DeCou was a photographer and travelogue lecturer who travelled the world from 1911 to 1941.

I ran across one of his PPIE slides on a somewhat sketchy Russian website. Luckily it had the "Courtesy Special Collections, U.C. Santa Cruz" so I eventually tracked it down to UCSC. 

The DeCou collection of 8000 slides has about 70 of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. They are incredible.

My Favorite PPIE images

From UC Berkeley page with map and this from International Harvester.

I have spent hours and hours (and hours) looking through PPIE pictures for photos related to the Avenue of Palms, Horticulture Palace, the California Nursery, and George Roeding. There are several places that just are so fun that I will go back and look at them periodically.

Avenue of Palms

GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator

I've been stereogramminating all of the palm stereographs that I can find with the New York Library's Stereograminator.

So when I saw this little guy standing in the "Avenue of Palms" in Los Angeles in Jared Farmer's book Trees in Paradise, I knew I had seen him before in a stereograph.

The title was "Avenue of Palms, Los Angeles, California. 1870-1909 1870?-1909?"

So what was the date and where was this?

Biking to SF after 1906 earthquake

This is quite an extraordinary journal - Our Bicycle travels to San Francisco on the Main Highway At That Time, volume II.

Volume I is The Earthquake Story of Stanford University.

Both good places to see where palm trees are growing in 1906.

Bancroft has put a nice wrapper around their earthquake collection.

Golden Gate view 1860's

Calisphere

I think we are looking at the future site of the PPIE, perhaps 50 years before. "The Presidio and Golden Gate from Russian Hill" is the title that shows up if you enlarge the photo.

Hardly any trees!

Everyone else was on the move, too

Oakland Tribune, July 14, 1915

Are we coming to this? uh, yeah

Oakland Tribune, October 21, 1915

For Sale - Plants who went to the 1915 fair

From the Oakland Tribune, October 20, 1915

Japanese Garden in the Horticulture Garden

From Official Catalogue

Block 1 is marked "Japan".  I've been wondering what was in it. Ran across the "Official Catalogue of Exhibitors Panama-Pacific International Exposition" while searching for Domoto (a local nursery) and PPIE.

Construction photos of the South Gardens

Tower of Jewels, June 21, 1914

Some construction photos of the PPIE don't have a date. So I've collected dated photos that show the Tower of Jewels. I created a timeline of photos including these undated panoramas according to the progress of the construction of the Tower of Jewels.

The Library of Congress has the following panoramas.

• February 20, 1914
• March 20, 1914 
• March 30, 1914 from Education, some palms
• unknown date
• April 18, 1914
• May 1, 1914 - hort palace well framed. not good picture.
• unknown date 2. hort palace has glass.
• June 21, 1914
• unknown date 3.
• Unknown date 4, 3 months before opening.
• 1915, unknown date

Counting palms

The number "350" is used for the number of palms along the Avenue of Palms in several places. I think that might be high. So I photographed the landscape plan that is currently displayed at the California Historical Society.

Some palms were obtained from CNC and some elsewhere.

And, yes, I know. A landscape plan is more like "guidelines" than actual rules, to paraphrase the pirate's code.

Early Static Electricity Experiments

From Electrical Experimenter

Did we try this at home?

The Home Electrical at the PPIE

From the General Electric Review

"The construction of this complete house within the Manufacturer's Palace is an engineering novelty which has added materially to the attractiveness of this special exhibit. The home is a California mission bungalow in design built of gray stucco roofed with red tile in the picturesque Spanish
fashion and with a long columned portico along two sides. There is also a small enclosed patio or garden in the rear. The interior arrangement provides for a large and comfortable living room, an attractive dining room with a breakfast alcove, a bedroom with a nursery and a bathroom adjoining, a sewing room, a kitchen with auxiliary refrigeration room, and laundry. In connection with the house there are also an electric garage, a workshop, and a small creamery. Every room is completely furnished and attractively decorated all in excellent taste and yet entirely within the means of an average family.

Tehuantepec Village

from SFPL

References

SFPL's photos

Anyone from the village show up in this panorama?

Why Palms?

from The Palm Tree,
one of many colorful and somewhat fanciful palm pictures

One question that is often asked at our palm tree talks is: why palm trees? There are many answers - some practical and some romantic.

I found a little book from 1863 that had some very romantic pictures of palms and this one matched somewhat the South Gardens at the PPIE. Coincidence? Perhaps? But if you compare it to the picture below, you might wonder if one of the architects had this book on his or her desk.

Plants and Machines at the PPIE

Love the placement of succulents and machines
C.C. Moore's Scrapbooks, pic

From Story of the Exposition, volume 4
Inspiration for Metropolis?

C.C. Morse, the "Largest wholesale seedman and seed growers on Pacific Coast"

C.C. Morse had a named spot in the Horticulture gardens.

From the Official Catalogue of Exhibits: "Morse, C. C. & Co., San Francisco, Cal, Seed Growers and Dealers, 4th St., cor Av. D, Blocks 3 and 4, Horticultural Gardens. Collection of Annuals, Sweet Peas and various flowers, Roses, Dahlias, newest and best varieties; Hyacinths, Daffodils, Tulips and various Holland Bulbs. Onion Lettuce, Radish, Pumpkin, Tomato,  Corn, etc. Alfalfa, Clovers and Grasses. Largest wholesale seedman and seed growers on Pacific Coast. Seeds by mail — catalog free. Morse's seeds on sale by all leading dealers west of Kansas. Morse's seeds are all tested. Morse's seeds noted for quality. Retail Store, 125 Market St., San Francisco." 

References

• Official Catalogue of Exhibits
• 1907 catalog
• Seed Growing in California, Lester Morse,  California's Magazine, v.1, no.1. July 1915
• Morse mansion
• another

Cuban Plants on the Move, Mycrocycus 1000 years old?

From Botanical Gazette, August, 1907

Under the great dome the visitor finds a tropical garden the exhibit of Cuba. Growing herein is an elaborate and representative collection of trees and other plant forms which made fourteen carloads when brought from tropical Cuba. There is mycrocycus 1000 years old, royal palms, giant tree ferns, tropical lilies, bamboo, palms, bread fruit, banana trees, mangoes, guanabano, cocoanut trees, and date palms in actual bearing and the finest specimens of crotons ever shown in this country.

What is a Mycrocycus?

Giant Chinese Pistache Tree with Famous Plant Explorer

From American Fruits, October, 1916

Two favorites here: large trees and Frank N. Meyer.

We have many Chinese Pistache trees planted around Fremont.

Stereoscopes and Stereopticons - what the difference?

Stereopticon show from Art History

I see these words used interchangeably.

Stereopticon is special two-lamp magic lantern, that allows operator to have dissolves. It is not 3D.

Stereoscope is a viewer that allow you to look at two stereo pairs in 3D.

How much did that palm tree weigh, did you say?

As much as:
A. the New York state "Big Cheese"
B. the "Mammoth Typewriter" by Underwood
C. An actual Wooly Mammoth
D. 1915 Model T Ford
E. None of the above
F. All of the above

Sepia, what is it, really?

Leonardo da Vinci used sepia ink, according to wikipedia

I really didn't know what sepia is, except that old photos are often brown. I assumed that was from age. The color "sepia" is the red-brown color of cuttlefish ink. The word "sepia" comes from the Greek word for cuttlefish. So what does this have to do with photographs?

Secrets of Librarians

Usually I just stumble across stuff with Google, but there some places that Secrets that I've learned about from my favorite librarians and elsewhere:

• Archivegrid
• Digital Public Library of America DPLA
• Worldcat
• Internet archives
• The New NARA catalog
• NUCMC
• Link+
• google books
• Hathitrust
• Old phone books online
• Pacific Telephone and Telegraph
• Daily Pacific Builder
• Pacific Rural Press at State Library
• Google scholar
• Tips on property research in SCV, including access to Sanborn maps.
• History of San Jose Collection
• Sanborn maps:

1. SFPL Sanborn maps  Sanborn Maps California; go to home page, www.sfpl.org ;  click on the eLibrary tab on blue bar at top; select Articles and Databases from the dropdown menu.  You then have an option to select databases from an A-Z listing, click on that, and Sanborn is under S.  You do need an SFPL card to access the databases remotely.
2. SJPL Sanborn maps - accessed 2018

• The California Digital Newspaper Collection, but no Butte County newspapers
• Butte County digital resources
• CSU Chico, Digital Reel
• Oakland papers - Newspapers.com
• Berkeley Daily Gazette
• San Francisco and Oakland papers (SF Chron and Examiner) - use your SFPL library card. Bulletin is on microfilm.
• Discover America's Story
• Google News Archive
• Webcite
• Pacific Rural Press is on the Internet Archive and can be downloaded as PDF.
• The American Horticultural Society publications from 1920-2010.
• The new NARA (2022)
• The New York Times
• Bancroft Library tips

Google search tips:

• Adding site:edu or site:gov or site:org to a search. 
• Use site:website, like site:www.fs.fed.us 
• exclude sites like site:website, use -site:www.fs.fed.us 
• Use quotes, like "wild fire"
• To find the best robotic vacuum, use inanchor: like inanchor:best "robotic vacuum"
• Use together, like inanchor:best "robotic vacuum" site:consumerreports.org

DPLA tips: efficient, searches across various libraries, unexpected places, use different names, groups and organizations, Civil War research, name of Vet & regiment, start at home, oral histories, family bibles, family papers, military records, photos & yearbook, ebooks

Miniature Electric Vehicles in 1915

The George Roeding family from Fresno visited the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Among their snapshots of the PPIE was this photo of a little three-wheeled wicker cart.  The cart is traveling along the Avenue of Palms, on its own power, in front of the Horticultural Building.

The Exposition provided various ways for tired visitors to get around the exposition grounds. You could pay a fare to get on an auto train or a miniature steam train and go where they took you. Or you could rent one of these "Miniature Electric Vehicles" and motor about wherever you wanted to go (within reason of course).

The electric wicker chairs, also called "Electriquettes", were not completely safe. However, they were very popular and it sounds as if it was worth the risk.

North Carolina history and garden exhibits

The Doris Duke Garden combines photos, text, leaves, QR code.
Divided into thirds or fourths depending on how you count it.

Checking out what North Carolina has in the way of exhibits for history and gardens.

The Mystery of the Poppy Nymph

Our local girl, the "Poppy Nymph" by Jo Mora
as described in the Museum of Local History's article
"The Poppy Nymph"

One of the fascinating topics of the PPIE: "Where did everything go during the salvage and wreckage phase of the exposition?"

Fremont ended up with the Japanese Pavillion's Commissioner Office, the Chilean flagpole, some of the palm trees, and some medals and certificates.

Legend has it that we also ended up with a sculpture that was displayed in the Palace of Fine Arts at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Jo Mora's "Poppy Nymph".  This sculpture is presently residing in the Niles library.

I wanted to see if I could find a photo of the Poppy Nymph in her location at the PPIE. What I found is that there is a bit of a mystery. Was she there? or wasn't she? Often what you find is more interesting than what local legend says.

Who is Jo Mora?

More on Mora later!

Racing Down the Avenue of the Palms at PPIE in 1915

For those of you who like fast cars or slow palm trees, here is a video of the Vanderbilt cup race in 1915 at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Read about this race here and scan down to the bottom to see the route on the map. Part of the race was down the Avenue of the Palms. At 0:14, they are probably at the southeast corner of the Palace of Varied Industries! Those little buildings are refreshment kiosks. Here's a night-time photo of that corner.




And if you watched that Vanderbilt movie, this Charlie Chaplin / Mabel Normand movie might have come up as a suggested next movie. Mabel at the Wheel was made the year before Chaplin came to Niles. So if you need more racing cars, it's for you. There is a blog on the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup race in Santa Monica as well.

"Grown Folks at School" - Hugo de Vries in California 1904

"Group of Distinguished Professors
in the Botanitcal Gardens of the University of California"
There was Professor Arrhenius, Professor de Vries,
Professor Hilgard, Dr. Loeb, Professor Wickson,
Dr. Loughridge, Miss Palmer, Dr. MacCallum,
Henri T.A. Hus, Dr. Osterhout, Arnold Stubenrauch 

From "Grown Folks at School; Interesting and Significant Results of the Recent Summer Session, University of California " in Sunset Magazine, November 1904.

Landscape Plan for PPIE

Now that I know what it takes to create a landscape plan, it's a hoot to see the plan for PPIE. At the California Historical Society exhibit "City Rising" the landscape plan for PPIE is hung on a wall in the main room. The tiny signature on right? Looks like it was approved by J. McLaren. Or maybe it's signed by his son, Donald McLaren, with a skipping pen. Fred Hammerstrom was Donald McLaren's draftsman.

Visit the gardens behind the Palace of Horticulture

From UCSC

This is one of the places I would have visited frequently at PPIE to see what was growing. I will start parking photos of the gardens as I find them.

• The George Eastman house has an outstanding Autochrome photo of the south-east portion of the gardens, next to the Sugar Pine House.

My Favorite by-the-fireside PPIE books

...that is if the weather weren't so nice.

Alameda County Day at PPIE

If I had been around in 1915, I would have gone to the opening day of the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. On February 20th, I would have been there, along with 255,000 of my closest friends.

Later I would have gone as often as I could, maybe every weekend, because there was so much to see in the Palaces and in the Zone. I would have stayed to see the lights and the airplane stunts at night.

And especially I would have gone on June 10th. That was Alameda County Day. I certainly would not have missed it. The Oakland Tribune ran advertisements for weeks telling me that Alameda County Day was coming.

Star Wars on the Harbor 1915 style

My hand-tinted photo of 1915 crane

I was looking through an Alameda County glossy brochure (1915) that might have been printed for PPIE (reference below). I was surprised to see this picture of an enormous lumber handling crane.

For years, there has been a rumor that the gigantic container cranes at the Port of Oakland were the inspiration for the Star Wars All-Terrain Armored-Transports (AT-ATs).

Mystery Date of Model T Photograph

In a book about the Washington Township, there is a photo of a long line of cars, Model T's and other cars. The cars are stopped along a long row of palm trees on the right and an irrigation ditch on the left. The book says the photo is ca. 1925.
But the last auto has two license plates (Mystery 1, why two?) and the license plate says 1914. What is the true date of the photo? Is it 1914, not 1925? What does it mean to have a 1914 license plate on a car?  (Mystery 2)

Why do I care about the date, you might wonder? Because in 1914 the California Nursery was supplying many of the trees and plants for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Perhaps this was a group related to PPIE.

PPIE scarves and computers

PPIE scarf

What souvenirs did PPIE visitors wear? I googled "PPIE scarf" and "PPIE scarves" and came up with several examples of scarves. Most of them were Jacquard or embroidered. I will look more closely at some pictures of the PPIE visitors to see if they have anything accenting their hot scratchy wool suits. By the time the Golden Gate Exposition came around in 1939, there were printed scarves - many very colorful artistic scarves. But as far as I have seen for 1915 PPIE, the scarves are just Jacquard and embroidery.

I shouldn't say "just Jacquard" because it is a very complicated design in that PPIE scarf - letters and a picture - formed only by which thread is up and which is down.  That is the same technology that led to punched cards for early computers. It's pretty fascinating and those of us, who are old enough, remember paper tape and punched cards. For years I kept my little roll of paper tape equivalent of my first "Hello World" program, probably finally tossed it.

Floating that state building

San Francisco Public Library

This is one of the best pictures! A tugboat towing the Ohio State building!

After the exposition closed, most of the buildings were torn down. A few lucky PPIE buildings had lives beyond the exposition and were moved to new locations. The Hoo-Hoo House was moved to Cupertino. One of the buildings of the Japanese Pavilion was moved to Ardenwood. The Ohio State Building was moved to San Mateo.

PPIE Exhibits for California's Counties

I have run across quite a few county souvenir books and I am gathering them here. So far I have about ten of them. I'd especially like to find Alameda and the rest of the counties. The San Joaquin counties may have one combined.

I think it was fourth grade when we had to do reports on California counties. I think I picked Alpine county. Because of this connection in my mind with fourth grade, I'm putting the National Education Association and and Internation Congress of Education booklet here. It's actually a very good booklet with lots of information on the various exhibits within the palaces.

Sheet Music of PPIE

When I learned about google searching using site:edu from a librarian at Santa Cruz, different results popped up for me. I ended up one day at the Fresno State website in the midst of a huge PPIE collection. As I paged through their collection, I came across some sheet music for PPIE.  And then some more. And more. They provided a summary of all the "Sheet music in the Larson Collection". This collection has sheet music for various world fairs. So search for Panama to find PPIE.

Jesse Cook's Scrapbooks of San Francisco

L. to R. Police Photographers Geo. Blum and Det. Serg. A. Jewel
examining a finger print camera. Mar. 1922

Somehow I ended up in this scrapbook with over 4000 images: Jesse Brown Cook Scrapbooks Documenting San Francisco History and Law Enforcement, ca. 1895-1936.  And I am glad I landed there. What an incredible span of years. Jesse B. Cook as part of the police force had a different viewpoint of the happenings in San Francisco. His scrapbooks cover such interesting things as the 1906 earthquake, the documentation of high pressure first system, finger print cameras, mug shots of the famous and not so famous, many photos of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition from different viewpoints than ones I've seen. Here are some of my favorites:

Poetic dentists and colorful PPIE

The Story of the Exposition was written by Frank Morton Todd (FMT), the man with three first names or maybe three last names. Sometimes I can't even remember which name comes first. But I love these books! They are chock full of information about PPIE.

It was in The Story of the Exposition, where I originally found the time frame of when the palms for the Avenue of the Palms were boxed and then shipped over from the California Nursery ("Niles") to SF. This has helped me find the right shipping records.

Originally, I only knew about the google books scan for FMT's book and could only find 2 volumes. The other three are at the local library, but searching electronically is essential.

Searching for Oakland Train History

I am looking for information about the Oakland Western Pacific Mole to find some good pictures in the 1912-1915 era. I figured that there is a museum up in Oakland who might be able to point me to the right place to look.

The Oakland History Room in the Oakland Library seemed like a good place to start. I could get side-tracked easily by those Oakland panoramas that are now on display, but instead I see there is "Electronic databases". From there, I filter for history and get these good looking sources: