Our bus driver Cesar makes a friend... & the Huntington Library gains an important early California photo archive!
Gentle reader...
We love the fact that you never know who you'll meet on an Esotouric bus adventure, or where that meeting might take you. That's because the secret history of Southern California attracts such interesting people.
Some years back, it was our faithful bus driver Cesar who made a new friend on the Blood & Dumplings tour. While we were showing our gentle riders around the folk art fantasy playground known as Monster Park, a man came over to find out what a coach class bus was doing in "his park." This was Vince Lugo; the park is indeed Vincent Lugo Park, named for Vince's dad.
When the group returned to enjoy a dumpling snack, Cesar made the introductions, and we learned that not only had Vince's dad commissioned the incredible park full of sculpted sea monsters, but he was one of "those Lugos," the direct linear descendant of Spanish land grantee and early 19th century mayor of Los Angeles, Don Antonio Maria Lugo, himself!
Vince was gracious enough to share his family's story on that day, and has come out to meet our bus whenever his schedule allows. His personal testimony, illustrated with books and vintage park signs, is always a highlight of this occasional tour.
Later, Vince invited us to his home to look at some of the artifacts he inherited as the last son in an old Californio line. When we saw the plastic tub containing thousands of photographs, some more than a century old, we gasped--both at the fascinating, unpublished documentation of the last days of rancho culture, and because the photos were so delicate, and clearly needed to be stabilized in acid free boxes and protective sleeves. Once properly stored, their subjects needed to be noted down by Vince, the last person alive who could name all the people, places and magnificent examples of horseflesh pictured. It was a daunting task.
We shared with Vince our belief that his photos were an important part of Southern California history, and wondered if he had ever considered placing them in an archive. He hadn't, but gave the idea some thought, and in time allowed us to introduce him to a curator, who agreed with our assessment of the photos' importance.
Not long ago, Vince Lugo made the gracious gift of his family's photographs to the premier repository of Southern California history, the Huntington Library And on Saturday, on the Blood & Dumplings tour, Vince told our passengers how honored he is to know that his family photos, now annotated with the names, places and details that only he knows, will be available to scholars for generations to come.
Soon, researchers will be able to study these photos, and discover how they fit into the rich tapestry of California. For now, we leave you with one image from Vince Lugo's collection, one of wonderful things that came into our lives because of the fascinating people who we meet, on and off the Esotouric bus. Here's to old California, new California, and the historical archives who bring them together!
If you haven't yet, don't forget to enter our 10th Anniversary Raffle for the chance to win a ticket for you and four friends to take a time travel trip aboard our tour bus. Winners will be chosen on Friday.
Podcast fans: a new episode was just published, a preview of the June 17 Desert Visionaries tour of Llano Del Rio and other extraordinary desert places.
We're on the bus on Saturday with the Hollywood! crime bus tour. And on Friday night, we'll be at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, performing a live bus tour through slides and narration. Also just listed, a very special free program on the Siege at Fort Anthony at LAPL Central. Join us, do!
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RECENTLY TOURED
Trianon apartments, Hollywood, in the golden hour.
LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 8/13
Four times a year, we gather in the teaching crime labs of Cal State Los Angeles under the direction of Professor Donald Johnson to explore the history and future of American forensic science. On August 13, 2017, join us for Bombs & Decomp, an afternoon of insights into historic investigations and how a body changes after death. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. Click here for more info, or to reserve your seat.
RECOMMENDED READING
We're honored that our quarterly tour of Raymond Chandler's noir Los Angeles is featured in the updated second edition of Novel Destinations: A Travel Guide to Literary Landmarks From Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West. Pick up a copy for armchair literary travels or to plan your next bookish adventure.
COMING SOON
SUBJECT: LOS ANGELES LOVERS - FRI. 5/12... We'll be presenting a "live bus tour" through slides and narration during an evening at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater celebrating Southern California tourism and the native guides who bring local stories to life, from Huell Howser to Reyner Banham to us. (For more info, click here.)
HOLLYWOOD! - SAT. 5/13... This tour reveals the unwritten history of the sleepy suburb that birthed the American dream factory, a neighborhood packed with fascinating lore and architectural marvels. You won’t see the stars’ homes or hear about their latest real estate deals, but we’ll show you where some colorful characters breathed their last, got into trouble that defined the rest of their lives and came up with ideas that the world is still talking about. So for unforgettable stories you won’t hear on anyone else’s Hollywood tour, climb aboard and tour noir landmark Cross Roads of the World (Robert V. Derrah, 1936) and much more. (Buy tickets here.)
WEIRD WEST ADAMS - SAT. 5/20... On this guided tour through the Beverly Hills of the early 20th Century, Crime Bus passengers thrill as Jazz Age bootleggers run amok, marvel at the Krazy Kafitz family's litany of murder-suicides, attempted husband slayings, Byzantine estate battles and mad bombings, visit the shortest street in Los Angeles (15' long Powers Place, with its magnificent views of the mansions of Alvarado Terrace), discover which fabulous mansion was once transformed into a functioning whiskey factory using every room in the house, and stroll the haunted paths of Rosedale Cemetery, site of notable burials (May K. Rindge, the mother of Malibu) and odd graveside crimes. Featured players include the most famous dwarf in Hollywood, mass suicide ringleader Reverend Jim Jones, wacky millionaires who can't control their automobiles, human mole bank robbers, comically inept fumigators, kids trapped in tar pits, and dozens of other unusual and fascinating denizens of early Los Angeles. (Buy tickets here.)
THE LAVA SUNDAY SALON & BROADWAY ON MY MIND WALKING TOUR - SUN. 5/28... Our free cultural lecture series recently relaunched on the basement level of Grand Central Market with a walk to follow. May's Salon: S.A. Griffin celebrates Charles Bukowski. Free, reservation required.
SPECIAL EVENT: CRAWLING DOWN CAHUENGA: TOM WAITS' L.A. - SAT. 6/3... In our very occasional guest tour series, a delightful excursion that only comes around once a year, the Tom Waits bus adventure hosted by acclaimed rock critic David Smay (co-editor with our Kim Cooper of Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth, author of Swordfishtrombones). This voyage through the city that shaped one of our most eclectic musical visionaries starts in Skid Row and rolls through Hollywood and Echo Park, spotlighting the sites where Waits was transformed through the redemptive powers of love and other lures: the Tropicana Motel, Francis Coppola's Zoetrope Studios, the raunchy Ivar Theatre and so much more. Join us for a great day out in 1970s Los Angeles celebrating the music, the culture and the passions of Tom Waits. (Buy tickets here.)
SIEGE AT FORT ANTHONY - THURS. 6/8... Join us at Central Library for a program illuminating the greatest eminent domain battle in Hollywood history, when one idealistic ex-Marine took an incredible stand against the motion picture industry and Board of Supervisors, protecting his storybook hillside home and neighborhood from being leveled to build a motion picture museum with gun in hand. Don't miss this a once-in-a-lifetime event, years in the works. (Free, with RSVP.)
HOTEL HORRORS & MAIN STREET VICE - SAT. 6/10... Through the 1940s, downtown was the true city center, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their human context has been lost. This downtown double feature tour is meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core, and is especially recommended for downtown residents curious about their neighborhood's neglected history. (Buy tickets here.)
SPECIAL EVENT: DESERT VISIONARIES: LLAN0 DEL RIO, ANTELOPE VALLEY INDIAN MUSEUM & ALDOUS HUXLEY'S PEARBLOSSOM RANCH - SAT. 6/17... Just one of the the unique events marking our tenth anniversary as a tour company, this day-long excursion celebrates the dreamers who have reinvented themselves against the particular landscape of the high desert through visits to places where their dreams crossed over into waking life. Featuring folk art, utopian colonies and literary retreats, it's sure to be a delightful day's adventuring. (For more info, or to reserve your seat, click here.)
FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR AT CAL STATE LOS ANGELES - SUN. 8/13... Professor Donald Johnson hosts "Bombs & Decomp," featuring Mike Digby on historic bomb cases and Dr. Elizabeth Miller on decomposition of the human body. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. (For more info, or to reserve your seat, click here.)
Additional upcoming tours: Eastside Babylon (6/24), Pasadena Confidential (7/8), The Real Black Dahlia (7/15), Charles Bukowski's L.A. (7/22), Raymond Chandler's L.A. (7/29), South L.A. Road Trip: Hot Rods, Adobes, Googie & Early Modernism (8/6), Weird West Adams (8/12), The Lowdown on Downtown (8/19) and Boyle Heights & Monterey Park: The Hidden Histories of L.A.'s Melting Pot (8/26).
OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST
Back from hiatus! In Episode #119: Secrets of Llano del Rio and Utopian Los Angeles, we preview the June 17 Desert Visionaries tour with guest hosts Paul Greenstein & Karyl Newman, plus Lummis House, Lytton Savings and Sinatra Bungalow news. Click here to tune in. New: find stories on the map!
AND FINALLY, LINKS
The Architect’s Newspaper covers LAVA’s Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial restoration talk and tour (video coming soon).
Visit a lost California made of Dacron and red meat in this 1977 San Diego TV ad reel.
The Heather Apartments (1910) burned as the Santa Ana winds screamed across Los Angeles: LAFD photos and after.
In a much diminished Venice, the freaks stage their own wake.
One Bunker Hill gets a new name, and hopes you’ll stop by and get acquainted.
Gary Rose goes in search of Michael Connelly, and finds us on the Pasadena Confidential bus along the way.
25 years is a blink of the eye. Open wide.
Sinister allegations at Corona Sunnyslope Cemetery’s pauper’s field. Historian Don Williamson first raised the alarm.
Small lot subdivisions are a disaster for historic preservation, shoehorn density where it doesn’t work. Complaints are getting results.
Calling all oddballs: Beachwood Canyon's weirdest house is on the market!
Dirty tricks meant to sabotage creation of a Skid Row Neighborhood Council blow up in DLANC's face. (Here's a more opinionated take, from BID watchdog Hollywood blogger Michael Kohlhaas.)
Amidst the chaos of the LACD1 council runoff we haven't heard where the candidates stand on preservation, until now.
RIP Tony Alamo, with his beloved Susan at last. Hollywood breeds the most magnificent nuts.
Shadows lengthen at old Sunnyside, where great beauty dwells.
yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric