Scripps College grads

Pardon the low-res camera-phone image but this is one 1939 item that you can visit in person just as it was then. A covered outdoor walkway at Scripps College in Claremont has murals painted by graduating classes. It appears that images of graduates at the bottom transform into their names stretching into the distance. Many of the names seem to be nicknames such as Hazie, Diz and Crossie. The large figure sowing seeds of knowledge is an amateur copy of the one on the Scripps trademarked logo. That logo has the Latin inscription “INCIPIT VITA NOVA” that translates to “A NEW LIFE BEGINS.” That phrase is at odds with the “AND THERE WAS LIGHT” text on the mural that an online search reveals no other usage at Scripps.

Goddess of Neon

Image: Huntington Library via https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/2017/02/earl-carroll-lobby.html

The Goddess of Neon in the lobby of the Earl Carrol Theatre at 6230 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 as it looked in 1939.

A photo by Maynard Parker from the collection of the Huntington Library. The description (on a now-vanished Huntington Library page) noted that “the statue by Martin Deutsch still graces the lobby, though her ribbon of neon is gone.”

Excerpt is edited from the photo link in the caption. Click on the link to see more of the theatre and its history.

Industrial activities mural in Long Beach

Image: incomplete view of mural by Ivan Bartlett and Jean Swiggert at Long Beach Polytechnic High School from http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll15/id/1956/show/1251/rec/5 .

Title	Industrial activities in Long Beach, Long Beach, 1939
Description	Industrial activities in Long Beach, Long Beach, 1939. Polytechnic High School, interior stairwell between buildings 300 and 400, 1600 Atlantic Avenue (between 15th and 17th Streets), Long Beach. A crowded scene of the local community at work and play along the harbor. Both Bartlett and Swiggett were alumni of the school. Fresco using casein tempera, 17‘ x 35‘, by Ivan Bartlett and Jean Swiggett. Sponsored by Federal Art Project. — Dunitz, Street gallery, rev. 2nd ed., p. 253, #5.
Subject (corporate name)	Long Beach Polytechnic High School
Subject (topic)	Street art Mural painting and decoration Industries Social history
Geographic subject (street address)	1600 Atlantic Avenue
Geographic subject (city or populated place)	Long Beach
Geographic subject (county)	Los Angeles
Geographic subject (state/province)	California
Geographic subject (country)	USA
Geographic subject (other)	Long Beach Polytechnic High School
Geographic coordinates	33.78703,-118.184545
Artist	Bartlett, Ivan; Swiggert, Jean
Photographer	Dunitz, Robin J.
Other contributor	Federal Art Project
Publisher (of the digital version)	University of Southern California. Libraries
Date created (for display)	1939
Type	images
Format	3 slides : col. ; 2 x 2 in.
Format (aat)	color slides slides (photographs)
Contributing entity	University of Southern California
Identifying number	dunitz-1250; dunitz-1251; dunitz-1252
References	Dunitz, Robin J. Street Gallery: a guide to 1000 Los Angeles Murals. Los Angeles, CA: RJD Enterprises, c1993; Dunitz, Robin J. Street gallery: a guide to 1000 Los Angeles Murals. Rev. 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: RJD Enterprises, c1998;
Rights	The images are accessible for fair use. However, muralists retain all rights to their work, and Robin Dunitz retains copyright for the images. Any requests for permission to reproduce the images must be directed to: Robin Dunitz, 503-577-3842, rjdunitz@comcast.net
Physical access	The files represent Ms. Dunitz‘ personal collection of materials collected over the years of her involvement in documenting and preserving Los Angeles murals. They are available for consultation in the Helen Topping Architecture and Fine Arts Library, University of Southern California. For an appointment, contact the Library at (213) 740-1956.
Repository name	USC Helen Topping Architecture and Fine Arts Library
Repository address	Watt Hall 4d, USC, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0294
Repository email	afa@usc.edu
Filename	dunitz-1250.tif; dunitz-1251.tif; dunitz-1252.tif
Part of collection	Robin Dunitz Slides of Los Angeles Murals, 1925-2002

 

 

Mike Mulligan’s Steam Shovel book

Images from ebay auction: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mike-Mulligan-and-his-Steam-Shovel-VIRGINIA-LEE-BURTON-First-Edition-DJ-1939/321257294117?hash=item4acc6d4925:g:4FEAAMXQUmFSkBn6 .

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel was first published in 1939. The author and illustrator spent her early years in southern California. Learn about Burton at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Lee_Burton .