Showing the way things were in 1939
Category: Business
This is not 1939 related but it’s important. I have mentioned it twice before:
When it was at risk of being eliminated: https://1939socal.wordpress.com/2017/07/12/net-neutrality-day/
And when it actually was eliminated: https://1939socal.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/end-of-net-neutrality/ .
Now it’s been restored. Hooray! See the details here: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-04-26/after-a-years-long-pause-the-fcc-resurrects-network-neutrality-a-boon-for-consumers .
Yes, it’s from 1938 but we can presume that it was used in southern California in 1939. Be sure to click on the image link for full details.
“Dr. Hubert Eaton was a very savvy businessman, whose name is forever linked to the Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemeteries in California, where many celebrities and public figures have found their final resting place. Eaton was also probably painfully aware that, in order to have success, one must project a successful image, much like today’s real estate agents will do when they make sure they buy (or rent) an expensive supercar.
“This belief and the desire to experience the best in terms of road travel led to the creation of what is today an iconic motorhome, the 1938 Vagabond. The Vagabond is a very unique rig, made of a custom REO bus and an equally custom Curtiss Aerocar trailer, one of the first luxury fifth-wheelers in history.”
“…The towing vehicle was a ‘38 REO cab-forward hauler, custom-built by Standard Carriage Works of Los Angeles.”
Excerpts from the image link above.
This is a heckuva story although most of it occurs after 1939. Click on the link to learn more.
“Chestien Wynn, a 70 year old retired attorney with an interest in lubrication chemistry, discovered a formula he named ‘Wynn’s Friction Proofing’ Oil. This surface treatment for metal actually changed the chemistry of the metal, making it softer and better able to withstand friction and wear.
“Chestien Wynn would mix a batch of his product in his one car garage workshop, fill and label glass bottles with it and sell them to the local service stations and garages. Motorists, who used the products once, wanted another bottle of it.”
Image: circa 1939 photo via https://martinturnbull.com/2013/10/12/lane-wells-company-headquarters-in-los-angeles-circa-1939/ .
“The work of architect William E. Mayer, Lane-Wells’ west coast headquarters was completed in 1937. Even in a city full of Streamline Moderne buildings, these two were exceptional. In addition to the horizontal banding typical of streamline style, Lane-Wells had vertical bands as well. On the main Administration Building these vertical bands cascade over the top, like a fountain.
“Were the vertical bands just a design flourish? Perhaps. Maybe they were meant to create a visual balance with the horizontal bars.
“I think the answer is none of the above. I think those vertical bands represent a fountain of oil. This place is an Art Deco temple to the gods of petroleum.”
Excerpt from http://www.decopix.com/the-lane-wells-story/ .
Image: 1939 Lane-Wells company newsletter from http://www.decopix.com/the-lane-wells-story/ .
About Lane-Wells (from the excerpt link above):
“In December 1932, Walter T. Wells and Wilfred G. Lane convinced the Union Oil Company to let them test their “gun perforator” on a dry well in Montebello, California. The gun was a device, lowered into the well, that fired .45 calibre bullets laterally into the well housing.
“It was dangerous work and carried the possibility of damaging the well. But it worked. The next day, the “dry” well was pumping 32 barrels.
“Rejuvenating wells was good business. By 1947, the two-man startup had nearly 100 gun perforating trucks and had completed 92,000 perforating jobs. There were offices in Houston and Oklahoma City plus 40 field branches, but none could compare with company headquarters in Los Angeles.”
1939 Southern California 