SERIES I.A. ERNEST OTTO COLUMN CLIPPINGS AND SANTA CRUZ MEMORABILIA (1900s – 1960s)
Five (5) Scrapbooks
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This subseries consists of five (5) scrapbooks that contain primarily clippings of Ernest Otto’s “Our Old Santa Cruz” newspaper column as well as other memorabilia pertaining to Santa Cruz such as concert programs, clippings from the Santa Cruz Sentinel about local history, shopping centers, roads being built or expanded, poems, obituaries, wedding announcements, and more. These scrapbooks are wrapped in acid-free tissue paper for their preservation and are in fair to poor condition with yellowing and cracking pages. These should be handled with care. Date range: mid-1900’s-1960’s
This series is divided into the following subseries:
Subseries I.A. Winter Scene Scrapbook
Subseries I.B. Red and Green Scrapbook
Subseries I.C. Old Mill Stream Scrapbook
Subseries I.D. Riverboat Scrapbook
Subseries I.E. City Scene Scrapbook
Subseries I.F. Train and Plane Scrapbook
SUBSERIES I.A. WINTER SCENE SCRAPBOOK (1900s – 1940s)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This subseries consists of one (1) 11×15” Scrapbook dated 1940 with a Winter Scene on the cover. This scrapbook includes: Ernest Otto Clippings, Monterey Sentinel Clippings, and Santa Cruz Sentinel Clippings—one from 1910, the majority from the 1940’s. An example of items in this scrapbook: “Our Old Santa Cruz” column by Ernest Otto entitled “Many of the Town’s Streets Named After Early Families”; Official Program for Santa Cruz County River Pageant (1928); “Strohbeen Gives Snails to Museum” (undated newspaper clipping); 1941 reprint of an 1869 poem ‘To a Seabird’; 1940 Newspaper Clipping “Santa Cruz Fire Department on Parade” and much more. This scrapbook is in fair-poor condition with some pages coming loose from the binding, and some tears and cracking of the pages. Handle with care. Date range: 1900’s-1940’s
BOX ID#:
Box 1
SUBSERIES I.B. RED AND GREEN SCRAPBOOK (1917 – 1964)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This scrapbook features green lettering and a red cover with boats and trains on the cover. This scrapbook contains primarily newspaper clippings about floods in Watsonville. In this scrapbook are Santa Cruz Sentinel and San Francisco Examiner newspaper clippings dating from 1936-1938, though a few (perhaps five) are from the 1960’s. The clippings are on subjects pertaining to local history such as: 1937 newspaper clipping entitled “Santa Cruz Museum Hall has all the Handicaps Usually Met by Small town Institution”; clipping of a photo from a newspaper showing John Strohbeen with a photo of the Loyal Order of the Moose’s Lodge being burnt; articles on the San Lorenzo flooding such as “Highest Flood in Years Batter Bridges” (1938); “pages of photos printed in newspapers of the Watsonville Flood in 1938 such as “First Watsonville Flood Air-Photo”; 1918 clipping (source unknown) “Two Heald Graduates Who are Making Good In Government Service”; 1917 clipping from Santa Cruz Sentinel “Big Doll Factory for Santa Cruz” undated clipping featuring a photo and caption about Duke Kahanamoku swimming with Dorothy Sunby and Olga Clarke the setters of the Pacific Association 100-yard backstroke record in a swimming contest at the Casino Plunge; and much more. This 11×15” scrapbook is in fair condition; the binding is mostly intact but the back cover is missing and some pages are cracking; handle this item with care. Date range: 1917-1964
BOX ID#:
Box 1
SUBSERIES I.C. OLD MILL STREAM SCRAPBOOK (1940s – 1960s)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This 11×15” scrapbook contains newspaper clippings of local history from 1941-42 though a few (about five or more) are from the 1960’s, Newspaper clipping include wedding announcements; Old Santa Cruz Ernest Otto Columns; clippings about streets and buildings being built or expanded upon in Santa Cruz such as a photo from a newspaper showing the first “drive-in Safeway” on Lincoln street; articles about navy and military service; fishing; the Mystery Spot; Strohbeen’s insect collections and more. The cover features an illustration of a mill by a stream and a forest captioned “Old Mill Stream”. Inside are newspaper clippings of topics such as: “ Santa Cruz Lighthouse, 72 Years Old, Becomes Relic of S.C. History” (1941); “Old Transportation Methods Weren’t So Fast, But they Were Fun” (Ernest Otto, Old Santa Cruz, undated); “Doc Steinwand Leads Santa Cruz Band for Past Decade”; “Aerial Photo Shows Site of Proposed Santa Cruz Municipal Airport” (undated); “They Made Air Tour of City in Blackout” (1941) about men who flew over Capitola, Soquel and Santa Cruz during a blackout and mobilization test; “U.S.S. Ebony Launched (1941) about an Alameda ship being sent into naval service; “Strohbeen Collection Shows entire Life Span of Butterflies” (undated); “Mystery Spot-You Never Saw a Crazier Place…” (1941) and much more. The majority of these newspaper clippings have no source or are undated, though most are likely from the S.C. Sentinel. This scrapbook is in fair to poor condition; the cover is mostly intact yet the back cover is detached from the binding, and pages are cracking or coming out of the binding. Date range: 1940s-1960s
BOX ID#:
Box 2
SUBSERIES I.D. RIVERBOAT SCRAPBOOK (1945 – 1968)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This subseries consists of one (1) approx. 11×15” scrapbook with a cover depicting a dog and child looking at a steamboat or riverboat. This scrapbook contains Ernest Otto “Old Santa Cruz” columns, and other newspaper clippings on local history from 1945-1968. Topics include: 1968 clipping on a man serving in Vietnam; Zazu Pitts; Natural Bridges; collapse of the steel bridge on Old San Jose road (undated); building and opening of supermarkets such as Safeway; and news on other local happenings such as oil drilling and local scholarship winners; art; obituaries; stories on historical homes; fires; and much more. An example of some of the newspaper clippings in this scrapbook are: “ Artists in Wax Approve Art Gallery for Santa Cruz Production” about the wax figure reproduction of DaVinci’s “Last Supper” (undated); “Wide Aisles for Shopping Comfort in New Supermarket” (undated) about the cost and building of Safeway on Soquel Ave.; “Let’s Go to Santa Cruz’ Own Museum” (1950) about collections at Santa Cruz Museum; 1945 clipping entitled “A Famous Santa Cruz Girl in 1920” about actress Zazu Pitts coming to the Curren Theater, and much more. The newspaper clippings have no source, and about half are undated, yet they are likely from the S.C. Sentinel. This scrapbook is in fair condition with the back cover and front cover intact, though the front cover is taped along the binding; most of the pages are secure in the binding, though some of the last pages are beginning to come loose. There is a lot of cracking of the pages and this scrapbook should be handled with care. Date range: 1945-1968
BOX ID#:
Box 2
SUBSERIES I.E. CITY SCENE SCRAPBOOK (1939 – 1950)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This subseries consists of one (1) 11×15” scrapbook featuring an illustration of a city street and cathedral towers on the cover. Inside the scrapbooks are newspaper clippings of Ernest Otto’s “Our Old Santa Cruz” 1939 column; clippings about local stores; weddings; 1939 Big Plunge Water Carnival; buildings of highways and more. An example of clippings in this scrapbook include: “New Los Gatos-Santa Cruz Highway” (undated); “90 Dead as Hot Spell Smashes State Record” (1939) about a record-high heat wave in Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and other areas; “Sentinel Carriers-Members of the Largest and Most Efficient Delivery System in the County” (1939) including photos of Santa Cruz Sentinel staff members such as editors, printers, binders, publishers, and newspaper boy “carriers”; “California’s Sea Serpent is Seen Again” (undated) and much more. This scrapbook is in poor condition with a peeling front cover that is falling off, loose pages (about half the scrapbook) and cracking pages. Handle with care. Date range: 1939-1950
BOX ID#:
Box 2
SUBSERIES I.F. TRAIN AND PLANE SCRAPBOOK (1938 – 1950)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This subseries consists of one (1) 11×15” scrapbook with a red cover featuring a train, plane, and ship on the front cover. The front cover is loose and the pages are loose from the binding as well. Inside is memorabilia pertaining to Santa Cruz such as about three pages of advertisements for homes in Santa Cruz from an unidentified source, and a Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce advertisement. Other items include a 1938 clipping from the Oakland Tribune of a photo showing the Pajaro River flooding Watsonville’s Main Street; clipping about Duke Kahanamoku leaving Santa Cruz; clippings from the “Do You Remember?” column in the Sentinel; clipping from 1938 on the Ocean Shore highway project between Davenport and Waddell, and much more. This scrapbook is wrapped in acid-free paper along with a scrapbook featuring Native Americans on the cover [see Series III. Archaeology Subseries III.B]. This scrapbook is in very poor condition, some pages may be missing since there appear to be only about ten (10) pages remaining and the back cover is entirely missing. The pages are yellowing, tearing and cracking. Handle this item with extreme care. Date range: 1938-1950
BOX ID#:
Box 3
SERIES II. WAR MEMORABILIA (1942 – 1968)
Two (2) Scrapbooks
Series Scope and Content Summary:
This series consists of two (2) scrapbooks containing primarily memorabilia pertaining to World War II. Items in this scrapbooks include newspaper clippings about Santa Cruz men and women, or men and women from other areas such as Felton, leaving or returning from service in War World War II; detailed accounts of heroic actions during the war; notices on rationing, and more. Date range: 1942-
This series is divided into the following subseries:
Subseries II.A. Sailboat Scrapbook
Subseries II.B. Town and Carriage Scrapbook
SUBSERIES II.A. SAILBOAT SCRAPBOOK (1942 – 1968)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This subseries consists of one scrapbook containing war memorabilia such as newspaper clippings about Watsonville and Santa Cruz civilians who left to join the war effort during World War II; the accomplishments of such individuals during the war; war propaganda such as magazine and newspaper advertisements, notices of war rationing and more. The scrapbook in this Series contains newspaper clippings and memorabilia from1942-1946. The scrapbook features a sailboat on the cover. Some of the items inside include: War propaganda magazine or newspaper cover with the words “The American Home Shall Not Perish” from an issue of ‘Riptide’ dedicated to men and women serving in the war; 1944 newspaper clipping (no source) “Gloria Yates Signs Up” about a Santa Cruz women leaving for a Marine training camp for the Women’s Reserve; 1944 newspaper clipping (no source) entitled “Blown Out of Flaming Fortress at 10,000 ft., Captain Bennet Lands In Belgium and Now is at Home Here”;1944 newspaper clipping (no source) “Santa Cruz Has Man and Wife in Service”; Ration Stamp sticker or propaganda advertisement “I accept no rationed goods without giving up ration stamps”; Old Santa Cruz Ernest Otto clipping featuring article on “Santa Cruzan’s Interned by Japanese…”, and much more. This scrapbook is in fair condition—the binding is mostly intact though some pages are flaking and cracking; handle with care. Date range: 1942-1968
BOX ID#:
Box 1
SUBSERIES II.B. TOWN AND CARRIAGE SCRAPBOOK (1944 – 1968)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content:
This subseries consists of one (1) 11×15” scrapbook featuring an illustration of a town with a horse carriage coming down the road. The scrapbook is in poor condition, the front cover has been taped on but the tape is peeling off, the pages are severely cracked and torn on the edges and all the pages are loose from the binding. On the cover are the words “A Home in the Country” and “Old Santa Cruz” along with John Strohbeen’s address. The majority of newspaper clippings in this scrapbook date from 1944 and 1945and are from unidentified sources (perhaps the S.C. Sentinel) about local men who came home from fighting in World War II, left for service in the war, went missing, or give details about their duties and heroic actions in the war. Other content in this scrapbook includes non-local and local history such as an article entitled “Old Convent May be Demolished” about a 54-year old convent building on Mission Hill being disposed of. One article in this scrapbook is identified as being from 1968 and is about Stagnaro’s fish market. Some examples of the World War II related articles in this scrapbook include: “Saving Lives Under Gun Fire-Naval Lieutenant Allan J. Pederson”; “Bomber Pilot Reported Missing-Lt. Robert T. Fridley Crashes” (1944); “Captain David Burton Home After Piloting Bomber on 50 Raids…”; “Felton Girl is Ensign Nurse” (1944) and much more. Only about ¼ or less of this scrapbook is about non war-related subjects. An example of the non-war related articles include: “700-Acre Redwoods Fire Under Control” about a fire in San Mateo County redwoods; “End of an Era” (S.C. Sentinel Sept. 13, 1968) about the Stagnaro retail fish market of Santa Cruz closing; “Old Santa Cruz” Ernest Otto column clippings (less than ten of these); “Ernest Otto Veteran Writer Leaves Today on Trip East” and much more. Date range: 1944-1968
BOX ID#:
Box 3
SERIES III. ARCHAEOLOGY (1940s – 1950s)
Two (2) Scrapbooks
Series Scope and Content Summary:
This series consists of two (2) scrapbooks containing newspaper articles and magazine spreads from unidentified sources on archaeology and art history. These scrapbooks feature some full-page photos of artifacts from Melanesia, Polynesia, and Japan, among other places. One scrapbook contains articles primarily on skeletal finds believed to be the “missing links” in the evolution of present-day humans from their ape-like predecessors, articles on Egyptian music, and more. The second scrapbook includes magazine spreads on Polynesia, the native tribes of Brazil, and the mysterious disappearance of Colonel Percival Fawcett who led an expedition to Brazil in 1925 and whose whereabouts were unknown until 1947, the time of this article’s printing. Date range: 1940’s-1950’s
This series is divided into the following subseries:
Subseries III.A. Cowboy Scrapbook
Subseries III.B. Native American Scrapbook
SUBSERIES III.A. COWBOY SCRAPBOOK (1940s – 1950s)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This series consists of one (1) scrapbook measuring approx. 11×15” in size with a colorful cover depicting a cowboy on a rearing horse, rattlesnake, and cattle. The scrapbook features bright red and white lettering on the cover that states “Scrapbook” and the words “Archoligy” in pencil on the cover as well as John Strohbeen’s street address. Inside the scrapbooks are archaeology themed clippings from newspapers or magazines. Some examples include: “Who Were the Mummies” 1945 newspaper clipping about French Explorers in South America (no source); “Museum Gets New Curator” 1950’s newspaper clipping (no soure) about Dr. Hildegarde Howard named chief curator at Los Angeles County Museum; 1946 article from ‘Life Vol. 21 No. 15’ entitled “Oldest Human Bones Arrive in the U.S.” about the arrival of Gigantopithecus teeth in the U.S.; pages from ‘Science” entitled “Heads of Apes and Bodies of Men” about humans’ early ancestors; 1950 Los Angeles Examiner clippings of articles and photos such as “New Missing Link Clues Discovered in African Jungle” about a find in Johannesburg believed to be the missing link between humans and apes; interesting article (no source or date) entitled “A Song they Sang When the Pyramids were Built” about Egyptian music being found and translated into modern sheet music; and much more. This scrapbook is in fair condition with the binding intact and no pages falling out. However, some pages are cracking and this item should be handled with care. Date range: 1940’s-1950’s
BOX ID#:
Box 1
SUBSERIES III.B. NATIVE AMERICAN SCRAPBOOK (1940s – 1950s)
One (1) Scrapbook
Subseries Scope and Content Summary:
This subseries consists of one (1) 11×15” scrapbook featuring an illustration of a group of Native Americans and horses on a hillside with one man walking down the hillside in the center of the cover. The scrapbook also features read and white lettering stating “scrapbook” and the words “White” and possibly “Indian” written in pencil above the illustration. The scrapbook is in poor condition with the front cover coming loose and many pages coming loose from the binding, although some of the items inside are in relatively fair condition having maintained their bright colors. This scrapbook contains nice and reasonably well-preserved full-page photos of Melanesian and Polynesian artifacts taken from spreads in an unidentified magazine. This scrapbook also contains clippings and photos of from a story entitled “The Strange Case of Colonel Fawcett” about an explorer who went missing in Brazil looking for a lost city in the 1920’s and the efforts to discover what happened to him. Other magazine and newspaper clippings include: photos of the Mato Grosso Indians; article entitled “Indians Shoot at Plane” about the Chavantes tribe of Brazil opposing colonization; article entitled “By Stone Age Indians-Oregon Show Includes Pure Art, Useful Objects” about the first major exhibition of Pacific Northwest art at the Portland Art Museum; Chase and Sanborn Coffee advertisements; article “Flowery Farewell to Evita”; “Art Riches of the Andes”; “Yankee Chile” about Chile being modernized; “Treasures from Japan” and much more. The items in this scrapbook are undated and have no indication of what magazine (s) or newspaper (s) they came from. This scrapbook is wrapped in acid-free tissue paper along with the scrapbook described in Series I. Subseries I.F. Estimated date range: 1940’s-50s
BOX ID#:
Box 3
SERIES IV. ENTERTAINMENT (1920s – 1960s)
One (1) Scrapbook
Series Scope and Content Summary:
This subseries consists of one (1) scrapbook with newspaper clippings and or magazine clippings from mostly unidentified sources which are on subjects relating to the entertainment industry such as clippings about radio show hosts, actresses, and musicians. The scrapbook in this series features a red cover with the word “Scraps” in green lettering and green and yellow Scotty dogs on the cover. This scrapbook is in very poor condition, the cover is nearly torn loose of its binding, and more than half of the scrapbook pages are loose with some articles coming un-glued from the pages and much cracking and tearing on the edges of the pages. Handle this item with extreme care. Inside this scrapbook are: newspaper clippings about the radio show of the 1920’s-1950’s called Amos n’Andy—scrapbook includes clippings about the actors, the wedding of Charles Correll who played “Andy”’ photos published in a newspaper or magazine of the actors in blackface and as themselves, cartoons of Amos n’Andy, and more. Other subjects in this scrapbook include: articles on musicians Kenneth Broadhurst (banjo player); harpist Esther Harsh; 1936 letter from Edward Bowes of “Major Bowes Amateur Hour” of the National Broadcasting Company re-printed in a magazine or newspaper; “Penniless Orphan Becomes Popular Blues Singer” about singer Rhoda Chase rising from obscurity into show business; 1967 S.C. Sentinel “Shirley’s Decision” about actress Shirley Temple Black running for Republican candidate for Congress; over twenty (20) pages of photos of Temple as a young girl, news articles, and advertisements featuring Temple clipped from magazines and newspapers, spreads about her movie “Heidi” and more. Other items include: advertisement for “W.C. Fields in ‘Poppy’ Paramount’s musical comedy; publicity photos (with reproduced autographs) of actors Larry Ross (1920’s) and Will Rogers (actor 1879-1935), clippings and advertisements for shows featuring Will Rogers, and much more. Date range: 1920’s-1960’s
BOX ID#:
Box 3
