In the third and final book on aviation, the book club turned to a book of historical fiction, Above the Fray, a Novel of the Union Balloon Corps by Kris Jackson. The Fray in question, of course was the Civil War and the story was told through the eyes of a young man who joined the Union Army and ended up in the Balloon Corps. The story followed this young man through major battles in Virginia and ultimately to Gettysburg. I have to admit historical fiction is not my favorite type of literature.

The Balloon Corps was headed by Thaddeus Lowe, who eventually moved to southern California. Mt. Lowe in the San Gabriel Mountains is named for him. He built a small gas company that was absorbed by Southern California Gas Company. He constructed the Mt. Lowe Railway, remnants that can be seen today.As noted in my previous email, Thaddeus Lowe was the grandfather of Pancho Barnes who carried on his aviation tradition.

During World War I, the Balloon Corps had a training facility in Arcadia near the golf course, at Ross Field. The Elk’s Lodge building on Huntington Drive is the last vestige of the former air field. Trainees would hike into the mountains and practice reconnaissance as if they were aloft in a balloon.
Besides Thaddeus Lowe, there are other southern California connections to the Civil War:
Rosecrans Boulevard is named for Union General William Rosecrans who purchased Rancho San Pedro. 
Johnston Street in Lincoln Heights is named for Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, the highest ranking soldier to be killed in action during the Civil War.
Alabama Hills were named in honor of the Confederate war ship, CSS Alabama. Theodore Roosevelt’s uncle served on the ship.
Kearsarge Pass was named for the USS Kearsarge, the Union ship that sank the CSS Alabama.

 The second book in our theme of Aviation was Pancho: The Biography of Florence Lowe Barnes by Barbara Hunter Schultz.

Pancho Barnes was one of the most colorful characters in Southern California history. Her grandfather was Thaddeus Lowe (much more about him in our next email). She was one of the first female pilots and, although married to a Protestant preacher, she lived a life that flouted the conservative society of early 20th Century Pasadena.

She was portrayed by actress Kim Stanley in the movie, The Right Stuff. Pancho ran the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a bar and restaurant catering to the test pilots of Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert. In the movie, the actor playing the bartender was Chuck Yeager, the real test pilot played by Sam Shepard in the movie.

As a pilot Pancho broke a speed record held by Amelia Earhart. She also used her flying talents in motion pictures and had many Hollywood friends.

Accompanied by her grandfather, she attended the 1910 Air Show in Los Angeles and lived long enough to see her good friend Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon.

 The next theme for the book club in 2015 was Aviation. We started with Birdmen by Lawrence Goldstone. 

Like all new technologies there was a battle royale concerning these new-fangled flying machines. The Wright Brothers were pitted against Glenn Curtiss. Each had their own ideas about how to control aircraft in flight, including banking and turning. 

This inevitably led to a war over patents. As we will see, patent contests become the central point of many new technologies, such as the automobile and moving pictures. Hollywood in a large part was created by businessmen who sought to avoid Edison’s control over film. The authority to grant patents is provided in the Constitution, leading to the creation of the Patent Office. (In a future email, we will see that Clara Barton worked at the Patent Office.)

The Wright Brothers manufactured bicycles in Dayton, Ohio. The principle of balance while cycling applies to aviation as well, as Wilber Wright discovered.

Initial competition in aviation came from the Europeans, such as Roland Garros, a hero of the First World War, for whom the French Open Tennis Championship is named.

Southern California, with its excellent weather, became a hotbed of aviation with small airports scattered throughout the basin, such as Sky Ranch airport located in La Puente and Shepherd Field in the City of Industry. Of course, Edwards Air Force Base was the site of many aviation firsts and one of the landing sites of the Space Shuttle.

In the city of Brea I have often passed by a nondescript office building on Birch Street with a sign the reads "Curtiss Wright." This is the headquarters of Curtiss-Wright Nuclear Division. Over the years these two business foes merged to form a large corporation.

The third book in our series was Dark Side of Fortune: Triumph and Scandal in the Life of Oil Tycoon Edward L. Doheny by Margaret Leslie Davis.

The book club’s initial theme was the decade of the 1920’s. The second book on our list was Last Call by Daniel Okrent. 

During the life of the book club, we commemorated the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which outlawed alcohol (sort of). The Homestead Museum even decorated its Gallery with a story board about Prohibition that is still there today.

The passage of Prohibition was influenced by other societal and political pressures and movements, including Progressivism, women’s rights, and immigration. All this contributed to the opposition to “Demon Rum” and its attendant consequences. In the years before the Roaring 20’s, Amendments related to the income tax, direct election of Senators, women’s right to vote, and Prohibition were ratified.

The issue of the right to ingest anything into our bodies remains with us today. Strict libertarians want no restriction on what an individual chooses to consume, whether it’s alcohol, pot, or hard drugs. Somewhere there is a happy medium, but no family is immune from the perils of alcohol or drug abuse.

Daniel Okrent has an interesting history, His book was featured in Ken Burn’s documentary Prohibition. Okrent was also credited with inventing Rotisserie League Baseball, a form of fantasy baseball, popular even today among statistics-driven baseball fans. Ken Burns used Okrent’s baseball knowledge in his documentary Baseball. In addition Okrent produced a series available on You Tube titled Old Jews Telling Jokes.

A NEW BEGINNING

The first book the Book Club read was One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson. By the way, the book club was named The Edge and members were charged $15 for each three book section.

One Summer is a bit lengthy at 456 pages, but Bill’s prose is easy reading. The year 1927 included Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic, Babe Ruth’s record setting home run season, Al Capone’s coming to power in Chicago, and Al Jolson’s as The Jazz Singer. Bryson also wrote A Walk in the Woods, which was made into a movie starring Robert Redford. 

If you are a fan of Bill Bryson and/or linguistics, Bill also authored The Mother Tongue and Made in America. Further, fellow book club member, Patricia suggested History of English podcast, which covers the history of the English people and their language.

So, I selected One Summer instead of a book detailing the Julian Petroleum scandal in Los Angeles. That story was too detailed in its explanation of the intricacies of the oil and gas business and accounting and finance in the era before regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

As I remember it, the book was well received by our initial members, including Mary and JIm. And so it began…

If you remember Saundra recommended Manhunt, a fictionalized story of Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, and his hunt for presidential assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Manhunt featured Stanton’s firing by President Johnson, the proximate cause of his impeachment, which we read about in The Impeachers by Brenda Wineapple. Stanton was portrayed by Tobias Menzies, who also played Prince Philip in The Crown. I wish Tobias could have grown a wacky beard like the real Stanton.

That’s it for now. I’m glad I kept all my notes from the beginning!

Tony Ciarriocco

Many guests come to the Homestead Museum seeking connections to the past. The historic houses and the artifacts provide guests with these connections. Guests have related to the 1920's GE refrigerator or the California cooler shelves next to the cold storage units. Some remember the old fuse boxes on display during the Behind The Scenes tours. Others have memories of making adobe bricks for their homes in Mexico.

As a volunteer for the last twelve years I have made my own connections and observations.

1. Sheet Music

About four years ago I posted a blog entry on the Homestead Museum's website about the importance of "paying attention" to everything around us, a concept drilled into us by parents, teachers, et al. The idea for the article came to me when I noticed sheet music in the Music Practice Room in LCN during a tour.

https://homesteadmuseum.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/striking-a-chord-carrie-jacobs-bonds-i-love-you-truly/

2. Don Julian Road

Many times I drove by the Museum wondering if Don Julian Road in the City of Industry was named for the 1950's doo wop singer of that name. Maybe Don Julian and the Meadowlarks were local talent. I was wrong.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/don-julian-mn0000798887/biography

3. Davidson Bricks

While leading a Behind The Scenes tour, I noticed a pile of red bricks in the basement of the Workman House. Those bricks were rescued from a property owned by Walter Temple and stored for later use. The bricks were made by Davidson Brickyard located in what is now Monterey Park. I had driven by the brickyard many times since I was a youngster.

https://calbricks.netfirms.com/brick.davidsonmpbm.html

4. Pyrennes Castle 

The "Castle" in the city of Alhambra was built by Walter Temple's business associate, Silvestre Dupuy. Before it attained notoriety as the sight of a murder by Phil Spector, the Castle was briefly owned by my wife's godmother, the "anonymous woman" mentioned in the KCET article.

https://www.kcet.org/history-society/phil-spectors-pyrenees-castle-the-fairytale-castle-that-became-home-to-a-nightmare

https://homesteadmuseum.wordpress.com/2017/10/18/no-place-like-home-the-dupuy-mansion-alhambra-1920s/#more-26767

5. Orange Orchards

In the west room of the Workman House, there are several photos of Los Angeles and environs in the 1870's. One photo is of an orange grove, depicting the growing agricultural presence of Los Angeles and Southen California. One guest on my tour remarked to his daughter that her grandpa picked oranges. I told her that my grandfather had also picked citrus fruit and was listed as such in the 1930 Census in Corona, CA.

We all have many connections to people, places, and events here in Southern California, in other states, and in other countries.

Greeting everyone, I hope you all doing fine.

Paul Spitzzeri, Museum Director, has extensive experience in collecting artifacts used to enhance our understanding of the Museum's interpretive period, 1830 through 1930. He has told us that artifacts are able to tell us a story about people place, or things. For example, a photograph of Los Angeles in the early 20th century may reveal clues about how people dressed, entertained themselves, grieved over a lost loved one, or transported themselves. A photograph might provide clues on how buildings were constructed, the type of work performed by men, women, or minorities. In this way we learn more about the time, place, and people of Los Angeles.

I was thinking along these lines when I examined a decorative item my wife purchased over thirty-five years ago. The item is a wooden mallard duck decoy that hunters use to attract migrating ducks. Examining the decoy, I noticed it was signed by its maker, Leo Koppy. Thinking I might have a valuable object (a la Antiques Roadshow), I Googled "Leo Koppy" and discovered similar decoys of his listed for about $40. Beautifully painted decoys go for a great deal more.

Duck Decoys - Leo Koppy

However, there was another Google hit listing an article published in the Los Angeles Times with the following headline: Huntington Beach: Man Found Guilty of 2nd Degree Murder

It's a story of a love triangle that goes very bad. Although fate dealt Leo Koppy a fatal blow, it provides me with an interesting story of what we can glean from an apparently mundane artifact.

HUNTINGTON BEACH : Man Found Guilty of 2nd-Degree Murder A Huntington Beach man is guilty of second-degree murder for beating a neighbor to death with a baseball bat, an...

Stay safe. I hope we can meet again in the summer.

Three years ago, the Book Club read and discussed The Great Influenza by John B. Barry. The book was written in 2004 and the paperback version, including an Afterward on the H1N1 (Swine) Flu, was published in 2009.

In the Afterward, the author noted that he was a consultant with both the Bush and Obama administrations. In 2009 Barry stated that the nation was not ready for a moderate pandemic, much less a severe one. He also added: "In 1918 humans gave that year's H1N1 virus to swine. We believe novel H1N1went the other way, that it had been circulating in swine and crossed the species barrier in 2009, sparking the first human pandemic in forty-one years."

In his analysis of the potential impact of a pandemic, Barry was concerned that our nation's social behavior has greatly changed since 1918. We eat a much greater percentage of our meals outside the home and consume more perishable food. In addition American business has adopted "just-in-time" delivery of inventory, which means that problems with a large supplier could disrupt or shut down the supply system. He also predicted that the "most mild pandemic will likely overwhelm the health care system. Seasonal influenza often shuts down emergency rooms."

The author advocated a vaccine to protect us. There are problems with this solution. All influenza vaccines are manufactured by growing viruses in eggs, so it can take at least five months to make 60-80 million doses. Not only is this insufficient for the U. S., but less than one-third of the quantity is produced here.

What do we do if there is no vaccine? The author recommends hand washing, cough etiquette, and proper use of masks. If the pandemic is severe, he recommends telecommuting (more reliable today than in 2009), closing schools, and canceling sporting events (in 1919 the Stanley Cup finals were cancelled).

Barry closes with the following: 

   "So the final lesson of 1918, a simple one yet one most difficult to execute, is that those who occupy positions of authority must lessen the panic that can alienate all within a society. Society cannot function if it is every man for himself. By definition, civilization cannot survive that.

   Those in authority must retain the public's trust. The way to do that is to distort nothing, to put the best face on nothing, to try to manipulate no one. Lincoln said that first, and best.

   A leader must make whatever horror exists concrete. Only then will people be able to break it apart."

Until we meet again...Stay happy.

At this time I would normally send out the first of three notices about our upcoming book club meeting. The coronavirus has changed our schedule. The Homestead Museum's website shows the revised dates for the next theme starting in July. However, that schedule was published before Los Angeles County's latest version of safer at home order. I will keep you apprised of any changes to the schedule of book club meetings. 

Meanwhile, I hope everyone is doing great as we wait for a vaccine to rid us of this virus, which reminded me of a recently read book Why Did The Chicken Cross The World? The Epic Saga of the Bird That Powers Civilization by Andrew Lawler.

Lawler states "The domestic fowl is the world's most ubiquitous bird and most common barnyard animal. More than 20 billion chickens live on our planet at any given moment..." The chicken is the only animal we eat before it's born (i.e., eggs) and after it's killed (e.g., McNuggets).

As important as chickens are for food, they also are critical for medicinal purposes. The meat of chickens contains cysteine, which is an amino acid related to the active ingredient in a drug that treats bronchitis. Other chicken parts contain hyaluronan, which helps reduce inflammation. Pharmaceutical companies use various chicken parts to extract compounds that treat rheumatoid arthritis and sagging skin (a la Botox). 

Every day GlaxoSmith-Kline in Dresden, Germany, receives a shipment of about 180,000 eggs from nearby farms, whose locations remain secret. The eggs will be used to produce the vaccines that will inoculate us from the flu (if we are lucky). The author notes that "the chicken today provides us with our main source of the world's vaccine supply for a disease that continues to cycle between birds and humans." He adds further "since each dose requires an average of three eggs, however, the process remains complicated and expensive. One egg infected with a pathogen can render useless an entire batch of vaccine." You wonder how we could produce enough doses of vaccine for our entire country with a population of about 328 million people.

In 2012 the FDA approved an eggless vaccine that grows the virus in mammalian cells. Other approaches to flu vaccines are in the works, but the bottom line is that we do not have the capacity to produce flu vaccines for everyone; therefore, countries prioritize the distribution of the vaccine, such as to the elderly and healthcare workers.

Finally the chicken has invaded our language. We are cocky or we chicken out; we're henpecked or walk on eggshells. We hatch a plot; we get our hackles up; we rule the roost. We brood; we crow; we have hen parties. We count our chickens before they're hatched.

Stay happy.

The current crisis has placed heightened focus on sanitation. Since we are a history book club, today's feature is the history of sanitation in the home. The article linked below mentions hallway sinks where people entering the house could wash themselves.

How Infectious Disease Defined the American Bathroom

How Infectious Disease Defined the American Bathroom Elizabeth Yuko Cholera and tuberculosis outbreaks transformed the design and technology of the home bathroom. Will Covid-19 ins...

The Vanderbilt Mansion (not to be confused with the Breakers in Rhode Island, the Biltmore in North Carolina, nor their Manhattan mansion) in Hyde Park, NY, has a powder/coat room just inside the front door as shown in the diagram linked below. 

http://www.brownstoner.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/vanderbilt-mansion-ny-hyde-park-mckim-mead-white-floorplans.jpg

Warren G. Harding by John W. Dean

Today the Book Club was scheduled to discuss Warren G. Harding by John W. Dean.

As I previously mentioned, the Dean's book is a part of the American Presidents Series published by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., General Editor, who stated that the American system is "based on the on the tripartite separation of powers has an inherent tendency toward inertia and stalemate. One of the three branches must take the initiative if the system is to move." Over our history the inertia has been overcome by Presidents who took the reins of government and plotted a new direction. Harding was not one of those Presidents. An example would be Theodore Roosevelt about whom we discussed in Unreasonable Men during our March meeting. 

In Warren G. Harding, the author stated that after the Civil War, the Senate thought itself more important than the President. We can see that the Presidents from Andrew Johnson through William McKinley were not in the top tier of U. S. Presidents. Only Grover Cleveland and William McKinley achieved the second tier. The Senate held sway during the last half of the 19th Century.

Warren Harding's campaign for President was modeled after that of William McKinley. Harding spoke from his front porch to visitors from around the country and those speeches and accompanying photographs were used by Albert Lasker who pioneered advertising techniques for candidates.

I was startled by the fact that Harding's cabinet was approved by the Senate in less than ten minutes. 

The highlight, or maybe lowlight, of Harding's administration was the Teapot Dome Scandal, which the Book Club discussed a few years ago, mentioned in Dark Side of Fortune. Even with that, John Dean had a somewhat favorable approach to Harding. We have seen in our lifetimes the reputations of Presidents change as more information becomes available and new scholars probe their lives. 

I hope that the Museum will be open for us to resume our book discussions scheduled as follows:

June 5: Feminism and Suffrage The Emergence of an Independent Women's Movement in America by Ellen Carol DuBois.

July 10: California Women and Politics: From the Gold Rush to the Great Depression Edited by Robert W. Cherny, Mary Ann Irwin, and Ann Marie Wilson

August 7: A Woman's Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot by Mary Walton