Metropolis in the Making: Los Angeles in the 1920s

385 Pages·2001·23.35 MB·English

by  Tom Sitton

Metropolis in the Making
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Metropolis
in the Making
Los Angeles in the 1920$
EDITED BY
Tom Sitton
AND
William Deverell
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley Los Angeles London
"Mulholland Highway and the Engineering Culture of Los Angeles,"
by Matthew W. Roth, first appeared in Technology and Culture, vol. 40, no. 3 (July
1999), pp. 545-575. © 1999 by the Society for the History of Technology.
"Sunshine and the Open Shop," by Mike Davis, first appeared in Antipode,
vol.29, no. 4 (October 1997), pp. 356-382. © Editorial Board ofAnlipode.
Portions of "Did the Ruling Class Rule at City Hall in 19205 Los Angeles?" by
Tom Sitton, first appeared in Tom Sitton, "The 'Boss' Without a Machine: Kent K.
Parrot and Los Angeles Politics in the 19205," Southern California Quarterly 65
(Winter 1985), pp. 365-387.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2001 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Metropolis in the making: Los Angeles in the 19205 / edited by Tom Sitton and William
Deverell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-520-22626-7 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-520-22627-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Los Angeles (Calif.)—History—aoth century. 2. Los Angeles (Calif.) — Social
conditions—2oth century. 3. Los Angeles (Calif.)—Economic conditions—aoth
century. 4. City planning—California—Los Angeles—History—aoth century.
5. Nineteen twenties. I. Sitton, Tom, 1949- II. Deverell, William Francis.
r86g.1,857 M4^ 2001
979-4'94°52—dczi
00-057715
Printed in the United States of America
08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-igg2 (R 1997) (Permanence oj Paper). @
For Karen and Jenny
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CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS / ix
PREFACE / xi
Introduction
Metropolis in the Making: Los Angeles in the igaos
Jutes Tygiel / i
PART ONE • METROPOLITAN SPACES / n
i. Industry and Imaginative Geographies
Greg Hise / ij
2. Mulholland Highway and the Engineering
Culture of Los Angeles in the igaos
Matthew W. Roth / 45
3. The Quest for Independence: Workers in the Suburbs
Becky M. Nicolaides / 77
4. Sunshine and the Open Shop: Ford and
Darwin in igaos Los Angeles
Mike Davis / 96
5. "Another World": Work, Home, and
Autonomy in Blue-Collar Suburbs
Nancy Quam-Wickham / 123
PART TWO • METROPOLITAN IDENTITIES / 143
6. The Star of Ethiopia and the NAACP:
Pageantry, Politics, and the Los Angeles
African American Community
Douglas Flamming / 145
via
CONTENTS
y. Making Mexico in Los Angeles
Douglas Monroy / 161
8. The View from Spring Street:
White-Collar Men in the City of Angels
Clark Davis / 179
PART THREE • FAITH IN THE METROPOLIS / i
99
g. "Practically Every Religion Being Represented"
MichaelE. Engh, S.J. / 201
10. Fighting Like the Devil in the City of Angels:
The Rise of Fundamentalist Charles E. Fuller
Philip Goff / 220
PART FOUR • METROPOLITICS / 253
11. How Hollywood Became Hollywood:
Money, Politics, and Movies
Steven J. Ross / 255
i a. My America or Yours? Americani/.ation and
the Battle for the Youth of Los Angeles
William Deverell / 277
13. Did the Ruling Class Rule at City Hall in 19205 Los Angeles?
Tom Sitton / 302
14. Behind the Scenes: Bronco Billy and the Realities
of Work in Open Shop Hollywood
Laurie Pintar / 31<)
PART FIVE • THE END: METROPOLITAN FINALE /
339
15. Selling Eternity in igaos Los Angeles
David Charles Sloane / 341
CONTRIBUTORS / j6l
INDEX / 365
ILLUSTRATIONS
1.1. View from Sunset Boulevard looking north toward the Southern Pacific
Railroad yard and Elysian Park, c. 1929 / 16
1.2. View from the southwest of Samson Tyre and Rubber Co. plant at
5675 Telegraph Road, c. 1930 / 27
2.1. Map for the motorcade celebrating the opening
of Mulholland Highway / 46
2.2. Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of Mulholland Highway / 48
2.3. The steam shovel used in the construction of Mulholland Highway / 63
2.4. The Mulholland Highway opening motorcade / 64
3.1. The sprawling Firestone Tire and Rubber factory in 1931 / 87
3.2. Bill Ziegler, resident of Home Gardens / 88
4.1. Industrial geography of Los Angeles (1929) / 99
4.2. The industrial core / 101
5.1. Looking toward the beach from above the McMillan Oil Company
refinery on Walnut Avenue in Signal Hill, August 1928 / 126
5.2. Unidentified residential street on Signal Hill in the early 19208 / ijo
5.3. Working-class developments / ijj
6.1. The Junior Branch of the Los Angeles NAACP, c. 1924 / 147
6.2. The Hotel Somerville in 1928 / 757
ix