Page 20 - sg_vigilanceforever1994

20 VIGILANCE FOREVER - 75 years of The Signal 1919-1994
1930s

Continued from page 19 THE NEWHALL SIGNAL
Juleps fill the other pages. This is the
Signle copies 5c
story of a neighborly group of folks, liv-
ing close to the soil, eyes turned to the covering Caataic,
skies, watching for the blessing of rain. Volume TWENTY One
The area itself is called "The Valley of
the Little Santa Clara." Little Clara is lit-
erally, "Clarita"
So, what comes to mind when you
think about the 1930s? Joblessness?
Selling apples? The Grapes of Wrath?
The Depression of course was ongo-
ing. But in the early 1930s, mentions of
"hard times" were rather scarce. AB.
Thatcher wrote: "Someone· remarked
that poor folks were never poorer nor
rich ever richer than now. If that is true,
which I don't believe, things are coming
to a smash. Or would but for a very
important fact. That is the inbred feeling
oflove and charity in the great American the ground
heart." .. .. . - . peanuts
Another writer, Dr. Warner, said, mixed with
''Practice of the Golden Rule by all ofus the salad dress-
would end the depression at once." ing. Put together
A column by Z.N. Brown, headlined in pairs." Yum!
"Howdy!" said, "Of course the common And if it is true
talk now is about the 'depression,' but as that advertising will
this subject is getting to be rather tire- tell the story of a culture,
some, just suppose we leave that out and then the Valley of the
talk about the good side of things for Little Santa Clara is charac-
awhile." terized by the Bank of Italy
Occasionally the Depression was (the only bank in town, (it
mentioned, but it never sounded depress- became the Bank of America in
ing. As reported in The Signal, the times 1931), Flit Insect Killer for Fleas,
were hopeful, the people resourceful. A J.W. Doty's Ford Dealership,
•
wire service photo in October 1931 There nnt a In Southern California Edison ("Yes!
free the that
showed college students in the Midwest huildinJ, the We have enough reserve capacity to
TJ,ere ptenty hut not
paying their college tuition with grain. meet any emergency! Don't worry
Who 1, ·
Only stipulation: The grain had to come When the mains ,It to about outages!"), Lydia E.
to !11\e that firi,
from farms where they were raised. to pay for Pinkham's Vegetable Compound (a
use. It And so It
The obvious missing component in remedy touted for miraculous
not the
The Signal of the 1930s is the lack of to sell 'J"hc recovery for all forms of exhaus-
crime. To our modem minds, the word nn no tion), Renfro Pharmacy and the
"crime" has become interchangeable in In phone company.
that th" had All · the The
with "news." But in the early 1930s, The fire and police protection.· pay for It. These phone company ads aren't
There
In the
The
Signal reports only a handful of "crin1es." electrical and con- There no that Jr lhe for .. pleas to change long distance com-
or bug hand crawl• actor If in huildin,:
In August 1931, a headline reads: four months · ago. the building to:;;: and on remote panies or upgrades in service, but
the I
"Officers Nip Big Booze Factory," and ads for just plain phone service -
the continuing article details a raid by the get a phone! "What price would
"Booze Squad." It seems an old barn in The Signal reported a steady litany of the newfangled gas stoves that are adver- you put on a child's laugh, heard a thou-
Pelona Valley housed a large · still, and "crashes," "smashes," and untimely tised weekly. The wood stove, of course, sand miles away? ... The young folks in .
would have been in full production when deaths along the Ridge Route. ''Two die giving "considerable heat, and desirable your home will join in so many good
the officers arrived, had the offenders not in Sunday Smashes," and the story in the spring or fall when the mornings times if your home has a telephone ...
run out of fuel to run it. recounts how a Henry Stark was fatally and evenings are chilly and the middle of When concluding a business interview it
One suicide is reported in those early injured, dying while transported to the the day almost hot" Our weather is one is worth it to say 'This is my phone num-
years, by a man named William Mayer. hospital. Dewitt Standle "had his right of the few things that haven't noticeably ber' ... In one emergency the telephone
Bewilderment prevails in the communi- am1 broken and mangled. Officers found changed. may be worth more to you than it costs
ty: "No cause for his act could be sur- a quart and a pint bottle partly filled with A short article on food ran consistent- in a lifetime." So just call Newhall 10,
mised, as he was in good circumstances, liquor in the car. It was a gruesome sight, ly during the early 1930s and was called, and any telephone operator will take
with plenty of food on hand . . . and a being smeared all over with blood." "Good Things For the Table." In this, the your order.
good-sized flock of chickens." He was Driving accidents were not the only following recipe appears: "A good sand- AB. Thatcher ran an article quoted
also well thought of by his neighbors. deaths. In 1932 the Signal ran a headline wich to give the children for their lun- from the American Banker's Magazine,
Deaths, however, were recorded regu- that stated: "Shot By A Maniac." The cheon is the Bacon Peanut Sandwich. explaining that advertising was a moral
larly, due in large part to the relatively story reinforces the obvious assertion. Fry crisp several slices of bacon. Grind "duty" of every business man. And
new and exciting national pastime of dri- But most of The Signal news centers half a pound of freshly roasted peanuts, sometimes, he ran a quarter-page ad stat-
ving an automobile. Imagine almost around home, church and family. Taking mix with a good salad dressing. Spread ing: "Many Subscriptions are due. It will
everyone on the road being a new driver. a peek into a 1930s kitchen window, one the bread with butter or margarine, lay be a great accommodation to the publish-
Imagine unlit, unpaved, unmarked roads. will find a wood-burning stove, or one of on the bacon and spread one slice with Please see 1930s, page 22