Item #6985 [Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]. Col. John E. Parker.
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]
[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]

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Parker, Col. John E.

[Photo album of a Massachusetts family wintering in southern California.]

California and other locales, 1937–1938. 4to (11.5” x 15.5”), full brown “alligator skin.” “California Greetings” card (6.25” x 4.5”) affixed to front paste-down, 177 silver print photos (including 73 real photo postcards, all captioned in the negative), 96 photomechanical postcards (most in color and most captioned in the image). 18 pp. of pasted clippings, tickets, programs and ephemera; pen and ink satirical cartoon affixed to rear paste-down, (5.75” x 8.5”), surrounded by 10 small color-printed views of California scenes.

An extensive pre-WWII photo album offering a multi-faceted portrait of the California scene between the wars, compiled by a family of wintering easterners.

Hailing from Rocky Neck, Gloucester, Mass., Col. John E. Parker and his family appear to have spent a many of their winters in Pasadena, California. Documenting their road-trip out west and the numerous locales they visited once in California, the photos included here mainly picture southern California locales such as Altadena, Pasadena, Arcadia, Hollywood, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Riverside, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Also included are images of San Francisco and San Rafael. Shots show the Parker family—consisting of John Parker, two middle-aged women, John’s son, and their dog—posing in front of statues, churches, trees, at overlooks, and so forth. The subjects include beaches, hotels, inns, San Francisco’s Chinatown, Joshua Trees (in Antelope Valley, CA), “date palms under cultivation” (Indio, CA), a view of Catalina Island, the shoreline of Laguna Beach, San Francisco wharf scenes, men in sombreros looking at a parrot, eucalyptus trees, highways, power plant, artist and pottery studios (Laguna, CA), cafes, science institutes, restaurants, antique shops, Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco’s waterfront (seen from the Oakland Ferry Boat), observatories, temples, street scenes in LA, harbor scenes, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Grand Canyon, missions, and so forth. A humorous drawing—entitled “Rocky Neck—Here We Come!”—at the back pastedown depicts the Parker family headed home in their automobile, with their “Mount Parker” of luggage on the roof and their son and a cat in tow.

Much content relates to Hollywood, including the Hollywood Hotel, the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, a “theatre display” set for Snow White, the residences of various movie stars, and so forth. Several images show the Hollywood Bowl at night during live performances as well as when the Bowl was relatively vacant. Many shots document the 49th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, 1938, and included here is a pamphlet detailing the celebration. Two images picture an intriguing hobo and his dog-drawn wagon (a cloth-sign he made reads in part, “Please Pass…”). One scene shows the wreckage caused by flooding in LA; several clippings relate to the flood and the damage it caused. While many commercial color postcards relate to Mexico, few if any real photo postcards or actual photographs of Mexico are included. Some of the color postcards indicate that the family also visited Connecticut, Arkansas, Texas, Arizona (and the Grand Canyon) on their trip. A few photographs were taken in Virginia as well. Tickets, clippings, and other ephemera indicate the family attended the 1938 Rose Bowl football game in Pasadena, saw the Santa Anita Handicap, visited the Los Angeles Turf Club, and may have seen Seabiscuit race.

The Parker family home, known as the Colonel John E. Parker house, is an extant historic home in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Parker served as city marshall of Gloucester in the 1920s. An image of him dressed as a woman “as part of an operation to entrap bootleggers” can be seen here: (colonel as flapper).

A rich album documenting the California scene in the late thirties.

CONDITION: One loose photo, light wear to black paper board; photos overall very good.

Item #6985

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