The view is from the west, just about directly south of the existing water tank that was in back of the main bathhouse at the property. To the right is Carbon Canyon Road and it is notable that on the south side of the highway, there is a graded area above the road with a sign and what appears to be fence poles and there is a picnic bench, as well as sign simply reading "EAT."
Directly ahead in the line of sight of the photographer is a picnic area with perhaps ten or twelve picnic benches laid out beneath the shade of some towering eucalyptus trees. some of which are still standing (albeit charred from the fires that broke out exactly a year ago last weekend.)
It appears that something was added to the base of the trees up to about six feet high, possibly to keep critters from climbing the trees? Back behind the trees is a parked car Finally at the far left there is a portion of what appears to be one of the several small cabins that were placed next to Carbon [Canyon] Creek.
This card is labeled at the bottom, "La Vida Mineral Hot Springs, Calif." and the number (probably a series number) "7" is at the bottom right.
Postally unused, the item has space on the reverse for correspondence, an address and a stamp box.
Other cards from the same period that make for interesting comparisons and contrasts are found in posts from 15 June 2009 (Carbon Canyon Historical Artifact #16) and 18 December 2008 (CCHA #10.) As always, clicking on the image will zoom it in so that you can see greater detail.
This is item 2009.10.1.1 from the Carbon Canyon Collection.
What you describe as a small cabin was actually the men & woman's outhouse. As a child in the early eighties my father's company would stage their annual picnic in the area depicted. We used those restrooms back then. In the late nighties (working in the LaVida Roadhouse kitchen) I would store all the empty beer bottles for recycle in the outhouse since it was rarely in use at that time. Ethan
ReplyDeleteThe car seen in this post card is the same as the one you show in Artifact #10 from you 2008 postings. If you have a collection of these post cards you might find they will give you a radius of the area since a lot of them were pictures taken within a couple days span. When I was working in the LaVida Roadhouse I explored the basement of the restaurant. It was very dungeon like. I found boxes of post cards just like the ones you are acquiring. I think it was all thrown out during the final demolition. Ethan
ReplyDeleteHi Ethan, thanks for the corrections and the additional information. Especially notable was that there were those postcards in the restaurant basement, but too bad they were thrown out. Again, appreciate the comments.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog and was hoping I could ask a question somewhat related to this post. When I was young, I attended company picnics at what I thought was a Union Oil employee park (behind gates). It had a really large bbq and picnic area, all covered and was a really neat place. Might you know what/where this was? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephen, sorry for the late reply. How long ago was this? I'm wondering if maybe it was at the Union Oil regional facility in Brea where there are new residential and retail developments. This would be the northeast corner of Imperial Highway and Valencia Avenue. Thanks for checking out the Chronicle.
ReplyDeleteOh thank you so much - it was in the 70's. It was a drive up a canyon, I believe on the west side of the 57. Once we got close, we would have to unlock the gates and go a little further. So nice of you to respond and thank you for this great site!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephen, thanks for replying. If it was west of the 57, that would be closer to Brea Canyon, either near Brea in Orange County or Diamond Bar and Rowland Heights in Los Angeles County. Appreciate the kind words about the blog!
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