Carbon Canyon Historical Artifact #29: A Rare St. Joseph's Hill of Hope Postcard

One wonders how many of these were made and it can be assumed they're pretty rare, but this is a circa mid-1970s postcard, a chrome card made by Kolor View of Los Angeles, advertising the St. Joseph's Hill of Hope religious community that has occupied a large compound  just off Carbon Canyon to the north astride the borders of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino Counties.

As noted in previous posts, Frances Klug, a Placentia resident, was disenchanted with the direction of the Roman Catholic Church in its post-Vatican II era and formed St. Joseph's Hill of Hope in 1967 in response.  Raising funds from supporters, Mrs. Klug was able, in 1972, to acquire 440 acres and announced ambitious plans for a compound from which to operate.

This ca. mid-1970s postcard, manufactured by Kolor View of Los Angeles, shows a pastoral landscape of oaks, wild grass and shrubs along Lion Canyon Road leading to the St. Joseph's Hill of Hope religious compound to the north of Carbon Canyon and was intended to draw potential congregrants to the organization.

Usually, cards of religious facilities and institutions show the structures that constitute the core of the enterprise, but it appears that this card was made shortly after the acreage was purchased when there were no structures to depict. 

Obviously highlighting the natural beauty of the area, and it would be interesting to know where this exactly was taken—somewhere along Lion Canyon Road, the main unpaved access road to the site—the intention was to attract potential congregants.  A profusion of oak trees, carpets of wild grass, and a small portion of a shrub in the foreground set an idyllic scene from nearly forty years ago.

The postcard's back has a short message about the natural beauty of the Hill of Hope site and an address to write to for more information about the organization, which was founded in 1967 by Frances Klug who became disillusioned with the post-Vatican II direction of the Roman Catholic Church.

The text on the upper left of the card's reverse reads "Natural beauty along the rugged mountain road leading to St. Joseph's Hill of Hope in the Carbon Canyon area of Brea, California.  For information, write P.O. Box 940, Anaheim, Calif, 92805."  Presumably, that address is no longer valid!