1960s Riviera in Palm Springs

Thanks to the miracle of genuine FauxD©, you can step back in time to November 1961 and see the Riveria Hotel in Palm Springs in all its vintage glory. According to the slide inscription, this was taken during a Grocers Convention. Sounds like a boondoggle to me. Below is the more panoramic composite view:



A closeup of the marquee and vintage cars:



Still craving more 1960’s Riviera shots? How about this batch from June 1961?



I couldn’t find anything on Billy Allen or the Nunez Brothers Trio, but came across a short bio on Jeri Sullivan:

American singer and songwriter. Birth name: Leona Louise Schlosser. Born November 14, 1918 in Jersey City, Hudson, New jersey, USA. Died June 276, 2003 in Palm Desert, Riverside, California, USA. She was known mostly as a nightclub singer and sang with many orchestras including those of Bernie Cummins, Orrin Tucker, Johnny White, Lou Bring, Bernie Leighton's Swing Four and Freddie Shumake and his band. She also sang with The Mel-Tones (who changed their name after she left to "Mel Torme and The Mel-Tones"). Sullivan also dubbed singing voices in movies, including for Virginia Mayo in "A Song Is Born" (also known as "That's Life") (1948). Though she wrote other songs, she is mostly known for a song she helped edit but was given full co-writing credit for: "Rum and Coca Cola". After the song hit #1 by The Andrew Sisters, lawsuits followed. These went on until it was settled in 1948-9, allowing her to keep copyright but she, Morey Amsterdam and Paul Baron had to pay $150,000 to the original lyricist and composer of the song in Trinidad. After taking time to settle the lawsuits, she returned to singing on the nightclub circuit.

Ah, those warm, lazy, summer days in Palm Springs when lounging by the pool is just about all a body can handle.



What I believe is a semi-matching shot from 2010:



A few more showcasing the multiple pools at the hotel and a few lovely ladies:







See more Palm Springs Riveria Hotel photos at my main website.

Easter Memories

Today’s Easter memories are circa 1966. As a young tot in San Diego, you can see the jolly anticipation on my face of collecting Easter eggs. As the youngest of three, I was allowed to be front and center with my two older brothers.



In our house, Easter was almost as big as Christmas when it came to celebrating. There was the Easter egg hunt followed by a very hearty breakfast made from scratch by Mom. Although Easter is a religious holiday, I cannot ever remember being told the meaning behind the celebration or ever having that discussed in our household.



Sure, we went to church on Easter (one of the two times we went during the year), but Jesus and Christianity were saved for the minister, not discussed at home. The home celebration was completely secular. New outfits, bunnies (the toy kind), candy, coloring eggs, and chocolate…lots of chocolate.



I helped flip the pancakes for our Easter breakfast.



Meanwhile, over in the land of Shirley…for Easter, 1936, Shirley received this gigantic card from Kansas. From the accompanying publicity blurb:

Shirley Temple proudly displays a huge Easter Greeting Postal Card autographed by five hundred little girl friends of Hutchison, Kansas. The card is eight feet long and four feet high.



With postal rates today, you’d probably need to take a second loan out on your home to be able to send this gigantic card. Anybody recognize the names on here?


In 1940, Shirley posed with a gigantic stuffed bunny and colored eggs that spelled out the holiday. I wonder if Shirley placed them or if the prop man did it? Time is money, so most likely it was the prop man.



A color portrait from the same Easter session:



Shirley fandom aside, for Easter, it’s Judy and Fred all the way. You just can’t beat “Easter Parade” (1948) as the annual classic to watch. Below is a newly created caricature of Judy from the film’s finale.



While Gene Kelly (originally cast in the male lead until he injured his ankle) would have made a more age-appropriate pairing for Garland, you can’t help but root for Garland and Astaire to walk triumphantly together down Fifth Avenue at the end of the film in the title number.



For all who celebrate today (Christian AND secular versions!), I wish you a Happy Easter!

See more photos at my main website.

1950 Pictorial California, Pt. 2

Am finally getting back to the series from the 1950 Pictorial California publication. This group of pages showcases Beverly Hills. In the first image, we see Sunset Municipal Park. It opened in 1915 and was referred to simply as Sunset Park, located just off Sunset Boulevard. The park was renamed in 1952 in honor of entertainer Will Rogers, who was appointed the first “Honorary Mayor” of Beverly Hills in 1926. How the area looked when I photographed it in August 2013:



On April 7, 1998, this park was put on the map for all the wrong reasons when singer George Michael was arrested for inappropriately using the restroom shown below with undercover cop Marcelo Rodriguez. $810 and 80 hours of community service cleared that incident all up. The restroom has since been torn down. Is nothing sacred anymore?



Across the street is the swanky Beverly Hills Hotel:



The rated a two-page feature.



Probably because they purchased an. The Chateau didn’t, thus they didn’t even rate a photo caption. Money talks…



The Beverly Hills Hotel, circa 2018:



The Polo Lounge, as seen twenty years ago for Easter 2006. It was a delicious brunch, as I recall. Mary Ann Mobley and Gary Collins were dining there as well, just two years before his DUI conviction. Maybe the Easter Bunny drove him to it.



More Pictorial California to come!

See more photos at my main website.