It’s 1940, and Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard had just finished filming “The Great Dictator” and vacationed in Catalina to celebrate:
Relaxing at Santa Catalina and letting the world go by are the Chaplins-three. Charlie, Sr., Paulette Goddard and Charlie, Jr. Sidney, the younger son, had to stay at home to make up his studies. Charlie has just completed his long awaited sound picture and is resting at his Santa Catalina hide-away dividing his time between fishing, tennis and strolling around Avalon Town with son Charles and Paulette.
The boat that took them from Los Angeles to Catalina can be seen in the background. The gents below are vacationing there, too, circa May 1958:
A vintage view of the Casion in the background, from September 1960:
This ho-hum Catalina shot from June 1962 got a little more exciting for me when I noticed there was a brochure in the little girl’s hands:
Zooming in and flipping the image 180 degrees I got this:
Which matches this “Catalina Welcomes You” vintage brochure easily found on ebay:
Some lovely images. A nice shot of Chaplin, his son and Goddard. Gotta love the second image, as it so perfectly captures how guys interacted (and dressed) back in that period - from the rolled-up sleeves [on short-sleeved shirts], to the rolled cuffed 'dungarees', etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd that brochure - nice work.
Nanook - sometimes the people in the slides are just as entertaining as the background! I was shocked at how easily I found the brochure; a total stroke of luck.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun pictures, Dave!
ReplyDeleteI love Catalina, but only visited a few times. My first trip with mom and dad was on the steamship in the photo.
As you say, the people are as entertaining as the views. Witness the couple to the right in the photo of the little girl. Classic clothes, hair, accessories.
I love the brochure graphics, getting a lot of mileage out of three color printing.
Thank you and Happy Fourth. Hope you do something fun.
JG
JG - Sometimes it only takes 3 colors - that design is so my style! Hope your 4th was fun, too. Willis is not crazy about the fireworks!
ReplyDeleteThat second pic is driving me up the wall. I'm sorting through all my framed vintage pics of Catalina on the wall as well as my electronic library. I can't find that! I see the pier and the angle of the sun, but that building and that steep foliage?!?! This is definitely not in the vicinity of the Pavillion Hotel's current location. At best I'm assuming this is in what would become Descanso Beach, but even at this point in history there would be a ramp for the Grumman Goose's to roll out of water and onto shore. The building would have been the former US Military Intelligence compound except that can't be true either, it doesn't quite match. ....what on Earth am I looking at? Where are these three guys?
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