Promoting Prosperity With the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in “Southern California Business,” January 1926, Part Three

by Paul R. Spitzzeri

Perusing the pages promoting prosperity in the January 1926 issue of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce’s magazine, Southern California Business, we’ve explored in this post enthusiastic endorsements from business leaders and others the sentiment that the new year was going to be a very successful one, with one of the few caveats being a statement from banker Joseph F. Sartori regarding his concerns about over-speculation in stock futures and real estate, as well as the red-hot trend of purchasing stock by installments (or buying on margin.)

Otherwise, those contributing to articles in the publication were bullish on the region’s financial prospects and cited the performance in many sectors of the economy to back up their forecasts. In a “Review of Business for 1925,” the commentary was more of the same, as the magazine asserted that,

The close of the year finds Los Angeles business in an exceedingly sound and prosperous condition. In practically all lines, the slowness which characterized the situation a year ago and extended into the first few months of 1925 has disappeared and at present a general note of optimism is evident. A review of the business barometers proves that this feeling is based on actual fact and dispels any doubt as to Southern California’s prosperity.

A common cited indicator was bank clearings, with it noted that “the outstanding gain of the year” was the growth to nearly $8 billion, a 12% increase from 1924 and 13% from the year before that. A strong December in major building permits, totaling almost $17 million, pushed the year’s total close to $153 million, about $2.5 million more than the prior year and the highest ever in the Angel City, save for 1923 which was the peak of the regional boom that took place during the early part of the decade. It was added that the total “put Los Angeles in fourth place in the cities of the nation.”

The article continued that the 1925 figure “is truly remarkable when it is considered that this is the third year of exceptionally rapid building,” while the City’s main building inspector, J.J. Backus, added that “building costs in Los Angeles have declined substantially” from 1924. Moreover, he told the magazine that, if not for that factor, the permit valuation would have been somewhere in the vicinity of $170 million. New York City, said to be in the midst of its greatest building boom, and Chicago, also in a record-setting environment, were building at lower amounts per capita, so “this shows a splendid rate of progress for Los Angeles.”

Under the heading of “Commerce,” unverified figures stated that close to 2 million tons of cargo were handled at the Port of Los Angeles in December, an increase from under 1.9 million the prior month, and with a value of $68,250,000 compared to not quite $67.5 million for November. For December 1924, the totals were about 1.88 tons and well under $60 million in value. As for exports, there was a growth of some 60,000 tons from December 1924, though a drop from November 1925.

In all, though tonnage in 1925 topped 20.1 million tons to about 19.5 for 1924, while values went up more than 11% from about $668 million to close to $750 million. The spike in valuation was reflected in such aspects as the fact the more gasoline and less crude oil was being exported, while “general cargoes outside of oil are comprising a larger percentage of the total.” Also significant was that “Los Angeles easily holds her place as the second greatest seaport in the nation in point of tonnage,” while, when it came to tonnage sent through the Panama Canal, the port took in about 44%, more than any other trio of ports on the Pacific Coast.

For agriculture, the magazine observed that,

After several average crop years, the full bounty of Southern California’s natural blessings was bestowed on her agriculturists in the last 12 months just closed. A succession of profitable harvests was experienced straight through the year throughout the state and as the ones which brought the greatest return are grown in Southern California, this section naturally received the greatest share of the state total.

It was added that “outstanding is the record of the citrus crop,” yielding some $93 million, a jump of 35% from 1924, while walnuts generated about $14 million, an increase of $2 million. These were heavily grown in the regions around Los Angeles, while cotton yields, largely raised in Imperial County in the southeastern portion of the state and over the Mexican border by American firms there, leapt by about a third. There were lower yields in tonnage with deciduous fruit, although “the prices received at canneries and drying yards were exceptionally good,” with growth of from five to ten percent, and fresh vegetables also showed growth “due to steady demand from the East.”

Regarding oil, it was commented that “the Los Angeles field,” meaning region, not a specific field, “produces about 60 per cent of the entire oil of California and during 1924 produced more oil than the total productions of Texas and Pennsylvania combined.” Growth in barrels produced was modest, around 3% or so, with the total for 1925 believed to be about 152,000,000.

Also remarked was a two-cent increase in gas prices before the Christmas holiday, while consumption was up because of shortages of coal due to strikes in Eastern mines, as well as “the astounding extension of the use of oil for domestic heating and the unprecedented automobile sales during the year. Given this, the publication noted that “all of the important interests look forward to an extremely active period next year.”

Deemed to be “the most accurate measure of real estate activity,” were the filings of documents with the county recorders, so that, with deeds, conveyances, mortgages, releases and trust deeds, there were 10% more of these to about 385,000. Each month of 1925 also involved more post office transactions than the corresponding month of the previous year, save October. For the year, the value was about $8.3 million compared to not far under $8 million for 1924, which was 12% higher than in 1923.

Retail store volume was thought to be about 13% higher in December than the corresponding month for the previous year, with more of an increase in the larger department stores than the smaller establishments, “although a healthy growth is notable in all lines.” With some $5 million rung up by registers, the holiday shopping season “gives a very definite basis for satisfaction and optimism” for 1926.

For much of the public, a point of pride was population and it was recorded that “Los Angeles has made a healthy growth . . . during the year and has reached the position unquestionably fifth amongst the cities of the nation.” Southern California Business decried “irresponsible sources claiming an actual loss” in numbers of residents and used a common indicator of school enrollment with a factor of 3.25 to state that there were about 1.2 million persons in the city, though it was sure to note possible error. In fact, that number was what was enumerated in the 1930 census. Another assertion was that the city welcomes somewhere between 65,000 and 75,000 newcomers during 1925.

Lastly, with regard to the “Industrial Situation,” the Industrial Department of the Chamber reported, via a survey, that production was up around 20% compared to 1924. Observing “relative quietness in the petroleum field” and a drop of 20% in film production, industrial output was about $1.35 billion for greater Los Angeles. Even understanding this was an estimate, “it is unquestioned that a very substantial increase has taken place” among close to 6,000 businesses with some 180,000 workers.

A page dedicated to a “March of Events In Figures” included information on bank clearings back more than a decade, so that the nearly $8 million in 1925 could be compared to about half that in 1920 and not far over $1 million a decade ago. The building permit valuation of north of $152 million was quite a bit lower than the $200 million of 1923, but 1920 recorded $60 million and it under $12 million in 1915. Bank deposits were at around $940 million in January 1925, compared to more than $380 million five years before and about $164 million a decade prior.

There wasn’t a postal receipt total for 1925, but the prior year’s amount was close to $8 million, close to double that of 1920, while the receipts for 1915 amounted to about$2.25 million. Bank deposits approached $940 million in 1925, with some $387 million five years before, and about $164 million in 1915. Manufactured products topped $1.2 billion compared to not quite $789 million in 1920 and around $110 million in 1915, showing how dramatically this aspect of the regional community accelerated in recent years.

There weren’t comparative total provided for state oil production, but amounts of daily and total production for September through November 1925, along with numbers of new wells and total crude inventory, were produced. As for the largest producing fields, the top five were Long Beach (where Walter P. Temple was just starting to engage in his prospecting), Midway-Sunset in Kern County, Inglewood, Santa Fe Springs and Huntington Beach (where Temple had some involvement.) Montebello, where he made his fortune with a lease to Standard Oil Company (California), now Chevron, had, however, long been in decline.

The remaining indicators were water commerce, showing tonnage slightly increasing in 1924 from 11.045 to 11.099 million the next year, but the values up from under $300 million to well north of $350 million; assessed valuation, which jumped from $1.22 billion in 1923-24 to almost $1.8 billion the next year for the city and just under $2 billion to more than $2.8 billion for the county; and the population, about doubling since 1920 to the estimate of 1.1 million, compared to under 400,000 in 1915.

Other articles in this edition of Southern California Business included the marking of the 25th anniversary of The Automobile Club of Southern California, which had 1,500 employees serving over 110,000 members in 30 branch offices and the impressive, relative new headquarters on Figueroa Street at Adams Boulevard north of the University of Southern California. Not only did the Club provided such services as free books and maps, help with tourism and travel, emergency road services and legal help, but its sign-posting department was responsible for placing 15,000 of these in the region.

Another feature concerned paint manufacturing in the Angel City by, F.M. Brininstool, who owned a business in this line and used an interesting metaphor that all the paint made by nearly 60 firms in town with more than 1,000 workers would form a river two miles long, ten feet wide and in excess of three feet deep, with a value of some $8 million. He added that raw materials, including linseed and other oils, pigments, resin, turpentine and gums, were imported from all over the world, while production was based on rigorous laboratory standards, with specialization for productions for such examples as aircraft and military ships.

An interesting piece concerned development in the San Fernando Valley, almost all of which was fairly recently annexed to the City of Los Angeles, with a major road building campaign highlighted and which involved a grid of 100-foot wide boulevard at mile intervals with 80-foot wide streets in between and this based on population, while diagonal streets were planned for those commuting at distances to save time. Also noted were intentions to build overhead crossings, more than 80, at crowded intersections, to mitigate dangerous conditions.

Also reported on were plans for industrial sections along rail lines, with some thought given to doing so along streetcar lines not overlapped by rail. The idea was to place businesses, of which there were then 180, along rights-of-way for better utilization of facilities and so that “industrial workers can live nearby in rural surroundings” including “small farm sites.” Adjoining Ventura Boulevard and in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, there was to be no farm land or industrial sites near “exclusive residential districts,” though “there will be community centers where commercial necessaries will be retailed.” As to farmland, citrus, olives (the planet’s biggest being in Sylmar), peaches, apricots and walnuts (including the largest orchard in the world at 850 acres) were emphasized.

As to residential areas, the Ventura Boulevard corridor was featured, with houses from Franklin Avenue at Cahuenga Pass to Calabasas increasing, in just under two years, from a bit over 150 to nearly 2,000, including 23 subdivisions. The population of the Valley was approaching 100,000 (it is now over 1.8 million) with expectations that it would reach a half-million by the mid-1930s or so. The magazine was sure to mention that there were almost 20 chambers of commerce which were members of an associated organization and cooperation, harmony and teamwork were cited as critical with the Valley’s rapid development.

Another featured section was Corona, dubbed the “City of Varied Interests,” with the western Riverside community of north of 6,000 persons deemed to be such that “few cities are so superbly situated” because “there is always a wonderful panorama” viewed from anywhere in the locality. Farming and livestock growing were the core industries of the “Circle City,” with its well-known 100-foot wide, three-miles boulevard (Grand Boulevard) embracing the business area and part of the residential sections.

Dairies comprised a central component of Corona’s commercial core with some 2,000 head serving a growing regional market and owners benefiting from higher returns on such products as butter fat, while feed was cheaper because of bountiful yields from farms in the area. The soil was noted as “very deep and fertile” thanks to granite and alluvial material washed down from the Santa Ana Mountains as well as “the humus of decayed vegetation on the floor of the mesa, often to a depth of 100 feet.” Agricultural yields, therefore, were abundant. Poultry raising was also noted as a growing industry in the community.

Citrus was a dominant factor in Corona’s economy, with 6,500 acres devoted to it, including about 1,000 that had trees not yet bearing, but, unlike other areas, the lemon ruled the roost, with about 65% of the land devoted to it by some 250 owners, a few of which were large companies. As was common elsewhere in the region, a cooperative helped growers manage their work. Also cited were scenic nearby drives, Parkridge Country Club, which in a couple of years was briefly Black-owned until racism (including a cross burning) forced its closure. Today, the site is the Cresta Verde Golf Course near the northeast portion of the Interstate 15-91 Freeway interchange.

Though the Parkridge controversy was in the not-too-distant future, it is notable to see that the Corona Chamber of Commerce was quoted as opining that,

One of the delights of living in the Corona district is the fact that there is flaunting of extravagant wealth. The wealth is pretty equally divided and lends to the cosmopolitan life of the city in social and recreational affairs.

A few other articles concerned a direct mail advertising convention in Los Angeles, the “California Alps” of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the National Orange Show and the exchange of goods with the South American nation of Bolivia, with some short pieces interspersed, as well. Advertisements, some of which we’ve shared, are also of note.

The Homestead has 17 issues of Southern California Business and previous posts have shared portions of two others, so we’ll look to add to that in the future.