California, Here We Come

Hello From Hollywood: Vintage postcard makes Hollywood look much closer to the Ocean than it actually is. 

Los Angeles: Travel brochures no longer use the freeway system to advertise Los Angeles; in fact the traffic is what tourists and natives alike tend to complain about endlessly.

Being from Los Angeles, I was of course interested in reading what the WPA guides had to say about the Golden State. I was surprised to find that what they advertise as quintessentially Californian is actually how my home state is often still perceived today around the world.

In the section on Hollywood, for instance, the guide explains that numerous celebrities can be seen walking around casually on Sunset Blvd (“Cowboys in chaps and sombreros and extra girls in the traditional slacks and dark glasses, bright kerchiefs protecting their freshly waved hair, lunch at the corner hot dog stands or gossip and talk shop. Even 'featured' players in make-up often cross Sunset to a line of hamburger stands for snacks between shots.” p. 192). To this day, when I travel to other parts of the world, the first response when I say I'm from California is, “Wow, do you see a lot of celebrities?” People generally seem to have the idea that in Southern California, celebrities are everywhere, simply strolling around town, mingling freely with everyone else. Although I've had a few celeb spottings here and there, they are few and far between. It is also interesting that Hollywood is described as a quaint town of window shopping and star gazing, which it may have been closer to in the 30's, whereas now Hollywood might more accurately described as shady, tacky, and/or overrun with tourists (maybe a sign that these guides were a success).

On the subject of Los Angeles, the WPA guide reads, “To some [the city] is a slightly unreal stage set, some elaborate artifice on a movie lot, as they catch a first glimpse of its new buildings gleaming in the sun between the cobalt sea and the purple hills.” (p. 208). Clearly the guides over-idealize LA in order to attract visitors, in much the same way that travel guides do now. One thing that guides now would never touch upon, however, is race. The WPA guide says that LA is home to many Mexicans that live “in some of the worst local slums” and keep mostly to themselves, while “many of them speak only their mother tongue” (p208). Clearly there is a large gap between socially appropriate political correctness then and now. Confirming more broad stereotypes, the guide also describes native Angelenos as eccentric hippies, people who “consult crystal balls for guidance” and go “shopping downtown in beach pajamas.”

All in all, the guide didn't strike me as drastically different from travel guidebooks now, which paint the same pretty picture of all the destinations they describe. The goal is to attract tourists, and in the same vein as the WPA guides, travel guides now usually set the scene of a place and then proceed to list the “points of interest,” which for LA, are for the most part the same as they were in the 30's.

And now to end my last blog with my favorite quote from the California WPA guide: “Negroes comprise the next largest group [in Los Angeles]...At night their clubs and dance spots get 'hot,' as the young and not-so-young 'swing it.'” In conclusion, those WPA guide writers really knew how to party.