July 30, 1941 Telegram-Tribune Most of us take the four lane 101 Highway for granted today but as World War II was approaching California had a narrow two lane system. Military bases were expanding and road traffic was increasing leading local politicians to ask the state highway commission for a better road. The top headline …
Monthly Archive: July 2011
Jul 29
1940s era home plans
Contrast this 1941 home floor-plan with one from almost 20 years later in 1960. In the 40s the then Telegram-Tribune ran a regular feature showing floor plans and featuring canned wire service feature stories and photos. The local story was an update on building permits. Permits for homes ranged from $1,800 to $5,000. Though the …
Jul 27
1960 Ranch Style home
May 1, 1960 Linderos home ad Single story, low pitched roof, two car garage a little bit of land around it and you have a ranch style home. Ranch defined the home style of the 60s and in San Luis Obispo you can find this type of home off the edge of the 1941 map …
Jul 25
Swamp coolers and mosquitoes
Swamp cooler is the correct term. This PG&E ad gussies it up with the term evaporative cooler but when I lived in a hovel near Sacramento I became friends with my swamp cooler. Unfortunately it had not been maintained by the landlord and every time I turned it on a cloud of mosquito would silently …
Jul 24
Mining Chrome, World War II week by week
July 24, 1941 Telegram-Tribune War was the in the text or subtext of front page articles in the Summer of 1941. Aluminum pots were being collected to be recycled into airplane skins. President Roosevelt said the U.S. sold oil to Japan as a measure of appeasement to prevent the war from spreading into the South …
Jul 22
Elisabeth Murdoch and KSBY
September 16, 1995 story from the Telegram-Tribune. As the waves from the News Corporation phone hacking scandal spread, leader Rupert Murdoch has been called to a hearing before the British Parliament. The Central Coast had a brush with the Murdoch family in the mid-nineties when Rupert's daughter Elisabeth Murdoch bought KSBY-TV. She and her first …
Jul 20
From Buck to Brittany – headliners at the Mid-State Fair
Britney Spears performs at the Mid-State Fair in 1999. ©David Middlecamp/The Tribune I always thought the cartoon mule featured on the television show "Hee Haw" was a contrivance to connect to a rural audience. Guess I was wrong. According to Buck Owen's official website his connection he grew up on a farm outside Sherman, Texas. …
Jul 18
Rocks to the rock
ROCKS BY THE CARLOAD…Boulders weighing as much as 30 tons each are being brought in from Colton to armor the new breakwater at Morro Bay. They are being unloaded at the Camp San Luis Obispo siding of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Published April 30, 1963 ©The Tribune The "Gibraltar of the Pacific" first came under …
Jul 16
Japan’s cabinet resigns, World War II week by week
Telegram-Tribune July 16, 1941 Ominous news from Japan, the cabinet resigned and was expected to be replaced with leaders who favored war. Potential targets of future aggression were listed as Russia, French Indochina and Siam. The German invasion of Russia continued. Maps would introduce readers to far off cities with strange names like Smolensk. President …
Jul 15
Lopez Canyon before the dam
Lopez Dam Site before construction circa 1958. ©The Tribune Before the dam was built it was farmland. Santa Manuela School was preserved and moved to Arroyo Grande. Some of the families displaced by the construction sued but residents along Arroyo Grande Creek were grateful in 1969 when the newly constructed dam protected them from from …
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