Feb 08
Rationing during World War II forced some companies to come up with new marketing strategies. Perhaps Wards had a bunch of refrigerators made without the cooling units and needed to unload them. Perhaps they could only get enough material to make the ice box. In any case they were offering a modern looking ice box …
Dec 22
A little over a hundred years ago this advertisement touted the safety of electric power over candles, gas or oil lamps. This is from the Feb. 24, 1906 edition of the San Luis Obispo Telegram. If you are reading this by a whale oil fired lamp you may want to E.M. Payne and get set …
Apr 09
Happy Jack’s bar is at the left as workers use poles to keep the equipment from snagging on utility lines. The explosive growth in California after World War II put a strain on utilities to keep up with demand. The power plant in Morro Bay was one of several new electric generation facilities that PG&E …
Jun 08
Aerial of Morro Rock, power plant and harbor from August 29, 1963.© The Tribune Conspiracy theories. I recall fielding a call several years back from a subscriber who insisted that the newspaper had run a doctored photo. This was way back in the film days, when photoshop included chemicals and a darkroom. She insisted that …
May 06
THE STACK IS HIGH…This dramatic photo of a rigger, Arval Ady, dangling 15 feet below the top of PG&E's 450-foot smokestack was taken last March by Telegram-Tribune photographer Fen Truebridge who had just previously been hoisted up through the giant chimney's brick-lined interior. The power plant building is shown at the top left. This picture …
Sep 16
Recent headlines from San Bruno are a reminder that decisions buried underground 50 years ago have consequences today. Our daily modern conveniences, water heaters, dishwashers, clothes dryers, washing machines are recent innovations that rely on a dependable and affordable utility system. The early days of utilities had little regulation for the safety of workers, the …
Jun 12
This undated print from our files shows the construction of the electric power plant in Morro Bay. The towering smoke stacks are 450 feet tall. According to HeritageShared.org construction on the first electric power generating unit in Morro Bay began in October 1953. California’s population was booming in the post World War II era and …
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