The Owl–1907 (Part 2)

The new school year brought new graphics to The Owl in 1907 – they added some color and my grandfather’s brother, Ben Levy, added his name at the top.  Sure makes me wonder why I ended up with these books.  I guess because my grandparents hung on to them for 70 years or so and then my parents followed suit for another 30 years..  These editions of The Owl have definitely seen better days as the staples are rusted and ineffective all these years later.  But I’ll take ‘em!



A Table of Contents was also added.  I have to laugh that the section called The Waste Basket (“joshes” from the students) was put together by The Janitor.



J.W. Warner must have been a pretty special coach and manager to get his own page in The Owl. 



And here he is with the 1907 Fresno High football team.

Back row, left to right:  Wheaton, McCollister, Tufts, McNulty, Laning, Ruschhaupt, Warner (Coach)

Front row, left to right:  Morgan, Prather, Collins (Captain), Grimes, Barber

This picture is not from the 1907 Owl but, rather, one I discovered of the 1914 Fresno High School Basketball team.  That’s Coach Warner on the right – a double sport coach!



I just love looking at the ads.  Apparently the dentists have overtaken the undertakers as big advertisers.  Crowns for $4.00!



Nice picture of the interior of the Hughes Hotel.  I can visualize (my dad’s favorite expression) the guests all dressed up for a nice meal before retiring for the night.



Check out these golf shirts – can you imagine dressing in one of these for a hot Fresno day on the links?  At least it would only set you back $1.00-$2.00.



Finally the advertisers are marketing the young ladies!  A quick google search didn’t bring up any information on Fitzese shoes but it sounds like a popular brand for the times.



I wonder if Neil=White Fitzese shoes.  Whatever brands they carried I’m sure they were all swell!



A swagger nobby suit?  At least they were only a ‘trifle more’ than the ordinary kind of suit.



More clothes!  But again, marketing the men.  At least they have lots of options for stylish clothes.



In December even a little more color was added.  So festive.  Unfortunately, the red ink seems to have run on some of the pages.  I guess that’s what more than 100 years will do.



Floyd Laning took over for the Janitor in The Wastebasket.



I love the graphics on this page.  Quite a few kids wore the “F” and several received their letter for more than one sport.  I sure wish I’d find a Levy on one of these pages.



I would love to see what the pin of “neat and latest design” looked like.  So nice that they set the price so that it was within reach of all students.  I wonder if my grandfather or his brothers ever had a Fresno High School pin.



I realize this was the Christmas edition but glasses as a Christmas gift?  At least J.M. Crawford would help to manage the surprise.



If you didn’t want to give glasses as a gift, how about something from McAfee-Hickman?  They were having a sale – 25 cents off on Suits and Overcoats until Christmas.



This is an interesting photo to use in an advertisement for the “best fitter in the state”.  I’m not quite sure how this relates.

Again, focusing on the boys.  But these shoes are swell, don’t you think?



Need an overcoat to go with those fancy shoes?



In just the few years of The Owl that I have, I have seen quite a change in the fashion and advertisers.  I can’t wait until I get to my parents’ era to see how much things will have changed over 35-40 years.

The Owl - 1907 (Part 1)

Thanks to reader dkzody, I learned more about The Owl and why there were so many editions.

As for The Owl, it was actually the "newspaper" for Fresno High and the graduation editions were what we would call a yearbook as they had the pictures for the year in them. The school newspaper is now The Owlet and the yearbook is still The Owl.

I seem to remember seeing The Owlet around here so now that I understand the difference, I'll think differently about what I've got.  Thanks, dk!

 

This is an interesting advertisement.  I didn't realize that Gottschalks was in business in 1907 but, it turns out, it was founded in 1904 by German immigrant Emil Gottschalk.  In 1914 the store moved to another location (Kern and J (Fulton) streets) where they enjoyed ten times the space.  And they carried books!

My dad always talked about Gottschalks and as they grew and expanded into other areas, I was finally able to shop at the store I'd heard about since I was a kid.  Dad always had funny stories and as we'd drive him around in later years, he'd exclaim "I feel like Henry Korn!".  And while I knew that Henry Korn was a prominent Fresno citizen (with a driver), it wasn't until I did some quick research on Gottschalks today that I discovered Henry Korn was Emil Gottschalk's brother-in-law and chief executive following Emil's death.

I love seeing this drawing of what a well dressed man looked like in 1907.  Quite dapper!

Sounds like it was a bit scandalous when Miss Dunbar left Fresno High School expectedly.  Of course, my first thought was that she left due to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy - remember when young women had to leave and go live with a long-lost relative?

These want ads are puzzling.  How many people just happened to have 300 volumes of "Roberts' Rules of Order" lying around?  And how 'bout Isabel Noble looking for a new excuse for cutting gym?  Not just an excuse but a good one! 

Look at the 1907 version of a motocycle!  No, that's not a typo - it really was a motocycle and not motorcycle.  I even found one like this that was recently for sale.

I like this new Owl logo they used.

So all you had to do was wear good glasses to help your study habits?  Who knew?

Oh look, it's Gottschalks again.  And now they're hawking baseball goods and roller skates!

Just an example of what was reported in School Notes.  The best part is the drawing of the two young people trying to hold hands under their desks.

Marching on.

It's fun to see the fashions of the day - look at these stylish shoes.  What a bargain!

I just realized that my great grandfather, Herman Levy, worked for Kutner Goldstein Co. when he first moved to Fresno (from Borden, now Madera) somewhere around 1874.  He later owned and operated his own clothing store on Mariposa Street so by 1907 he was probably a competitor of the firm.

 



I'm not sure why they would consider investing in land a "good stunt for high school boys" - seems like it would be a great move.  Am I missing something?

 



I'd like to know more about Fresno's Thanksgiving Soap.  Obviously something they didn't have in the East.

I love this.  We hope one of the two people will be you - the other is no concern of ours. 

And look at this - we get the answer to where Miss Olive Dunbar disappeared to.  She got married!  I wonder if we'll see a birth announcement in the next few months. 

On to April.

I wonder what makes it soda season?  Springtime when kids are anxious to have something cold to drink after school?

Another competitor might have been Louis Einstein & Co.  Hand-made underwear?

In reading about Walk Over Shoes, I learned that the company was first started in 1758 by Levi Keith and continued on by his son, Benjamin, and grandson, Ziba.  Ziba's son, Franklin, was the first of the family to depend entirely on shoe making for his livelihood.  I'm not sure if this is the same company but they sure had some nifty (and inexpensive) shoes for young men.

So earlier we had cold drinks and now we're advertising hot drinks.  I can't get past oysters and tamales together in one ad!

As I continue to go through these gems from Fresno High School, I'm realizing that my roots run very, very deep in that city.

 



 

The Owl - 1906

I have a few editions of The Owl from 1906.  Unfortunately, none of them have photos but there is still some fun stuff.

Here's March, 1906.

And a nice list of the advertisers.  I should check and see if any of these businesses are still around today.  Looks like the most common advertisers were Gents' Furnishers and Barber Shops.

I found this interesting - what a nice description of a suit in 1906.  And $10.00 to $25.00! I'm sure that was a fair amount of money in those days but sure seems like a bargain now. I'm glad Kutner, Goldstein Co. never saw the attire of the 21st century - I'm sure they would be appalled at the clothes kids wear today.

And on to May, 1906 with the same owl sitting on the fence.

This was fun to see the results of the annual field meet.  I wish I knew the first name of Martin, who placed second in the 100 yard dash, as my mother's maiden name was Martin and her family was also in Fresno.  Pretty common name, though.

And a couple of fun advertisements.  This one sure catches your eye!

Glad to know there was lots of new "dope" at the San Joaquin Drug Co.

And finally, November, 1906.  No owl this time.

Of course I have a special interest in the Tennis team since my grandfather, Sig Levy, played tennis and was captain of the team in 1905.  But no mention of him here.  

Oh no!  Another reference to "dope"!  Hope they were successful with their cup chasing.

I like how they listed each officer of the First National Bank.  Again, no recognizable names but I'm sure my great grandfather, Herman Levy, knew at least one of these gents.

This isn't all that memorable from a Fresno standpoint.  But, my grandmother, Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer, grew up in Monterey and then moved to Oakland for a few years and graduated from Heald's College.  She wrote a lot about her studies and work in her correspondence with my grandfather during their courtship.

Wanna buy some skates?  I'd love to know what made these "the good kind".

I've heard about the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.  I wonder how The Hughes Hotel compared.  I did a quick search and found that at the time of completion (1887), it was the largest hotel between San Francisco and Los Angeles.  It was the first building in Fresno to have an elevator and the first Fresno hotel to have electric lights, a telephone in each room, and a neon sign in front.  Pretty swanky!  It was destroyed by an arson fire in 1953.

The Hughes Hotel
courtesy of San Joaquin Valley Library System

This is sad.  I'm sure most, if not all, of us experienced some sort of tragedy with a classmate during our high school years.  I remember for me, it was a horrible car accident which took the life of a friend and critically injured his girlfriend.  It's something we never forget.

Sounds like Henry Walter Tupper was a well liked boy in Fresno.  I haven't seen any pictures of Henry but I did find his brother, Tullius, in the June, 1905 Fresno High School Owl.

On to the next edition of The Owl.