Through the faded looking glass of time, history can be revealed from books and memories and sometimes items that were never meant to last—paper goods often expected to wind up in the trash heap. Items such as tickets, brochures, matchbooks, menus, postcards, business cards and advertisements were given closer examination at the Malibu Library last week with a charming presentation by two Pepperdine librarian archivists.
This peek into Malibu’s past, entitled “History in the Everyday: Postcards, Menus, Ephemera and the story of Malibu,” was presented last Tuesday evening by archivists Melissa Nykanen and Kelsey Knox to an engaged audience eager to learn more about old Malibu that has since faded away.
One of the items displayed was a 1930s brochure from the Marblehead Land Company advertising Malibu as an ideal place to buy land—which came available after founding family matriarch May Rindge was forced to sell part of her rancho to pay off debts. Booklets were prepared to advertise diverse sized lots billed as “paradise.” The pamphlet showcased the beauty of Malibu comparing the land and climate to that of famous Mediterranean coastal communities with descriptions of ranchitos—advertised as country estates—and sites to build hotels, golf courses, businesses and acreages for subdivisions.
“It wanted to highlight that whatever you were looking for in a property, you could find it here in Malibu,” Knox described. One of the sites advertised was oceanfront at Latigo Point. In 1943, the 11-and-a-half acres was named “Gulls Way” and is still used today for events. It cost just under $10,000 at the time. After a luxurious estate was built on the property it was rented to movie studios. Its coasters, cocktail napkins and business cards—unusual for a private residence—were on display.
History also came to life with the display of ledgers and other ephemera from the Malibu Lakeside Community just south of Malibou Lake. A 1936 dance invitation showed the cost of admission was only 50 cents. The cost to feed the entire orchestra: just a dollar. There was a cracker-eating contest and “spots” or prizes were included.
Other highlights of the Pepperdine Malibu Historical Collection were matchbooks from various restaurants on the pier and the Las Flores Inn that became the Sea Lion restaurant before it was turned into Duke’s in 1996. Caged sea lions would draw crowds to the eatery—another glimpse into a history gone forever.
“Repositories like ours rely on collectors for this material. We’re always on the lookout for items to add to our collections,” the librarians explained. “A poster meant to draw people to an event is not necessarily meant to be kept, but sometimes it is and becomes ephemeral. People will sometimes hold on to items as mementos or souvenirs from an occasion because of their association with a person, event or subject. Ephemera can tell the story of day-to-day life of a community. The use of ephemera for academic purposes is a comparatively recent development. Instead of being a novelty to display at home, more and more scholars are using it.”
Ephemera teaches us about events that may or may not have been written about in newspapers, but that held an importance in a community. It also reveals trends through menus and postcards that include images of important landmarks. And when postcards have messages written on them, we learn about the people sending or receiving them with a glimpse into their lives and experiences.
Such was the case with a handwritten postcard on display where the writer asked the sender if he can “call collect.”
Since ephemera was meant to be discarded, it does not have the marks of other historical documents.
“One of the challenges is they don’t have dates on them,” Nykanen said. “The best we can do is ask around or guess. That’s why we like to talk to the community—to get information we don’t have.”
Some of that information was provided by Pete Haynes, who wrote about his childhood recollections in his book “1950’s Malibu Growing Up in Paradise.” As live bait tickets from the Malibu Pier were displayed, he commented he sold them as a kid. “An anchovy was 5-cents.”
Jim McHenry discovered his parents’ telephone number listed in a slim Malibu phone book—displayed with numbers only five digits long. McHenry and Haynes were part of the first graduating class from Webster Elementary School. McHenry recalled speaking daily to his friends in his canyon on their shared party line.
Pepperdine’s libraries and historical collections are open to the public.
