Los Angeles Athletic Club Photograph Collection: Finding
Aid
Finding aid prepared by Diann Benti.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2015
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Title: Los Angeles Athletic Club Photograph Collection
Dates (inclusive): 1928-1941
Bulk dates: 1928-1931
Collection Number: photCL 377
Creator:
Los Angeles Athletic Club
Extent:
approximately 270 photographs in 3 boxes : 98 copy prints and approximately 172 film negatives ; prints 8 x 10 in., negatives
3.75 x 5 in. and 8 x 10 in. + 1 reel of 16mm film in 1 box.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains photographs of the members and grounds of Southern California beach and golf clubs that formed part
of the
Los Angeles Athletic Club in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The clubs represented are the Santa Monica Athletic Club and
Deauville Club; the Hermosa Beach Surf
and Sand Club; the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades; and the Long Beach Pacific Coast Club. The photographs, presumably
created as promotional images,
depict clubhouse buildings and rooms, as well as members engaged in club leisure activities such as sunbathing, swimming,
beach volleyball, and golf. Nearly half
of the photographs are close-up shots of beach-goers.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on May 4, 2015.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for
identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Los Angeles Athletic Club Photograph Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Gift of the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Items 1-55 were received in April 1981; items 56-98 were received in May 1998.
Historical Note
The Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) was founded as a private athletic and social club in Los Angeles, California, in 1880.
In the 1920s,
the LAAC merged with four regional clubs suffering financial difficulties: the Pacific Coast Club of Long Beach in 1927; the
Santa Monica
Athletic Club, the Hollywood Athletic Club, and the Surf and Sand Club of Hermosa Beach in 1929; and the Deauville Club of
Santa Monica in
1935. The clubs, known as the "allied clubs," were open to all LAAC members. In 1927, the LAAC also opened the Riviera Country
Club
(initially known as the "Los Angeles Athletic Club Golf Course") in Pacific Palisades, with an eighteen-hole golf course.
LAAC closed The Surf and Sand Club in November 1937, and the next year leased it to operators who reopened it as the Hermosa
Beach Biltmore Hotel.
In an effort to improve its financial situation, the LAAC sold the affiliated clubs in the early 1940s. In subsequent decades,
most of the former
clubhouse buildings of the allied clubs were destroyed or demolished: the Santa Monica Athletic Club building was destroyed
by fire in 1953; the
Deauville Clubhouse was damaged by fire in 1964 and demolished a year later; the Hermosa Biltmore was demolished in 1969;
and the Pacific Coast
Club was demolished in 1988.
Scope and Content
This collection contains photographs of the members and grounds of the Southern California beach and golf clubs that formed
part of the
Los Angeles Athletic Club in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The clubs represented are the Santa Monica Athletic Club and
Deauville
Club (Items 1-16 and 74-83, 65-98); the Hermosa Beach Surf and Sand Club (Items 17-55, and 84); the Riviera Country Club in
Pacific
Palisades (Items 56-65); and the Long Beach Pacific Coast Club (Items 66-73).
The photographs, presumably created as promotional images, include images depicting clubhouse buildings and rooms, as well
as
members engaged in leisure activities such as sunbathing, swimming, beach volleyball, and golf. Nearly half of the photographs
are
close-up shots of beach-goers, often young women posing in swimsuits. One set of images depicts women in bathing suits posing
for a
1932 Santa Monica Athletic Club fashion show, include two photographs of child actress Shirley Temple (Items 97-98).
The items consist of 98 8 x 10 in. black-and-white copy prints with corresponding film negatives, as well as an additional
box
containing approximately 70 unidentified/unprinted negatives and 1 reel of 16mm film labeled "Jess Willard & strong man, LAAC
roof 1933."
Related materials in the Huntington Library
Some of the images were included in two books published by the Los Angeles Athletic Club in the 1930s:
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in 4 boxes:
- Copy prints (Box 1)
- Film negatives with corresponding copy prints (Box 2)
- Unidentified and unprinted negatives (Box 3)
- 16mm film reel (Box 4)
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Athletic clubs -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Bathing suits -- Photographs.
Beaches -- California -- Hermosa Beach -- Photographs.
Beaches -- California -- Long Beach -- Photographs.
Beaches -- California -- Santa Monica -- Photographs.
Country clubs -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Fashion shows -- California -- Santa Monica -- Photographs.
Golf courses -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Recreation -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Hermosa Beach (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Santa Monica (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Long Beach (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Long Beach (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Deauville Club -- Photographs
Pacific Coast Club, Long Beach, Calif. -- Photographs.
Santa Monica Athletic Club -- Photographs
Surf and Sand Club -- Photographs
Riviera Country Club -- Photographs.
Forms/Genres
Negatives.
Photographs.
Box 1
Copy prints
Arrangement
The prints are listed below in the following subseries:
- Santa Monica Athletic Club and Deauville Club
- Hermosa Beach Sand and Surf Club and Biltmore Hotel
- Riviera Country Club
- Pacific Country Club
Santa Monica Athletic Club and Deauville Club, 1929-1932
Items 1-16
Santa Monica Athletic Club and Deauville Club, 1930-1931
Scope and Content Note
Fifteen photographs of the beach area of the Santa Monica Athletic Club and 1 interior view of the Deauville Club dining room,
in Santa Monica,
California. The images of the beach-goers depict leisure activities including beach volleyball (with the Deauville Club building
in the background), sunbathing,
children playing in the sand, and a card game. Eight of the photographs are close-up shots of young women in bathing suits
sitting on the sand.
Handwritten labels on the negative envelopes list various dates for the images between August 1930-June 1931. The Deauville
dining room image (Item 1) is undated.
Items 74-83
Santa Monica Athletic Club, 1929-1931
Scope and Content Note
Ten photographs of the Santa Monica Athletic Club dating from 1929 to 1931
Includes three exterior images of the beach and ocean; and a set of images from 1929 documenting the interiors of the Club
including the front desk and interior office;
lounge; open-air dining room; beach grill, and ladies lounge.
Date based on information provided by the donor.
Items 85-98
Bathing Suit Fashion Show, March 8, 1932
Scope and Content Note
Fourteen images of young women posing, indoors, in one- and two-piece bathing suits during a fashion show at the Santa Monica
Athletic Club in 1932;
including two images of three-year-old Shirley Temple (Items 97-98).
Date based on information provided by the donor.
Hermosa Beach Sand and Surf Club and Biltmore Hotel, 1931-1941
Items 17-42
Hermosa Beach Sand and Surf Club
Scope and Content Note
Sixteen photographs consisting of close-up portraits of individuals on the beach of the Sand and Surf Club in Hermosa Beach,
California. Subjects include
young and old individuals including children and the elderly, both in swimsuits and more formal clothing, sitting in the sand.
Handwritten labels on the negative envelopes list various dates for the images in 1931.
Items 43-55
Hermosa Beach Sand and Surf Club and Biltmore Hotel
Scope and Content Note
Thirteen photographs of the Sand and Surf Club in Hermosa Beach, California.
Includes two exterior views of the building, as seen from the ocean (with one of the building as the Hermosa Biltmore Hotel
in 1941 and the other as the Sand and Surf Club);
and ten interior views, with six of lounge and lobby areas, two of the dining room, one of a bar counter, and two of the indoor
pool.
Handwritten labels on the negative envelopes incorrectly list items as the "Hermosa Biltmore, May 1941".
Item 84
Hermosa Beach Sand and Surf Club
Scope and Content Note
One photograph of the indoor swimming pool in the Hermosa Beach Sand and Surf Club.
Items 56-65
Riviera Country Club, December 16, 1928
Scope and Content Note
Ten photographs of the Riviera Country Club and golf course in Pacific Palisades, California, in 1928, one year after the
opening of the facility.
Includes exterior and landscape views of the clubhouse, golf course, putting green, and undeveloped hillsides; and interior
views of "The French Room" lounge and a guest sleeping room.
Date based on information provided by the donor.
Items 66-73
Pacific Country Club, August 7, 1930
Scope and Content Note
Eight photographs of the Pacific Country Club in Long Beach, California.
Includes five exterior views of the Clubhouse; three views of sunbathers and umbrellas on the beach; and one view of swimmers
in the ocean as seen from the patio grill.
Date based on information provided by the donor.
Box 2
Negatives
Physical Description:
1 box
Access Information
The negatives have been placed in cold storage for preservation.
Arrangements for viewing negatives must be made in advance with the Curator of Photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Safety film negatives corresponding to copy prints in two sizes 3.75 x 5 in. (Items 1-43, 47, 49-50, 53, 55, 97-98) and 8
x 10 in. (Items 44-46, 48, 51-52, 54, 56-96)
Unidentified and unprinted negatives and film
Box 3
Unidentified and unprinted negatives
Physical Description:
approximately 70 negatives in 1 box
Access Information
The negatives have been placed in cold storage for preservation.
Arrangements for viewing negatives must be made in advance with the Curator of Photographs.
Scope and Content Note
This box contains approximately 70 nitrate 3.75 x 5 in. film negatives of the Hermosa Beach Sand and Surf Club and the Santa
Monica Athletic Club that are
either damaged or do not have corresponding copy prints.
Box 4
16 mm copy film
Physical Description:
1 reel of 16 mm film in 1 box
Access Information
The film has been placed in cold storage for preservation.
Arrangements for viewing the film must be made in advance with the Curator of Photographs.
Scope and Content Note
This box contains a reel of 16 mm copy film marked "Jess Willard & strong man LAAC roof 1933."
