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Title: George Andrew Fowler Collection, 1910-1926
Dates: 1910-1926
Collection Number: GAF
Creator/Collector:
Fowler, George Andrew
Extent: 1,106 Glass and celluloid negatives
Repository:
Los Angeles Public Library
Los Angeles, California 90071
Abstract: A collection of over 1,000 glass negatives and about 200 celluloid negatives, taken between 1910 and 1925, by photographers
George Andrew Fowler, Louis Beegle, and Blackwell & DiCorsi, who shared the same studio at 520 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, at
different periods of time. The images depict a variety of subjects, including an
automobile dealership’s road trip advertising campaigns, manufacturing plants, oil drilling, land development sites and aviation,
among others. Along with his own work, George Andrew Fowler kept the negatives Beegle, Blackwell & Di Corsi left behind, and
decades later his grandson, Edward Fowler Tuttle, inherited the entire collection and
donated it to the LAPL Photo Collection. Also in the collection, an album entitled Picture Sales Reports, containing biographical
information on George Andrew Fowler and photographic prints taken in Big Bear lake and San Bernadino County.
Language of Material: English
The collection is stored on-site at the Central Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.
It is closed for research. Photograph collections may be browsed, digitally, via the Los Angeles Public Library website at
https://tessa.lapl.org
[Identification of item]. George Andrew Fowler Collection, 1910-1926. Collection Number: GAF. Los Angeles Public Library
Gift of Edward Fowler Tuttle.
Biography/Administrative History
George Andrew Fowler, son of Samuel Fowler (whose memoir is located in UCLA’s
Dept. of Special Collections) was a pioneer farmer in Tulare County. He moved to New
York to become an artist, then returned to California around 1920 where he became a
professional photographer. He acquired a photography shop and developing laboratory
formerly belonging to Louis F. Beegle and with it, the glass plates and celluloid negatives
belonging to Beegle and the other photographers who occupied the shop prior to him.
This accumulation of negatives accounts for the various subjects and styles of the
photography, and the far-flung locations they visited on assignments. After Mr. Fowler
closed his shop, all of these plates were stored in a garage in the Fowler home in South
Pasadena. It wasn’t until the 1960s, when the house was sold, that the collection was
discovered by daughter Helen Tuttle, who then passed them on to the donor, her son,
Edward Fowler Tuttle.
Scope and Content of Collection
The 1,100 glass and celluloid negatives, taken by at least three different photographers during different periods of time
in the early 20th century, tell specific stories of daily life, the growth of cities, commerce, and technology. Among the
subjects are hundreds of
images of travelers on road trips to resort destinations and landmarks, such as Big Bear,
the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park and Palm Springs. Cabins, campsites, campers in tents, forests, deserts, lakes and
mountains are featured prominently and were presumably taken for client Western Auto to help sell their cars, car accessories
and recreational equipment. Another series features oil drilling and mining, shacks and
barracks for miners in mining towns, and an iron works plant. Land being prepared for construction of houses, including Hollywoodland
and other real estate development projects, and remarkable shots of Charles Lindbergh and Will Rogers posing with planes on
an airfield are fascinating historical treasures. Other surprises include a tattoo parlor
(with a woman having her ankle tattooed), group portraits of the staff of the Broadway Department Store, a rooftop view of
downtown Los Angeles and the architectural curiosity, the “Witches House” in Beverly Hills, shortly after its construction.
Despite being an amalgamation of several photographers, the collection as a whole chronicles the history of business, construction,
architecture, technology, fashion and interior design in Southern California from the 1910s through the 1920s.
Photographers--California--Los Angeles.
Los Angeles (Calif.)