{"id":636,"date":"2018-07-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-22T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=70534"},"modified":"2019-10-17T09:05:13","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T16:05:13","slug":"long-beach-lost-the-gentlemans-club-that-opened-with-a-five-day-long-party-and-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/long-beach-lost-the-gentlemans-club-that-opened-with-a-five-day-long-party-and-bankruptcy","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Lost: The gentleman’s club that opened with a five-day long party and bankruptcy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our ongoing series,\u00a0<\/em>Long Beach Lost, was launched to examine buildings, places, and things that have either been demolished, are set to be demolished, or are in motion to possibly be demolished\u2014or were never even in existence. This is\u00a0<\/em>not\u00a0a preservationist series but rather a historical series that will help keep a record of our architectural, cultural, and spatial history. To keep up with previous postings,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

****<\/p>\n

When the Pacific Coast Club\u00a0 opened on Oct. 27 of 1926\u00a0at 850 E. Ocean Blvd., it was attached to Long Beach’s most powerful white families and men: the Bixbys, W. Harriman Jones, and Walter Desmond.<\/p>\n

And for good purpose: Southern California was becoming a haven for high-end, opulent gentlemen clubs that catered to the most wealthy of white men, mimicking\u00a0East Coast and English clubs that offered exclusivity, amenities, and bragging rights.<\/p>\n

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After all, the Club cost $1.25 million to construct\u2014or nearly $100 million in today’s dollar value. Far pre-dating Disney and his love of mimicry for ancient and imaginary places, the PCC itself mimicked 14th Century French ch\u00e2teaus and castles\u00a0such as the Montbrun Castle and\u00a0Ch\u00e2teau de Bazaneix with hints of\u00a0Norman architecture.<\/p>\n

Designed by Curlett and Beelman, the firm behind\u00a0the\u00a0Cooper Arms Building and the Farmers & Merchants Bank in DTLB, and constructed by McGrew and Sons, the building’s key feature was its eight-story tower. Joining it was an Olympic-size indoor swimming poor, massive dining rooms\u2014holding up to 2,500 guests\u2014a 3,500 sq. ft. library overlooking the ocean, a women’s tea room, tobacco stand, a gym, a sauna, a wrestling room, and a haberdashery (old-school term for a men’s clothing shop).<\/p>\n

According to a 1926 article in the\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/em>, opening night festivities were nothing short of decadent. Five orchestras welcomed guests during a medieval dedication ceremony that promised\u00a0 “mounted knights, heralds and pikemen will patrol the boulevard and guard the building during the ceremony.” Under chandeliers and high oak beam ceilings while beside giant fireplaces and a patent leather bar, revelers continued the party.<\/p>\n

For five days straight.<\/p>\n

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Per the\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/em>, the club’s opening [pictured above] started an odd but eventually revered tradition where ladies attending would try on a golden slipper made by jewelry design A.L. Letart. Once the contestants were whittled down to finalists, a contest to see who fit the slipper best would lead to that woman’s name being engraved onto the slipper and a “Cinderella Ball” would be held later in her honor.<\/p>\n

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Jack Smith wrote in a 1978 essay on the building “watched in envy as gleaming young naval officers drove up to its canopy and escorted nubile schoolgirls into its forbidden foyer[.]”<\/span><\/p>\n

The club’s luxury came at a cost\u2013specifically bankruptcy, prompting the club to merge with the financially stable Los Angeles Athletic Club. LAAC leader Frank Garbutt was thrilled with the merger since the Pacific Coast Club provided his own clubmembers a seaside spot and, in his dreams, a yachting center (that never came to fruition). The merge also led to a revered sports rivalry between the LAAC’s Mercuries and the Club’s Cagers.<\/p>\n

Bankruptcy wouldn’t be the only thing plaguing the PCC, when in 1933, the Long Beach Earthquake caused so much damage that the club was forced to take out a massive loan for repair and reopened the following year\u2014only to face the ongoing crisis of the Depression. The club would be unable to pay this loan when it came due later, even when the war brought naval officers into our city and increased membership.<\/p>\n

The Pacific Coast Club even became the hosting venue for Miss Universe, which the\u00a0Los Angeles Times <\/em>in 1953\u00a0hilariously describes “hordes of photographers, amateur and professional, clicked shutters at the long stemmed lovelies under the clear, hot sky. Miss Switzerland, Daniele Oudinet, used to Alpine climates, collapsed in a lovely heap and was carried into the club, where she revived. Despite the protests of their chaperones, some of the girls actually went near the water, and a few got wet. Thelma Brewis, Miss Canada, boldly splashed in up to her neck but kept her hair dry.”<\/p>\n

Collapsed in a lovely heap. Boldly splashed. Literary gold.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But these kind (and still sexist) words and big events couldn’t save the Pacific Coast Club. Plagued by financial issues and the switching of owners, the PCC came to its wall in the 1980s when the\u00a0owner, Robert R. Bellevue, filed two separate applications with the city in 1986 that, if granted, would allow either 70 percent restoration of the castle-like club or its demolition to make way for an entirely new project.<\/p>\n

Come 1988, the latter plan would be chosen, marking the 16-story condominium tower that today stands in its place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The club catered to the most wealthy of white men, mimicking\u00a0East Coast and English clubs that offered exclusivity, amenities, and bragging rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":66158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[95],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2691],"class_list":["post-636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-long-beach-lost","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=636"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}