Councilman William Graham didn’t see much use in coming up with names, saying, “No matter what we call these things, they are going to be called Island A, B, C and D,” though he nevertheless suggested going with the local references Alamitos, Cerritos, Brea and Bolsa.

The city wanted to buy the land for Recreation Park but it would require a bond to be passed by voters to pay the $642,925, and city leaders knew it would be a struggle to pass the bond issue by the required 4-1 margin in the June 15, 1923 election.

The Broadlind was designed as “exclusive bachelor apartments” for men. The rooms were built “with rugged masculine character in the decorations and fixtures.”

The ostrich farm wasn’t in the business of selling birds for food; it was solely interested in selling feathers for hats, although it did put on the occasional ostrich roast when one of the birds fell victim to another ostrich.

An early draft of the ordinance, which would go into effect in July 1921, forbade: “the hula hula, the kan-kan, the Pedro Bowery, the shimmy, the camel walk, the dip, the stiff step, the toddle, the lame duck, the jiggle, the walk the dog and the bunny hug.”

Wiley’s passion was a crusade to get people to give up their fear of snakes, a fear she maintained was cultivated, not instinctive. She regularly handled rattlesnakes, copperheads, mambas and cobras with her bare hands.

The Pine Avenue Pier opened on Nov. 12, 1904 with a “Pier Day” celebration. A half-mile parade stretched down into the business district on Pine Avenue to Fifth Street.

Traveling at the then-high speed of 35 mph on American Avenue in response to an alarm, Joseph E. Shrewsbury’s car collided with a chemical wagon that was speeding eastward along Broadway in response to the same alarm at the intersection.