JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

The December 31, 1920 edition of the Pasadena Post spotlighted (mostly) grinning photos of the paper's staff and local businessmen. Given my penchant for going down research rabbit holes related to anything quirky I stumble upon, this series will look at some of the stories behind the smiling faces.  Pasadena Post, December 31, 1920. He might be smiling out of habit but, based on the information I found about Clarke Bogardus, he may have hid plenty of pain behind that grin. At age 17 he enlisted for service in the First World War, ending up in an ambulance unit.  During the Second Battle of the Marne in August 1918 he, according to his obituary, "contracted a disease from which he never fully recovered."  Pasadena Post, June 5, 1920. After the war, he wrote the Post 's "Motor Gossip" column. He later established an advertising agency and was involved in Pasadena Preferred, an organization promoting local growth. By the late 1940s local papers periodically p...

   Pasadena Evening Post,  December 31, 1920. Some newspapers end a year with reflections on the previous 12 months. Other express their hopes for the next 12. As 1920 gave way to 1921, the  Pasadena Evening Post  decided what would really cheer readers up (and keep advertisers happy) was to publish in its New Year's Eve edition a ton of ads and photos depicting grinning members of the paper's staff and the local business community. While some of those depicted look relaxed and friendly to talk shop with, others have strange expressions generally associated with membership in cults. Originally this post was going to be a long image dump, but I couldn't resist digging deeper, finding out more about the gentlemen featured in these ads. Newspapers.com has a decent selection of Pasadena papers, which to led to a two-day research adventure which yielded some interesting stories. I'll admit that I've developed a soft spot for Pasadena (and neighbouring Altadena) in re...