Historic Photos of Anaheim
text and photo captions by Stephen J. Faessel, published by Turner Publishing

Through the eyes of photographers, whose aim was to capture those "Kodak" moments, the history of this dynamic city becomes alive for the readers of Historic Photos of Anaheim. The selection of photos in this volume depict the architecture, public spaces, commerce, infrastructure, and the day-to-day living of the citizens of this city, destined to become an international tourist destination.

The book is divided into four sections; The Mother Colony, covering the period of 1865 to 1899; Citriculture Brings Growth, covering 1900 to 1939; A City Is Born, covering the period of 1940 to 1953; and Where the World Comes to Play, covering 1954 to the 1970s. As with all the Historic Photo books I have seen from Turner Publishing to date, the publisher has the unique ability to choose the right person for the task of researching, compiling and selecting the photos and writing the captions and text. Stephen J. Faessel has done an excellent job of doing just this. I have always thought of Anaheim as the home of Disneyland--I was very surprised to learn Anaheim had it's beginnings as a wine producing, German settlement.

The diligence of the early people of Anaheim is obvious as you go from photo to photo, watching the city grow with the emphasis of quality and comfort. One of my favorite photos from the first period was taken in 1885, showing Dr. James H. Bullard bottling wine. Another favorite is of Anaheim's horse drawn trolley.

Unfortunately, by the 1900s, the vineyards died out due to a disease, but Anaheim fought back by pursuing alternative crops. Walnuts, green chilies, sugar beets grew in the Santa Ana Valley, but the star or Anaheim was the Valencia Orange. Between earthquakes and floods, however, it became obvious that the citizens of Anaheim could not depend solely on agriculture and they looked towards manufacturing to become a stable city. The photos in the second period shows the growth and emergence of commerce and manufacturing. The photos of the 1938 flood stand out as a reminder of the struggle of this city.

In the third period, due to a citrus disease, the growing of citrus declined and manufacturing became the major income source. As the citrus groves were sold off and turned into businesses and residential homes, Walt Disney took the opportunity to buy the land for his amusement park. This led to the fourth period where tourism became a major income source for Anaheim and the surrounding area. The city leaders certainly had vision, leading their city to become one of the world's greatest tourism, entertainment and convention destinations. Anyone who has been to Disneyland has got to love the photo of Mickey, Goofy and Pluto outside the Convention Center. This is an inspiring book.

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