This is part of a series of posts dedicated to the immigration story of Debs Webster and his family.
Today's Sepia Saturday photo prompt (at end of post) provides the perfect opportunity to share two photos from my Grandpa Debs Webster's 1952 photo album. I would describe this album as a photographic travelogue about his family's emigration from Brazil to the United States.
The previous installment of the Debs Webster Family Immigration Story showed that Debs and his family had safely arrived in Glendora, California. This is the city where their Sponsor, Mr. West and his family lived. Mr. West kindly allowed Debs and his family to live in a house on his property.
It turns out that Mr. West also owned a beach house. It was located on Sunset Beach, which is in Huntington Beach, California. The two photos below show this beach house during an outing which included both the West and Webster families.
I asked my mom about these photos. She couldn't remember exactly when this outing took place. But, since the next photo in my Grandpa Debs' 1952 photo album shows the family at Thanksgiving, I think it's safe to assume they went sometime before school started for the kids.
The Webster family arrived in Glendora in August of 1952 and my mom started school that fall, so perhaps they had a little beach getaway sometime in August or on Labor Day weekend. No matter when the trip occurred, it must have been so fun!
For those unfamiliar with Southern California, this map shows where both Glendora and Huntington Beach are located.
 |
| Googlemaps.com |
Below is a photo from Wikimedia Commons showing Sunset Beach in 2009.
 |
| Sunset Beach 2009 Wikimedia Commons Photographer - Regular Daddy |
If you'd like to take a virtual trip to the beach, be sure to check out what the other Sepia Saturday participants have written by clicking HERE.
Thanks for reading!
Jana
Copyright © Jana Last 2013
I love this beach house! Must have been so much fun going there.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea,
DeleteIsn't it great? I love all of the large windows.
Thanks so much for stopping by! I really appreciate it!
After months of camping and sleeping in the car, that day at the beach must have felt like heaven. I had to laugh at those pilings -- beach houses around here are typically 8' or more off the ground or why bother. But still, what great architecture for a beach house. I'm glad the curtains were open so we could get a peek at the furnishings.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,
DeleteYes, this must have been such a great day for the family. I hadn't even really paid much attention to those pilings there. Good eyes Wendy!
And yes, that beach house is so awesome. I love those big windows. Now, I'm wondering if the house is still there after all these years. Hmmm.
That beach house looks like luxury! It reminds me of the static 'caravans' over in UK, almost a home in themselves.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn,
DeleteIt really does look luxurious, doesn't it? It probably was very much a home, albeit a vacation home. I wonder how often it was used. It must have been a lovely way to spend a vacation.
Thanks for stopping by!
Great beach house and I gather it was facing the beach. In September, when it gets so hot inland, I'm sure they loved taking that trip to Huntington beach although it probably took a bit of time in the pre-freeway years. Wendy is very observant isn't she?
ReplyDeleteBecause of her comments I almost always notice something in the photos I wouldn't have seen before.
Hi Helen,
DeleteYes, it does look like it was facing the beach. Which makes it all the more fun. The views must have been amazing!
Yes, Wendy is quite observant. Now I wish I had zoomed in on the windows of the house and posted close-up views of those in my post.
Thanks for stopping by!
The beach house is really ON the beach! It would have to be tough to survive storms (and rising sea levels).
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteYes, it is. That must have been so fun to be right on the beach like that.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
It's a treat to see a beach house in Southern California right about now, Jana. It's -5C (-11C with the wind chill) here where I live in Canada.
ReplyDeleteHi Yvonne,
DeleteYikes! Those are bone-chilling temps you are experiencing where you live. I guess I shouldn't complain while we're currently experiencing lows in the 20's here.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
This sounds like a fun series from your family stories! This is a really exceptional beach house too, what fun!
ReplyDeleteHi Karen,
DeleteThanks! Yes, it's been a fun series of posts to share. I'm so grateful to my Grandpa Debs for his 1952 photo album.
And yes, that beach house is so pretty!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
A great tie-in between the theme and your family story. Old photographs make such wonderful prompts don't they?
ReplyDeleteHi Alan,
DeleteThanks for the perfect theme this week. I think those of us who are tired of cold weather needed a trip to warmer climates, even if the trip was a virtual one.
Thanks for your kind comments and for stopping by!
Hi Jana, what a great part of your family's story, and I love the pictures. My husband lived in Huntington Beach off and on around those years. His Granny moved there from Texas in the late 20's, and the land was only .50 per acre. Nobody wanted to buy it, because everybody knows that you can't grow anything on sand. They didn't know about the oil underneath yet!
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
Hi Kathy,
DeleteOh wow! .50 per acre? Just think how much the property is worth today. Or, on second thought, maybe not. Might be too painful.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
That is a cool house. I think I could have had a grand time there in that house on the beach. Nice to have a peek into the wall of windows.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy,
DeleteI'm glad the curtains were open too. It's fun to see how the house was furnished. And I agree with you. I too could have a fun time on vacation in that beach house.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
That's a beach house that would be fun to stay in if it still exists. At around that time we used to stay in one of those UK static caravans that Marilyn mentioned.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
DeleteI wish I knew if it still existed. It would have been fun to post a current photo of it in this post.
And I agree with you. That beach house must have been so fun to stay in situated right there on the beach.
I've never heard of a static caravan before. I'll have to do a Google search to see what they look like.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jana, This was the perfect post to read in the dead of winter in New England. You did such a nice job on this piece. I'm feeling warmer now!
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara,
DeleteYes, Alan picked the perfect theme this week! We've had a bit of a cold snap where I live too. Looking forward to warmer temps.
Thank you so much for your kind comments, and thanks for stopping by!
The process of putting family photos into some sort of time framework, and then building up the stories around those anchor points, just as you are doing, is very important to us family historians, I think. Great article as well as images, thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Brett,
DeleteThanks so much! You're so kind. I really have to credit my Grandpa Debs though, since he put together his 1952 album about his family's immigration.
I appreciate you stopping by and commenting. Thanks!
It seems that you are able to connect all your family pictures with the weekly SS themes. O, now I see what Brett wrote and I agree with him. Besides, it is so nice that you can still ask your Mum about these pictures!
ReplyDeleteHi Peter,
DeleteYes, it is definitely a blessing that I'm able to ask my mom about these and other photos.
Thanks so much for your kind comments and for stopping by!
Nice beach house ... and as much as I appreciate winter, those photos make that outing look awfully inviting about now!
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
DeleteAh! Wouldn't it be wonderful to go to that beach house right about now?
Thanks so much for stopping by! I appreciate it!
What cool little beach houses, Jana! I'm looking at the backs of the boys and I think a little NOXEMA must have been in order that evening! Enjoyed the trip back. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Kat,
DeleteYes, that beach house looks so fun! Thanks so much for stopping by!
That's a cool looking beach house.
ReplyDeleteHi Postcardy,
DeleteI agree with you. I love the huge windows. It must have been fun to spend time there.
Thanks for stopping by!
Oh, I didn't realize that the Debs Webster family had a Sponsor. How cool that it was a Mr. West who owned a beach house. This is a family who knew how to have fun. An outing at the beach before school started. You are lucky to have so many great photos, and you're making such good use of them in blogging!
ReplyDeleteHi Mariann,
DeleteThank you! I really am blessed to have all of these amazing photos. And Mr. West not only had a beach house. Apparently, he was also a home builder too. And that fact will come into play in a future blog post about my Grandpa Debs and his family. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
I love how these houses were on short stilts. Kind of reminds me of houses in the Florida Keys which are on much higher stilts (because of flooding of course).
ReplyDeleteHi Teresa,
DeleteI'm not sure I really even paid attention to the short stilts until Wendy's comment above. Like you, she noticed the difference between this West Coast beach house and those on the East Coast with the need for higher stilts.
Thanks so much for stopping by!