Los Cerritos History

Marguerite Vignes Walp was the daughter of John Louis Vignes and Mary Kent, who moved into the Los Cerritos neighborhood in 1910.  Marguerite married Bertine James Walp who built a home for his new wife  at 3808 Cota (now Cedar) Street.  My book  Long Beach’s Los Cerritos has more information on the Vignes family in Los Cerritos  but I  was unable to include in the book  examples of the art work of Marguerite who often used the homes of Los Cerritos as her subject matter.  Marguerite Vignes graduated from the University of Southern California College of Fine Arts in June 1911. She taught art and made greeting cards.  Her work was exhibited in Long Beach and Los Angeles. When her husband Bert Walp died in 1933, she became the Director of Arts and Audio Visuals for the Long Beach School District.  I have walked around the neighborhood trying to match Marguerite’s watercolors to the homes, hoping I could match the home and the painting.  If anyone knows which house this is, let me know.

Stephen Dudley, the Bixby family historian is speaking at Rancho Los Cerritos this Saturday, February 20, at 10am.  Stephen has been very gracious to share some of his photos with me that have been posted on this blog.  Call the Rancho at 562-206-2040 for a reservation to the lecture which is open to the public.  The cost is $7.00 for adults and $5.oo for students.

Mrs Roland Swaffield, 1932 Little Club President

The previous post on the “Over Here” Girls mentioned that the women of Los Cerritos created the Little Club to continue their charitable work.  1932 was the first official year of the Little Club and its president was Grace Swaffield (Mrs. Roland Swaffield).  To raise funds to support making layettes for newborn babies, they held a variety show at the Pacific Coast Club called Hooey.  It was musical numbers, dancing, gags, wisecracks, burlesque, and jokes, all performed by the well-known men and women of Long Beach.  The show ran for two nights and sold out both nights.

It was the Club’s biggest fundraiser of the year.  They raised $398.12.  Another fundraiser according to the budget was the sale of Little Club Cookbooks at Buffum’s department store.  Mrs. Harry Buffum was, of course a member of the Club.

In 1918 a group of women banded together and called themselves the “Over Here Girls.” They were also referred to as the “Liberty Girls” and many of them lived in Los Cerritos.   They met at each other’s homes and made  surgical dressings for the  Red Cross efforts in World War I.  They also raised money by maintaining  the Red Cross tea room which was located at  225 West Broadway,  according to the 1918 Long Beach City Directory.  The “Over Here Girls” raised funds by holding a ball in the Fatty Arbuckle studio in Long Beach on July 17th, 1918.  Over 3000 people attended and Fatty escorted actress Miss Fanny Ward.   Los Cerritos residents Milton McGrew and John Clock pitched in to help their wifes.  The event raised $1500 from ticket sales.  Men were 10 deep at the bar which served soft drinks.    Ten deep for soft drinks?  It makes one wonder…..    In 1932  at least half of the “Over Here Girls”  went on to become members of  the “Little Club.”  The list of initial Little Club members is below.  More about the Little Club coming next month.

The picture of the  Steam Engine Train Ride for kids that was part of the Virginia Country Market  brought back memories for some.  I speculated that our  market at the corner of Long Beach Boulevard and San Antonio, where the 7-11 and our closed Ralph’s Grocery store is today, was our version of the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market. Well, this photo of the Virginia Country Market taken on June 11, 1945 answers that question.  Thank you Long Beach Historical Society for providing this photo.