Rick Thomas
Author Rick Thomas is the former museum curator and vice-chair of education for the South Pasadena Preservation Foundation. He served on the South Pasadena Natural Resources Commission, helping to maintain a strict policy protecting the city’s great old-growth trees. Using touchstone photographs from his own collection—one of the San Gabriel Valley’s largest accumulations of historical images and artifacts—as well as national, state, and local historical archives, Thomas provides a window to his city’s past and an understanding of why its preservation is so important.
Throwback Thursday | Back in My Day…
Storytellers usually begin with “Once upon a time...” And if the one telling the story is recalling how things were, he or she may...
Throwback Thursday | Oranges Make Better Snowballs
Most of us gaze wistfully at our snowcapped mountains, knowing we can fully appreciate the winter season without having to shovel snow.
Every day is...
Throwback Thursday | My South Pas “Most Thankful” List
Thanksgiving is a time for personal reflection. The process begins today for most people, lasting through the “holiday season” until late December – ending...
Throwback Thursday | The Odd Big Bird
It is probably hard to imagine just how popular ostrich feathers were a hundred years ago. Today, women’s fashions come and go with each...
Throwback Thursday | Evening at the Garfield House
Tomorrow night (Friday, November 15th at 7 pm), the South Pasadena Preservation Foundation will host a rare event at the historic Green and Green...
Throwback Thursday | Growing Up in Southern California
In 1926, Paul Helms took early retirement due to poor health and moved his family from New York to sunny Southern California. A few...
Throwback Thursday | Love in Plain Sight
Rick Thomas | U.S. Court of Appeals (formerly Vista del Arroyo hotel) seen in the framed arch of the Colorado Street Bridge (2007)
A...
Throwback Thursday (#100!) | When the Iron Horse Became a Red Car
Before the rolling hills of scrub and oak is terraformed with streets and homes, the only transportation “vessel” capable of making the transcontinental trek...
Throwback Thursday | Views of South Pasadena from Monterey Hills
South Pasadena is heavily photographed and subject of numerous motion pictures throughout its history.
The first photos of the original Raymond Hotel (1886-1895) are taken...
Throwback Thursday | What Once Was
Desiderio Neighborhood Park recently appeared on the site of the former Desiderio Army Reserve Center.
In 2013, the City of Pasadena acquired the property. According...
Throwback Thursday | The Legacy of Charles Lummis
In 1884, Charles Fletcher Lummis came to Los Angeles by walking the entire distance from Ohio. After his arrival, Lummis became a reporter for...
Throwback Thursday | Dinner at The Raymond
Walter Raymond’s hotel staff was recruited every season from the grand resort hotels of the Northeast (closed during the winter). His son Arthur Raymond...
Throwback Thursday | When There Was Nothing
The San Gabriel Valley (Spanish: Valle de San Gabriel) derives its name from the San Gabriel River which got its name from the Spanish...
Throwback Thursday | Meet Mr. Cawston
It’s sad but true: community interest in historic places fades over time. Sometimes they are forgotten entirely. The Cawston Ostrich Farm was the largest...
Throwback Thursday | Four Lives of the Vista del Arroyo
The Vista del Arroyo hotel and bungalows once graced the Arroyo Seco near the Colorado Street Bridge. From 1943 to 1949, however, it served...
Throwback Thursday | Making the World’s Largest One-Egg Omelet
Actress Helen Jerome Eddy flew to Los Angeles from her home in Santa Barbara. She was met at the airport by Herbert Vatcher, superintendent...
Throwback Thursday | Why The Raymond Faced Southwest
Walter Raymond’s prominent hotel on South Pasadena’s Bacon Hill faced away from the mountains for a reason. And that reason may surprise you.
Nearly all...
Throwback Thursday | Everybody Loves the Raymond
In 1892, Professor C. F. Holder addressed Valley Hunt Club members announcing, “In New York, people are buried in snow. Here our flowers are...
Throwback Thursday | The Greatest Supercross in History!
The NFL’s Super Bowl XIV was held at the Rose Bowl on January 20, 1980, between the Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburg Steelers. Pittsburgh...
Throwback Thursday | The Norton Simon is Born
In January 1968, the Reed House at Orange Grove and Colorado sat behind a protective barrier at Carmelita Park while being demolished.
In 1969, the...
Throwback Thursday | Altos de Monterey
In 1962, South Pasadena’s Community Redevelopment Agency offered lots for auction in the Monterey Hills with a starting bid of $20,000.
Altos de Monterey is...
Throwback Thursday | The Magnificent Ostrich Feather Plume
Edwin Cawston, English adventurer and world traveler, was one of the first to realize there was big money to be made ostrich farming in...
Throwback Thursday | U.S. Women’s Soccer Success Has Local Roots
On Sunday, the U.S. women’s national soccer team won back-to-back World Cup soccer titles continuing their unpreceded success in the sport.
U.S. women’s soccer team...
Throwback Thursday | Fourth of July of 1912 is Picnic Extravaganza!
Census figures for South Pasadena in 1910 show a population of 4,659. And on July 4, 1912, nearly the entire city’s population turned out...
Throwback Thursday | The Ride of a Lifetime!
In 1897, Edwin Cawston opened his ostrich farm to the public in South Pasadena near the banks of the Arroyo Seco. The Cawston Ostrich...
Throwback Thursday | When Arroyo Seco Parkway Became “Arroyo Speedway”
The Arroyo Seco Parkway was opened on December 30, 1940, becoming the first nonstop “freeway” west of the Mississippi. The highway’s original “sunken garden”...
Throwback Thursday | The Day TR Came to Town
On May 8, 1903, after a short address at Pomona College that morning, President Theodore Roosevelt traveled to South Pasadena for lunch at The...
Throwback Thursday | Before “The Bridge”
During the late 1800s, the banks of the Arroyo Seco and surrounding area is primarily an agricultural community of fruit growers.
In the above photo,...
Throwback Thursday | South Pasadena’s Groundbreaking Motorcycle Officers
According to the South Pasadena Police Department, the department purchased two Thor motorcycles in 1909 to help deal with speeding motorists. The first two...
Throwback Thursday | Wham-O Crazy South Pas
The slingshot was manufactured in South Pasadena by Wham-O.
The Wham-O freestyle Frisbee also had historical roots here. The co-inventor of the pro model Frisbee,...
