Bakersfield in the Roaring '20s

Written by Bakersfield Magazine

The Roaring ‘20s changed the face of the bustling little oil and farming city known as Bakersfield.

Early fires and flooding had taken down most of the first structures (built in the late 1800s), leaving room to redesign many of the streets of downtown.

Bakersfield rebuilt, as she always does. But she did so in the midst of some huge milestones for our country and our state.

Our sporting events garnered national attention. Aviation took hold and the world’s first county-owned airport was born.

Prohibition brought on notoriety here as bootlegging in the farmlands and hills was inevitable. And as automobiles became more common, so did road travel and the world’s first motel was opened in Bakersfield.

But there are a few areas where we sparkled like the sequins on a flapper’s gown.

Theater

The Roaring ‘20s have often been called the ultimate age of entertainment. Vaudeville and silent films were all the rage. Weekend hotspots included the Hippodrome, California Theater, the Pastime Theatre, the Nile, and so many more. The 1920s brought us even more theaters: the Elite, the Rex, and the C&S also known as the Come and Smell (though let’s not ask why). Even the Bakersfield Community Theater began in 1927 and is still running today.

Chester Avenue alone boasted six theaters and was known as “Theater Row.” It was the centerpiece for an entertainment district that was littered with theaters, movie houses, and vaudeville.

Bright, blinking marquee lights lit up the night sky. It was said the 500 lights on the exterior of the Bakersfield Opera House (which later became the Nile) illuminated the whole block. Known from Los Angeles to New York, “Theater Row” was our own little Broadway here in the Valley.

When couples weren’t practicing the Charleston, a date night in 1923 may have taken you to the Bakersfield Theater to see the comic opera, H.M.S. Pinafore, a story about a “Lass That Loved a Sailor.” Or perhaps it was 1929 and you and your squeeze “pack hip” with a full house at the Hippodrome to see Fox Films’ very first all-talking, feature length farce, The Ghost Talks starring the lovely Helen Twelvetree and Charles Eaton.

The ‘20s were made for going out and about in style and Bakersfield was no exception.

Golden Age of Football

Between 1920 and 1923, the Bakersfield High School Drillers brought home four consecutive state football titles.

The team was the pride of the city and according to an article from The Bakersfield Californian at the time, “the powerful Bakersfield grid-machines were feared throughout the entire West.” While the world experienced sports’ golden age (cheering on the likes of Babe Ruth, Walter Hagen, and Bobby Jones), these leather-heads brought about what has been called Bakersfield’s own “golden age” of sports.

A New Airport

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Actually it is a plane. The ‘20s were a decade when aviation was becoming more and more important. Kern County was at the heart of it thanks to the amount of land we had. The Kern County Airport was the very first county-owned airport in the world. By 1927, it spanned 160 acres and three commercial airlines ran daily flights to Los Angeles. The Kern County Airport even hosted three schools of aviation for pilots to become licensed. And, in 1928, the mail express carrier made its very first delivery from Kern County, forever changing the speed of mail in and out of Bakersfield.

Prohibition

Moonshine, hooch, white liquor, white lighting, home brew, and mountain dew. Whatever you call it, it was a statement of defiance against the addition of the 18th Amendment, which began with the halt on all sales of hard liquor June 1,

1919. On January 17, 1920, all bars and saloons across the nation were closed. It inspired the “business” of backwoods booze to be made right here in Kern County. More specifically, it was made mostly in the inconspicuous mining town of Boron. Muroc Dry Lake was the perfect hiding place for the series of underground stills that the bootleggers used to supply their customers in Los Angeles.

Possibly one of the most well-known of the valley bootleggers was Thomas Wrinkle, whose deadly shootout with Federal Prohibition Officers, including Bakersfield-based agent Maurice Tice, was front page news.

Prohibition also brought about the term “revenuers.” Revenuers were the Prohibition agents that enforced the anti-booze laws, and were so nicknamed for the revenue they brought in for the local government in fines. A 1928 article in the Californian announced that the City of Bakersfield collected $22,275 in fines for illegal possession, sale, and transportation of liquor in 1927. That’s a whole lot of hooch!

Hotel, Motel

The completion of the Kern Canyon Highway and the paving of the road from Bakersfield to the Grapevine brought about a new form of automobile tourism and created the opportunity to open new hotels here in Bakersfield. El Tejon Hotel opened its doors in 1926 and was completed at a cost of $450,000. It was shortly followed by the historic Padre Hotel which opened April 28, 1928. The Padre cost a whopping $800,000 to build and outfit with all the luxuries it became known for.

A Californian article published on the day the Padre opened called the hotel, “a regally appointed palace dedicated to comfort and pleasure.” It was a romantic ode to the history of California and considered a milestone in the city’s progress. The Padre’s décor and interior design was poured over and praised again and again in the papers and was referred to as “the finest hotel west of the Rockies.” The Spanish Renaissance style building brought visitors from all over and changed the Bakersfield skyline forever.

The next year, 1929, marked the completion of the Bakersfield Inn. It was a triumph of hostelry in Kern County and inspired a truly American style of travel lodging. The Bakersfield Inn was not only the world’s largest, but the world’s first motel. The owners are even credited with creating the word “motel.” Garnering attention nation-wide, the Bakersfield Inn was a landmark in Bakersfield. The memory of the motel is forever preserved in the “Bakersfield” archway that now resides on Buck Owens Blvd. The sign was actually built as a walkway between the two towers of the Inn and extended across Union Ave.

The 1920s were pivotal to the growth of Bakersfield. Our accomplishments that decade shined a bright spotlight on all that was good about this area and brought us national attention. Residents and guests were basking under the bright lights of countless theaters and, with bootlegged liquor, it seemed like the good times would never end. Of course, there were a few curves around the bend, but we recovered. After all, the ‘20s brought us the age of entertainment, rebellion, and progress and Bakersfield was a part of it all. If we as a city could get through that, we could get through anything. Even if it meant doing the Charleston to dance our troubles away.

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Hotsy Totsy! And Other 1920s Slang

In the Roaring ‘20s, one didn’t say something was “cool”...rather, one would have called something “the bee’s knees.” Check out some other swingin’ slang from this fabulous decade.

All wet — erroneous

And how — I strongly agree

Applesauce — expletive akin to “shucks”

Balled up — confused, messed up

Bank’s closed — no kissing, e.g. “Sorry buddy, the bank’s closed”

Bearcat — hot-blooded or fiery girl

Beat one’s gums — chatter

Bee’s knees — something cool, terrific, e.g. “That’s the bee’s knees”

Berries — something good, pleasing, e.g. “That’s the berries!”

Bluenose — a prude

Booboisie — the social class of “boobs,” or knuckleheads

Bum’s rush — getting kicked out of an establishment

Butt me — “Give me a cigarette”

Cat’s meow/Cat’s pajamas — something cool, terrific, e.g. “That’s the cat’s meow”

Cash or check? — Kiss now or later?

Don’t take any wooden nickels — Don’t do anything stupid

Fire extinguisher — chaperone

Flat tire — a dumb, boring date; a.k.a. drag, oilcan, pill, pickle, rag

Get a wiggle on — get going

Giggle water — alcohol

Gin mill — bar

Handcuff — engagement ring

Hayburner — a gas-guzzling car

Hip to the jive — cool, trendy

Horsefeathers — expletive akin to “shucks”

Hotsy-totsy — cool, pleasing

Iron one’s shoelaces — go to the restroom

Juice joint — speakeasy

Mrs. Grundy — prig, prude

“Now you’re on the trolley!” — Now you’ve got it, now you’re right!

On the lam — fleeing the police

Spifflicated — drunk; also canned, corked, embalmed, fried to the hat, jazzed, lit, ossified, owled, plastered, potted, primed, scrooched, tanked, zozzled

Struggle buggy — back seat of a car, for romantic liaisons

You slay me — That’s funny

Article appeared in our 28-3 Issue - August 2011