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Dean, Fred (audio interview #1 of 6)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - The is the first of six interviews and it was conducted in Dean's Long Beach home. 5/1/1982
- Date
- 2020-10-21
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- SUBJECT BIO - Fred Dean was a local businessman who prospered when the radios he sold became popular. He was also interested in local politics and appointed to the boards of directors of such public agencies as the Long Beach Water Commission and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). In this series of interviews, that were conducted as part of a project to study the impact of oil on Long Beach, Dean talks about his public service. He was on the MTA board when the Pacific Electric street cars stopped running in southern California and he served on the Water Commission when they sold some of their land for commercial development. Dean was also an active member of the Long Beach Mounted Police and as urban sprawl engulfed Long Beach, he fought to keep part of town where they could keep their horses. TOPICS - family background; migration; Long Beach Water Department; the Pike; Balboa Studios; and the Virginia Hotel Lakewood; Fred Bixby; employment; family background; Long Beach Chamber of Commerce; Eugene Biscailuz; education
- *** File: cbfdean1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:16)... Dean was born in Minden, Nebraska in 1897. His father owned a hardware store in Union, Nebraska where they moved in 1900. The town has just about disappeared since then. His family came to Long Beach in 1905 by train and rented a home "out in the country "at 9th and American Avenue. The Southern Pacific and the Salt Lake railroads ran to Long Beach at that time. The only other transportation was the Pacific Electric railway from Los Angeles. (3:16-5:46)... A trolley line was put in Long Beach by the Pacific Electric railway. It spread across Long Beach and a branch ran out to Zaferia, from Willowville and the ostrich farm. The ostrich farm was a main attraction for Long Beach, in addition to the beach. (5:46-7:16)... His family belonging were brought to their new home in a 3 horse van when they moved to Long Beach. His sister attended and graduated from Long Beach High School, where there were barns for the student's horses and buggies. (7:16-10:57)... Dean's mother was sick after the birth of his youngest brother. His aunt came to Long Beach for a summer vacation and requested that his family come. His family agreed because they felt the climate would be best for his mother. His father sold the hardware store and moved to Long Beach for his mother's health. There were 5 children in the family. His father bought a ranch in Shasta County in 1912, where they moved for 2 years and then returned to Long Beach. (10:57-13:37)... After finishing school in Long Beach, Dean began work at the Green Crown Drugstore. When Balboa Studios came to Long Beach, the drugstore put in a cosmetics department. Many famous people stayed at the Schuyler Hotel and came into the drugstore where he worked. The Majestic Dance hall on the Pike was a favorite place for young kids where they could dance to a band. (13:37-16:41)... The summer months brought in a good tourist trade. There were a lot of low priced hotels, which have been torn down with new development of hotels, clubs, churches and other buildings in about 1907. The Virginia Hotel was built during this time, but in 1933 was torn down because it was too expensive to keep running. He recalls that the Virginia Hotel was partially financed by the Bixby family and that when it was being built it caved in and killed several people and had to be rebuilt. (16:41-19:47)... His family bought a ranch in Shasta County, California, where they lived for 2 years and were unable to make profitable. In 1905, after they returned to Long Beach, his father got into the grocery business. His biggest store was on Pine Avenue along with many of the other businesses in Long Beach including the Green Crown Drugstore, where he began working at age 16. His also bought and sold newspapers in 1907 and 1908. (19:47-21:34)... His family moved to a home on Anaheim and Walnut a few months after returning to Long Beach. His father lost his grocery business during the 1907 1908 Depression. His father got a job in Los Angeles at a grocery store, and he got work at Bartlett Chicken Ranch. (21:34-23:02)... When he was a boy, there were a few homes intermittently scattered around and his family delivered groceries to people's homes by their name and not their address. (23:02-26:38)... Chinese farmers lived on Signal Hill and they made their beds out of railroad ties. They raised fruits and vegetables, which they sold in Long Beach. There was one Chinese man who had a route on which he delivered the produce. Later the Chinese started selling their produce in the farmer's market downtown. He only remembers Chinese men on Signal Hill, not many women at all. As a child he played on Signal Hill. (26:38-29:52)... There was a story in the local newspaper about the area that is now the lake that is part of the Lakewood Country Club. It used to belong to the Montana Land Company, the company that helped to develop Lakewood. Dean handled buying land for the Long Beach Water Department from the Montana Land Company. Dean served on the Long Beach Water Department Board of Directors for 13 years. End of tape *** File: cbfdean2.mp3 (0:00-1:43)... Dean handled buying land for the Long Beach Water Department and worked a deal with a wealthy man. He also got the man to donate to the Scottish Rite and the YMCA. (1:43-7:36)... As a child Dean he was playing near the Lakewood Lake with 2 friends. They wanted to cut across the lake to get back home and a man offered them a boat ride across the lake. The man left Dean in the middle of the lake sitting on a post and did not come back for him. A duck hunter heard him yelling and offered to take him to shore but the boat sank. They then realized that the water was only waist deep and they walked to the shore. The lake was a natural lake near the dairy was that was owned by Workman who also owned property downtown. The downtown property was later bought by a company called Gold Medal Creamery who later sold the property to Sears Roebuck about 1927. The Pacific Electric barns were in that area also. (7:36-9:36)... Florence Bixby had a driver that took her downtown to do her shopping. She shopped at Dean's family grocery store and his mother always had coffee and cake or pie with her. Dean became close friends with Fred Bixby. They road horses together. Dean delivered newspaper on horseback. (9:36-14:14)... Dean's father bought a 1906 Reo automobile. Fred Bixby was bought the first Stanley Steamer in Long Beach. Most of the roads were good in Long Beach at that time, except for Anaheim Road that took a lot of wear and tear from the sand and gravel transporters from Signal Hill. Once a year they moved the sheep down Anaheim Road and when that happened, teams of horses moved to the side of the road to let them pass. Anaheim Road went all the way to Orange County Park. (14:14-19:29)... The strong winds known as Santa Ana winds now, were called "santana winds" meaning winds of the devil. The Bixby Ranch came down to Bixby Park. The property on which Wilson High School was located at the time of the interview, was purchased from Bixby. Fred Bixby did not want Bellflower Boulevard cut through his property, but Dean talked him into letting it happen. Working with the Chamber of Commerce, Dean purchased $1 million of property from Fred Bixby for a new college. Dean had a nice talk about the old times with Florence Bixby and her son at the dedication of the college library. (19:29-22:43)... Fred Bixby called Dean when Bixby became upset about the county trying to take over his property sometime after 1956. Bixby did not want to break up the ranch. Dean went to go visit him but Bixby was unable to talk due to his illness and he passed away later that day. Bixby had been opposed to the extension of Bellflower Boulevard. (22:43-25:19)... Dean was the campaign chairman for Eugene Biscailuz the first time he ran for Los Angeles County Sheriff. Dean, Fred Bixby, Harry Buffum and Bill Prisk met at the Pacific Coast Club to discuss the campaign. At the meeting Bixby said it was the first time he was on the same "side of the fence" as Prisk. Bixby always stuttered. (25:19-26:10)... Dean attended UC Davis and felt it was a big school while he was a student there. By the time of the interview, however, he had come to consider it small in comparison to the state schools such as CSULB. (26:10-29:45)... Fred Bixby didn't want to sell his property for a new state college that became Long Beach State. Selling the property was one of the last things Bixby did before he died and he sold it for $1 million. The Chamber of Commerce was instrumental in raising the money to buy the property. Most of the property was Fred Bixby's, but some was purchased from Lloyd Whaley who developed Susanna Bixby Bryant's ranch. End of tape
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