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Hamman, Clare (audio interview #1 of 1)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This interview as conducted in Hamman's office. 9/24/1979
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- 2020-10-12
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- *** File: cbchamman1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:35)... Introduction. Hamman's father graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago and came to Long Beach to practice 2 years before he was born. His mother was from Kansas. She gave birth to him at home, there were no hospitals or health department, so he had no birth certificate. When he wanted to get a passport, he had to get one. (2:35-4:06)... Hamman attended Pine Avenue school and then, finished his final year at Horace Mann school. He rode to school on a local man trolley. (4:06-7:07)... Seaside Hospital was built in 1911. He made a model of the Titanic out of a piece of the stair rail. He and 2 other students started a vegetable garden during WWI, but Hamman was the only one who finished. His biggest crop was navy beans which he sold to the Wall Company. During high school he worked at a drug store and at a grocery warehouse. (7:07-9:17)... By the time Hamman was in school the Long Beach area was starting to be built up. The site for Seaside Hospital was chosen because of the size of the property. The Loynes Brickyard was north of the hospital. Most of the industrial business was in the harbor area, including Craig shipbuilding. Tourist areas were on Ocean, Cedar and Magnolia, where there were hotels, including the Virginia Hotel. (9:17-13:05)... Hamman started high school in 1917. He remembers going to the Pike and riding on the merry-go-round and eating cotton candy. The San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake railroad station was near the Pike and just beyond it was the Theatorium which ran serials. He remembers seeing "Neil of the Navy" there. He also used to fish off the Pine Avenue Pier. During the Empire Day celebrationm he remembers a ramp leading to the auditorium collapsed and people were killed and injured. He rode his bike out to Signal Hill and told people what had happened. (13:05-17:10)... He and his friends rode coaster cars down Signal Hill. They swam and fished in the stream behind the Hill. Most of Signal Hill was occupied by Japanese farmers. When Hamman was young, he used to work for some of them, picking fruit and violets. The Japanese sold their products at the Municipal Market in Lincoln Park. There were only a few houses on Signal Hill and a lot of cactus plants before the discovery of oil. After oil was discovered, Hamman remembers that oil workers lined up out the door of the Farmers and Merchants Bank in east Long Beach to cash their checks on Fridays. It was the only bank in that part of town. (17:10-18:28)... Hamman remembers riding the bus of the B and H bus company out to that bank branch. The bus had solid rubber tires and it was a rough ride. There were few business in that area before the discovery of oil. The Pacific Electric trolley had a station in the area and it was called Zaferia. (18:28-22:37)... While ihe was in high school Hamman worked at a grocery warehouse and, in the summers, at a drugstore. During the Christmas season he worked at a men's clothing store and the post office to earn extra money. In high school when he went on dates and out with friends, they typically went to the movies and to Lord and Taylor's for ice cream. They used to charter boats off Pine Avenue Pier and go on moonlight cruises. Pine Avenue Pier had 2 levels and a pavillion on the upper deck. People fished from the lower deck. There was an Iowa picnic every year at Bixby Park. (22:37-31:35)... Hamman graduated from Poly High School. He started working at Farmers and Merchants Bank while attending the USC. Originally he had planned on going to the Wharton School but decided to stay in southern California. He majored in Business and specialized in finance. He then continued to work for Farmers and Merchants Bank. Most of the small, local banks that were once in Long Beach were taken over by other banks. The Seaside National Bank failed in the 1930s during the Depression. When he worked at Farmers and Merchants Bank, they got a list of bankrupt banks every day so they wouldn't honor their checks. The Farmers and Merchants Bank had their own armored car, which he and Gus Walker drove to the federal reserve bank in Los Angeles to get cash. When some banks failed during the Depression, there were runs on some banks and they wanted to have enough cash on hand. End of tape (31:35-36:28)... Hamman's first job at the bank was as a clearing house messenger. Representatives from the Los Angeles Clearinghouse came to Long Beach to pick up and reconcile checks. The process of clearing checks was made easier with when they started making a photographic record of checks using Kodak technology. He held many positions at the bank and eventually becoming a loan officer. Being a banker takes a lot of work and experience. He created the foreign department for the bank, which served the needs of business such as the tuna canning companies which shipped their products all over the world. He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Club. (36:28-41:21)... Hamman worked as a bank teller while in school. At the time he was married he was making $150 per month. He graduated from USC in January 1925. He married a woman he met at school and who was from Pasadena. Her family visited Long Beach in the summer and her aunt and uncle lived in Long Beach. Theyt lived off Bixby and Roosevelt after getting married. Earl Daughtery had an air field not far from where they lived. Before the area was fully developed, oil was discoved nearby. Many homes were moved to make room for drilling. (41:21-44:57)... The revenue from oil wells did not go to Farmers and Merchants Bank. The people who made money from oil were those who happened to own land on Signal Hill. The oil workers' salaries supported local merchants. Some apartments in Long Beach were buit in the 1920s. The investors who built the Breakers Hotel rasied the capital they needed by selling bonds. End of tape *** File: cbchamman2.mp3 (0:00-2:31)... Hamman started working at Farmers and Merchants Bank in January 1925. In 1926 he and his wife worried that they might have to move their house because of oil drilling in the area. During the Depression his salary was reduced by one-third. Instead of going to the movies, friends would get together for dinner. (2:31-4:28)... When President Franklin Roosevelt declared the bank holiday, the banks closed and people were short of cash. Then the 1933 earthquake struck Long Beach and the bank was damaged. Hamman remembers wearing his overcoat and hat ot work because it was cold in the bank with the windows broken out. The skylights were also broken. (4:28-16:06)... He was appointed to the board of Seaside Hospital in 1933. The earthquake damaged the hospital and some surgeries to be done by flashlight. The hospital had to borrow money to repair the earthquake damage. It was reorganized as a nonprofit institution in 1937 and Hamman urged stockholders were to trade their stock for bonds and then donate their bonds to the hospital. The hospital treated sailors and officers for the Navy during WWII. Employees of Douglas Aircraft as well as Navy sailors and officers had separate wards. The original hospital building was constructed in 1911 and after WWII, when the building needed renovation, the board decided to move the hospital out of downtown to an undeveloped area near Signal Hill. (16:06-18:19)... Hamman worked at the Farmers and Merchants Bank through the Depression and earthquake. The bank was only closed for a short time when President Frankling Roosevelt ordered a bank holiday Wartime activities in Long Beach increased traffic at the bank. (18:19-20:41)... WWII attracted more people to Long Beach. At Seaside Hospital, they closed the nurses living quarters and made it a war for sick shipyard workers. The Navy also had a despensary in the hospital before it moved to the Post Office building. There were also people living in trailers or wherever they could find a place. There were not enought rentals for all the people that came to Long Beach. (20:41-27:53)... Hamman left the bank in 1943 in hopes of making more money in insurance and real estate. There are different kinds of Insurance companies. Some work with independent brokers who write policies with various insurance companies and other companies have their own employees as agents. Insurance needs for businesses vary. (27:53-34:50)... Hamman served as the president of the Seaside Hospital board while the hospital was planning to move to its new site. That happened1960. Employees and departments came up with ideas about how they'd like to organize their areas in the new facility. Then architects came up with plans. The city issued bonds to develop 3 local hospitals, Memorial (which was the new name for Seaside), Community and the Osteopathic hospital (which later changed its name to Pacific). There was an Interhospital Committee and a United Hospital Fund through which the three hospitals to worked together. The bonds paid for the construction of the new hospital. Then there was a citywide fundraiser to pay for equipment. St. Mary's Hospital did not take part. Los Angeles County bought the old Seaside Hospital building. Building the new hospital encouraged some physicians to move their offices out of downtown. (34:50-35:07)... Hamman hoped, at the time of the interview, that downtown Long Beach would be able to attract corporate headquarters. He also hoped the downtown marina and mall would help downtown's redevelopment. (35:07-40:49)... Hamman lived in several part of Long Beach. When he was first married, he and his wife rented and then bought a home that his father built. His father died in 1931 and he had no brothers or sisters. In 1979 he moved into the Galaxy, a condominium building which was constructed in 1966. Hammon believes Ocean Boulevard should zoned so that more high rise buildings could be build with space in between them. Hamman believed, however, that it would be difficult to get property owners in the area to accept that. (40:49-45:00)... Looking at an old photo, Hamman remembers before the breakwater was built and there were waves along the beaches in Long Beach. Sometimes there were hight waves. Brighton Beach was west of downtown along the shoreline and people had beach homes there. Later, they were replaced by industry. The double decker pier was replaced by Rainbow Pier. The Virginia Hotel was top grade all the way through. End of tape
- SUBJECT BIO - Clare Hamman was an independent insurance agent in Long Beach. He was also on the board of the Farmers and Merchants Bank and played an important role in the construction of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Hamman grew up and went to school in Long Beach where his father was a doctor. He had several jobs as a boy, but when he was old enough, he went to work for Farmers and Merchants Bank. He worked there while he attended USC and continued after he graduated. He remembers oil workers lining up to cash their checks at the branch on Anaheim Road and the problems the bank and its customers faced during the Depression. In this interview, Hamman also talks about his father's interest in Seaside Hospital and Hammon's work in encouraging others associated with Seaside to transfer their interests to the new Memorial Hospital when it was built on Signal Hill in what used to be known as the "frog pond." TOPICS - Topics on this side of tape include: family background; childhood; education; Farmers and Merchants Bank; Seaside Hospital and Signal HillTopics on this side of tape include: Farmers and Merchants Bank; Rainbow Pier; 1933 earthquake; Seaside Hospital; Depression; WWII and Long Beach Memorial Hospital
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