A Bridegroom Shops In Montrose – 1937

This is a continuation of last week’s article.

In 1937 the local paper, The Ledger, sent two reporters out posing as a bride and groom. The idea was to show that everything they would need for their new home could be purchased locally in Montrose with no need to shop in Glendale or Pasadena. Last week I covered the bride’s view of the shopping trip. This week I cover the bridegroom’s take on the shopping excursion. It’s a wonderful look at what was needed for a household nearly 90 years ago.

At their first stop, a hardware store, the clerk pointed out that besides garden supplies such as trashcans and garden hoses the entire kitchen could be outfitted there as well. Such items as aluminum kettles and breadboxes – even coconut fiber doormats – could be had from their shelves. The relatively newly invented Pyrex cookware was the star of the show. Skillets, percolators and double-boilers made entirely of Pyrex glass, which wouldn’t shatter at high temperatures, was available for purchase. Amazing!

The jewelry store offered bridal sets from $75 to $100, with a simple gold band going for as low as $19.50. (At the furniture store visit I mentioned in the previous article the maple wood bedroom set went for $37.50 and a couch for $22.50.)

The newlyweds’ medicine cabinet was fitted out at Valley Pharmacy. Standard stuff – toothbrushes, bandages, etc. But a few items were included that we don’t see much of anymore such as tooth powder, bicarbonate of soda, cleansing tissue (is that toilet paper?) and corn pads.

The couple looked at some homesites as well and some astounding prices were quoted. A 50 x 130 foot lot on Hermosa Avenue in Verdugo City was listed at $450. This lot had the advantage that it had been cleared of sagebrush.

If you were willing to head up into the “boonies” above Foothill, a 100 x 150 lot could be carved out of the olive groves between Rosemont and Briggs avenues. This view lot was asking $750 cash.

Closer to Montrose was a $600 lot right on Montrose Avenue just west of Ocean View Boulevard. This lot seemed perfect as it was possible to take out a loan on the lot for $2300, which was plenty of cash to build a four-room house. But what about water? There was no city water available. Another $50 would be needed to buy a share of water and a connection from the closest private water company.

The groom would need some new clothing. Scanlon’s department store could provide that. While the bride tried on dresses, the groom looked at new shirts for $1.65 each and a dozen handkerchiefs for $2.50. A gift store would provide new kitchenware. A 32-piece set of the best quality dishes could be had for $9.95.

The groom visited Johnny Leuer’s Flower Shop to get some advice on floral suggestions. The answer bordered on misogyny: “I was instructed that on occasions when hubby was in the matrimonial dog-house (because of smiling at another woman, ‘working late at the office,’ chucking the hat-check girl under the chin or other causes for wifely indignation), he should most certainly pacify his ‘other half’ with one of Johnny Leuer’s famed corsages.”

But the refrigerator purchase seemed to get the most attention from the groom. He extoled the features of five different refrigerators in detail: Electrolux (a natural gas powered model), Hotpoint (all porcelain interior), Kelvinator (the oldest of the refrigerator companies), General Electric (with its unique foot-pedal door opener), and Westinghouse. The groom was fascinated with the Westinghouse refrigerator simply because of the imitation “fake food” displayed on its shelves.

The article really proved the point that an entire household could be outfitted from stores in Montrose in 1937. Today most of those items would be had online and Montrose businesses are for the most part specialty shops such as bookstores, gift shops, services such as nail and hair salons, and of course the ever-expanding selection of restaurants, fast food and coffee shops.