1941 California Spring Garden Show

Oakland, California: [California Spring Garden Show / First District Agricultural Association State of California], 1941. 8-1/4 x 11-1/4 inches. Total of 25 linen-backed silver gelatin b&w photographs, including a textual title page photograph and one of a floorplan of the event; all photos 7-7/8 x 9-3/4 inches. Burgundy cloth boards with gilt stamped lettering, photos internally post-bound. Rubbing and light soiling to boards, with slight fraying to spine ends; cover lettering dull and faded; light damp-staining to margins of title photo; slight spotting to fore-edge border of last two photos; heavy vertical crease to left side of last photo, reinforced on verso with archival tape. Photos overall clear and well-developed. About Very Good.

A professionally-produced souvenir album of stunning photographs of exhibits from the twelfth annual California Spring Garden Show, held at the Oakland Exposition Building from April 29 - May 4, 1941. Themed "Rainbow Forest", the gardens inside the building featured an enormous man-made waterfall, moss-covered giant redwood trees built for the show, displays of orchids and Hawaiian leis, and paths lined with tulips, hydrangeas, azaleas, roses, and many more flowers and plants of all kinds. The gardens outside included contributions by local amateur gardening clubs, as well as examples of the latest gardening equipment, etc. Over 115,000 people attended the event.

The show was designed by nationally renowned landscape architect Howard Ellsworth Gilkey (1890-1972), whose innovative themes for the annual shows made them stand out when compared to the less organized shows on the East coast. In addition to handling the Spring Garden Shows, Gilkey designed Oakland's Cleveland Cascade and the Woodminster Amphitheater, among other notable projects. He was the first western landscape architect to become a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and in 1963 was named "Man of the Year" by an association of 55 garden clubs in the East Bay.

Scarce. OCLC locates two holdings, at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara.