In 1904, the Hotel del Coronado – already considered a technological marvel – made history when it unveiled the world’s first electrically-lighted, outdoor, living Christmas tree. To accomplish this feat, electric lights (probably made on site) were strung from the hotel (at that time one of the largest buildings in America to have electricity) to a nearby Norfolk Island Pine.
Although indoor Christmas trees had become popularized in America by this time, electric Christmas lights were all but unheard of (candles were still commonplace), and no one had thought to light an outdoor tree.
Other areas didn’t follow suit until later, when the trend seemed to travel from the West Coast to the East Coast as a civic effort: Pasadena in 1909; New York and Boston in 1912; and Philadelphia in 1913.
The Del’s original 1904 Christmas tree, which was planted in 1888 (the year the hotel was built) was modest in size - a reported 50 feet tall. Today it is a stately 140 feet. Still, the idea of an outside Christmas tree – with lights! – captivated all who saw it.
The 1904 Christmas Tree
In a San Diego Union article published on Christmas day that year, the writer was poetic in her appreciation:
A Christmas tree in the open air! A Christmas tree in which birds found shelter for the night; a Christmas tree through which the sea breeze swept. A living, growing tree with its roots embracing Mother Earth and its great branches reaching toward the stars.
The specific process of outfitting the tree (whose branches “stand proudly forth”) with lights was detailed:
All day yesterday electricians were busy fitting it up and by night 250 lights of many colors gave beauty to the fine old pine. Lanterns, great and small, hung from its boughs.
The reporter continued to pay tribute to this wondrous sight:
All evening long, the radiant tree was the object of admiration. All evening long, two barefooted children, a boy and a girl, stood… and gazed upon the beaming tree. The little girl held her brother’s hand close within her own. They spoke scarcely a word. The imprint of their little feet is even yet visible in the rain-softened earth.
When the rain began to come down faster and faster, the children, casting a last long look upon the beauty of the night, sped away home to tell of the wonderful Christmas tree. Little wonder that all the children marveled, for their elders did the same, and now that the open-air Christmas tree has been introduced, it is likely that another Christmas eve will find many California gardens aglow with light scattered from living foliage.
According to the newspaper, the tree was lighted every night from 7 – 10 p.m., starting on Christmas Eve and continuing through December 31st. This, in itself, was impressive given the fact that indoor Christmas trees were usually only illuminated two or three times during the entire holiday season and only for very short periods of time (candle flames had to be watched closely, with buckets of sand and water always nearby). Apparently, the public’s fascination with The Del’s Christmas tree was responsible for the tree’s extended performance. From the December 28, 1904 San Diego Union:
So much interest [was aroused] in the outdoor Christmas tree with its many electric decorations as to have it illuminated each evening for the rest of the year.
As a footnote, the newspaper added that “several professional photographers were over last night.”
Later Years at The Del
Follow-up San Diego Union newspaper reports recorded the ever-enhanced hotel Christmas tree:
1909: “A large tree ablaze with lights and glittering ornaments.”
1913: “This year it will be lighted with colored electric lights. Every year the tree is a trifle taller and consequently each year the wiring has to be a little longer. A large star or light will grace the top of the tree while hundreds of small lights will gleam from its many branches.”
1920: “For many years, the immense tree, roped with numberless electric light globes of red, blue, green and yellow, has been lighted Christmas eve, the great star in electric globes at the topmost point sending out the joyful greetings of Yuletide blessings. The tree will remain lighted every evening until after the New Year and can be seen for many miles around.”
1954 (the 50th anniversary celebration): “The tree now towers at 62 feet.”
And, in 1912, Coronado’s Strand newspaper reported:
‘The Out-of-Door Christmas Tree’ will shed its multi-colored rays each night throughout the Christmas season. The tree is a work of electrical art, and the idea is original at Coronado.
Tree-lighting continued at The Del for many years, except during World War II when blackout laws were in effect. The long-running tradition was discontinued entirely during the energy crisis of the 1970s, ultimately replaced with the lighting of a magnificent lobby tree (a Ballroom Christmas tree also dates back to The Del’s earliest days).
American Christmas Tree History
Early 1880s: Christmas trees were such a rarity that they were sometimes put on display with tickets sold to view them (often as a church fundraiser).
Late 1800s:
* In Germany (where Christmas trees originated) and England (where
Christmas trees proliferated), trees tended to be tabletop size. Americans popularized the idea of room-size Christmas trees.
* A Victorian rule of thumb recommended thirty candles for every foot of tree; Christmas “lanterns” were also available as were miniature oil lamps.
* Christmas trees were usually put up on Christmas Eve, after children were asleep (children were brought up to believe that parents supplied the decorations, but Santa provided the tree and did all the work himself).
c. 1880: The first Christmas tree stands were patented.
1882: Electric Christmas lights were invented by Edward Johnson, a partner of Thomas Edison. Johnson, who resided in New York in the first square mile of the first city to have electricity, illuminated his own tree that year.
1889: President Benjamin Harrison, who visited the Hotel del Coronado in 1891, had the first White House Christmas tree in the Oval Office.
1892: The first electrically-lighted Christmas tree was featured at the White House during President Cleveland’s tenure.
1900: Only one-fifth of American families had their own Christmas trees (although there were oftentimes community trees to enjoy).
1901: Even so, Christmas trees had grown in popularity to the point that President Theodore Roosevelt worried about the country’s ability to maintain its forests. As a result, conservation-minded Roosevelt refused to have a Christmas tree in the White House (reportedly his son kept one in a closet that year). By 1902, Christmas tree farms had come into existence, and Roosevelt was willing to resume the White House Christmas tree tradition.
1901: General Electric printed an instruction booklet on how to hand-wire Christmas tree lights.
1903: The first mass-produced Christmas tree lights became available.
1920s: In this country, electric Christmas tree lights all but replaced the use of Christmas tree candles.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Ghostly Goings-On at the Hotel del Coronado
The venerable Hotel del Coronado, San Diego’s landmark Pacific resort, has been experiencing paranormal activity for as long as anyone can remember — and with good reason. With more than 120 years of history behind her, it’s no surprise that this Victorian masterpiece has had its share of ghostly guests.
Kate Morgan, The Del’s Resident GhostThough supernatural stories abound, most have to do with Kate Morgan, a beautiful young woman who checked into the hotel in 1892 — and never checked out. After spending five lonely and lovesick days waiting for a man who never arrived, Kate was found dead on an exterior staircase leading to the beach. Kate had a gunshot wound to her head, which the San Diego County Coroner later determined was self-inflicted (some skepticism still surrounds this finding).
Today, Kate’s spirit seems to have remained at The Del, where she tends to occupy her former guestroom. But her beautiful vision – and ghostly pranks – can be experienced throughout the rambling resort and grounds.
According to Christine Donovan, The Del’s historian and author of the book Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado, Kate is a relatively harmless ghost. “She generally limits her activity to fleeting appearances and inexplicable antics,” says Donovan. “Guests in Kate’s room report everything from breezes that come from nowhere to having to deal with a television set that turns on and off by itself.”
But, more dramatic tales have also been told. Such as the time a young couple – away for a romantic Valentine weekend – experienced a string of supernatural occurrences, culminating in their covers being ripped off in the middle of the night by a ghostly apparition.
Kate’s presence isn’t limited to her own guestroom; another room also records a lot of paranormal activity, and Kate has also been seen walking down the hallways, through the garden and along the beach.
Latest Ghost SightingsOne of the most “active” areas of the Hotel del Coronado is the resort’s gift shop, Established 1888. Originally located in the lower lobby level, this specialty store – which showcases the hotel’s vintage history – has a hard time keeping glassware from “flying” off shelves or pictures from falling off walls.
When Established 1888 relocated (now adjoining the lobby), it was thought that the ghostly pranks would cease, but this has not been the case. Instead, the new space is as active as the store’s former residence. Because memorabilia related to Marilyn Monroe’s 1958 hotel filming of Some Like It Hot seems to be the most prone to tumbling, some long-time shop employees speculate that The Del’s resident ghost doesn’t like sharing the spotlight with Hollywood’s biggest star.
Donovan, who keeps files on guests’ paranormal experiences, received this one from a visiting business executive. “At about 2am, I was awakened by exceedingly cold temperatures and the ceiling fan working at high speed. The fan remained on for about 30 seconds and then stopped. Later, I awoke to find that all of the bed pillows had been stacked pyramid style on top of my computer.”
This gentleman took his first paranormal experience in stride: “I learned that ceiling fans have a mind of their own and pillows are best placed on a computer,” ultimately concluding that Kate Morgan “is a great addition to your housekeeping staff.”
Other paranormal encounters are more subtle, for instance, when one visitor heard “soft rustling footsteps go past the bed,” along with a “very strong flower scent which came on fast and then dissipated as quickly as it appeared.”
One of Donovan’s odder stories was recently received from a British psychic who reported a circa-1912 vision involving men “not unlike miners” who were busily engaged in a tunnel near the hotel (there actually is a tunnel that connects the hotel’s remote infrastructure to the hotel itself, but it is not related to mining and was built well before 1912).
Guests also send Donovan mysterious photos taken at the hotel, some of which feature inexplicable transparent “globes” of light, sometimes with multiple patterns that arch across an entire image.
Beautiful Stranger
In October 2002, The Del released a book titled Beautiful Stranger – The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado. Researched and published by the Hotel del Coronado Heritage Department, the book reflects the most accurate report of the legendary story to date. Look for the book in The Del’s Signature Shop or online at http://www.delshop.com/.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Some Like It Hot Filmed at the Hotel del Coronado: Part III
Fun Film Facts
Writers Wilder and co-author I.A Diamond were inspired by another cross-dressing comedy, the 1932 German musical Fanfare of Love, and they deliberately set the story in the past because, as Diamond put it, “When all the costumes look peculiar to us, a guy in drag looks no more peculiar than anybody else.”
Much like The Del itself – which was designed as it was being built – the last 15 minutes of Some Like It Hot was being written and rewritten as it was being filmed.
The film was shot in black and white because Wilder thought that male actors in female make-up would look too ridiculous in color. The black-and-white format – which also suited the period style of the film – did not appeal at all to Monroe, who contractually insisted that all her films be shot in color. Wilder was able to convince her that the 1920s setting would look more authentic in black-and-white. Interestingly, Wilder (who chose to make many of his movies in black and white) later said that Some Like It Hot was the one movie that would have benefited from color.
Although Wilder hired one of the world’s most famous female impersonators to teach Lemmon and Curtis how to walk in high heels, Lemmon refused the help – he didn’t want his character to be that adept as a woman.
Monroe’s character, “Sugar Kane,” is supposed to be 25 years old, although Monroe was 32 when the movie was made.
After Some Like It Hot, Monroe and Curtis never worked with Billy Wilder again, but Jack Lemmon remained one of the director’s favorite actors, and they made six more films together.
What to Look For
At one of the previews, the first shot of Lemmon and Curtis dressed as women was such a crowd-pleaser that Wilder added in every other shot he had for that scene (and, if you look carefully, you’ll be able to see them walking by the same railroad car again and again). In addition, Wilder deliberately didn’t show the characters as they transformed themselves from men to women because he knew the comic impact would be greater if audiences were introduced to “the ladies” all at once.
Monroe was displeased at her initial entrance – also at the train station – and Wilder and Diamond concurred. They rewrote the scene so that Monroe's entrance was punctuated by steam blasts from the train.
The film clearly shows The Del’s two original front entrances. When the resort opened in 1888, the hotel offered a combined men’s and women’s entrance and a separate “unaccompanied” women’s entrance, which afforded lone women travelers a discreet way to check in. Though the two entrances survived past the 1958 filming of Some Like It Hot, only one remains today.
In the scene where Curtis and Monroe run out to the yacht, it is supposed to be night, but it’s obviously not dark; Monroe’s frequent tardiness made it impossible to shoot the scene at night.
In the role of gangster Spats Colombo, George Raft parodies the gangster role he played in the 1932 film Scarface, in which his character repeatedly flipped a coin. In Some Like It Hot, Spats Colombo is very irritated when he sees someone else flipping a coin, demanding, “Where did you pick up that cheap trick?” Raft – who didn’t accompany the cast to Coronado – was at The Del in 1936, during the filming of Yours for the Asking.
When Lemmon’s female character is telling Curtis’ male character about his engagement to a real millionaire, he punctuates ever line with a flourish of maracas. Wilder anticipated the scene being so successfully funny that he wanted to allow “space” for the audience laughter, and the maracas were added to provide the appropriate pauses.
There were two scenes that supposedly gave Monroe the most trouble: The scene where she knocks on the door and says, “It’s me, Sugar” required 47 takes; another scene, where Monroe had to rummage through a dresser drawer for a bottle of bourbon, proved even more challenging, requiring 59 takes. In fact, Wilder claimed that after he put the cue inside one of the dresser drawers, Monroe couldn’t remember which drawer it was in.
The last line – uttered by Joe E. Brown when he says to Jack Lemmon, “Nobody’s perfect” – was never intended to remain the last line, but Wilder and Diamond couldn’t come up with anything they liked better, so it stayed. Ironically, it has become a classic last line.
In some publicity photos, including the film’s poster, Monroe just doesn’t look like herself. That’s because a body double was used for several publicity shots; it was Sandra Warren, an actress who appeared as one of Sweet Sue’s Society Syncopators. Her body was uncannily like Monroe’s, although Monroe face was ultimately superimposed.
Writers Wilder and co-author I.A Diamond were inspired by another cross-dressing comedy, the 1932 German musical Fanfare of Love, and they deliberately set the story in the past because, as Diamond put it, “When all the costumes look peculiar to us, a guy in drag looks no more peculiar than anybody else.”
Much like The Del itself – which was designed as it was being built – the last 15 minutes of Some Like It Hot was being written and rewritten as it was being filmed.
The film was shot in black and white because Wilder thought that male actors in female make-up would look too ridiculous in color. The black-and-white format – which also suited the period style of the film – did not appeal at all to Monroe, who contractually insisted that all her films be shot in color. Wilder was able to convince her that the 1920s setting would look more authentic in black-and-white. Interestingly, Wilder (who chose to make many of his movies in black and white) later said that Some Like It Hot was the one movie that would have benefited from color.
Although Wilder hired one of the world’s most famous female impersonators to teach Lemmon and Curtis how to walk in high heels, Lemmon refused the help – he didn’t want his character to be that adept as a woman.
Monroe’s character, “Sugar Kane,” is supposed to be 25 years old, although Monroe was 32 when the movie was made.
After Some Like It Hot, Monroe and Curtis never worked with Billy Wilder again, but Jack Lemmon remained one of the director’s favorite actors, and they made six more films together.
What to Look For
At one of the previews, the first shot of Lemmon and Curtis dressed as women was such a crowd-pleaser that Wilder added in every other shot he had for that scene (and, if you look carefully, you’ll be able to see them walking by the same railroad car again and again). In addition, Wilder deliberately didn’t show the characters as they transformed themselves from men to women because he knew the comic impact would be greater if audiences were introduced to “the ladies” all at once.
Monroe was displeased at her initial entrance – also at the train station – and Wilder and Diamond concurred. They rewrote the scene so that Monroe's entrance was punctuated by steam blasts from the train.
The film clearly shows The Del’s two original front entrances. When the resort opened in 1888, the hotel offered a combined men’s and women’s entrance and a separate “unaccompanied” women’s entrance, which afforded lone women travelers a discreet way to check in. Though the two entrances survived past the 1958 filming of Some Like It Hot, only one remains today.
In the scene where Curtis and Monroe run out to the yacht, it is supposed to be night, but it’s obviously not dark; Monroe’s frequent tardiness made it impossible to shoot the scene at night.
In the role of gangster Spats Colombo, George Raft parodies the gangster role he played in the 1932 film Scarface, in which his character repeatedly flipped a coin. In Some Like It Hot, Spats Colombo is very irritated when he sees someone else flipping a coin, demanding, “Where did you pick up that cheap trick?” Raft – who didn’t accompany the cast to Coronado – was at The Del in 1936, during the filming of Yours for the Asking.
When Lemmon’s female character is telling Curtis’ male character about his engagement to a real millionaire, he punctuates ever line with a flourish of maracas. Wilder anticipated the scene being so successfully funny that he wanted to allow “space” for the audience laughter, and the maracas were added to provide the appropriate pauses.
There were two scenes that supposedly gave Monroe the most trouble: The scene where she knocks on the door and says, “It’s me, Sugar” required 47 takes; another scene, where Monroe had to rummage through a dresser drawer for a bottle of bourbon, proved even more challenging, requiring 59 takes. In fact, Wilder claimed that after he put the cue inside one of the dresser drawers, Monroe couldn’t remember which drawer it was in.
The last line – uttered by Joe E. Brown when he says to Jack Lemmon, “Nobody’s perfect” – was never intended to remain the last line, but Wilder and Diamond couldn’t come up with anything they liked better, so it stayed. Ironically, it has become a classic last line.
In some publicity photos, including the film’s poster, Monroe just doesn’t look like herself. That’s because a body double was used for several publicity shots; it was Sandra Warren, an actress who appeared as one of Sweet Sue’s Society Syncopators. Her body was uncannily like Monroe’s, although Monroe face was ultimately superimposed.
###
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)