Eighty years after her father first waltzed her mother onto the dance floor of the 401 Club in New York City, Pat Arnold published the story of their life in Hollywood during the silent film era. She told their tale while reading from her book, Moving Up to Hollywoodland, during a recent engagement as guest speaker for Pizza and Prose Art & Literature series where she also performed with her singing group, The Raging Grannies.
Map publisher, activist, author, and a grandmother in her early eighties, Arnold told the story that took the financially strapped newlyweds from their Greenwich Village apartment to the family property they were rumored to have claim to in Los Angeles . Traveling cross-country in a Model A Ford with “a small nest egg, title to their property, and a map of the U.S. and Southern California ” they began their adventure out west.
Once they met up with Bob’s spirited older brother in St Louis , the wide-eyed young couple went from camping to save money on room and board, to lodging for free.
A gambler with a lifetime of holding sway over his younger siblings, Heywood taught his brother and new sister-in-law to help him secure contracts to build road signs in exchange for free lodging. By subtracting room rates from the price of the sign Hy would tell the owners, who could not afford the advertising cost, “all you would have to pay is nine dollars,” for access to his team of artists and contractors. After signing the contract, the three entrepreneurs would go out in search of “a sign painter, a carpenter, a lumber yard and some nice local restaurants that want to trade for their ad.”
The trick was to be back on the road before the winds started. “Let’s get out of town before the billboard blows down,” was a common phrase, Arnold told the clearly amused crowd.
Bob and Kay finally made it to Hollywood in the early 1920’s where, among other odd jobs he worked as a camera man, she a dancer. At one point they published a magazine thick with articles on theater, film, art, and the nation’s latest fascination aviation. The most popular feature of Topics of the Town was “stories from the stars.”
In June of 1932, Bob and Kay moved into their dream home in the upscale development of Hollywoodland, built by Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandlerwho erected a giant billboard to advertise his real estate empire. Ironically, like many of the signs Bob and Kay had built along their route to California , this one would also fall part, but only partially. In the late 1940’s the “land”, fell off that sign which has become the iconic image of what would eventually be the booming film and entertainment industry.
After reading from her book, Arnold invited friend Valerie Lascair and fellow Raging Grannies, Jan Harwood, Artress Cornmesser, and Margaret Messinger to don their aprons and hats and sing a few satirical songs of protest with her. The audience was left laughing and applauding for more of the witty numbers, all written by Harwood to the tunes of well known songs such as ‘California Here We Come’, ‘La Cucaracha’ and ‘Bushel And A Peck.’
To find out more about Pat Arnold and her Bridge Mystery Series visit www.bridgemysteries.com.
