Hobergs

A brief over view of Hoberg's, mostly from their website, so take it with a grain of salt.

Before Hoberg's became a resort, it was a working ranch,  homesteaded in 1885 by Gustav Hoberg and his wife, Mathilda.  Located along a main road, travelers would stop to rest horses and have a home cooked meal.  By 1888, Gustav and Mathilda had given up ranching and turned their property into a hotel and restaurant.

 With a reputation for hospitality in a beautiful, natural setting, it wasn't long before the rich and famous of San Francisco were making Hoberg's a regular weekend getaway.  As the resort's popularity grew, a bowling alley, social hall, swimming pool, tennis courts, dining hall, and the Pine Bowl,  an outdoor dance floor, were added to the grounds.  Even the great depression couldn't kill Hoberg's, as it began to attract the Hollywood crowd.  In 1940, an airport was built so famous actors could fly in for some rest and relaxation.  Sitting California governors stayed there at a mansion built on the property for their exclusive use.

By 1950, Hoberg's was the largest private resort in northern California, often hosting more than 1,000 guests per night.  Some of the biggest entertainers played the Pine Bowl, including Tommy Dorsey and Xavier Cugat.

In 1968, the Beatles traveled to India to study transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  Now world famous, the Maharishi decided to move to the United States and start a meditation center.  In 1971, he purchased Hoberg's, changed it's name to the Center for the Science of Creative Thinking, and closed the property to the general public.

In 2008, the Maharishi died, and the property was shuttered until new owners were found.  Hoberg's reopened in 2014.  With the buildings in disrepair, the new management began the rebuild, including the addition of an amphitheater, which hosted the Summer of Love Music Festival, featuring bands from the 1960s.

In 2015, a wildfire started that would burn for months, and eventually destroy over 76,000 acres in south lake County.  Hoberg's was burnt to the ground.  Today, the Hoberg's Historical Association is trying to rebuild.  Their plans include an Eco Center Museum.

This postcard has been trimmed down, and some of the writing has been cut away.  But what's left, "Dear Carilyn, If you ever go on a vacation this is the place to come.  This is the kind of place you read about.  The dances are marvelous.  Kind of late."  There was more, but it's gone.  The postmark, "HOBERGS JUN 9, 5 AM 1943 CALIF."  Part of the address is gone, but the name, "Miss Carolyn Cline" and she lived in San Francisco.

Montana Glass Negatives

One of the reasons that I hate antique dealers is that they break up collections of photographs to increase their profits. I purchased these images in Montana. It's kind of the dream of all photo collectors to discover a large collection of images from an unknown, though clearly, talented photographer. Looking at this group of images, I think I may have found one, but with only a handful of the negatives still left together, we'll never know. I think the image of the farm family one of the strongest photographs I've ever seen. The portraits of the cowboy and beekeeper are amazing. I showed these to a movie costumer who dated the clothing to the late 19th to early 20th century. Because there is no mother in the farm scene, I think the photographer might have been the mother, making her glass negaties, at home, in the kitchen. Click on images to see them in a larger window.

I used to work in a photo lab where I had access to an 8x10 enlarger. I was able to use it to make high quality blow-ups. These images were made directly from the negatives, rather than copy negs made from contact prints.