Title supplied by cataloger.; Herman J. Schultheis was born in Aachen, Germany in 1900, and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1920s after obtaining a Ph.D. in mechanical and electrical engineering. He married Ethel Wisloh in 1936, and the pair moved to Los Angeles the following year. He worked in the film industry from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, most notably on the animated features Fantasia and Pinocchio. His detailed notebook, documenting the special effects for Fantasia, is the subject of a 14-minute short-subject included on the film's DVD. In 1949, he started employment with Librascope as a patent engineer. Schultheis was an avid amateur photographer who traveled the world with his cameras. It was on one of these photographic exhibitions in 1955 that he disappeared in the jungles of Guatemala. His remains were discovered 18 months later. The digitized portion of this collection represents the images Schultheis took of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities after he relocated to the area in 1937. Wistaria (sometimes spelled "wisteria") was named for Henry Wistar of the University of Pennsylvania in 1818 to honor his contributions to science. Alice Brugman purchased the wistaria plant in a 1-gallon container for 75 cents in 1894 at the R. H. Wilson Pioneer Nursery in Monrovia, California and planted it in front of her home located at 201 West Carter Avenue in Sierra Madre. Henry Fennel added the arbor and in 1918 the Fennels held the first public Wistaria Festival (also known as a Fete), which benefited the American Red Cross. The roof of the original house collapsed due to the weight of the plant in 1931, and Henry Fennel built a second house 200 feet away. The next owner, Mrs. Ida Lawless landscaped the garden and added $100,000 of rare plants. In 1961 the land was subdivided, the wisteria plant cut back, the 1931 house demolished and two new houses were built. Today the vine covers approximately an acre of land at 505 and 535 North Hermosa Avenue. A 1994 Centennial Celebration completely planned, promoted, and implemented by volunteers, won an award from the State of California. The Sierra Madre wistaria vine is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the world's largest blossoming plant. A waiter walks up the stairs past tables set up under the wisteria vine towards the tea room, which is open for business. The 1938 Fete started March 19th, when there were many buds on the vine but only a few flowers. The flowering azalea bushes were in full bloom at time of the opening.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;11 x 15 cm. Photographic prints
Wistaria Vine (Sierra Madre, Calif.) Wistaria Festival (Sierra Madre, Calif.) Garden parties--California--Sierra Madre Vines--California--Sierra Madre Eating & drinking--California--Sierra Madre Wisteria--California--Sierra Madre Arbors--California--Sierra Madre Waiters--California--Sierra Madre Umbrellas--California--Sierra Madre Gardens--California--Sierra Madre Flowers--California--Sierra Madre Sierra Madre (Calif.) Schultheis Collection photographs
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