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 in Sierra Madre. Located at the corner of Hermosa and Carter Avenues (originally 201 West Carter, now 535 North Hermosa), the vine now covers approximately an acre of land. The first public Wistaria Festival, held in 1918, benefited the American Red Cross. A six week fete in the 1930s attracted more than 100,000 visitors. In 1994 a Centennial Celebration was held for the vine. Completely planned, promoted, and implemented by volunteers, the Centennial 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 sign points towards the Wistaria Vine in Sierra Madre. A little boy stands by a no parking sign in the background.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;11 x 15 cm. Photographic prints
Wistaria Vine (Sierra Madre, Calif.) Signs and signboards--California--Sierra Madre Children--California--Sierra Madre Dwellings--California--Sierra Madre Mountains--California, Southern Streets--California--Sierra Madre San Gabriel Mountains (Calif.) Sierra Madre (Calif.) Schultheis Collection photographs
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