Collecting Rubber During WWII

One of the features of the home front during World War II was the collection of scarce resources for recycling to help the war effort. In July 1942 Morton Taylor's service station in Mira Loma held a rubber drive. Mr. Taylor and the Century and St. Helen oil companies donated money so a prize could be offered to the girl and the boy who brought in the most rubber for recycling. Doris Meissner won first prize for the girls by bringing in 872 lbs. of rubber. Billy Haynes topped all the other boys with 1395 lbs. They each won $2.00. Second place finishers Eleanor Anderson and Stanley Anderson each won $1.50. Altogether 20,349 pound of rubber we recycled from the Mira Loma area.

I contacted Loren Meissner, Doris' brother, about this story which I found in the local paper. These are his memories of that long ago rubber drive in Mira Loma:

My sister Doris, and Billy Haynes, were both Eastvale students. I don’t remember the others, but they were most likely from Union Joint which served all the way down the east side of Etiwanda. (The west side, north of Limonite, was a grain field.)

In July 1942 (7 months after Pearl Harbor when the US had declared war), Doris was 15 and I was 14.

Doris and I went all over Riverdale Acres with our little red wagon, asking everybody if they had any scrap rubber, such as old tires or inner tubes, or maybe some kind of pads. It was supposed to be a big help for the War Effort – I think they said it was going to be used to retread tires, cuz all during the war nobody could buy new ones. It was one of the many items that were being totally diverted to the military for “the war effort,” like coffee and sugar. Later I figured out it was mostly propaganda, helping the civilian population feel like we were participating a tiny bit.

When we got close to the time limit, we found out we had collected enough to have a chance for the girls’ prize but no way were we going to compete with Billy. So we figured out our best strategy was to put our collection in Doris’s name and it worked. She might even have given me some of the $2 – I don’t remember that part. Of course kids could get quite a lot for two dollars in “those days.”

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Mr Knight lived on Mann Ave, and he had several tires being used as planters for rose bushes. He told us (with tears in his eyes) that his wife had planted them that way before she died, but he knew she would have wanted him to contribute the tires to help in the war against “them Nazis, who are worse than animals.” So he carefully removed the tires without disturbing the roses very much, and we thanked him and hauled the tires away in our wagon.

The Legion Ranger

On April 7th, 1943 the Riverside Daily Press reported that American Legion Post 500 of Mira Loma had presented a framed copy of the celebrated picture "Legion Ranger" to the Union, Eastvale, and Glen Avon elementary schools.

The "Legion Ranger" was described as depicting a soldier of the "present war" (World War II) lying in a fox hole with an automatic rifle in his hand while pulling the pin on a hand grenade. The presentations to the schools were made by James L. Bullock and James K. Howey.

I tried searching on the Internet for a photo of this picture but was not successful. If anyone knows where I can find one please let me know!

Flabob Airport

I think one of the most unique names we have in Jurupa Valley (other than the word "Jurupa" itself) is the name of our local airport - Flabob. This is how that name came to be.

The first Riverside Airport was actually established on this side of the river in West Riverside. It was almost wiped out in the 1936 flood and really was barely an airport after that.  However, the little airstrip was still know as the Riverside Airport. In the early 1940s it was purchased by Falvio Madariaga and his partner Bob Bogen. They continued to use the Riverside Airport name. Meanwhile, the city of Riverside purchased the old Arlington Airport on Arlington Avenue and renamed it the Riverside Municipal Airport.

One day someone working around the planes at the airport in West Riverside was injured by a rotating plane propeller. An ambulance was called to come to the Riverside Airport. It sped to the Riverside Airport on Arlington Avenue. That was when the owners of the airport in West Riverside realized that THEIR airport needed a new name. So, by combining Flavio and Bob's first names, Flabob Airport was born!     IT has been pronounced in almost as many ways as "Jurupa" but the common pronunciation today is "flay-bob" with the emphasis on the first syllable.

Moving Picture Machine

According to the Riverside Daily Press in February 1924 the West Riverside school purchased a moving picture machine. They must have been given some sort of payment plan because the school was able to take possession of the machine before it was paid off. In order to finish paying for the device moving picture shows were given at the school. The plan was to have shows for the public every two weeks. On Fed 22^nd the show began at 7 pm. A two reel film showing the undersea gardens at Catalina was shown followed by a four reel picture called “Slumberland." A standard reel at that time had about eleven minutes of film on it so the first film would have been about 22 minutes long and the second about 44 minutes long. The school planned on using the motion picture machine in school work and it was expected to be a splendid addition to the school equipment.

Early Entertainment

The Riverside Enterprise reported that on May 1st, 1895 a man by the name of Mr. McBurney gave a magic lantern show at the Union school house, located in today's Mira Loma. There was only a small crowd in attendance at the school that night due to the inclement weather. However, it was reported that everyone present enjoyed the views very much. The night before Mr. McBurney had given the same show at the West Riverside school house to a large audience.

A magic lantern was what we would think of today as a slide projector. A light was shown through a slide and the "magic lantern," through the use of mirrors, would project an enlarged picture on a screen. The slides used were color and the color was applied by hand. By the end of the 19th century magic lanterns came in all sizes and where used for entertainment in the home, in schools, churches, clubs, etc.... Magic lanterns are considered the precursor to modern movies.

Funny Things Found While Writing Wicked Jurupa Valley Part III

While researching local history for my upcoming book Wicked Jurupa Valley: Murder and Misdeeds in Rural Southern California I discovered some funny (by funny I mean odd) things stuck back in your local history. One of the stories in the book is about a particular time in the history of the bridge that takes us all across the Santa Ana from Rubidoux to Riverside. Now, you may be wondering what a story about a bridge is doing in a book with the subtitle "Murder and Misdeeds." Well, you will be surprised to find out that I found stories of arson, spies, and a rampaging Mother Nature! It was certainly a surprise to me!   I look forward to you getting to read about the Rubidoux bridge and everything else when the book comes out in June!

Funny Things Found While Writing Wicked Jurupa Valley, Part II

So, I was doing research, minding my own business, when I come across a story of manslaughter and mistresses, oh my! One of the things that I found amazing is that this story of questionable goings on occurred at a place called the Jurupa Rancho. I had never heard of it!!!! Yet, in newspaper stories of the time (1948-49) this Jurupa Rancho had a house that was considered quite the place! According to the newspaper, the house on the Jurupa Rancho had "long been regarded as one of the show spots of Riverside County." This house is still located on Pedley Road near the 60 Freeway. I can't wait for all of you to read the story of this murder trial, one that was considered to be the the most sensational since the Wineville Chicken Coop murders.