WEST COAST CONNECTIONS
I posed a question recently to fellow 52+Joker member Matt Schacht about who may have been the first West Coast card maker. He suggested the Alverson-Comstock Company that did souvenir decks in about 1894. The Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards lists their decks as......
S86 DEL CORONADO HOTEL SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS
S87 LAKE TAHOE SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS
S88 LAKE TAHOE SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS
S89 SANTA ANITA RANCH (LUCKY BALDWIN)
An unlisted deck, owned by Matt, is entitled "California Illustrated" and has "Lucky" Baldwin as the joker.
An expanded discussion of the decks will be at the end of the story.
S86 DEL CORONADO HOTEL SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS
S87 LAKE TAHOE SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS
S88 LAKE TAHOE SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS
S89 SANTA ANITA RANCH (LUCKY BALDWIN)
An unlisted deck, owned by Matt, is entitled "California Illustrated" and has "Lucky" Baldwin as the joker.
An expanded discussion of the decks will be at the end of the story.
When researching a story you never know where you will find the clue that starts tying things together. In this story it was a famous trial in it's day. It involved "Lucky" Baldwin being sued for $75,000 (over $2 million today) by a young lady for ruining her reputation. "Lucky" had the money, he was a multimillionaire, but he wasn't about to give any of it away.
Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin (1828 – 1909) was one of the great pioneers of California business. He was an investor and real estate speculator during the second half of the 19th century. He earned the nickname "Lucky" Baldwin due to his extraordinary good fortune in a number of business deals. He built the luxury Baldwin Hotel and Theatre in San Francisco and bought vast tracts of land in Southern California, where a number of places and neighborhoods are named after him. He even has his own statue in Arcadia, California.
At age 18 he eloped with a neighbor girl named Sarah Ann Unruh. During the 16 years they were married he had become very rich and he divorced her in 1862. Baldwin was financially tightfisted in his business dealings and led a flamboyant lifestyle. After another short marriage he wed a 16 year old, Jennie Dexter, that died at age 23. (Their daughter Anita comes into play later) At age 56 he married another 16 year old, Lillie Bennett, that he walked out on after 2 years. "Lucky" liked them young and they all loved him and his money.
The same year he married Jennie he was sued by a young lady for $75,000 and she won. It was the only time his luck failed him with the women. In 1883 Fannie Verona Baldwin, his 20 year old cousin, shot and wounded him in his own hotel in San Francisco. She claimed she was not only seduced by him but was also raped by him. His lawyers, claiming she was insane, beat the charges.
Three months after Verona Baldwin left, the licentious 55-year-old millionaire persuaded 16-year-old Louise Perkins to accompany him on a trip. This spawned a $500,000 lawsuit for breach of promise. Louise won but Lucky's lawyers countered with another law suit and Louise finally agreed to settle for $12,000 ($350,000 today).
In 1896, Lucky was again slapped with a breach of promise lawsuit, this time by a woman named Lillian Ashley. He fought back with 14 lawyers. " I want a reputation of being hard to collect from," he was quoted. Lucky explained. "If anybody wants anything out of me for any purpose, they'll have to sue."
Lillian was a young college girl from Boston that had contacted Baldwin for a job at his massive Santa Anita ranch. She introduced letters of his seduction of her and even claimed they were married. She had a handwritten piece of paper, signed by Lucky, stating so. But after discarding her she had his baby. A girl she named Beatrice that Lucky now denied.
Lucky's 14 lawyers tore into her reputation. At the trial her sister Emma could not take Lillian being berated any more. She rose from her seat behind Lucky and pulled out a pistol. Firing from 4 feet away she just missed his head and almost got the judge. Lillian's trial was put on hold while they prosecuted her sister.
Lillian was a young college girl from Boston that had contacted Baldwin for a job at his massive Santa Anita ranch. She introduced letters of his seduction of her and even claimed they were married. She had a handwritten piece of paper, signed by Lucky, stating so. But after discarding her she had his baby. A girl she named Beatrice that Lucky now denied.
Lucky's 14 lawyers tore into her reputation. At the trial her sister Emma could not take Lillian being berated any more. She rose from her seat behind Lucky and pulled out a pistol. Firing from 4 feet away she just missed his head and almost got the judge. Lillian's trial was put on hold while they prosecuted her sister.
Emma's jury was familiar with her sister's trial and Emma's murder attempt. After deliberating only 6 minutes they claimed the stress had made her temporarily insane and let her go, Lillian's trial resumed.
Lillian's trial starts back up with witness testimony about her "loose" actions at the Hotel Oakwood in Arcadia. Two witnesses to Lillian's actions with other men were Melville Lawrence and his sister Nellie. Nellie was introduced as Mrs. Alverson. She was questioned about her past and her four marriages. She remembered her first husband, Lyman A. Frisbie, and forgot the first name of her second husband named Comstock. After that she said she married a W. Reisner but was now Mrs. Frank A. Alverson of San Bernadino. Was she my connection to the Alverson and Comstock I am looking for? Yes she is. She ties a lot of people together. We will get back to Lillian later.
The story starts back in 1857 with Lyman Parsons Frisbie arriving in Nevada City, California, at the end of the Gold Rush. But 2 years later, about 100 miles east in Virginia City, silver is discovered. This is the Comstock Lode, the first major silver deposit discovery in the United States. Lyman quickly relocates there. His first wife passes away there.
Virginia City, Nevada, in the 1860s
As the silver rush plays out, and the town almost burning down, Lyman seeks business opportunities elsewhere. He moved south a few miles to Carson City and started a restaurant and saloon. His newly married son, Lyman Austin, goes with him and helps run the popular place.
Business is good, but Lyman Austin is not happy in his marriage. He headed back to the old family home town of Biddeford, Maine. His wife divorces him for desertion and 2 years later he returned with a new wife. She was 19 year old Ella "Nellie" Dow. Within four years they had two sons; Harry and George. Lyman Parsons Frisbie died during this time and the son renovated the business and expanded it with apartments. Lyman Austin was a well known as a singer and even had his own band in town. Apparently this was not enough for Nellie and she left him to marry a local liquor dealer named George L. M. Comstock in 1878. Her new husband adopted her sons. Lyman went back to Biddeford and found an English girl to marry and spend the rest of his life with in Carson City.
George L. M. Comstock was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but his parents were from New York. The Comstock that discovered the silver lode was from Canada. The connection appears to be coincidental or very distant.
Shortly after George and Nellie are married he quits selling liqour and starts serving it in his new saloon. George had relocated to the brand new town of Hawthorne located southeast of Carson City near Walker Lake. Still wanting to do better George soon found a better opportunity on nearby Lake Tahoe. He made a deal to operate "Lucky" Baldwin's Tallac House on the west side of the lake for 3 years.
During the summer of 1879, "Lucky" Baldwin was in South Lake Tahoe and spent time at a small hotel owned by Ephraim "Yank" Clements. It was situated on 2,000 acres and Clements had rights to an entire mile of lakefront. The resort was unusual because it still retained the majestic old-growth forests that had been harvested throughout much of the basin for beams to support silver mine tunnels in the Comstock Lode. In 1880 Baldwin bought the resort when it went into foreclosure. "Lucky" re-christened the property the "Tallac House" after nearby 9,785 feet Mount Tallac, one of the tallest mountains in the Lake Tahoe basin. His resort soon attracted travelers from across the United States seeking luxury accommodations.
Enter now Melville Lawrence. This is the same gentleman mentioned as Nellie's brother in Lillian Ashley's trial. Mr. Lawrence has spent the last 20 tears managing a hotel in Canada and has come to join his sister at Lake Tahoe. He and George Comstock make a deal to lease the Tallac property for 10 years.
The strange thing is, as I researched Ella "Nellie" Dow's family history, I found she had no brother named Melville. She did have a brother recorded as "Orvill" the same age as Melville though. And her name was definitely Dow and not Lawrence. Her parents lived to be quite old and her mother was never married to any Lawrence. But the brother and sister have now started using the last name of Lawrence in all the records.
The strange thing is, as I researched Ella "Nellie" Dow's family history, I found she had no brother named Melville. She did have a brother recorded as "Orvill" the same age as Melville though. And her name was definitely Dow and not Lawrence. Her parents lived to be quite old and her mother was never married to any Lawrence. But the brother and sister have now started using the last name of Lawrence in all the records.
The Comstock family begins spending time in San Barbara, California, in the off season at Lake Tahoe. There George is also the proprietor of the The New Morris Hotel. Originally named The Shaw House it was a 3 story hotel that had a beautiful wrap around balcony and was an important part of downtown Santa Barbara. (The hotel was destroyed by an earthquake, along with much of Santa Barbara, on the morning of June 29th, 1925.) On February 25, 1889, while playing cards at the hotel, George falls over dead from a heart attack.
The New Morris Hotel
Nellie Comstock is now a widow with 2 young teenage sons. She sells off the hotel and returns to Tallac House to open it for the summer. Her brother helps her run the hotel.
The newspaper articles about Nellie's testimony during Lillian Ashley's trial says she became Mrs. W. Reisner next. But a marriage license in the local paper shows she was marrying a man named Cunningham. Who ever she married does not matter because it is a short one. How she met her next husband is unknown but they are married in less that 4 years after George's death. This time she is almost 40 year old and marries 20 year old Frank B. Alverson.
The newspaper articles about Nellie's testimony during Lillian Ashley's trial says she became Mrs. W. Reisner next. But a marriage license in the local paper shows she was marrying a man named Cunningham. Who ever she married does not matter because it is a short one. How she met her next husband is unknown but they are married in less that 4 years after George's death. This time she is almost 40 year old and marries 20 year old Frank B. Alverson.
In 1884 a Wisconsin Civil War veteran named David Brockway Alverson moved his family to near San Bernadino, California. He was a farmer and carriage maker with 2 boys and a girl. His son, Frank Brockway Alverson, had gone to New York City and learned lithography and photography under Napoleon Sarony. He was known as the greatest American lithographer and photographer of his day. He was a highly popular portrait photographer, best known for his portraits of the stars of late-19th-century American theater.
Napoleon Sarony (Self Portrait)
When Frank returned to California he started a designing, drafting, photo-engraving and heliographic printing business in the Temple Block in Los Angeles. He was also the first to use halftone printing in the state. By the time he married Nellie he was also the youngest member on the board of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
The Temple Block Building (Owned by "Lucky" Baldwin)
In 1893 Frank's company, called the Electric Engraving Co., illustrated a pictorial book on California called "Memorabilia". It featured collages of photos from all around San Bernadino County near Los Angeles. The book was done with Alfred I. Townsend and Henry T. Hazard. At the time they have a patent office nearby. Mr. Hazard had just been the 20th Mayor of Los Angeles and Mr. Townsend was a well known lyricist in the newspapers. They were both from San Bernadino County like Alverson. The pictures are very similar to the Alverson-Comstock souvenir cards he is about to do.
You can view this book at this link.........
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In April 1894 a Los Angeles Times newspaper article states Frank dissolves, by mutual consent, his company with his partner W. J. Farrow. He relocates to San Francisco and opens up a new business. His new business partner is George L. M. Comstock. This is his new step-son, the former George Frisbie. After George Frisbie was adopted by George L. M. Comstock he changed his full name to George L. M. Comstock. The new business partners are almost the same age. Frank is 25 and George is 19. The company is known as Alverson-Comstock.
Why did Frank and Farrow split so quick? Well, it turns out Farrow is also known as W. J. Dean and will soon be arrested by Federal Authorities on counterfeiting charges. His wife, who worked in a local restaurant, was apparently laundering the money there. Mr. Farrow takes all the blame and does 4 years in Folsom Prison.
The stranger part of the story is that the newspaper articles say Farrow/Dean's partners at the Electric Engraving Company were a man named Roberts (an alias for some named P. W. Lee) and another named Metcalfe. Both are also wanted by authories. Frank B. Alverson's connection is never mentioned.
Frank's new company in San Francisco was The Alverson- Comstock Company. It was located at 309 California and is ONLY listed in the 1896 San Francisco City Directory. And ONLY Nellie and her son George are listed. Even though Nellie is Mrs. Frank B. Alverson she is listed as "Nellie L Comstock" in the directory. Several other businesses are also listed at the address.
This date also matches the copyright date that appears on the Alverson-Comstock Company Ace of Spades in their decks.
The decks Alverson-Comstock produce are illustrated playing cards of not so great quality. They are described as "like photo paper with a very shiny finish unlike other cards."
Where was Frank? Possibly at Lake Tahoe. Nellie and her brother still had Tellac to operate. Plus her brother also had the lease to operate the boat transporting people across the lake to the hotel. He was also working on a land deal on Lake Tahoe.
At the 1896 Lillian Ashley trial Mr. Lawrence and his sister were testifying about what they saw at the Oakwood Hotel. The Oakwood was a lavish facility with 35 rooms, all with a fireplace and hot and cold running water. It was located at what was to become Arcadia, California. It was also next to Rancho Santa Anita owned by "Lucky' Baldwin. In fact "Lucky' owned everything around there and would soon create the town of Arcadia.
The Oakwood
Melville Lawrence also ran the Oakwood and staff from Tellac worked there in the off season. Nellie Dow-Lawrence-Comstock-Reisner-Alverson was staying there at the time with her brother. Her husband was still working in nearby Los Angeles. They testified that Miss Ashley was improperly hugging. taking long rides with single men and spending improper amounts of time in upstairs rooms with men. So maybe Miss Ashley's baby was not "Lucky's".
"Lucky" wins again. The Ashley sisters, and the baby. return to their little apartment in San Francisco. Shortly after that she loses her job at the Emporium because customers were compaining of being waited on by "a notorius woman." She tells the newspapers that "Lucky" was behind it all. The sisters return home to the East Coast with the baby.
"Lucky" wins again. The Ashley sisters, and the baby. return to their little apartment in San Francisco. Shortly after that she loses her job at the Emporium because customers were compaining of being waited on by "a notorius woman." She tells the newspapers that "Lucky" was behind it all. The sisters return home to the East Coast with the baby.
With the lease for Tallac running out Frank B. Alverson looks for a business oportunity on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. In 1900 he purchases "Campbell Hot Springs" at what is now Kings Beach, California, by the stateline with Nevada. Alverson purchases the hotel and surrounding property for $3,500 and renamed the resort “Brockway Hot Springs”.
In 1909 the Alversons were forced into bankruptcy and sold the hot springs to Melville Lawrence and Harry O. Comstock (George's brother) for $9,000. Frank stays on to manage the property and operates a photography studio in nearby Auburn. The next year Nellie passes away. Then in 1916, while fishing on Lake Tahoe, Frank is caught in a storm and becomes sick. He died a few days later.
In 1929, while still operating the Brockway, Melville Lawrence (pictured on the left) died suddenly from a heart attack.
George L. M. Comstock had gotten into raising race horses with "Lucky" Baldwin at his Oakwood Stock Ranch. (His brother Harry would later run it) In 1893 "Lucky" started raising and breeding race horses there. About 1920 George relocated to Sacramento to retire. On March 11, 1930 he became ill while out shopping with his wife. Four hours later he died.
George's brother, Harry, keeps running the Brockway and adds a casino. He passes away in 1954. In December 1970 the Brockway Casino and Dining Room Building was demolished to make way for future construction of the recreation component of the Brockway Springs Condominium Project. It is now the Brockway Springs Property Owners Association. Brockway Springs is a gated neighborhood comprised of 78 privately owned condominiums.
The prosperity of Tallac Resort was not to last. By the end of World War I, the wealthy were beginning to spend their money in different ways. The resort was torn down in the late 1920s, a victim of natural deterioration and changes in recreation and land use around the lake. The area is now an historical site.
in 1907 "Lucky" Baldwin built the Santa Anita Race Track in his new town of Arcadia. In February 1909, during the track’s second and what would be its final racing season, the Walker-Otis bill passed in California and outlawed “pool selling”, making it impossible for bookmakers to ply their trade. The end of racing in California followed, killed by the wave of “moralism” spreading across the country during the period. "Lucky" Baldwin died at his ranch less than a month after the anti-gambling bill became law. This brings Lillian Ashley back to Arcadia.
Lillian is now the wife of a Dr. Turnbull. Her daughter, Beatrice is now the 17 year old adopted daughter of Dr. Turnbull. Mother and daughter have returned to claim her rightful inheritance. A Baldwin family friend tells the newspapers that "Lucky" stated in his Will that Beatrice is his daughter. But first they have to go through "Lucky's" daughter Anita.
Anita was the daughter of "Lucky" and wife #3 Jennie Dexter. She was the Anita in Santa Anita and Love of His Life. She was also the female version of "Lucky' and no saint. She was not about to let go of Baldwin money. It takes almost a year but Anita prevails. The Turnbulls head back east empty handed.
Anita also hated the race track across from her estate. It was surrounded by saloons and migrant shacks and her kids did not need to see that when playing in the front yard. She acquires enough shares to become majority holder of the racing commission and shuts down the track and starts cleaning out the riff-raff. She plans on turning the track into a polo field but that never happened. During World War I it became a military base. In 1933 California legalized parimutuel wagering and horse racing starts to return to California. Shortly before Anita's death the newly formed Los Angeles Turf Club buys the property and in 1934 the presant day race track was built.
Santa Anita Race Track 1908
THE ALVERSON-COMSTOCK DECKS
Were these decks the first pictorial souvenir cards made? The Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards lists only one other deck that might predate them. It is listed as S78 MACATAWA BAY SOUVENIR CARDS, 1890, by an unknown maker. We know the Macatawa Bay Souvenir Co. in Michigan sold it. The deck is extremely scarce and only a handful are known. It could well be the earliest souvenir deck printed in the United States.
That statement is old. The maker is now strongly thought to be The Standard Playing Card Company. Also another deck was discovered in 2008 with a different back design. And after I started researching the photos on the S78 deck I found a clue. Both decks show the newer Macatawa Hotel on the Ace of Diamonds. I discovered that this hotel was not built until 1895. It looks like Alverson & Comstock were the first to make pictorial souvenir cards in the United States after all.
That statement is old. The maker is now strongly thought to be The Standard Playing Card Company. Also another deck was discovered in 2008 with a different back design. And after I started researching the photos on the S78 deck I found a clue. Both decks show the newer Macatawa Hotel on the Ace of Diamonds. I discovered that this hotel was not built until 1895. It looks like Alverson & Comstock were the first to make pictorial souvenir cards in the United States after all.
The Alverson-Comstock cards were obviously made for the tourist trade coming to the Tallac House. Their quality was not up to the usual playing cards of the day. A plastic coated deck was reproduced about 1986 of the Oakwood-Santa Anita deck. It is said to be colllectible also, just not at the prices seen for the originals that easily go for over $2,000.
Matt's opinion is that it's not fair to say that the A-C cards are "of not so great quality". They are quite unusual indeed, but he would not disparage their quality. They are actually nice cards and evenly cut. He feels that the photo-type process, which explains their look and feel, is why some of the cards have faded over time.
Matt's opinion is that it's not fair to say that the A-C cards are "of not so great quality". They are quite unusual indeed, but he would not disparage their quality. They are actually nice cards and evenly cut. He feels that the photo-type process, which explains their look and feel, is why some of the cards have faded over time.
S86 DEL CORONADO HOTEL SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS, Alverson, Comstock Co., San Francisco, 1894. This deck features photographic scenes of the Southern California area and a picture of the hotel on the back. The faces have scenes from the area.
The Del Coronado was the single largest resort hotel in the world when it was built. "Lucky" has no association with this hotel. Why would Alverson and Comstock do a deck with a major competitor to sell at Tallac? Was this their first souvenir deck?
S87 LAKE TAHOE SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS, Alverson, Comstock Co., San Francisco, c1895. The back shows the ‘Tallas’, a pleasure steamer for tourists to see the lake. This deck has the same Joker as S85.
The "Tallas" was operated by Melville Lawrence.
S87 LAKE TAHOE SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS, Alverson, Comstock Co., San Francisco, c1895. The back shows the ‘Tallas’, a pleasure steamer for tourists to see the lake. This deck has the same Joker as S85.
The "Tallas" was operated by Melville Lawrence.
S88 LAKE TAHOE SOUVENIR PLAYING CARDS, Alverson, Comstock Co., San Francisco, c1895. The back is very similar to S87 but this is a different version of the Lake Tahoe deck, with different photo scenes (some are repeated) and a ‘fish’ Joker.
S89 SANTA ANITA RANCH (LUCKY BALDWIN), Alverson, Comstock Co., San Francisco, c1895. This deck, with its horse racing and gambling themes, is high on the want lists of many collectors. The back has a photo of the head of a racehorse and the words ‘The Oakwood’ and ‘Santa Anita Ranch–Southern California’.
This deck features a number of "Lucky's" winningest race horses from his Santa Anita Ranch. This is the deck used for reproduction. That one is plastic coated.
UNLISTED CALIFORNIA ILLUSTRATED, Alverson, Comstock Co., San Francisco, c1893.
This deck shares pictures from others. But since I have not seen all the decks I can't say how many.
Again there are a number of scenes from around Tallac and the Santa Anita ranch.
UNLISTED CALIFORNIA ILLUSTRATED, Alverson, Comstock Co., San Francisco, c1893.
This deck shares pictures from others. But since I have not seen all the decks I can't say how many.
Again there are a number of scenes from around Tallac and the Santa Anita ranch.
In this deck I did notice a misspelling on the 10 of Spades. It says "Hoplad Stock Farm". This should be "Hopland". The farm was a well known race horse stock farm in the 1890's.