7up 3-1-3 bubble bottle!

Now I get to do a little speculating - so bear with me because I'm making this up as I go ...

1. I have to assume when the permit was filed they already had blueprints drawn up. How else would they know how large the slab would be?

2. If they had blueprints of the floor plan, they no doubt knew where the offices, bottling area, warehouse, etc. would be located. Not to mention where the underground utilities such as water lines, drains, etc. would be located. As for the electric and phone connections, that probably came later and were above ground and inside the walls.

3. If they had blueprints of the floor plan, those plans no doubt included the 'tower' part of the building where the 3-1-3 neon sign would be installed.

4. If they knew where the tower and sign were located, they no doubt knew how large of a sign they needed to sit on top of the tower.

5. Which leads me to believe they already knew what size and type of sign they needed/wanted when the concrete slab permit was filed on December 24, 1938.

6. What we don't know is how long it took to design and manufacture the sign - nor if that took place in 1938 or just prior to the time when the building was partially completed in April of 1939. The April 15, 1939 picture I posted earlier shows the sign already installed.

7. A far as how long it took to manufacture the sign goes, the one thing that jumps out at me most is that it was an "electric neon" sign and it probably took a little time and effort to construct it.

8. Regarding whose decision it was to put the 3-1-3 bubbles on the sign, my best guess is that D.K. Washburn (President) likely had the final say in all construction matters regardless of who might have been advising him.

9. Hence, the question as to which came first, the 3-1-3 sign or the 7313 phone number, my best guess is to say ...


"Stay Tuned"

P.S.

I forgot one ...


10. As to which came first, the 3-1-3 sign, the 7313 phone number, or the 3-1-3 bottles, I'd have to say at this juncture that the sign and phone number came before the bottles. I say this because the only confirmed date we have for the 3-1-3 bottles is 1941, whereas the sign and phone number are confirmed as existing in 1939.

In Search of ...

Information about F. A. Greenough - the contractor who built the new Bakersfield 7up bottling plant ...


[ The Bakersfield Californian ~ May 17, 1939 ]

Forget F. A. Greenough the contractor and F. W. DeFoy the architect, I wanna know more about these guys ...

[ The Bakersfield Californian ~ June 13, 1939 ]

Here's the page from the 1939 Bakersfield Directory where the 7313 phone number would have appeared if it had been active at the time. This is the same directory that has the date stamp Feb 27, 1939 that I posted earlier. Notice that the numbers 7312 and 7313 are both missing. What I find weird about the directory itself is that the phone numbers are listed numerically instead of the names being listed alphabetically. In other words, you would have to know the number first in order to find who it belonged to. The alphabetical listing of names in another section doesn't show any phone numbers, only addresses. Crazy!

Great work Bob! I have sporadic working comp still. The owner of the photo messaged me back but with no other info on it. I also have found another photo with the 3-1-3 pattern in it but no other info on that one either.
I also wanted to search out the owner of the plant, but limited comp time.

Rich

Thanks

I'm still working on the question ...

Which came first - the 3-1-3 Sign or the 7313 Phone Number?

Even though I have not found anything that's 100% conclusive yet, I'm hoping the following will shed some light on the subject. I'm also hoping I post the following information and snippets in their proper order so that its easy to understand and not confusing. This stuff gets a little tricky at times. It will likely take me several post to complete my observations, so please bear with me until I say something like "this concludes" ...

Important Note: All of the following are from the 1939 Bakersfield Directory

For starters, I want to re-post this image that shows the Feb 27, 1939 Date Stamp. Regardless when the Directory was officially compiled and published, the Feb 27, 1939 Date Stamp suggest it was probably in full circulation at that time. I have researched Directories like this before and have discovered that most of the listings are carried over from the previous year, with new listings added as needed. In other words, it is safe to assume that a Directory published and issued in early 1939 was likely compiled sometime in late 1938. One of the first pages in the 1939 Bakersfield Directory states that a door-to-door survey was conducted to check with the resident or business to determine if the address and/or phone number were the same as the previous year or whether any changes had been made. On the same page it states that R. L. Polk & Company could not be held responsible if the information they received from a resident or business was not accurate.

Anyway, here goes ...




(To be continued)

Important Note:

My primary focus is with the 230 East Eighteen address where the new Bakersfield 7up bottling plant was built and where the 3-1-3 sign was installed - as well as the 7313 phone number that was first published in the Bakersfield Californian newspaper on April 15, 1939.

This next snippet is found on Page 250 of the 1939 Bakersfield Directory showing 18th East at the top. Notice there is no listing for 230 East Eighteenth. I added the green 230 to indicate where the address should have been. Also notice that the numbers jump from 229 to 308. I believe that part of town might have been vacant lots at the time. The little "Bell Symbols" indicate if a particular address had a phone.





(To be continued)

Next up is the section where the Phone Numbers are listed and who they belonged to. I added the green numbers where the 7313 Phone Number should have been if it was active at the time. Especially notice the names Behan Beauty Art Studio and Yount, Elis, Mrs. as I will be discussing them next.




(To be continued)

Initially I thought that certain phone numbers were specific to certain parts of town, such as those starting with 71?? possibly all being on the same street. But after taking a closer look I realized that wasn't the case.

Notice in this first snippet that the Behan Beauty Art Studio was located at 1906 19th and that Elizabeth Behan's residence was located at 1720 16th. Also notice that the Beauty store phone number was 7311 as indicated in my last post.




(To be continued)