The traditional Costa Mesa Fish Fry began as the Scarecrow Festival in 1941. In 1945 the local Lions Club began frying and serving fish at the event, which proved to be a big hit. The batter recipe -- which is still used today -- came from Lion and Orange County Supervisor Heinz Kaiser. He is shown above serving fish at the 1947 Fish Fry. (The brown stains on the table indicate freshness.)
The image above shows some of the Fish Fry crowd on June 7, 1952. I've included a detail from the same photo below, which should provide you with a better view of the background when you click on it. Note the signs for local businesses like Tewinkle Hardware.
Recently, I’ve mentioned a number of local history books that are in progress or on their way to press. Here are a few more….
Guy Ball is compiling photos for an Arcadia Publishing book about the history of Tustin. The book is due this coming Spring.
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Don Ballard is compiling a series of magazine-format follow-ups to his book about the history of the Disneyland Hotel.
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Gordon Bricken is working on a follow-up to his Civil War Legacy in Santa Ana, which will discuss the importance of immigrants from the North and South to Orange County in the years after the war.
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Phil Brigandi is wrapping up work on his history of the Boy Scouts in Orange County.
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Christopher Merritt’s long-awaited book about the history of Knott’s Berry Farm, Knott's Preserved, is going through its last round of edits and should be out this Fall.
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Rob Richardson is working on an Arcadia book entitled Orange County Railroads. I’m sure this will be a big seller and provide many images that few of us have seen before.