WHOSE ZOO IN SAN DIEGO! AN UNUSUAL POINT OF VIEW

Squier, Emma Lindsay [1892-1941] and John Bransby [1901-1998]

Published by Frye & Smith, Ltd., San Diego, CA, 1933

About this Item

Oblong 12mo. Unpaged [16p.] Illustrated with 16 black and white captioned photos by John Bransby, including one of Mrs. Belle Benchley, at that time the only woman director of a zoo, and one black and white map of the San Diego Zoo and vicinity. Stapled booklet in full color stiff pictorial wrappers decorated with a cartoon image of the San Diego Zoo by Stanley DeTreville. No noticeable wear to extremities, a bit of rust on the staple, else near fine to fine with no internal markings. Mailing envelope has a canceled stamp and the address "Mrs. Hattie Bell Shull, 908 E 2nd Ave, Spokane, Wash." and has a partial cartoon by DeGTreville. Mailing envleope has a crude tape repair to one fold and is lightly soiled but other wise in very good condition. Born in Marion, Indiana, Emma Lindsay Squier (1892-1941) was a nature and travel writer who lived much of her life in California. She studied journalism for two years at the University of Washington, but dropped out when her family moved to Glendale, CA, where she became a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Squier was later appointed an assistant editor of California Life, a monthly periodical published in Pasadena. She spent the balance of her career writing articles on many subjects for magazines and periodicals. After her marriage to George Clark in 1922, they moved to San Diego where she joined the San Diego Players and met John Bransby (1901-1998), who would become her second husband. Squier and Bransby spent time in Mexico City where they socialized withk Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo among other notables. This brochure about the San Diego Zoo was written by Squier and illustrated with photos by John Bransby. Born in Stockton, CA , Stanley DeTreville (1909-1984) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and for several years was a taxidermist for the San Diego Natural History Museum. He headed the art and photo department of the San Diego Union for a short while and was art director of the Phillips-Ramsey Advertising Agency for many years. The San Diego Zoo grew out of exotic animal exhibitions abandoned after the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Harry M. Wegeforth founded the Zoological Society of San Diego, meeting October 2, 1916, which initially followed precedents set by the New York Zoological Society at the Bronx Zoo. He served as president of the society until 1941. A permanent tract of land in Balboa Park was set aside in August 1921. The zoo began to move in the following year. In addition to the animals from the Exposition, the zoo acquired a menagerie from the defunct Wonderland Amusement Park. Ellen Browning Scripps financed a fence around the zoo so that it could begin charging an entrance fee to offset costs. This is a rare piece of San Diego Zoo ephemera, especially as found with the original mailing envelope. Seller Inventory # 009475

Bibliographic Details

Title: WHOSE ZOO IN SAN DIEGO! AN UNUSUAL POINT OF ...

Publisher: Frye & Smith, Ltd., San Diego, CA

Publication Date: 1933

Binding: Soft cover

Illustrator: John Bransby (photographer) and Stanley DeTreville (artist, 1909-1984)

Condition: Near Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Paper sleeve very good+