Old postcard showcasing Pasadena, California’s imposing Gruenwald Arch, built by Chinese immigrants during the long hot summer of 1923.
Having considerably overbought construction material for a sturdy backyard barbecue, Baby Gruenwald donated what was left of the brick, mortar and wrought iron to the City of Pasadena in the form of a colossal arch he dedicated to himself in a ceremony attended by Charlie Chaplin’s pet monkey Kevin and Lillian Gish‘s favorite floral print scarf (lost weeks before and deposited by fierce autumn winds onto a folding wooden chair).
The mammoth edifice stood until 1938, when it was destroyed by a team of maddened circus elephants under the direction of Martin “Baby” Bibsy, former child star and Gruenwald’s bitter theatrical rival.
