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Among many philanthropies,
the new Mrs. Awl gave San Francisco its Palace of the
Legion of Honor, as well as many of its highly valued
art treasures. She is the owner of the entrancing Sobre
Vista near Napa in the Valley of the Moon, and her
latest acquisition is the Samarkand at Santa Barbara.
Mission Trails Building on Treasure
Island...
San Francisco Chronicle/March
29,1939...
"The romance and beauty of early California has been
reconstructed on Treasure Island in the Mission Trails
building, one of the most impressive structures at the
Exposition.
Seven counties, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Benito,
Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara,
through which the famous old El Camino Real runs, are
represented by the building.
The structure is a composite of old California
missions. Distinctive features of each of the missions
are contained in the building: The star of Carmel
window, the hidden garden of San Luis Rey, the columned
corridor of San Juan Capistrano.
From the belfry tower an electrical transcription of
mission bells that may be heard over the entire island
peals forth every fifteen minutes.
The interior has been done to
represent a street scene in a Spanish California town.
Two-storied adobe houses with tile roofs line both sides
of the auditorium. A large Spanish tile fountain plays
continuously in the center of the room.
An arched ceiling is colored and lighted in such a
manner as to give the illusion of no ceiling at all; a
view of the sky directly overhead.
At one end of the auditorium are three large arches,
the center one a setting for a moving diorama in oils of
scenic spots in the seven counties. The paintings are
the work of Julian Dove and Fritz Kracncke. Moving
slowing and continuously, the canvas measures 174 feet
long by 18 feet high.
In a wing on the left of the building is a large room
for county displays, each of the seven counties
occupying the room in turn. On the wall is a large
Spanish tile mural. Throughout the grounds are many
restful chairs and divans.
Hospitality is the keynote of the Mission Trails
building."
San Francisco Chronicle/June
10, 1939...
"The increasing interest in Californiana, which is
being accelerated by the Fair, has prompted the
publication of "Old Missions of California," a pamphlet
of reproductions of the old California Mission paintings
of Will Sparks, one of the painter laureates, so to
speak, of the State. Accompanying each picture is a
historical resume of the Mission represented and Albert
G. Haskell has written an introduction in appreciation
of Will Sparks. The originals of the paintings are at
present in the possession of Mrs. Adolph B. Spreckels,
who plans to give them to the Palace of the Legion of
Honor. The book was brought out by the Old Missions
publishing Company."
San Francisco Chronicle/June
11, 1939...
The Philosophy of a Wealthy Woman
"There's an old aphorism, "Comparisons are odious." But
sometimes they're not. Sometimes they are more than that
-
And so we introduce comparisons of 1922 and 1939
with one woman, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels Awl, as
central figure in the changing picture, and we leave you
to take your choice. We've taken ours. And when you have
read this piece, guess which!
All this is prompted by the grandest cocktail party the
working press has enjoyed in many a day.
But when we sat ourselves down in a love seat the other
day beside the 'doyenne' of one of the most gorgeous
mansions in California we chatted away in intimate
woman-to-woman fashion of husbands, and children, and
divorces, and investments, and the best brands of
champagne, and why young folks don't get along, and how
to make hotels pay, and what makes home a home. We found
in Alma Awl a calm, simple, naive human being, who was a
far cry from the statuesquely beautiful, proud and timid
woman of nearly two decades ago, who still was using her
fabulous wealth to off-set the Cinderella beginnings of
her career.
We'll never forget her as she was the first time we
ever met her in her magnificent treasure trove of a
house. She stood beside her own portrait, tall, soignee,
her raven black hair in close gleaming waves upon her
head, a gown of black that fitted her svelte figure like
a glove. A story book character.
She was the sugar king's wife, and she played her part
with the dignity and reserve of a princess royal. A
French ancestry, a taste in high-priced art were a part
of the regal cloak in which she was draped.
The Present Picture
We were impressed but we were not warmed in that long
ago day of first meeting.
But jump the years and come up to now. The sugar king
is dead, the children are grown, the daughters married,
the son thrice married, and Alma de Bretteville
Spreckels Awl, with a new spouse and a new attitude
toward life, still commands the vast sugar millions and
personally sees to every trifling investment.
And as we sank beside her on the down-cushioned love
seat we bridged those years with the fleetness of
thought and found a woman so changed we hardly knew her.
So frank, so comfortable, so serene! The hair that once
was sleek and shining was in a fluff of short curls,
unset, about her head. Plump, without makeup, without
nail varnish, garbed in a simple black gown. That's the
present picture.
Like others who by great wealth or great attainment are
released from need of pretense, she was utterly herself,
chattering along about her children, her hotels, her
public golf course. Proud of her efforts as a
businesswoman.
Her Cuban Husband
Why live at the Samarkand in Santa Barbara?...
"Well, I've $350,000. invested there. I have to look
after it, don't I? And I've the Coronado and the San
Diego, too. Hotel business. Ugh! Make money? If I did,
the Government would take it away from me."
Her eyes followed the Cuban husband, Elmer Awl, a
swart, stocky, slightly incongruous figure, hosting it
happily among her guests. But she smiled as she watched
him, and said softly: "He's a good husband." His clothes
of dark green with white stripes smugly fitted his
sinuous body. His shirt was of deep maroon. His
movements had a smooth, tigerlike power.
He called her "Honey," and she called him "Dear," in
just the way that made you feel they meant it - that
there was a lasting, deep affection there.
And then we were talking about her children. She's proud
of them. Likes her sons-in-law, especially John
Rosecrans, handsome and upstanding, who was helping with
the party.
"They're good boys," she said. "And my son is a good
boy, too. He's had a hard time."
She was speaking of young Adolph Spreckels Jr. and his
series of marriages. Analyzing his marital mishaps she
said tolerantly that young folks have a difficult time
these days.
"Homes that are broken by divorce or death have a way
of unsettling the emotional life of children," she
commented with a bit of psychological acumen. "Children
need both a father and a mother. My boy's father died
when he was only 8 years old. I've tried to be
everything to him, but he has missed his father very
much."
As for Geraldine, the pretty blonde cousin young Adolph
married, Mrs. Awl had no word of criticism or reproach.
"She's a lovely girl," she said. "Life for her was full
of change and insecurity, too."
She Creates Jobs
Mrs. Awl fancies herself as a business woman, and with
good reason. There's no turning over of her interests to
the management of paid employees. her own eyes
scrutinize every investment and enterprise. No European
art purchases for her these days. She's making her money
work for thousands of people.
But as we listened to the story of the public golf
course in Sonoma County our eyes could not detach
themselves from the single strand of perals around Mrs.
Awl's neck. They were so beautiful - lustrous, perfectly
graduated. On her finger above a diamond wedding circlet
was an exquisitely wrought ring with tiny jewels in many
colors.
Conscience smitten at having
taken up so much of Mrs. Awl's attention, we slipped at
last out of the favored seat to make way for someone
else. We ate our fill of sandwiches and caviar and
sipped the sparkling golden wine with many a good wish
for Mrs. Awl and all of her ventures. And our mind
wandered back to 1922 when first we entered the
Spreckels mansion as a guest. It was an impressive
party. But we like everything about 1939, including our
hostess, best."
San Francisco Chronicle/ August
13,1939
Paintings
Exhibit Will Honor Artist
Wednesday marks the opening of a memorial showing of
paintings by an artist who specialized in presenting the
romantic aspects of California's historic spots. The
artist was Will sparks. The California Palace of the
Legion of Honor is the gallery to show them through
September 17.
The show will be the most complete collection of
Sparks' work yet assembled, representing loans from many
private collections as well as the famed group of
twenty-five paintings of California missions.
For more than a quarter of a century Sparks made his
home in San Francisco, noted as an active force in the
creative group centering in the Bohemian Club. His
style, showing a strong influence of the Barbizon
school, developed into a distinctive exposition of
California romanticism.
His record of the California Missions, said to be the
only complete collection ever painted, will be loaned by
the new museum at the Rancheros Visitadores of Santa
Barbara, to which they were recently given as a gift of
Mrs. Alma de Bretteville Spreckels Awl.
The Mission collection of the Legion of Honor exhibit
is being shown through the courtesy of Mr. John J.
Mitchell, of Chicago, president of the Rancheros, and
Mr. Elmer Awl, founder of that organization. Members of
the Rancheros, from all parts of California, as well as
members of the Bohemian Club, are among those invited to
a special preview of the Sparks Mission collection next
Tuesday afternoon,
San Francisco Chronicle/ August 17, 1939
Champagne and Sandwiches For Art's
Sake:
Mrs. Errol MacBoyle (seated) exchanges bright chatter
with Mrs. John Rosekrans at the swellelegant (excuse,
please, we mean inspired) - party given Tuesday
afternoon at the California Palace of the Legion of
Honor to preview the Will Sparks exhibit. Mrs. Rosekrans
is a daughter of Mrs. Elmer Awl (Mrs. A. B. Spreckels),
who was hostess for the afternoon and made it a huge
success.
Click here for details as to what is included with the
collection
Click here to view the collection
in it's entirety
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