Around Pomona: January 2012 Archives

But only if you want to travel back in time. Reader Eric Scherer found an eBay listing for a Pomona Tile sample kit and case said to date to "1910s/20s." Fixed price: $661.98.

(Of course, if you're going to travel back in time after your purchase, why buy it at 2012 prices?)

Pomona Tile used to be a very important business around town. Scherer also found a heavily illustrated blog post about the company's "Distinguished Designer" series in which Millard Sheets, Saul Bass and other famous names were commissioned to design tiles. Some great images for you midcentury-modern design mavens.

From the Tile Heritage newsletter, 2007:

"Pomona Tile was founded in 1923 by Judson Clark and was acquired within its first year by R.J. Schroeder, who maintained the offices and factory at Third and Reservoir Streets in Pomona, California. The company specialized initially in unglazed ceramic mosaics, but by the end of the decade both ceramic floor and wall tiles were produced.

"The height of production came in the mid-1950s when Drew Schroeder took over the reins from his father. But competition was intense, and despite the broadening of its product lines, the company began losing its grip by the early-sixties.

"American Olean acquired Pomona in 1966 providing the backing and leadership to introduce Pomona Stone and the colorful Caribbean line. AO sold the company to Huntington Tile in 1976, ending over 50 years of Pomona tile production."

The old St. Charles Grill restaurant in Pomona is the subject of Sunday's column (read it here). An earlier blog post prompted a few reader comments.

During my recent tour of the building, my eye was caught by vintage photos taped to the mirror behind the bar. (The blue at the corners is tape.)

One, reproduced above, was a fuller version of an exterior photo that appeared cropped and with less detail on my blog. I love the St. Charles sign. The smaller window sign at the right reads "Chicken Dinners" and I believe the one at the left says "Steak Dinners."

Below that is a fresh photo. Although the signs are gone, naturally, the exterior looks swankier today than it did whenever the photo was shot, perhaps after a remodeling somewhere along the line obscured some of the details.

The other piece on the mirror was a postcard, dated 1938, of the "annex," as the bar was apparently known. It would be the area under the "Cocktails" sign in the top photo. Both sides of the postcard are reproduced below. Note how the word "patronage" was mistakenly substituted for "patrons." But nobody's perfect.

The bar is largely intact, but there was too much clutter for a decent photo.