In-N-Out Burger by Stacy Perman Read Free Book Online

the Baldwin Park Tribune , had “upset Republican hopes, confound[ed] Mr. Gallup and surprise[d] even members of the Democratic party.” An undisputed optimism was sweeping the land, and nowhere was that more obvious than in Southern California.
    Lured by the promise of opportunity, a mild climate, and relatively inexpensive real estate hitched to an enormous economic rocket, the Snyders—like hundreds of thousands of other newcomers—moved to the Southland in record numbers. Los Angeles had earned a reputation as something of a flourishing boomtown, benefitting greatly from the fact that it was situated on one of the most verdant agricultural belts in the country. And throughout much of the 1920s and 1930s, the Southland enjoyed a prosperity buoyed by the oil and movie industries.
    During the early 1940s, California played a tremendous role in the country’s war effort. The military unfurled its industrial flags across the state; defense contractors established huge manufacturing centers, the aerospace industry set up shop, factories were built, and military bases were erected. Between 1939 and 1945, federal spending reached more than $35 billion in California, making it the third largest manufacturing center in the country behind New York and Michigan. The ripple effect was enormous. Waves of growth radiated out from Los Angeles like a fan. New jobs were created, new development and infrastructure followed the jobs, and an influx of new residents trailed closely behind; the average personal income tripled. As a result, throughout the war years, some 1.6 million Americans migrated to California. Many received their military training here, while others touched down on their way to the frontlines of the Pacific theater. Following V-Day, a number of those who had gotten a taste of the Golden State decided they didn’t want to leave.
    It was nothing less than a mass exodus of Americans. Indeed, between 1940 and 1950, the state population swelled from 6.9 millionto 10.5 million, an increase of approximately 52 percent. Between July 1945 and July 1947, more than a million people resettled in California—many ended up in the Southland. In the words of writer and social commentator Sarah Comstock, “As New York is the melting pot for the peoples of Europe, so Los Angeles is the melting pot for the peoples of the United States.”
    Baldwin Park quickly became one of the fastest-growing postwar communities in this vast and growing melting pot. By the time the Snyders arrived, the number of inhabitants had nearly doubled from its prewar population (by 1956 it would nearly quadruple to 28,056). In 1948, after the local post office reported an all-time high of $65,000 worth of postal receipts, the Baldwin Park Tribune concluded, “Since the business done by the post office is considered a reliable weather vane of community progress, the receipts for 1948 can be taken as an indication of a doubling of the importance of the community during the past ten years.” A less strictly numerical (although no less noteworthy) indicator of Baldwin Park’s growth was the fact that the town now boasted eighteen different churches, all supporting their own congregations of Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Catholics, among others.
    The surge of people and activity in Baldwin Park led to a resumption of the growth and prosperity that had been paralyzed by the Depression. A number of the large ranches had been broken up and subdivided into smaller lots and sold at bargain prices. While the scent of citrus had always filled the air in the San Gabriel Valley, now, for the first time since before the stock market crash of 1929, the air was thick with new possibilities.
    New residents were pouring into Baldwin Park at a rate that out-paced available housing. Many families ended up living in the numerous trailer parks that had emerged in the wake of a significant housing shortage. One of the largest, Baldy