Covina in the Aughts

Citrus Avenue again, only this time about a half-century earlier. This photo was fairly easy to date, and very precisely, too.

Looking north on Citrus Avenue from Badillo Street, Covina, January, 1907. Clarence Tucker, photographer.
Click on the image to view an enlargement. Photo courtesy Covina Valley Historical Society and Powell Camera Shop (RIP).

Even before looking anything up, on the basis of a past search, I knew this picture had to be taken between 1903-1909 due to the presence of Franz Richter's bicycle repair shop in the far distance near Citrus's intersection with College. But, the obvious clincher was the banner hanging over the middle of the street. It reads:

The Ladies Aid Society of the Christian Church
will give an OYSTER SUPPER
in Reed Hall Thursday Eve. At 5 P.M.
Oyster STEW: 25¢    Chicken SADWICHES [sic]: 15¢

So I did a quick search for "oyster supper" between 1903-1907 on the Covina Argus newspaper archive, and voilà!

Covina Argus, January 12, 1907, Page 5.
Clippings: Newspapers.com.

So, that firmly establishes the date of the top photo to the third week of January in 1907.

One thing I won't be able to figure out, though, is why are all those men just standing around? There's over two dozen of them, none of them apparently doing anything but gawking. It's very early in the morning, too, as the long shadows indicate. Are they maybe waiting for a store to open? Or did they notice the photographer and just wanted to be in the picture? Not a single woman anywhere to be seen, either. I looked for a possible explanation in the next edition of the Argus, like maybe there was some sort of lodge function going on sometime that week, but found nothing. It's just strange to me to see so many working-age men standing idle like that.

Here's another view of Citrus in the aughts that also has a group of idle men at left. So odd!

Looking north on Citrus Avenue, Covina, 1906. Personal collection.
Distracting false color has been removed from the original postcard. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

On close examination, I see almost no differences in the storefronts on Citrus compared to the top photo, with the exception that I note the name "C. F. Clapp" on the awning at 114 North Citrus. And, since Carl Clapp opened his drug store at that location in March, 1906,¹ this photo can date to no earlier than that. So those ugly power poles in the first pic had to've gone up sometime in the 10 months between the two snaps.

Speaking of poles, about that tall flagpole in the background. I mentioned that civic landmark in an old post as having been erected in 1898. Turns out it stood on the northwest corner of Citrus and College until February, 1910, when it was ordered moved to city property on East College.² Not sure if that ever happened, though. (Far as I know at this point, it didn't.)

References:

¹ Covina Argus, March 10, 1906, p.5.
² Covina Argus, January 29, 1910, p.1.