The Boom Wasn't for Everyone
No. 180: Postwar Housing, Giles Whitehead, Ben Shahn, Adeline Goldminc-Tronzo, Sam Roxas-Chua, Steven J Fowler, Francesca Biasetton, Asemic (band), and Isao Tomita
THEN & NOW
Postwar Housing
In relation to my parents’ home purchase, I’ve been doing some research about the post-WWII housing boom in California. Most of the information I found online focuses on the huge new suburban developments being built on the outskirts of major cities during the late 1940s through 1950s. Since one of those suburban areas was in San Francisco’s Daly City suburb—which later comprised the largest Filipino community in the United States—I was surprised that my family ended up buying a home in Santa Cruz.
But then I read that most post-war housing excluded families that were not White, including Filipinos. This was the case of the Westlake development in Daly City. Reporting on postwar developments in the San Francisco Bay Area, Amanda Stupi interviewed Rob Keil, author of Little Boxes: The Architecture of a Classic Midcentury Suburb:
[he didn’t] know of a housing developer who would sell to buyers of color. He adds that discrimination was so prevalent that even Willie Mays, the beloved Say Hey Kid, was barred from buying a house in San Francisco.
Racist policies not only kept families of color out of suburban neighborhoods like Westlake, they blocked families of color from one of the most consistent ways to build wealth in America.1
On the East Coast, the new post-WWII housing was a dream come true for a lot of veteran families. But Black families were excluded:
If there were racist restrictions for the Santa Cruz development, we somehow bypassed them. Our family was one of two families of color in the neighborhood.
In 1968, the Fair Housing Act was passed, and homes in Daly City became available for Filipinos and other minority groups.
RABBIT HOLE
I love how Giles Whitehead’s art—combining ink drawings and simple print techniques—complements the voices in these stories of Maidstone’s industrial past2:
I recently posted some analog art by Paul Klee and George Grosz. Here is a third artist that influenced me—Ben Shahn:
Adeline Goldminc-Tronzo describes one event that made her into an artist, and why California didn’t work out:
Handwriting is a beautiful thing—even if you don’t know what it means:
“Echolalia in Script: A Collection of Asemic Writing” by Sam Roxas-Chua:
I periodically re-post this video on asemic writing by Steven J Fowler just because I like it so much.
SOUNDINGS
Asemic Writing and Other Pleasures by Francesca Biasetton (and piano music by Satie):
A band called Asemic plays “Solaris” from their album Luminescentity. Although I can’t pronounce that word, the music sure jives with how I’ve been feeling lately.
Isao Tomita is known as “The Man Who Invented the Modern Sound of Japan.” You can hear that modern sound in “The Sea Named Solaris,” (Kosmos, 1978), although it’s based on works by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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My ongoing appreciation goes to the Mysterious M. for his excellent editing skills.
Website and blog: Jeanvengua1.wordpress.com
A Crooked Mile (blog).
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From the KQED article “How Daly City Became One of the Most Densely Populated Cities in the Country” (July 29, 2021).
Illustrated throughout by the sketches and prints of Kent artist, Giles Whitehead. Featuring the voices of Christine Carter, Iris Cook, Maureen Smart, Tom Sheldon, Polly Falconer, Debbie Goacher, Phil Goacher and Howard Goacher. Recorded on location in Maidstone, UK.