PostalPast
← Back to browse

Oil wells on Signal Hill, Long Beach, California, circa 1930s

Subject
Oil
Card type
Linen
Front of Oil wells on Signal Hill, Long Beach, California, circa 1930s, linen postcard
Front
Back of Oil wells on Signal Hill, Long Beach, California, circa 1930s, linen postcard
Back

About this postcard

A forest of steel lattice oil derricks crowds the low Signal Hill ridge above Long Beach, with small wooden sheds, tanks and a plume of steam or dust among them. Signal Hill was the site of one of California's great oil booms after the Alamitos No. 1 well came in in 1921, and by the 1920s and 1930s the hill was so densely packed with derricks that it was nicknamed "Porcupine Hill." The card's linen-era coloring and numbered caption date it to the later years of that boom.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in pen

Dear Sis: - How is everything pro- gressing with you and your family. Lack of funds is preventing me from seeing wonderful things Harry

PublisherM. Kashower Co.
234:—Oil Wells, Signal Hill, Long Beach, Calif. --- POST CARD THIS SPACE FOR WRITING THIS SIDE IS FOR THE ADDRESS MADE IN USA Pub. by the M. Kashower Co., Los Angeles, Cal.
Stamp
Addressed to
Mrs. Roy Lohman

23 Chestnut St., Salisbury, IL

Postcard record

PublisherM. Kashower Co.
Series234
ConditionGood
Place addressedMrs. Roy Lohman, 23 Chestnut St., Salisbury, IL
Place depictedLong Beach, CA
PublisherM. Kashower Co., Los Angeles, CA
Stamp2c George Washington, red
NotesWhite border; visible linen (crosshatch) texture; card number 17363 printed in the lower right corner; light edge and corner wear. Postmark: LONG BEACH CALIF JUL 5:30 PM 1927 — divided back, white border, linen texture, 2¢ red Washington stamp, light corner/edge wear.

Cite this card

Oil wells on Signal Hill, Long Beach, California, circa 1930s, postcard, n.d.. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/oil-wells-on-signal-hill-long-beach-california-circa-1930s. Accessed October 24, 2026.