SANTA CATALINA ISLAND

Twenty-six miles across the sea
Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me
Santa Catalina, the island of romance
Romance, romance, romance

"26 Miles (Santa Catalina)"
(Glen Larson and Bruce Belland)


Chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley, Jr. purchased the entire island (22 miles x 8 miles) in the early 1920's and invested millions in infrastructure and attractions to make the island
into a tourist destination for the Los Angeles area. The major city, Avalon, is part of the city of Los Angeles.
The rest of the island is controlled by a conservancy.


Until 1951, the Chicago Cubs baseball team (owned by Wrigley) used the island for spring training.

As a popular tourist destination, a number of spoons are available from this island. There are no spoons from any of the other islands off the California coast.






A small sampling of the many sterling spoons from Catalina Island


Notice that this embossed version shows only one pier, while the one above shows two piers




The famous Catalina casino was built on the Sugar Loaf site.
This rare engraved spoon predates the building of the casino.

Postcard from ca. 1900 showing Sugar Loaf mountain with a ship to the right and the famous stairs going up the mountain. The engraver just used a little artistic license.
Early visitors to Catalina would climb the stairs for a magnificent view.

Harry Merrick wrote me to say;
"The stairway up Little Sugar Loaf was in place as early as the summer of 1896 and still there in 1910."
I'd speculate the date of your spoon is probably around 1900, althought it could range from 1896 - 1910.
Harry also directed me to the postcard.

Note: in the historical record it is written as sugarloaf, Sugar loaf, Sugar Loaf





Fishing around the island was a popular activity.
I believe this is supposed to be a tuna fish.



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