Rhoda Adamson

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Rhoda Agatha Rindge Adamson (April 20, 1893 – April 2, 1962) also known as Rhoda Agatha Adamson or simply Rhoda Adamson, was the co-founder and secretary-treasurer

Frederick Hastings Rindge and wife to Merritt Huntley Adamson.[8] She was alleged to be one the leading proponents of excluding African Americans and specifically Nat King Cole's family from Hancock Park, Los Angeles, according to "persistent rumors" reported by The Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper; an Adohr spokesman denied the rumors.[9][10]

Early life

Adamson was born Rhoda Agatha Rindge, the middle child of

Frederick Hastings Rindge,[11] transplants to California from Michigan and Massachusetts, respectively. The family lived in Santa Monica as well as a Victorian mansion in Malibu Canyon, on the Rindge's 13,315-acre ranch. The ranch home was destroyed in 1903 fire;[12] from there on out, the family only camped in Malibu when visiting the family ranch. Otherwise, they no longer lived in Santa Monica, but rather a 25-room mansion in West Adams Heights, known as the Frederick Hastings Rindge House.[13]

Adamson was raised to love the outdoors, and, riding horseback, she partook of activities such as sheep-herding with her father on the Malibu Ranch.

horseback riding and race-car driving. The former she often partook of with her best friend, Jesse Ellen Matheson, to whom she had gifted a horse named Robin.[15] The pair rode their horses across Malibu's Santa Monica Mountains, usually armed with shotguns should a rattlesnake have presented a threat.[16] Adamson's car racing, meanwhile, took the shape of annual races, such as those held in Santa Monica.[17]

Education

For high school, Adamson attended a private girls' school called Casa de Rosas.

Ebell Club.[19] Adamson attended Wellesley for a year, from 1910-1911,[20]
before returning to California, missing her home state too much to stay away.

Marriage, businesses, homes, and children

Marriage, Adohr Farms, and Adohr Creamery Co.

Rhoda met her husband, Merritt Huntley Adamson, by way of the family ranch; Merritt had been appointed ranch foreman.

Times-Mirror publisher Harrison Gray Otis's ranch.[24] Merritt Adamson assumed the office of the president of Adohr, while Rhoda served as secretary-treasurer. Adohr Stock Farms was the umbrella organization from which the Adamsons would grow Adohr Farms and Adohr Dairy & Creamery, the latter of which was headquartered at 1801 S. La Cienega Boulevard and Sawyer Street. A giant milkmaid and cow sculpture, created by Art-Vertising of Los Angeles, stood at the Adohr locations.[25][26][27][4] The business was named Adohr for Rhoda, as Adohr is Rhoda spelled backward.[28] Their ad campaign "Adohr-able Babies"[29][30][31]
featured their daughter, Rhoda-May, as the first Adohr-able Baby.

In addition to becoming one of the biggest dairies in the

Disney family in this way.[35] Other dairy promotionals included cow milking contests to the benefit of Warner Bros. Theatre.[36]

The dairy ran on a 24-hours-a-day schedule, with 100 employees carrying out the operation of the plant itself,[1] while scores of additional employees—Adohr milkmen—were deployed across hundred of routes[4] to deliver milk straight to clients' doorsteps, and sometimes, straight to their refrigerators, as did long-time milkman Elmer Moss.[37][4] And the company offered not only milk but buttermilk, butter, cream, ice cream, cottage cheese, eggs, and other milk products like whipping cream.[38]

The Tarzana farm and additional farmland in

Saddlebred and draft varieties.[1]

Homes and children

The couple settled into an

rope tricks for the Adamson children.[46]

The home's downstairs guest room was reserved for Rhoda's mother, Rhoda May Knight Rindge. Not only had May Rindge gifted the land upon which the Adamson House was built, she also provided the home's extensive tile from her own tile factory, Malibu Potteries. The home contains such an extensive display of the tile that it is referred to as the "tile Taj Mahal" or "Taj Mahal of tile."[47][48]

World War II, Merritt's death, and Adohr changes

During

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's fireside chats
.

In 1948, imminent post-war suburbia began infringing on the Tarzana dairy operation, and the Adamsons owed money to creditors. Merritt hence sold the Tarzana dairy property to builders who planned to divide the land into parcels for construction of low-cost housing for veterans.

Camarillo. A year later, Merritt Adamson died, leaving Adohr completely up to Rhoda to operate.[53] The same year, Adohr published a cookbook called Milk-Maid Recipes from Adohr, with recipes ranging from Butter Crunch Cake, Southern Spoon Bread, Hot Peppermint Chocolate, Purple Cow Soda, Sour Cream Raisin Pudding, and Cornmeal Soufflé to Boston-Style Scalloped Fish, Asparagus With Lemon Sauce, Cheese Salmon Loaf, English Lamb Chops, and Cheese Ham Casserole.[54] The dairy's radio program, an opera show called Adohr Opera of the Air,[55] continued; opera singers for the program were auditioned in none other than the Adamson House
living room.

Death and legacy

Rhoda Adamson died in 1962. Rhoda's dairy continued under the Adohr Farms name into the 1990s or early 2000s, though the original buildings in the San Fernando Valley had long-since been demolished, starting in 1948,[52] and the family had sold the business in 1966.[7] As a ubiquitous model dairy in its time, it set a high standard for all dairies that followed. Rhoda-May, the eldest Adamson child, continued to run the dairy business quite closely after her mother's passing.

Additionally, Rhoda-May formed the Adamson Company with her siblings, Sylvia and Merritt, an organization to manage the family's real estate holdings. It was a continuation, in effect, of their grandmother and mother's Marblehead Land Co., which had been formed to manage the original Rindge real estate holdings.

William L. Pereira to develop much of Malibu with clusters of houses set off by huge natural preserves from surrounding large estates." Though the plan never came to pass due to ill-fated timing and exorbitant property taxes, Merrit Jr. went on to build "a mobile home park, a recreational vehicle park, and condominiums" and "subdivided land and sold it for homes," such as the Horizon Hills subdivision. He also "sold thousands of acres to the state and federal governments for open parkland that would both preserve wildlife and attract tourists." It was through this action that original Rindge property helped create the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
.

As for the

State of California
in 1968.

No sooner had the transaction been completed, then the state declared they would be demolishing the home to make it a parking lot for the surfers, as surf culture had exploded in the 1950s and '60s, creating a demand for automobile access to the area. Horrified, Malibu citizens formed the Malibu Historical Society expressly to save the home.[7] It made no difference that the home was a masterpiece of Stiles O. Clements, nor was it considered remarkable, in the state's eyes, in its lineage tied to the Rindge family. What saved it was the provenance of its tile: the tile had been a product of Malibu's first business, the Malibu Potteries; it had been made using local clays; and its glazes were not reproducible, as creator and glaze expert Rufus Keeler died of cyanide poisoning shortly after the Malibu Potteries closed, and he had taken measures to commit his recipes to memory alone.

It took approximately ten years for the historical society to hash out the case with the state. In the interim,

Watts Riots of 1965, could move its campus to Malibu.[58][59][60] The 138 acres were foundational, as they were the first 138 of the new campus.[56][58]

Finally, in 1977, the Adamson House was designated California landmark No. 966.[61] In 1985, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Rhoda's home of 33 years, it has been open for public tours since 1982[7] and is home to the Malibu Lagoon Museum. It is also the site of weddings and special events, yet remains completely intact, as it was in the Adamson Family's tenure, complete with their belongings, from Rhoda's I. Magnin's and Bullock's dresses, Haviland & Co. dishware, and Adohr Farms milk bottles, to original bedspreads, Barker Bros. furniture, and Merritt Adamson's map collection.

See also

References

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  2. ISBN 9780899975542
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  5. ^ Thurman, Jim (July 8, 2016). "L.A. County Was Once the Dairy Capital of America — Then Came Urbanization". LA Weekly.
  6. ^ a b "History of Adamson House". CA State Parks.
  7. ^ a b c d Meares, Hadley (August 25, 2016). "The story of Malibu's spectacular first beach house". Curbed LA.
  8. ^ a b "Welcome to Adamson House". www.adamsonhouse.org.
  9. ^ Meares, Hadley (December 20, 2018). "When Nat King Cole moved in". Curbed Los Angeles.
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  13. ^ "Defender of Malibu's Beauty". Los Angeles Times. March 29, 1998.
  14. ISBN 9780393292930
    – via Google Books.
  15. ^ "Jessie Ellen Matheson and Robin. undated - FF-78". adamsonhouse.pastperfectonline.com.
  16. ^ "Rhoda Agatha with white Dahlia and pistol - FF-16.20". adamsonhouse.pastperfectonline.com.
  17. ^ "Santa Monica road races - FF-142". adamsonhouse.pastperfectonline.com.
  18. ^ "Casa de Rosas - FF-116". adamsonhouse.pastperfectonline.com.
  19. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 14 June 1910 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu.
  20. ^ College, Wellesley (December 26, 1912). "Wellesley College Record, 1875-1912: A General Catalogue of Officers and Students". The college – via Google Books.
  21. ^ "The Adamson House in Malibu is Listed on the National Register of Historic Places". Conejo Valley Guide | Conejo Valley Events.
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  25. ^ "photo". 4.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  26. ^ "Photo". www.roadarch.com. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  27. ^ "Photo". www.roadarch.com. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  28. ^ "Adohr Farms Collection". Peek in the Stacks. California State University, Northridge. November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  29. ^ "Adohr-able baby". The Los Angeles Times. April 8, 1956. p. 362 – via newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on November 2, 1958 · 384". Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on June 12, 1949 · 169". Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Judiciary, United States Congress House Committee on the (December 26, 1930). "The Prohibition Amendment: Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives Seventy-first Congress, Second Session on H.J. Res. 11, 38, 99, 114, 219, and 246 ..." U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  33. ^ a b c "A Lasting Legacy : Merritt Adamson Jr.'s Land Dealings Changed Malibu Forever". Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1986.
  34. ^ "Info". moviesofcourse.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  35. ^ "TUESDAY-WALT'S PEOPLE Clarence "Ducky" Nash". November 25, 2009.
  36. ^ "Milking contest for Warner Bros. Theatre (Adohr Dairy), Southern California, 1932 ::". digitallibrary.usc.edu.
  37. ^ "Contentdm". Digital-collections.csun.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  38. ^ "Postcard CA Los Angeles 1950's Adohr Service Milk Delivery Milkman Milk Truck | #1781033686". Worthpoint.
  39. ^ "Contentdm". Digital-collections.csun.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  40. ^ "1923 Adamson-Rindge Estate Flips Back in Hancock Park". Curbed LA. November 5, 2013.
  41. ^ "Original Malibu resident Rhoda-May Adamson Dallas dies". Malibu Times.
  42. ^ "Sylvia Neville". White Mountain Independent.
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  44. ^ "Adamson children plus pet sheep Bohunkus, 1931 - FF-26". adamsonhouse.pastperfectonline.com.
  45. ^ "Adamson children, 1931 - FF-24". adamsonhouse.pastperfectonline.com.
  46. ^ "Learn Malibu History Through Its Historic Homes, by Travel Writers". www.creators.com. February 9, 2014.
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  50. ISBN 9781625841063
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  51. ^ "Calisphere: Adohr Farms Silos demolished". Calisphere.
  52. ^ a b "The Fall of Adohr Farms Silos | Valley Times Collection".
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  54. ^ "1949 Milk-Maid Recipes from Adohr Dairy Products". pepperdine.contentdm.oclc.org.
  55. ^ "Sutori".
  56. ^ a b "Rhoda-May Adamson Dallas dies at 94; Pepperdine donor". Los Angeles Times. October 24, 2011.
  57. ^ Abel, Judy. "Preserving the history of Malibu Pottery tiles". Malibu Times.
  58. ^ a b "The Malibu Miracle | Pepperdine Newsroom". newsroom.pepperdine.edu.
  59. ^ "Pepperdine to Consolidate Two Campuses". Los Angeles Times. November 1, 1987.
  60. ^ "The view from Pepperdine - Here in Malibu".
  61. ^ "Los Angeles". CA State Parks.
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