460 HISTORY OF PASADBNA. 



part of Ripley's planing mill near lyocust street and railroad track, during 

 the winter of 1885-86.] 



WakklEy's Novklty Works. — W. H. Wakeley came to Pasadena in 

 r88i, a mere youth, with his father, Capt. A. Wakeley, who had served as 

 a soldier in the Mexican war and also in the war of the rebellion. The 

 young man was an enthusiastic naturalist, especially in the study of birds ; 

 and he at once commenced collecting, preserving, mounting, studying and 

 classifying the native birds of this region. And these pursuits, at first 

 merely for his own pleasure, gradually grew into a sort of taxidermy busi- 

 ness — the first ever done in Pasadena. In 1883 he started a small hardware 

 and tin store, with plumbing business attached under Robert Hentig's man- 

 agement, and mixed in some taxidermy work withal. In August, 1886, he 

 advertised for one thousand horned toads, for taxidermic mounting as Cali- 

 fornia curios, and this set dozens of bright boys at work earning their own 

 pocket money by catching pocketfulls of the curious little reptiles. In 

 January, 1886, Mr. Wakeley started the Pasadena " Natural History Store," 

 devoted entirely to the business of collecting, manufacturing and dealing in 

 California curios, both by wholesale and retail. The business grew upon his 

 hands so that in a few months he sold the store to Thomas W. Furlong, 

 and devoted himself specially to the manufacture and wholesale trade in the 

 same line, this amounting the first year to a business of $12,000, and giving 

 employment more or less to from ten to twenty persons. The Star of Octo- 

 ber II, 1892, speaking of the District Fair at I^os Angeles, said: "The 

 Wakeley Novelty works of this city make a splendid display of articles in 

 California woods, shells, etc., and Wm. H. Wakeley has two lathes in opera- 

 tion, with a force of three men in attendance. I^ast evening they gave 

 away 1000 pin-cushions turned out from yucca." 



During 1893 he sold between 5,000 and 6,000 horned toads, 100 dozen 

 tarantulas, 100 dozen scorpions, besides large numbers of centipedes, trap- 

 door spider nests, etc. And his goods were the only ones of their class from 

 Southern California in the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago. The 

 factory and store are now located in a two-story brick block on North Fair 

 Oaks Avenue. The machinery is run by a gas engine, and comprises ma- 

 chines for coarse and fine sawing, boring, turning, scroll work, carving, 

 polishing, friction coloring and burnishing. A great variety of California 

 woods are made into cups, vases, dishes, buckets, napkin rings, match safes, 

 gavels, paper knives, canes, portierre and curtain rings, placques, and many 

 souvenir forms. 



Brick Making. — The first brick building erected in Pasadena was B. 

 F. Ball's original home place on North Fair Oaks Avenue ; but these bricks 

 were not made here — were all hauled by wagon up from Los Angeles — 

 1878-9. The first business block built of brick, was by Craig & Hubbard, 

 grocers, on Kast Colorado street — - the same now known as the Brunswick 



