Nate
Eagle, a sideshow promoter who, with partner Stanley R. Graham, created
the scandalous Zoro* Garden nudist colony. Located in a sunken garden
east of the Palace of Better Housing (today's Casa de Balboa), Zoro
Garden was, according to the Zoro Garden program, "designed to explain
to the general public the ideals and advantages of natural outdoor
life." Topless women and bearded men in loincloths read books,
sunbathed, and acted in pseudo-religious rituals to the Sun God.
According to the program, "Healthy young men and women, indulging in the
freedom of outdoor living in which they so devoutly believe, have
opened their colony to the friendly, curious gaze of the public." The
public's curious gaze quickly turned Zorro Garden into the Exposition's
most lucrative outdoor attraction. Despite protests, Zorro Garden lasted
for the entire run of the Exposition. The area is now the Zoro
Butterfly Garden.
Protests came from the San Diego Council of Catholic Women, the Women's
Civic Center and the San Diego Braille Club**. In response the city
manager announced that there would be no "indecent" shows in Balboa Park
during the second season of the exposition, which opened in February
1936. However, the nudist colony was still there during the second
season.The San Diego County district attorney, Thomas Whalen, inspected
the colony the day before the opening of the exposition in May 1935 and
approved it. Next month, "amateur nudists" demanded that Whalen
investigate the showgirls as frauds, but he declined. One of the Zorro
women rode through the fairgrounds at Gold Gulch on a burro and was
arrested, but she was "acquitted and rode again under police
supervision.”
* There seems to be some confusion as to whether it was “Zoro”, having
to do with the God Zoroaster, or “Zorro” -- the dashing character of our
childhood, “who makes the sign of the ‘Z’.”
** Braille Club? Well, THAT conjures up an image! “Hold still! For a quarter I can tell you your cup size.”
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Here
are my grandfather’s California Pacific International Exposition
passes. Grandfather was a World War One Navy veteran who served as
an Electrician. He was also a cabinet maker and, for an unknown
time, was employed at the 1935 expo in Balboa Park. Note that the Zorro
Gardens card is signed by the Promoter, Stanley Graham (see above) who,
along with another person, was a "sideshow" promoter. This card
may have been nothing more than a novelty. Grandfather passed away
in 1969, and no reference to Zorro Gardens was ever made to my
knowledge. I found the card in his personal effects and kept it as
a "unique" piece of San Diego history. In the 1930s and ’40s —
and later — the San Diego area had two established nudist clubs as well
as Black's Beach, at one time the only legal nude beach in the United
States. All are now gone — Stan Faulwetter '72
How fun! Wait! I think that's my mom — Donn Dufford ’63
You’re right. I recognized her as well — John Fry ‘62
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