A Guide to the Best of Southern California : HISTORY : How the West Was
From 1914 until his death in 1955, photographer Burton Frasher reigned as the undisputed postcard king of the West. His Pomona-based Frashers Photos amassed more than 60,000 picture-perfect shots taken across California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado. Although the West Frasher captured in his lens is no more, his photos of these now-lost scenes are being resurrected.
“We stumbled across these negatives and felt that they were too precious to see just sitting in the closet,” says Henry Golas, president of Tomesha Corp., which is reissuing the cards, with explanatory text, in boxed sets of eight. Golas’ first set of Frashers -- circa-1930 scenes of Death Valley -- is available for $8.95 at the Death Valley National Monument, the Borax Museum in Boron or via mail order (add 8.25% sales tax and $2 for shipping). This fall, Golas plans to offer Frashers featuring Mono Lake, the Grand Canyon and American Indians.
The Death Valley set is available by mail from Tomesha Corp., Box 1430, Glendale, Calif. 91209.
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