A LOOK BACK:Two businessmen brought style to Main Street

This week we are going to look back at the lives of two popular 1920s Main Street businessmen.

In 1923 our Chamber of Commerce held a banquet that featured a speaker from the Los Angeles chamber. During his speech he remarked that our chamber members were the youngest bunch of ballyhooers, the snappiest looking, active young businessmen he’d ever met.

One of the reasons these men looked so stylish was in part thanks to Charles E. Westenhaver, who owned a popular mens’ clothing store on Main Street.

Charles Westenhaver grew up in Los Angeles where his father owned a chain of clothing stores in Washington state, so Westenhaver learned the clothing business at an early age.

Westenhaver attended both grammar and high schools in Los Angeles, after which he spent three years studying at the Leland Stanford law department and another year of law up in Eugene, Ore.

Plans for a law career were sidetracked when his father opened a real estate business in French River in British Columbia, Canada and asked Westenhaver to take charge of its operations.

For the next few years business was good. Westenhaver was making a fine living until Canada entered World War I and Westenhaver decided to return to the United States.

The business was sold and Westenhaver moved to Washington after an urgent request from his father to help him run the family’s clothing stores in Aberdeen, Astoria and Hoquiam.

Westenhaver was given the responsibility of running the Astoria store and, under his hand, the store prospered until one day in December of 1922, when a fire broke out. Before the embers cooled, 12 city blocks lay in ruin, including the clothing store.

Instead of rebuilding the store, Westenhaver decided to move back to his boyhood home in California.

For the next six months he went searching for the ideal location for his new clothing store. By chance he heard that opportunities were being made in the oil boomtown of Huntington Beach and, after visiting, he was convinced that this was the place.

At this time Huntington Beach boasted two fine mens’ and boys’ stores. There was the Thomas P. Smith store at 122 Main Street, run by a young Jack Robertson, who would eventually own his own clothing store on Main Street, and the other was the C.W. Hanke clothing store at 210 Main Street.

On May 19, 1923 Westenhaver opened his clothing store where the old Hanke clothing store had been.

Throughout the 1920s Westenhaver Clothing store carried the latest and the most popular labels.

Westenhaver played an active roll in our Chamber of Commerce, was a member of our Elks Lodge and was involved in just about every worthwhile civic projects in our city.

But by the 1930s Westenhaver had faded into history and his clothing store was replaced by the People’s Department Store.

Our second Main Street businessman was almost across the street from Westenhaver, but he ran a far different kind of business at 203 Main.

This location housed the Pastime Pool Hall owned by a young man named True M. Cryder, and in the short time he was with us, he became a popular and respected businessman on Main Street.

Cryder was born in the small town of Teck, Kan. on March 6, 1894, in a family that would include a sister Bessie and a brother Arlie.

Cryder would remain in Kansas until called overseas to fight during World War I.

When the war ended Cryder moved to California to live and hopefully make his fortune. He met and married Oda Merrill and the two would eventually reside at 602 Huntington Street.

In 1922 Blevins and Vannies owned a pool hall at 203 Main prior to Cryder opening his Pastime pool hall. This was a typical pool hall of its day where men could relax after a hard day at work in our oil fields.

Cryder earned the respect of many of the Main Street business owners and life looked rosy for he and Oda.

He joined our Elks Lodge, the Disabled American Veterans organization, became a member of our American Legion Post and took an active interest in our Chamber of Commerce.

But while driving the Coast Highway near Anaheim Bay Bridge in Seal Beach on May 8, 1941, he was involved in a traffic accident that left him with four broken ribs.

The doctors at Long Beach Community Hospital tried a rare serum on Cryder in an attempt to overcome spinal meningitis caused by a brain concussion.

Eight days later on May 16, 1941 Cryder passed away at the young age of 47 and in respect to their fellow business owner, the Main Street business community closed their doors for half an hour between 2 and 2:30 p.m. in memory of their friend.