Glendale has been known as the Jewel City for nearly a century

Pasadena was known as the Crown City. Los Angeles called itself

the City of the Angels. And Glendale’s boosters wanted a title of

their own, too.

When Pasadena began calling itself the Crown City in 1910, that

action started a tidal wave of boosterism that spread throughout

Southern California.

For several years, chambers of commerce of growing cities competed

with each other to come up with just the right moniker for their

city.

The man who came up with Glendale’s official title was Edward U.

Emery, president of the city’s Chamber of Commerce and an ardent

supporter of incorporation. He was also one of the leading lights in

several of the city’s earliest community organizations.

Emery, a salesman for Newmark Tea & Coffee Co., declared that

Glendale, with its background of the Verdugo Hills, “sparkled like a

jewel in the sun.” His description so enthused the Board of Trustees

who ran the city that they adopted the motto and rewarded him with an

official “thank you.”

Emery and his wife, Mary, had arrived in Glendale in 1906. Their

son, Owen, entered the eighth grade in the only grammar school in the

city, at Chevy Chase Drive and Broadway, then enrolled at Glendale

High School. He graduated from both institutions with the distinction

of being class orator.

After receiving his law degree at the USC, he served overseas

during World War I. In 1919, returning to civilian life, he decided

that the rapidly growing city of Glendale suited his needs. He

returned to the city where he was raised, becoming active in the

Glendale Chamber of Commerce, just as his dad had been, according to

Carroll W. Parcher’s “Glendale Community Book.”

One business that quickly adopted the new logo was the Jewel City

Restaurant, at Broadway near Isabel Street, run by W. H. Easton.

Easton was advertising “‘the best 25-cent meals in the Valley” in

1910, the year this picture was taken.

Two years later, a Glendale News article described the restaurant

-- now under the proprietorship of D.W. Lynn, as “clean as a penny,”

with immaculate linen and an inviting atmosphere. The writer invited

those who had to board to try the restaurant’s home-cooked meals.

Nowadays, the Jewel City logo continues to pop up. In 1986, the

News-Press invited citizens to gather at Brand Boulevard and Milford

Street for a photo celebrating the city’s 80th birthday. The photo

appeared April 30, with a caption referring to a Jewel City that is

“young at heart.”

Five years later, in another anniversary edition of the

News-Press, then-Congressman Carlos Moorhead, 22nd District, extended

his hearty congratulations to the Jewel City. Then-Sen. Newton

Russell also sent his congratulations to the Jewel of the Verdugos.

And the name lives on. A recent city directory listed an auto

glass company, a bowling alley and a grill bearing the Jewel City

name.

* KATHERINE YAMADA is a volunteer with the Special Collections

Room at the Central Library. To reach her, leave a message at

637-3241. The Special Collections Room is open from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Saturdays or by appointment. For more information on Glendale’s

history, call the reference desk of the Central Library at 548-2027.