Cousin Tim shared this story about Pop's time in Hollywood and Los Angeles from 1930-1932, between his graduation from CalTech and his joining the Sawyer Tanning Company in Napa.
He majored in Physics and really wanted to work in the technical end of Hollywood’s movie industry (color and sound movies were just emerging) but he happened to hit the Great Depression. After 15 months of searching, he eventually gave up on Hollywood and finally found a job at Union Oil’s refinery south of L.A., testing oil and asphalt samples. He was good at the job but felt under-appreciated, saw no future there, and decided to move back to Napa and work with his father at the tannery, where he spent most of the rest of his career.
