my great uncle was a trumpet/trombonist who led a huge mambo orchestra here in fresno in the 30's and 40's, from what i hear they were the best band in town and regularly held concerts at rainbow ballroom. I've seen pictures it looked so elegant, like something out of a movie. His picture and bio of his band is at the Veterans memorial building downtown.

My pleasure,
and might I add, it's a pleasure to meet you in this venue.

Not being from here, initialy, (NewYawkuh,) I have been finding the character, comments, and spirit of the valley residents who are
'at least,'
70 years of age,
to be the real folks to hook up with and talk to in terms of what built this place, -and what continues to make it great.

(I have a bunch of octagenarians (and older,) at my church, --and have been running into others at places like Home Depot and garage sales and the like, -and the stories and matter-of-fact tenacity of the lot of you is quite inspiring.)

One guy, (standing at the Home Depot paint counter... had to be in his mid eighties,)
just looked at me one day, and said
'...young man, how long have you been here?'

'-uhh, one year 7 months, and I think, 20 days?,,, sir.'

'...well, I been here 62 years and counting.'

'izzat-so?'

'Yessir, and the weather's sucked the whole time..'

(busting out laughing) 'Really...,'

'...Oh yeah, terrible weather, always has been... Nothin' but ungodly hot in the summer and awful fog in the winter, ain't much inbetween... but it grows on ya...'

'...Well, thanks for the warning...'

Hope your book goes well, (I personally think the place going from indoor pool (Natatorium??? didn't know that was a word..)
To dancehall (Nat-King-Cole-ium) was pretty excellent.

Bless Ya, and Keep 'em Flying.

-Eric

Out of the Void,
Thanks for the info on the music in Fresno back THEN.....that was GREAT! Lots of memories come flooding back! Love your expression of Fresburg...how great is that!
MAD

MAD:

I am prety sure the Rainbow Ballroom was in existence in the 30's. As my grandmother told it, she and my grandfather went to a dance there on their first date. I don't know how long they courted, but they were married in 1936. Another tidbit is that prior to becoming the Rainbow Ballroom, the building was called the Fresno Natatorium...it was an indoor swimming pool. A fire struck, after which the building was converted into a music venue that still functions today.

Joe,
Thanks for your great reply.....where did you get that picture of the Rainbow sign?....is it current as you said the ballroom is still there....I would love to have an old picture, maybe taken in the forties to use in my book! I don't know if the Rainbow existed in the 30's as I was just a kid then; however, I did go dancing at the Rainbow in the 40's....that was when the soldiers from Lemoore also went there dancing! (Yes, I'm that old!)
Such great memories and thank you so much for responding!
MAD

your best bet will be using the Fresno County Library and maybe Fresno States Library, the information regarding Fresno's past is very limited online, it seems like at one time the library was scanning documents and images for online use, but I've not seen any progress on that in some years.

The San Joaquin Valley Digitization Project
http://www.sjvls.org/photoheritage

As Joltin' Joe Moore is far more versed in this than myself, I'll let him fill in the details...

Fresno used to be HUGE in music circles, -as it was the stop off point for a lot of bands going form South to North,
-So if you pick an era, (any era,) you'll probably find gigs listed (usually mid week,) here in the 'no on nights other than Big Weekend nights,) for a lot of different acts...
(It didn't matter, in fact, I have a feeling a lot of the artists were a lot more relaxed here, (as it was not an uptight venue,) and you probably heard a lot more improv and creativity --as backwaters often mean more opportunity to experiment without a bunch of nit-pickers in attendance...

I still think one of my fav. recordings has to be count Bassie done here in the Mid to Late 50's... (And they wail on this recording, and it has a great great feel, very comfortable...)

There has always been a strong Jazz foundation, always been a strong Country, -even major classical folks came through and played on a regular basis,
---and a lot of good talent still comes from here in all of those genre's...

(Hayseeds?
Yes...
but extremely talented Hayseeds with extraordinary tastes in music.)

Sometimes the musical aspect of Fresburg is one of the main reasons why I like it here, (like,,, ANY time the temp is over 90 degrees, and the reasons narrow down considerably.)

Well, I wasn't around in the 30's but I'll bet you the air was so much cleaner back then that the sky was a different color. I wonder how much Fresno changed from the 30's to the 50's? I graduated from Roosevelt in '68. The Rainbow Ballroom was going in the 30's?!

Yes, Gottschalks was downtown, as well as Roos Bros, Coopers, The Famous Dept Store, Penneys, Wards, Sears, and many others. All of them are gone. The Rainbow Ballroom is still there though.