Salt Lake's OG Whale

Salt Lake's OG Whale is located at the RC Willey furniture store, 2301 S 300 West, South Salt Lake City.

Artist and conservationist Robert Wyland painted this mural of a blue whale mother and calf in 1998 during his 50-states-in-50-days Ocean Challenge tour, which taught landlocked communities that ocean health is directly tied to inland pollution.

Collaboration among Wyland, RC Willey, and the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium resulted in Utah hosting one of Wyland's 100 "Whaling Walls," a global project he painted between 1981 and 2008.

The RC Willey mural is titled "World of Ocean Life" and measures 100x60 ft.

Originally, the mural included a lower portion that was painted by local kids and showcased dolphins, orcas, squid, and starfish.

The founders of Loveland Living Planet Aquarium invited Wyland to Salt Lake as part of their efforts to fundraise and build community support for the aquarium. At the time, the aquarium was searching for their first location, which would eventually be at the Gateway in 2004.

The Wyland Foundation donated the cost of the mural and RC Willey's CEO, Bill Child, approved the donation of the wall. Child supported helping the aquarium gain awareness and believed the public art would enhance Utah's hosting of the upcoming 2002 Winter Olympics.

Not all of Wyland's 100 Whaling Wall murals survive today. Wikipedia lists 28 of his murals as being "extinct" meaning covered over, destroyed, significantly altered, or no longer accessible to the public.

You can catch a glimpse of the mural when traveling southbound on I-15 around 2100 S, or up close at the SLC RC Willey store. 🐋

Valley Tan Knocks out Tom Longcoffin

A fun illustration from 1884 advertising Valley Tan Remedies. Tom Longcoffin, appropriately illustrated as a pinch-toe coffin, surrenders to the Valley Tan Remedies patent medicine. 

The Valley Tan reference has quite a history. Early historian Edward Tullidge explained the term was first used regarding locally tanned leather (vs imported leather from outside the Utah Territory) which was of poor quality due to expedited processes.

The term became a derogatory expression to any rough homemade item, including whiskey. It gradually began to be applied more broadly to any item made within Utah, and by the 1860s was used as a "buy local" campaign to support local businesses.

This advertisement stems from the Johnson family patent medicine business. Originally began by LDS Pioneer Joseph Ellis Johnson Sr, who had a longstanding curiosity about botany, among other interests.

By the 1860s, Joseph was advertising his remedies in the Deseret News and sharing his recipes and discussing horticulture in his own newspaper, The Farmer's Oracle.

As Joseph aged, his eldest child from his 3rd plural wife, Charles “Charlie” Ellis Johnson, took over the medicinal family business using his father’s recipes.

In the early to mid-1880s, Charlie worked in the ZCMI Drug Department where he stocked many of the Johnson elixirs, including “Johnson’s Essence of Life” advertised to promptly save the lives of your children. And the “Valley Tan Canker Syrup” and “V-T Worm Lozenges” (to treat intestinal worms).

In 1888, Charlie partnered with Parley P. Pratt Jr, also from the ZCMI Drug Department, to form the Johnson-Pratt Drug Co located at 48 S Main St SLC. Charlie continued to manufacture the Johnson family medicines under the name Valley Tan Remedies (VTR) Laboratory.

Charlie was also interested in photography, and while still engaged in the drug business, partnered with Hyrum Sainsbury to open a photo studio.

For a time, the VTC Laboratory and his photo studio/printing/supply business were all in the same building at 54 S West Temple (now roughly the location of Utah Museum of Contemporary Art).

Around 1895, Hyrum retired and Charlie incorporated his photography business, as Johnson Co., while still president of the Johnson-Pratt Drug Co. Charlie took many of the iconic photographs of SLC

Phillips Congregational Church Demolition Update

Fencing has been put up around the historic Phillips Congregational Church near Trolley Square, 479 S 700 East Salt Lake City. The first sign that demolition is imminent.

As seen on July 3 2025, fencing around the Phillips Congregational Church, SLC.

The Ghosts of Eden Park and Utah's Very Slight Connection

The audiobook I'm listening to right now: 
The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who
Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America

George and Imogene Remus

The Ghosts of Eden Park is about the bootlegger king, George Remus and his wife Imogene. They were big names in the Midwest in the 1920s. 

Of course I found a (slight) Utah connection: Clarence Beard was an associate (or so he says) of George Remus and he was captured in Salt Lake City in 1928, after his escape from a Criminally Insane Hospital in Ohio for the murder of Stephen Zaborskis in Cleveland. He was identified by the new technology of fingerprinting.

Utah closely followed the sensational trial of George Remus.

Charles Beard, an associate of George Remus, was captured in SLC.

Beyond the bootlegging aspect, the women are independent and ambitious. I particularly enjoy Mabel Walker Willebrant, US Assistant Attorney General in the 1920s and prosecuted Remus. She was a professional lawyer who turned down an offer of marriage to keep working and then adopted a child as a single mother.

Master Slave Husband Wife and Slavery in the Utah Territory

The audiobook I'm listening to right now:
Master Slave Husband Wife

For Juneteenth! 

"Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom" by Ilyon Woo recounts the amazing story of self emancipation of Ellen and William Craft who flee Georgia in 1848. The book also gives a good background on national political events of the time.

To compare to Utah's history, I find myself referring back to another book, "This Abominable Slavery: Race, Religion, and the Battle over Human Bondage in Antebellum Utah" by W. Paul Reeve, Christopher B. Rich Jr, and LaJean Purcell Carruth.

The Utah territory was a concern to North and South politicians and became a target of "The Twin Relics of Barbarism - Polygamy and Slavery."

Both books are fascinating.

Some thoughts:

In December 1848 Ellen and William Craft self-emancipated (fled slavery) from Georgia by Ellen dressing as a White gentleman (Master) traveling north with a slave (Husband).

At the same time in the Salt Lake Valley, it was the 2nd winter for the Mormon pioneers. LDS policy regarding slavery was ambiguous and territorial documents were neutral on the issue. Yet, by fall 1848, about 55 enslaved individuals lived in the Salt Lake Valley. Although slavery was outlawed in US Territories in 1862, it is unknown if Utah's enslaved people were immediately emancipated. (Refer to This Abominable Slavery for a fascinating detailed discussion).


Excerpt from "This Abominable Slavery" Chapter 3 "Utah's Juneteenth" Emphasis is mine.

On June 13, 1862, John M. Bernhisel, Utah Territory’s delegate to Congress, wrote to Brigham Young to fill him in on legislative happenings in Washington, D.C. Bernhisel informed Young of his ongoing efforts to win statehood for Utah and told him of other political matters then playing out in the nation’s capital. Sandwiched in between an update on Bernhisel’s effort to secure financial compensation for Young’s claims on his “Indian accounts” and information on newly approved U.S. mail routes in Utah, Bernhisel told Young that “Congress has passed a bill abolishing slavery in all the Territories of the United States, and only requires the sanction of the Executive to become a law.” He also let Young know that “[t]he polygamy bill has passed both Houses” of Congress. [Brigham] Young thus learned that within weeks of each other, Republicans in Congress had made good on their 1856 pledge to “prohibit in the territories, those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery.

On June 20 [1862], President Abraham Lincoln signed into law An Act to Secure Freedom to All Persons within the Territories of the United States, and in doing, so he ostensibly freed Utah’s remaining roughly 35 slaves. On July 2, the Church-owned Deseret News reported that fact without elaboration. There was no banner headline or extensive story about what the law’s passage meant to Utah’s enslavers or to those whom they enslaved. There were no instructions that accompanied the news; LDS leaders or government officials did not tell Utah’s enslavers to emancipate their slaves or in any way establish guidelines or expectations. There was no sense of relief or feelings of joy expressed over the legal end of slavery in the territory. In fact, the announcement in the Deseret News would have been easy to miss. It was published on page four, tucked into the middle of a column titled “From Washington,” with no fanfare or commentary whatsoever. Nothing drew the reader’s eye to the column and no sense of adulation accompanied the report. The paper simply informed its readers that the “President approved the bill prohibiting slavery in the Territories.” That was it.

Summer Time is Demolition Time

 Summer is the time for demolitions. Most significantly, the imminent demolition of the historic Phillips Congregational Church near Trolley Square.

Already demolished are the historic Utah Pickle Building and the Christian School.

Thankfully, @artcastleslc saved many sculptures from the Christian School. Be sure to check out some of the large sculptures that are now on the front lawn, 915 W 100 S.

Crystal Palace Market Ghost Sign

The Crystal Palace Market ghost sign appeared briefly at 240 S 1300 E SLC.  I took this photo last night (4/15/2025) and by tonight (4/16/2025) it was covered with plywood.

The Crystal Palace Market ghost sign at 240 South 1300 East Salt Lake City

The building was constructed in 1935 and opened as Sewells United Stores, a grocery chain originating in Nevada and operating in the intermountain west.

The Crystal Palace markets were a competing chain in SLC.

In 1937 Sewells acquired 3 Crystal Palace markets and, along with their 2 other SLC Sewell stores (including this one), merged them under the name Sewells Crystal Palace.

In May 1938, Sewells sold their 5 SLC stores to John Gerendas, a Greek immigrant who had co-established the Success Markets in Helper, Utah.

Gerendas changed the names of all 5 markets to Crystal Palace, with locations at:

• No. 1: 525 E 1700 South
• No. 2: 304 E 100 South
• No. 3: 216 E South Temple
• No. 4: 914 E 900 South
• No. 5: 240 S 1300 East

This location near the University of Utah at 240 S 1300 East was Crystal Palace Market No 5.

Gerendas expanded and eventually owned 9 Crystal Palace markets.

Gerendas became ill and died in 1942. Before his death, he sold most of his stores to his employees. His son, Greg, continued operations of some of the Crystal Palace markets.

Gerendas helped employees Bill Ward and Harold Robinson purchase this location. They put a Robinson & Ward sign in the window but kept the big Crystal Palace sign on the building.

The market served the University of Utah area until 1988. It was the longest serving and last Crystal Palace market to close.

The building was converted into a restaurant space and opened as Pancho Villa U in 1989. It changed hands several times in the 1990s including Hot Rod Hundley’s Sports Family Restaurant, China Star, and Einstein Bros Bagels. It was most recently Coffee & Tonic.

SLC building permit plans indicate the new space will be a restaurant (named Henry Baker?). The renovation project includes an interior remodel, restoration of existing brick, facade renovation, window replacement, addition of a front canopy, small rear addition with steel stairs, and changes to entry walls and landscaping.