When I was a kid about five or so, we would drive from the Valley over the Ventura Highway (in the summer) to Thousand Oaks to visit
Jungleland.
Jungleland opened in 1927 as Goebels Lion Farm as a performing animal training center and small roadside zoo.
Jungleland closed in 1968 and it wasn't until much later in the 80s that I started reading James M. Cain, who you may remember from such hits as The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce (there has long been a Mildred Pierce Pie shop at the foot of the Santa Monica Pier -- is it still there?)
The Postman Always Rings Twice comes in part from the short story, The Baby in the Icebox written in 1933. Both take place in Ventura (along with several other James M. Cain stories).
James M. Cain was a wonderful author and documents Ventura, Los Angeles, and Southern California in the 1920s and 30s, truly a different time than today. A world of the depression, hobos, jumping on trains, and working for the CCC. Kinder in some ways, harsher in others.
These are truly wonderful reads.
Today, the Lion Farm is now the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. And Thousand Oaks is basically just another Los Angeles exurb.
I've never heard, but long suspected that Goebels Lion Farm was the model for the gas station and cafe featured in The Baby in the Icebox as well as the Postman Always Rings Twice. Does anyone know if this is true?
