Throwback Thursday! As I said earlier, the very first San Diego Comic Con was held on the basement of the U.S. Grant Hotel on Broadway. There were just 300 attendees at the first event. The Grant is considered an historical landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's 11 stories high and has 270 rooms. It was built by Ulysses S. Grant Jr. (son of President Ulysses S. Grant) and opened on October 15th, 1910. These days the hotel is owned by the Kumeyaay Band of American Indians (My girlfriend's people). Here's what it looks like today:
The convention changed venues and for most of the 70's was held at the El Cortez Hotel on 6th and Ash. It's had quite a history which you can read more about here. Suffice it to say it opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1927 (During the Great Depression) and was then the tallest building in San Diego. It's now the 40th tallest. These days it's no longer a hotel. It's now privately owned condominiums and is closed to the general public.
I have never been inside the El Cortez and I wish I could see it. In the 80's and 90's I heard some amazing stories from the old timers about those early days when comic cons were brand new and no one was quite sure what to do. I think the thing that gets to me the most was some of the greatest artists in the field of comics (Kirby, Eisner, Wood, Barks, Kurtzman, to name a few)) would gather by the pool and create original art for the annual charity auctions. These guys would be out there in their swimsuits making oil paintings. Unbelievable.
A blast from the distant past:
| 
| 
| 
|
| 
| 
| 
|
| 
| 
| 
|
| 
|
Mike
(27 Days Until SDCC 2026!)
