The Kellogg Arabians in "The Days of Saladin," California Pacific International Exposition, San Diego, Summer 1935

The Kellogg Arabians were busy performing for the public during the summer and early autumn of 1935. 

Mary Jane Parkinson recounts their activities in her book The Romance of the Kellogg Ranch:

By the middle of May 1935, arrangements were completed for the Kellogg Arabians' participation in the California-Pacific International Exposition in San Diego, and some of the horses were already there with the remainder to leave the following week. [Promoter Earl H.] Spide Rathbun researched the history of the Arabian horse, and his material was used as the basis for a pageant, The Days of Saladin, presented daily during the Exposition. The story concerned the third crusade of Richard The Lion-Hearted against the Saracens, complete with colorful characters and colorful costumes, tailor-made for the Arabians. 

In addition to appearing in the pageant, the Arabians did their own speciality acts. Stella Smith [wife of trainer Mark Smith] directed ROSSIKA in her "mind-reading" demonstration; RALET, his liberty jumping act; HANAD, his rope skipping and high school gaits; and FARANA his stock horse work. JADAAN and *KING JOHN appeared in their costumes from movies, and the liberty drill team horses were ridden by specially trained young women dressed in colorful costumes. Stables of Arabic design were built at the Exposition midway (near the San Diego Zoo) as a background....

The Arabians' participation in the Exposition received a great deal of newspaper coverage.

The performances ran from May 29 to November 11, 1935, and more than 150,000 people attended. One of them brought their camera to document the spectacle in June.

And, more than 80 years later, the tiny black and white photo prints made their way to an online auction site, where I rescued them for posterity.  This is what "The Days of Saladin" looked like, from the photographer's perspective.

The white horse in the center of the above photo is *KING JOHN, ridden by Stella Smith.

The Kellogg Liberty Drill Team entertained the audiences in San Diego.

 

At the end of the act, the Arabians lined up in order so that the letters on their costumes spelled out the word KELLOGG'S.

The original photographs are being donated to the W. K . Kellogg Arabian Horse Library at Cal Poly Pomona.

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Many thanks to Susan Daigle-Leach for Photoshopping the images so we can see them more easily!

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Here's a link to information on the history of the Exposition:  

https://sandiegohistory.org/archives/amero/1935expo/

Yes, I often write about the Kellogg Arabians. Here's my blog post on *King John:

http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2016/02/snow-white-and-handsome-king.html

And the two-part story I wrote on Farana:

https://modelhorsehistory.blogspot.com/2017/07/farana-goes-home-part-two.html