Former Oceana Residents Now Live in Pioneertown
Considerable publicity has been given during past weeks to Pioneertown, Calif., where a western movie company is turning a desert village into a permanent cowtown.
“This is Hollywood version of the good old days,” said a recent Associated Press story, “started out to be a resort for Western movie stars with millions. Even the stores of the tiny one-street town were built in old-fashioned western-style to to make outburner heros feel right at home. Then the picture company discovered the place, least it and made it one to colossal movie set.”
During a recent Western trip Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gregwer of Pentwater visited this famous movie wild west town and there met former resident of Pentwater and Weare township as part of the “big show.”
Jimmy lips, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Lipps of Weare township is the owner of the Red Dog saloon and associated with him as bartender is Donald Knox, a former Weare boy. Mr. lips for a few years during 1930’s, owned and operated a pool room in Pentwater.
Pioneertown’s great white father is producer Philip Krasne, who moved his movie company there for keep’s to make “Cisco Kid” thrillers. Roy Rogers and his famous horse Trigger also frequent the place along with Dale Evans and the Sons of the Pioneers. Paramount shorts “Modern Pioneers” are made with this town as setting.
The main street of Pioneertown is a replica of the western town that existed during the fabulous American era from 1849 to 1890. Frame buildings and plank sidewalks line the street which can be traversed only by horseback, stagecoach, buggy or afoot. No motor cars are allowed.
Along with the Red Dog saloon are other colorful business establishments such as Nell’s Ice Cream Palace, the Golden Stallion, the Grub Stake Cafe, White’s Dobe Brick Hardware, the Likker Barn, Pioneertown Gazette, Klip ‘N Kurl barber shop and Trigger Bill’s Shooting Gallery.
These places will be used as movie sets and in between are propped real false front sets imported from Hollywood. The town’s 33 pre-Hollywood residence will get in the act, too. The barber who runs the Klip ‘N Kurl place will play barber for “Cisco Kid” and the Red Dog bartender will act a movie bartender.
Producer Krasne, who rules his wild west domain in cigar, bow tie and finally tailored frontier pants, promises to make the town the Hollywood of the Westerns. In Hollywood he pay an extra $40 a day when his company was on location. In Pioneertown he hires local citizens for $15.50.
The Lipps family lives in an attractive home near the outskirts of this new movie town and the Gregwers spent a couple of days just looking around and enjoying the wild west atmosphere.
