The Truth About Leen & Tyler by Lorène Mannarini

The story included a section on the California car culture that made “conventional city life almost obsolete,” LIFE said. An editor’s note told readers that “this was Nina Leen’s first trip to California,” and it showed in her sense of joy and wonder at these lives lived by the pool. The article rhapsodized about how Californians spent as much time outdoors as they did inside, dressed primarily for comfort, and could enjoy themselves at all income levels. (The issue also included a story an another feel-good imagination-tickler: “ victory lingerie.”) It’s worth noting that this story came out just a few short months after the end of World War II, a time when readers might thirst for a new beginning. Against the background of these unique natural advantages, Californians have evolved a unique way of life which is physically the most comfortable and attractive way of life enjoyed in any region in the U.S. The story began with these words, which could have come from a state tourist brochure:Ĭalifornians live in a land where the sun shines 355 days a year, where the thermometer seldom falls below 46 degrees, and where towering mountains and endless beaches flank a countryside of incredible fertility. The unreservedly enthusiastic thirteen-page essay was titled “The California Way of Life,” and it’s not hard to imagine that the article affected some readers the way news of gold in Sutter’s Mill did in the 1800s. People have been lured west for a variety of reasons, from the gold rush to Hollywood dreams, but beyond riches and fame there has been also the promise of the sunny California lifestyle, one captured by LIFE staff photographer Nina Leen in a piece that ran in the Oct. Then things really exploded, and by the year 2000 the state’s population had climbed to 34 million, making California the most populous state in America. From 1900 to 1950 the population increased 500%, going from two million to ten million. California’s population growth was one of defining trends of 20th-century America.

The Truth About Leen & Tyler by Lorène Mannarini