AHA! Good ol' Google. I just found a few photos.

Signal Hill, California, back when I first went through it. My folks and I, who lived in Pasadena at the time, went to visit some friends in Long Beach. THIS photo in the Wikipedia entry gives a pretty good idea of what Signal Hill looked like back then (late Thirties). I was just about big enough so I could peer out the car window as we drove through. There were a lot of residences there before they discovered oil. Living there back then must have been a lovely experience. I wonder how many people actually owned the mineral rights under their property.

I found out the "drinking bird" pumps are actually referred to as "nodding donkeys" or "horsehead" pumps. Cricket pumps? Yeah, I can see their being referred to as that as well. Most of the ones we saw the last time we went through (late Eighties) didn't look exactly like THIS one, although this one is in Signal Hill. Most of them looked more like THIS, which has been given a somewhat whimsical paint job.

Re: the "Dippy Bird." HERE's a more-or-less bare-nekkid one (except for the top-hat) with an explanation of how the critter works. Most of the ones I saw live were covered with a sort of fuzzy yellow material, so they actually looked a bit like Big Bird, but I'm not sure that was the actual intent.

Ain't life wunnerful!?? You never know when you wake up in the morning what marvels you will learn as you move through the day!

Now, back to our regular broadcast. . . .

Don Firth