Palm Springs history: Barbara Foster, a blank check and monumental efforts

The blank check was deposited in the mailbox without even an envelope. The check was signed by Bobby Howard, the son of the fabulously wealthy Bob Howard who owned Howard Manor in town. Bob’s father, Charles Howard had made a fantastic fortune in the car business and owned Seabiscuit, the racehorse who had inspired the entire country during the Depression.

The check was signed but was otherwise blank. As Howard had no end of money, the recipient, Barbara Foster, knew she could fill it in with a mighty big number and it would still be good. She’d been raising money for all sorts of civic projects for years, leveraging her husband’s business contacts and stints in city government for good causes. She’d asked Howard for help on a very special project, and he’d written her a blank check.

Barbara arrived in Palm Springs as a teenager with her parents. When they moved back to Colorado, she decided the desert was for her and to stay. She lived in a trailer at Hatchitt’s Court on Section 14 for a time. She’d met her husband Bill while in high school and when he asked her to marry him during a swim in the pool at the Ingleside Inn, she enthusiastically agreed.

Bill followed his father into the construction business and built many homes inventive local architects were designing in the new modern style. The couple were active in the Junior Chamber of Commerce which put up the first Christmas lights and held the first fireworks show ever in Palm Springs. The Chamber hosted the first convention in town at the El Mirador Hotel, illustrating the need for a Convention Center. That cause would occupy Barbara for decades.

Barbara’s career life moved into the fashion arena when she started a local modeling agency. She choreographed fashion shows highlighting resort fashions from leading Palm Springs department stores including Bullock’s Wilshire, J. W. Robinson, Saks Fifth Avenue, Haggarty’s, Rags by Bess Bender, and Matthews Fashions for both charity and country club events. She regularly employed local models and friends including Barbara Marx who would marry Frank Sinatra and Helen Dzo Dzo, (captured for posterity in Slim Aaron’s iconic photo “Poolside Gossip” at the Kaufmann House) who would marry local architect Hugh Kaptur. As Fashion Editor for Palm Springs Life magazine, Barbara coined the term “the Palm Springs Label” which signified the quality of resort wear sold only here.

Bill built custom homes for mid-century modern architects William Cody, E. Stewart Williams, and Albert Frey, for clients Walt Disney, Harpo Marx, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Gerald Ford and many other celebrities and business tycoons.

Bill served on the Palm Springs Planning Commission for 10 years, the City Council for 19 years, and as mayor for four years. He dedicated himself to protecting the city from a profusion of gaudy signage he believed cheapened the overall ambiance of the city. He also lobbied for height requirements on downtown developments and instituted the Historic Site Preservation Board recognizing the unusual architectural history of the town.

Bill was infamous for never driving a new car or having an office, conducting his sprawling construction business from his kitchen table, where Barbara could hear him talking and make use of his client list to raise money for her pet projects.

Barbara championed many causes including the Desert Symphony, the Walk of Stars, but the idea for a Convention Center and a Performing Arts Center as crucial to the town was a major concern. She had arranged financing for both from Bechtel Corporation. But when Sonny Bono was elected mayor, he told the CEO of Bechtel, “Barbara Foster’s not running this town, I am, and we’re not interested in Bechtel.” It would be a long time before the Convention Center would come to fruition, and the Performing Arts Center never did.

When Bill and Barbara were first married the purchased a couple of acres of land way out in the middle of the desert. They had $900 to spare and bought 5 acres of sand. They worked on plans for a house. Bill always wanted a Will Rogers type ranch. Barbara recalled, “And one Sunday afternoon, we were out there digging, putting water in, Frank Bogert came by on his horse and he said, ‘What the hell are you two doing out here?’ And Bill said, “Well, this is our property and we are going to build out here.’”

Bogert updated them, “We’re building a dude ranch. I got big guys from Texas…bought up most of the land….’” Thereafter Bogert would regularly visit the Foster homesite with an offer from the Thunderbird developers to buy their land, each time for a little bit more. “I don’t remember how much he got up to. It got to be pretty much looking like a fortune to us.” And with the difficulty of building in the middle of nowhere, they sold to what would become Thunderbird.

Barbara had grown up in Palm Springs and Bogert was venerated by many Barbara had a bright idea: after decades of public and civic service, Bogert deserved proper recognition and gratitude. Bogert had been instrumental in the success of the whole town. He had championed Palm Springs when it was a little-known desert outpost. He was a trusted friend of the tribe. He’d helped countless people with problems big and small. She hatched a plot.

She’d raised the money for a monumental sculpture of Bogert on horseback to be placed in front of city hall. The sum required was monumental too, but Barbara was not intimidated, this was a special project. She swung into action, asking everyone she knew: movie stars, business owners, and neighbors.

Bobby Howard lived a few doors down from the Fosters and she asked him to help celebrate Bogert. Howard delivered a signed, blank check to her mailbox without even bothering to put it in an envelope. That check could have funded the entire project had Barbara filled it in. She took the check back to Howard saying she had already raised plenty of money because so many people wanted to donate to honor Bogert. Howard refused the check; she’d have to fill it out herself.

The statue was commissioned from Mexican sculptor Raymundo Cabo, carved in wax, cast in bronze and erected in front of city hall in 1990 as a tribute from the community, with Barbara Foster leading the cause. After 30 years in that spot, it was removed and sits in the city yard awaiting the next chapter in its history.

Tracy Conrad is president of the Palm Springs Historical Society. The Thanks for the Memories column appears Sundays in The Desert Sun. Write to her at pshstracy@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs history: Barbara Foster, a blank check and monumental efforts