Palm Springs history: Cadillacs arrive in desert during height of Depression at La Plaza

The car advertisement was elegant in its sparseness. It was the height of the Depression and ostentation of any kind would have been deeply inappropriate. That anyone at all would be in the market for buying an automobile was remarkable, and in the desert, unthinkable. The advertisement’s simple copy announced vehicles available for purchase in Palm Springs.

Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, it would mark a truly transformative event.

In 1936, Ed McCoubrey and Charles “Woody” Dutton partnered to buy the Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and General Motors dealerships in Riverside, California. It was a dangerous time to go into business. Sales were difficult. The very notion of owning an automobile was only a few decades old and the entire country was deeply suffering economically. Advertising would be required to lure potential customers.

McCoubrey decided to bring a few Cadillacs, Chryslers and Plymouths to Palm Springs to sell at La Plaza, the mixed-use shopping center commissioned by the fabulously wealthy Julia Carnell. She’d imported her architect from Ohio, Harry Williams, to create a destination for shopping just two blocks south of the famed Desert Inn where she was wintering. Sheltering red-tile roofs covered the arcade under which shoppers could browse the huge store windows. Small side paseos planted with bougainvillea led to smart shops conjuring up a village in Spain.

The gracious La Plaza buildings housed shop girls and chauffeurs on the second floor and retail establishments below. The complex topped a massive subterranean garage for parking and servicing cars of all kinds.

The million-dollar La Plaza advertised ample parking on a private street, long-term parking beneath, and a multitude of shops: Plaza Pharmacy and Fountain; Tweeds and Weeds sold imported woolen wear; Desert Linen Shop featured infant’s wear and linens; in the Shop of Charm one could find antiques and Russian novelties; exclusive women’s wear was available at Mary Kazhal, Inc.; and the Acoma Indian Shop offered authentic curios.

There was a craft store and a doctor’s office. The Nevada-California Electric Corp. had a demonstration show room which coexisted just fine with Christine’s Beauty Shop, Weingarten Insurance, and Belle Hereley Interior Decorations. The Plaza Cleaners promised “modern equipment and fine work” and Robert Ransom’s real estate office dealt with sales and leasing. Desmond’s was a first-rate department store and Carl’s Restaurant touted itself as a place to dine and dance. The Sports Deck featured ping pong, shuffled board and badminton, the Plaza Market offered groceries, liquors, fruits, vegetables, and bakery. The Palm Springs Public Library made La Plaza seem like the center of town.

But the garage and cars made the biggest impression, defining the center.

Car sales made the newspaper’s front page at the end of 1936. “The new 1937 Chryslers and Plymouths on display at the Plaza Garage are attracting a great deal of attention. Six of the new cars have been sold during the past two weeks…Those purchasing cars were Mike Flavin, real estate operator and golf professional; Hill J. Murray of the Indian Store; and Ralph O. Averett, Plaza construction engineer. Mr. Ezell, manager of Plaza Motors, local Chrysler-Plymouth distributors reports that car buyers are not only buying because they like the new 1937 models, but because of the prompt and thorough service they receive at the Plaza Garage. To have their cars serviced right here at home is a service motorists appreciate, he stated.”

“The new Chrysler Royal is now in the low-priced field; a big, roomy 93 horsepower, and all new style. Chrysler Imperial and Airflow models 110 to 130 horsepower, with automatic overdrive, are unequalled in beauty, luxury, safety and comfort. Big eight-cylinder cars, economical to operate. Plaza Motors also has a select line of used cars at very reasonable prices.”

Storage, repairs, tires, oil and gas were available. The early experiment of bringing cars to the desert ultimately became a permanent dealership. Plaza Motors opened for business 85 years ago in 1938, the same year the City of Palm Springs incorporated.

In 1940, Ed McCoubrey was granted a permit by the city to operate “autos for hire” within the city limits. The franchise was called “Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System” and was “national in scope affiliated with General Motors.” By 1957, they would “boast that the local office has the highest ratio of convertibles to the total number of cars available at any Hertz agency in the country.”

The business continued to expand and moved from La Plaza to 290 North Indian Canyon Drive in 1954, retaining the Plaza Motors name.

There, a young Andy Jessup married Dutton’s daughter, Diane, and began his career in the car business. Jessup remembers, “That was the first long-term lease anyone had signed on Indian land. We originally put up a steel building that would last five years. That is how long the lease was for! If we had to, we could take the building apart and move to a new location when the lease was up. But in 1960, we signed a 25-year lease at the same location.”

The paper covered the most important event in October 1960, “A 25-year lease for the site of Plaza Motors, North Indian Avenue, and West Amado Road, was signed Thursday by Mayor Frank Bogert, conservator for owner Edmund Siva, member of the Agua Caliente Indian band here, and Edgar McCoubrey, president of the agency which handles Cadillac and Oldsmobile cars, GMC trucks in Palm Springs. The 25-year lease, signed for approximately $200,000, carries the option for a 25-year renewal. The lease was arranged through the Bureau of Indian Affairs in accordance with rental provisions for Agua Caliente lands. McCoubrey announced plans to expand the $100,000 agency-service facilities on the site where the 20-year-old firm moved five years ago.”

The vibrant and forward-looking company led the way for private development on Indian land and was an economic engine for the community. In 1961 the company’s largess made the paper, “McCoubrey distributed $10,000 in bonus and profit-sharing checks to the 35 Plaza employees. Each employee with three or more years of service shared in the five-figure payouts.” That tradition would continue. By 1968, more than $300,000 had been distributed in bonuses and every employee received a Christmas turkey. The annual payroll was nearly half a million dollars.

In the early 1970s, Jessup assumed the leadership of the company as McCoubrey joined the city council and became active in state and national politics. The company enjoyed many millions of dollars in sales, supported scores of employees and contributed to the community in countless ways. Always expanding, the business moved to Cathedral City and adopted the name Jessup Auto Plaza to accommodate the now numerous car brands offered.

What began as a modest idea 85 years ago to boost automobile sales during the Depression, became a transformative moment for the desert community.

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: Cadillacs arrive in desert at height of Depression