Christmas in the Spring!

This little jug is a bit of a mystery, so if you have any additional information, please chime in! It’s a two-tone ceramic jug, about 4” tall and 3” in diameter, with a small finger-sized handle facing the back. The front reads “NEWPORT BAR / A MERRY CHRISTMAS / 1910 / NEWPORT, E. O. S.” Other identical jugs have been found, all associated with San Diego, dated 1910 and 1911. “E. O. S.” is usually an abbreviation for “end of street,” which should help us narrow down the location. Right?

The Newport Bar, Robertson and Moore, proprietors, was located at 421 E Street in San Diego. Today that’s the location of the Star Bar, a Gaslamp institution. But what about “Newport, end of street”? The only Newport in San Diego is Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach, which ends at the beach near where the Wonderland amusement park was briefly in the 1910s. There’s no Newport Bar listed in that block in the city directories, just a family-run wine shop.

Regardless of where it originated, PanGIS wishes you a happy 2019 holiday season.