Tim's 65th_Layout 1 4/22/11 2:31 PM Page 30
30 April 28, 2011
T
he spirit of Arthur Fremont “A.F.” Gilmore, the visionary who founded the A.F. Gilmore Company, and his son, Earl Bell “E.B.” Gilmore, who founded the Original Farmers Market at the corner of 3rd and Fairfax, is alive and well in the Gilmore family of today. The A.F. Gilmore Company, which operates the Farmers Market, remains a family-run business, and Hank Hilty, the current president of the company, is the great grandson of A.F. Gilmore, who purchased the land in the 1880s. Stan Savage Jr., The story of how 3rd and who started with the Fairfax’s iconic outdoor company in 2002 and is now Market Manager, market and restaurants began is the great, great grandmore than 75 years ago son of A.F. Gilmore. Hilty said that sense of family cohesion has made the Market, and the Gilmore Company’s many other endeavors, so successful over the years. “I am really proud of the family. There are not many multi-generational family businesses that have been successful in keeping the family involved in the business,” Hilty said.
65th Anniversary [Gilmore] Adobe. They were really fond memories for me.” Savage said the Market is still like home to him. He moved to Los Angeles in 1998 and was married at the Adobe in 2005. Savage, who has two children, also said he regularly gathers with his family and friends at the Market. “We still meet here on Friday nights with family and friends to have a few beers or dinner,” Savage said. “It’s a great place where we bring our kids now like our parents bought us.” The history of the Farmers Market, and the A.F. Gilmore Company, is as unique as the individual stories of the people who visit. The Market has been a fixture in the neighborhood since 1934, when a group of farmers began selling fresh produce on vacant land at the corner of 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue that was owned by the Gilmore Company. Over the past 76 years, the Farmers Market has grown into the vibrant family of merchants that it is today. “Meet Me at 3rd and Fairfax” has become an iconic slogan known to countless customers who travel to the Market from all over the United States, and around the world.
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press products under the Gilmore Oil brand. The company’s success was driven by Gilmore’s flair for marketing. “It was the Burma Shave of the petroleum industry,” Hilty said. “They had a huge network of gas stations up and down the West Coast. If anything got smeared with oil or used oil products, they sponsored it, from airplanes to hydrofoils, Indy races and endurance racing.” During the early 1930s, Gilmore became heavily invested in auto racing, and built the Gilmore Stadium in 1934, where CBS television City is currently located. A natural progression of his flair for marketing, the stadium was initially used for racing midget cars, and promoting the oil company. Many drivers used the midget car series as a springboard to the Indy car circuit. In addition to racing, the stadium was used for many other functions, including as the home of Los Angeles’ first professional football team — the Bulldogs — as well as circuses, boxing, rodeos and political speeches. Harry S. Truman made his famous “Stiff Upper Lip” speech at the stadium in 1948. It was also in 1934 that the Farmers Market
By Edwin FolvEn
FarmErs markEt’s nativE sons “The employees we have and the businesses are another thing I am very proud of. Our merchants are the backbone of the Market, and we have had some very creative and innovative long time merchants, which are like a family. Since A.F. Gilmore in the 1880s, it has always been a family business.” Savage, who grew up in Seattle, said he fondly remembers visiting the market as a child when he would visit with his family during summers. “I remember coming down as a kid. It was an entirely different layout then. The Dell section was there with many shops and there was the bookstore. I remember it had a lot of comics, and I was really into comics. I was probably six or seven years old,” Savage said. “I also remember smelling the food, and remember having the Mexican food, which wasn’t as common in Seattle. We would stay at the
While the Farmers Market is the main component of the Gilmore Company, the Gilmore family has embarked on many ventures on the property over the years. A.F. Gilmore primarily used the parcel as a dairy farm until around the turn of the 20th Century, when he struck oil while drilling a water well. A short time later, the cows were gone, and oilrigs dotted the landscape. The Gilmore Company initially produced petroleum products used for making asphalt roads. E.B. Gilmore, became head of the company after his father’s death in 1918. During the decades prior to World War II, the Gilmore Company transformed into the largest oil company west of the Mississippi River. E.B. Gilmore was a master of marketing, and developed an extensive network of gasoline filling stations and petroleum
began in the area near 3rd and Fairfax that was used for overflow parking from the stadium. Two businessmen, Roger Dahljelm and Fred Beck, came to Gilmore with the idea of creating a place where local farmers sold their fresh produce. Gilmore gave permission for Dahljelm and Beck to cultivate their idea, and the rest is history. Dahljelm was a stickler for quality, and made sure all of the merchants were offering the best fruits and vegetables available, while Beck, like Gilmore, was an expert in promotion. Within a few years, the trucks made way for permanent structures, and the Market began taking the familiar shape it retains today. Gilmore had always envisioned the property as an entertainment attraction, and during the 1950s, he also created Gilmore Field, which became home to the Hollywood Stars baseball team. Other ven-
photos by Edwin Folven
Hank Hilty, left, is the great grandson of A.F. Gilmore, who created the Original Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax. Stan Savage Jr., right, has been with the market since 2002 and is currently market manager.