86
NOTICIAS
Scottish family of twelve children. Arroyo Burro Beach is popularly known as Hend ry’s Beach in Santa Barbara and is named after this family, Erasmo. also known as E.J. and also as Dan, worked with the Hendry Brothers for five years. In 1917, at the age of twenty-four, Erasmo opened his own shop. Craviotto Ironworks, at 36 West Ortega Street, one block away from his former employers. His enterprise was off to a good start, when the First World War intervened. E. J. went abroad to fight in the American army, and asked his brother Fred to run the shop for him. So while Erasmo went to serve in the war, Fred kept the business going. Upon his return after the war. Erasmo saw that it was time to bring the business out of the nineteenth-century horse-and-buggy stage and into the automotive era of the twentieth century. During the era of the Roaring Twenties, much of the Craviotto’s work was in the production of "leaves” for automotive sus pension systems. "When these would break or crack, they would have to be re placed by the ironsmith. The work was hard and dirty. The spring leaves were dif ficult to take off. and they were naturally caked with mud and dirt from the roads. Sometimes people would want to have their car lowered which would require tak ing off and adjusting the spring leaves within just fractions of inches. The Cravi otto brothers helped Santa Barbarans stay on the road. There were several ironwork shops in downtown Santa Barbara. They were all competitors in one sense of the word, but actually their relationships were friendly, as each shop really had its own specialty with in the business. The Craviottos continued their work with the spring leaves and they also handled springs for dump trucks.
The main entry gate at Lotusland in Montecito is one of the finest examples of Craviotto ornamental ironwork- Photographby WilliamB. Dewey.
During World War II. the business went through another modulation. Because of the war effort and the scarcity of supplies and certain raw materials which were needed at the front, people were asked to make do and make it over. When major appliances, such as water heaters, broke down, they could not be replaced, only re paired. As every home was in need of a working water heater, the Craviottos were often called upon. Their repair work in volved applying metal "Band-aids” to the water heaters where leaks had developed and holes had occurred. After the war, the Craviottos saw an increased demand for ornamental iron work, The former opera diva, Madame Ganna Walska. was developing her famed Montecito estate, Lotusland. Hundreds of craftsmen, from architects and builders to stone masons to gardeners, worked to create her legendary home and garden. The Craviottos were brought onto the scene to produce the magnificent entry gate at Sycamore Canyon Road.. In 1949, E. J.’s son, Charles, joined his father’s shop and took up the trade for the next generation. The following year, the younger son. Daniel, also joined the fami ly shop. For nearly a half century, one