Some of the prettiest, and earliest, postcard views documenting the pre-Prohibition California wine industry are those published from photographs taken by Turrill & Miller. And all of them that are in my collection have been immediate and longtime favorites. I recently stumbled upon an online site of The Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco, that features the photographic work of Turrill & Miller, especially their wine country images. It’s a great story. As an Introduction, enjoy this bit of wine country postcard history all wrapped into one! A 1909 postcard bearing a stunning, scenic view of a St. Helena vineyard, addressed to photographer Turrill, with message “Glad to see you are getting such fine pictures.” Magical.
Turrill and Miller Photographers
Around 1900, Charles Turrill and Charles Miller opened a commercial photography studio in San Francisco. Turrill expressed a keen interest in the California wine country, particularly Napa and Sonoma valleys. Earlier, during the years 1889 and 1890 he had served as Secretary on the California Board of State Viticultural Commissioners established by the legislature in 1880 (and survived until 1895). Funded originally to address the devastating phylloxera, the Board was vigorous in disseminating information to the industry with printed publications and correspondence while promoting the progress of viticulture throughout the State. Today, these CBSVC reports and bulletins are historically invaluable. The Board members were veteran leaders in the wine industry. What was Turrill’s connection? As much as I worked with these viticultural reports over many years, never once did I link photographer Turrill with Secretary Turrill. It certainly explains his close affiliation with wine country and his acknowledged passion for “the accuracy and preservation of historic records.”
Charles B. Turrill (1854-1927) was born in Folsom, CA, and lived most of his life in San Francisco, where he died at age seventy-three. He was an amateur photographer for twenty years before establishing the professional firm of Turrill & Miller Photographers c1900. There is not much known about Charles O. Miller, other than he was born February 1876 and that sources indicate he was a bachelor and lived with Turrill between 1910 and 1920. Their studio would eventually be located in Turrill’s home on Sanchez Street in San Francisco, where they specialized in historical and industrial photography in the Bay Area. Turrill believed that photography played a key role in the creation of the historical record, and saw himself as part of this tradition. A man of many interests, Turrill was also a respected historian, avid collector, published author and illustrator. Next to his achievements as a photographer, some say he was probably best known in his day as a collector. Constant in all of these pursuits, California was his greatest passion. Over a lifetime, he formed an enormous personal library consisting of thousands of books and ephemeral items, all relating to California history — a collection that famously filled all three floors and fourteen rooms of the Sanchez Street home and studio. After his death, Turrill’s library and archive of nearly 5000 California images, including the wine country, were acquired by The Society of California Pioneers, where they reside today.
The Society describes this fabulous wine country treasure as “a photographic survey of the wine industry conducted by Turrill & Miller in the Sonoma and Napa valleys in 1906 and 1907. Over the course of three visits spanning fourteen months, the San Francisco photographers produced an impressive series of 554 glass-plate negatives. Their work documents both the beauty of the region and a range of the Old World viticulture methods, craftsmanship, and traditions that early immigrants from Italy, France, and Spain brought to California.”
“The events of yesterday are history today.”— C. B. Turrill
The colorful and prized postcard series that set off this quest to sort out Turrill & Miller and their noble place in the postcard history of California wine is captioned “Beautiful California :: Wine Industry.” There are six cards, numbered from C.1007 — C.1012, all published by Pacific Novelty Co in San Francisco, and all most certainly photographed at Italian Swiss Colony at Asti even though the captions identify only one as “Asti.” These cards are so beautifully composed, so true to the actual wine country scene, they are rather quite moving. You will see.
C.1007 :: Beautiful California, Wine Industry, Picking Grapes, 1906–07
This photograph, with the Turrill & Miller Photo trademark clearly visible at top right corner, is described by Jack Lawrence in his invaluable book about Italian Swiss Colony, Legacy of A Village (1999): “Asti vineyard workers sometime before 1910. The roof of the original Colony House shows above the trees in the center. (This building burned early in the year, 1910.) The large horse barn is on the left below “Olive Hill,” while an orange grove lies in front of the barn.”
C.1008 :: Beautiful California, Wine Industry, Grapes Arriving at Winery, 1906–07
A picturesque documentary beauty, isn’t it. Sun-faded, creaky old wagons filled with lug boxes of grapes headed for the winery, trusty mules and veteran vintage workers in a familiar harvest ritual. How many loads were brought in each day? A gorgeous sight. A very rare wine country postcard view.
C.1009 :: Beautiful California, Wine Industry, Pressing Pomace, 1906–07
This impressive ISC winery press — Pressure 500 lbs per sq. in. — prompted a message from Papa to his son Gray at home in New Jersey: “Dear Son: The picture shows how the grapes are pressed to make wine, which is a great industry out here. These wine grapes are no good for eating as they are too sour. I have a picture that I took showing a vineyard where the grapes are grown. I will send it later in a letter.”
C.1010 :: Beautiful California, Wine Industry, Cream of Tartar Vats, 1906–07
The unusual congregation of active cement vats at Asti was skillfully photographed by Turrill & Miller, documenting this important process of turning a wine-making waste product into money-making Cream of Tartar. It is a little- known, but outstanding, story involving some well-known Beautiful California wine country champions. Coming soon.
C.1011 :: Beautiful California, Wine Industry, Stone Storage Tank at Asti, 1906–07
Turrill & Miller took this momentous photo of the giant underground wine vat at Italian Swiss Colony just nine years after its construction in 1897 during the Great Wine War between the powerful California Wine Assn and its chief rival, the California Wine-Makers’ Corp, of which ISC was a leading force. The concrete wine tank, able to hold in reserve 500,000 gallons of wine — enough to serve a quart of wine to two million people at a single dinner —would hopefully bolster their fighting position. It took the Asti crew just 46 days to dig the hole and pour the concrete for the 80′ x 34′ x 24′ deep vat, and two winery steam pumps seven days to fill it and four days to pump it empty. Remarkable. It can still be seen at Asti today.
C.1012 :: Beautiful California, Wine Industry, Shipping Wine, 1906–07
Present-day tracks recall the spur that ran from the Northwest Pacific Railroad line through the winery complex at ISC. In 1907 ISC was the largest winery in California, and still growing. Under the shade of the large trees, wine barrels are ready for loading, while in the background larger casks await. A grand and busy scene, often repeated.
Part II follows …
