(cymbals crashing) (upbeat music) - [Kira] Coming up next on "Islands Without Cars," we explore California's swanky Santa Catalina Island, and learn about its surprising connections with baseball history.

So come with us as we explore the realized vision of chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley, Jr. ♪ We're going on a walk, walk, walk ♪ Experience a very tall fish tale.

♪ We're gonna walk, walk, walk ♪ - Are you ready?

- [Kira] I'm ready!

And party like it's 1929.

♪ We're going on a walk, walk, walk ♪ ♪ We gotta walk, walk, walk ♪ (upbeat music) Hi!

I'm Kira Cook.

And it's my great pleasure to be your guide as we search for islands lost in time.

Places where cars are restricted and whose inhabitants wouldn't have it any other way.

So come with me on a journey that you won't forget.

(birds cawing) ♪ Twenty-six miles across the sea ♪ ♪ Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me ♪ ♪ Santa Catalina ♪ ♪ The island of romance ♪ ♪ Romance, romance, romance.

♪ - [Kira] Just as the iconic song says, Santa Catalina is a pastel paradise of rolling mountains, sun-kissed bays and lush valleys, just 26 miles off California's coast.

To get to the island of romance, we took a heady, 15-minute helicopter ride.

♪ It seems so distant ♪ ♪ Twenty-six miles away ♪ ♪ Restin' in the water serene ♪ But, most visitors take continually running ferries from various ports on the mainland, just south of Los Angeles.

♪ Twenty-six miles, so near, yet far ♪ Residents of Catalina are actually permitted to own cars, but, and this is a big but, there is currently a 25-year waiting list to get one.

♪ Romance, romance, romance ♪ This is hardly a problem, because to get around the main town of Avalon, all you need are comfortable shoes ♪ Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me ♪ and maybe a golf cart.

(cart vrooms) ♪ Santa Catalina, the island of romance.

♪ Our first stop is the Catalina Island Museum.

(golf cart vrooms) - [Gail] Hi, I'm Gail.

- Hi, I'm Kira.

Where Marketing Director Gail Fornasiere gave us a little perspective of this unique American island.

- Avalon.

So the two main steam ships across.

Catalina Island history is fascinating and varied.

We know for sure people lived on the island at least 8,000 years ago, probably more like 10 or 12,000.

The Spanish discovered the island, discovered, in the 1500s.

It was part of Spain, then it became part of Mexico.

Then it went through private ownership after that.

The Banning family bought the island in 1891.

Their father started the Port of LA, so they had a bunch of steam ships.

It made total sense for them to buy an island.

(gentle music) - [Kira] Unfortunately, in 1915, the island suffered a devastating fire.

And this is where Catalina's modern history begins.

With a chance investment presented to the chewing gum magnate and entrepreneur, William Wrigley, Jr. - He was part of a group of four, because the other men didn't have enough capital, so his financial person in Pasadena said, "Hey, there's this island in the Pacific.

Have you heard of it?"

And he had heard of Catalina, but he'd never been here.

And, they said, "Well, these guys really wanna buy it, but they don't have enough money."

And he said, "Sure."

- [Kira] William Wrigley, Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1861.

His father, and first employer, was the founder and president of the Wrigley Manufacturing Company, whose main product, which Junior sold from a basket on the streets, was not gum, but scouring soap.

(playful music) When Wrigley was 30, he expanded his family brand by moving to Chicago, where he switched his product focus from cleaning to chewing.

By advertising his Juicy Fruit and Wrigley Spearmint gum in imaginative campaigns, Wrigley had become the biggest gum manufacturer in the world and fabulously wealthy, when he purchased his initial shares in Santa Catalina Island.

But, when he and his family came to visit the island, his investment became his passion.

- They stayed overnight and there's a great quote of his wife's when they woke up the next morning saying, "I think I'd like to live here one day."

So as any good husband would do, he purchased all the other shares from the other gentleman and made sure that he said that the island would never pass through his family's hands.

- [Kira] Wrigley's first project on Catalina was building this beautiful home on Mount Ada.

And yes, his wife's name was Ada.

(water flowing) Currently rented to tourists, his mansion has a spectacular view overlooking the town and bay of Avalon.

But this was only the beginning of his plans for a non-chewable legacy.

(crowd cheering) Wrigley's next bold and incredible plan was to make the island home to spring training for a National League ball team that he just happened to own.

Go Cubs!

- [Sean] Go Cubs.

Welcome, Kira.

(Kira laughs) - Thanks, Sean.

- A lot of people don't know that the Chicago Cubs did their spring training on Catalina from 1921 to 1951.

And he knew if he brought the Chicago Cubs over here, that the whole baseball media would come over here and all the pictures they would take would be of his Chicago Cubs, and his beautiful Catalina Island in the background.

It was an immense marketing ploy for Catalina Island and the Chicago Cubs.

He was a master promoter.

From when he brought the Chicago Cubs here in 1921 to when he passed away in 1932, the 11 years he was out here, he took five of those Chicago Cub teams won the national league pennant, which is amazing at the time.

Unfortunately, they never won the grand prize, the World Series, but he did develop 19 Hall of Famers out here in 30 years, which is amazing in itself.

[Kira] Yeah.

- [Sean] So are you a baseball fan?

- That is an interesting question.

I actually grew up a half a block from Wrigley Field.

(quirky music) So I grew up selling advice outside of the Cubs games in my front yard.

I would have a little table, it said, "Advice 50 cents."

People would stop by and they wouldn't gimme 50 cents, they'd gimme a buck or five bucks or 10 bucks, depending on how drunk they were.

And, I would give them advice from a little child's perspective on their big life problems.

So in that way, I felt like I grew up being part of Cubs culture.

- But you still found a way to become part of the culture.

- Exactly.

And if anybody were to ever ask me, what is your baseball team?

It's the Cubs.

100%.

- Sure.

- It was a coup for William Wrigley, Jr. to have the Cubs on the island.

Genius move on his part for Chicago people to wanna come to Southern California for the Cubs.

When they were here, they weren't like professional baseball players are now.

They had real jobs during the rest of the year and so they really needed spring training to get into baseball shape.

And, Mr. Wrigley had specifically placed the field from the top of the hill where his beautiful house was, he could watch them practice, and if he decided that they hadn't practiced hard enough, he would call down there and say, "Have the boys run up and say goodnight."

So they had to run up the steep hillside to talk to Mr. Wrigley before the end of the day.

- [Kira] Whoa.

With the Cubs training beneath Wrigley's watchful eye and the media shining a glowing light on the island, Wrigley built the $2 million casino, a state-of-the-art entertainment complex, which gets its name from the Italian for gathering place, not for gambling.

We caught up with the colorful curator and guide, known as Frankie from Avalon.

- [Frank] Mr. Wrigley started construction on this beautiful building in 1928, and it took him only 14 months to complete this project, if you can imagine that.

- [Kira] Wow.

- Here we are in the entrance of the beautiful casino.

You're looking at eight murals.

They're all 10-foot by 25-foot art deco murals, showing the underwater gardens and the marine life.

Mr. Wrigley needed an artist.

That's why he hired Mr. John Gabriel Beckman, who was the artist for the Chinese Grauman Movie Theater.

He did all the murals for them in 1927.

And Mr. Wrigley said, "You have three months to complete all of this artwork."

Mr. Beckman was so overwhelmed with all the work that he hired five other artists and over 100 helpers.

- [Kira] This art deco masterpiece is the largest building on the island, and the most visible landmark in Avalon Bay.

It contains one of the first theaters in the United States designed specifically for talkies.

- [Frank] Inside here, you're looking at some of the best materials in the world.

It was a 1928, '29 black walnut.

This was the most expensive wood in the world.

And here we are, 2019, the black walnut is still the most expensive wood.

They say it's worth millions of dollars today.

- [Kira] Wow.

- Right up above us, you're looking at fresco art.

Fresco art is when the stucco is wet, the artist uses a powdered pigment and it sticks to it and it looks like a carpet, doesn't it?

- [Kira] Yes.

- There are 88 gold stars, all painted with 22-karat gold leaf.

(Kira whistles) So wherever you see gold in this building, that's 22 karat gold leaf and we have tons of it.

- [Kira] And then he echoed the stars inside the movie theater.

- [Frank] The stars inside the movie theater- - [Kira] Yeah.

- [Frank] As we walk in.

- [Kira] It's incredible to think that he was able to get all the artisans and the materials to the island, and build it all in 14 months.

- Mr. Wrigley bought over 184,000 bags of cement.

He bought more than 228,000 pieces of steel.

He bought more than 25 miles of wire.

- Whoa.

- And they had this job completed in 14 months.

- It's outrageous.

- Of course they worked seven days a week, 24 hours a day- - Okay.

- Three eight-hour shifts.

- Okay.

- And that's one of the big reasons.

And the main reason is, they didn't have any permits then.

- Yeah.

- Isn't that great?

You'd have waited 10 years.

- Why the rush?

- Yeah.

- Was there a reason for the rush?

- There was, well, yes.

- Did he just wanna- - Well, he was getting older- - Okay.

- And he loved the island.

He wanted visitors to come from all over the world.

- Okay.

(upbeat big band music) - [Frank] He knew this would attract many visitors.

- [Kira] Yeah.

- And especially bringing the big bands to Avalon.

Benny Goodman, he played here for about a week in 1940 and on our dance floor, we had 6,200 people dancing at the same time.

Well, one time- - [Kira] Today, Frankie gives tours of the building while single handedly bringing back ballroom dancing, one guest at a time.

(big band music continues) - [Frank] I've danced with about 5,000 ladies over the last two years.

- [Kira] Well, well.

Make that 5,000 and one.

- No, that's my move.

- [Kira] Okay.

(Kira laughs) - That's the twirl.

- Ah, beautiful.

He's really bossy.

- [Frank] No, I'm not.

(Kira laughing) - I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

Since this is the island that William Wrigley, Jr built, he wanted to make Catalina a vacation destination for working people, so that anyone who could afford a stick a gum, could afford a beach vacation, too.

I can safely say that last part is definitely not true anymore.

(waves lapping) But despite Wrigley's proletarian plans, Catalina, and in particular the town of Avalon, became an overnight favorite of Hollywood celebrities, including a 16-year-old named Norma Jean, who moved to the island during World War II with her husband.

The young woman, soon to be rebranded as Marilyn Monroe, came to Catalina with her first husband, who was stationed here during World War II, when the island served as a US training camp.

(footsteps crunching) While Norma Jean stay on Catalina was brief, the island that Wrigley built had already been discovered by celebrities seeking glamor and sport.

- Hollywood came because one, it was like, Hollywood's back lot.

So, not only did they come here for rest and relaxation, a lot of them have their own yachts and sailboats and so they would, you know, sail over here for a weekend to get away, but also, they made lots of movies here.

- So once they started coming over here and making films and the actors saw what a great playland it was- - [Gail] Yes.

- And so it became sort of a playground for them- - Absolutely.

- In their spare time?

- Errol Flynn and Johnny Weissmuller would often race their sailboats here.

And John Wayne spent a ton of time here.

He loved it.

Mickey Rooney came here a lot, he made a movie here and loved to golf here.

Esther Williams made "Jupiter's Darling" here and some of the water scenes for "Million Dollar Mermaid."

And, we have an exhibition right now about her.

She started a swimsuit company because she wanted every woman to feel comfortable in a swimsuit, so much so about that convinced the Navy by wearing one of her suits that she had designed in front of a Naval officer in a meeting, that, for any women in the Navy, they needed to have those comfortable suits as well.

So she sold 50,000 suits to the Navy.

(playful music) - [Kira] Happily, it was time to see for ourselves why Catalina had made such a splash with Hollywood.

Beth Vander Velde is taking us by Jeep to the interior of the island, where you really need a rugged vehicle in order to explore the island beauty, surprises and Hollywood history.

(playful music continues) In the years before international jet travel, Catalina was used for location shooting.

Eight Tahitian villages were built along the 54 miles of coastline, for the filming of "Mutiny on the Bounty."

And later, Hollywood producers brought in a small herd of buffalo to film a Zane Grey Western.

Unfortunately, the films producers didn't know how difficult it is to capture bison.

So, they left them here.

In this home, where the buffalo still roam, on the island's interior.

The Wrigley family still owns 11% of the island and operates several businesses, including Catalina Expeditions, where we signed up for their famous Zip Line Eco Tour.

Here goes!

(Kira screaming) Whoo!

Yeah!

(Kira laughing) To make sure Catalina remains a naturally preserved ecosystem, Wrigley's children deeded 88% of the island to the Catalina Island Conservancy.

(waves lapping) Their mission is responsible stewardship through conservation, education and recreation.

(footsteps clomping) What year was this built?

- This started in 1933 and it was completed in 1934.

- Okay, so the year after Wrigley's death.

- Yes.

- [Kira] "No man is an island."

Really?

Tell that to William Wrigley, Jr.

The Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Gardens devoted to his memory, feels like the least the island could do to honor him.

Contrary to popular belief, Wrigley is no longer interred here.

Instead, visitors are rewarded with beautiful views of 38 acres of gardens that surround this massive monument, which is built from, and decorated with, mostly native Catalina materials.

Decorative tiles have been part of the distinctive atmosphere on Catalina for over a century.

- These are tiles that have been fired.

- Okay.

In 1988, Robin Cassidy founded Silver Canyon Pottery where she reproduces damaged or worn tiles and creates original designs as well.

- Well, what's interesting is the tiles didn't really come into the island history until the 1920s, basically.

But it was really part of a large history of ceramics in Southern California.

There was a lot more of a ceramics industry in Southern California than people realized, pre-World War II, and those were artisans who were drawing on the natural drift of patterns from old European patterns that of course, came in through the Spanish and on up into Old California.

What's kind of fun about the Catalina potteries is you will see some very rare original patterns here where they were making the art their own, because the artisans out here were really allowed to experiment and do what they wanted.

The same thing I'm doing with the ceramics is taking this same traditions and making it my own with what I do as well.

And you see the more complex patterns that are part of it.

The Catalina potteries are known and really fun for collectors because it's a traditional beach town.

And so, there's a lot of sentiment about the family generations coming to the island.

They experienced the island, in the place of the tiles, 50 years ago.

50 years later, they're there with their grandchild.

This is what's gonna bring back that memory in a really live way, because of how it's everywhere on the island.

- [Kira] Yeah.

And how special for you to be raised here, to have lived here your entire life, and to still be able to provide memories for people that came here even before you were born.

- Oh, absolutely.

And that's really the honor in it, is it's more something that I see as a service to the town, essentially, but that memory and association is part of what is so sacred about people's memory.

It's like a guy looking at his wife's face after 50 years and he sees a 20 year old.

- Yeah.

- You know?

- [Kira] Yeah.

- That's how you have to honor the patterns and the traditions there, so, too.

(Kira laughs) Nobody likes change.

- [Kira] Yeah, yeah.

- So.

Especially in Catalina.

So that's what we do out here.

- [Kira] So if someone doesn't have the chance to come to your studio, where can they find your work in town?

- Well, in town, I'm represented at a variety of galleries.

My main outlet is Catalina Pottery and Tile.

It's a fabulous new gallery, run by a long-time collector of the original pottery that was produced here in the '20s and '30s.

Being a small town, I have a little bit of different things in different stores.

So, I'm also at the Catalina Island Museum and Afishinados has some, just a fabulous local art gallery and has my fish-themed art.

- [Kira] To check out Robin's and other artists fishy works, we made Afishinados our next stop.

This popular gallery is curated by a couple of transplanted Los Angelinos.

- There's some really wonderful things.

One of the things that I'm really proud of here in the gallery and something that we sell a lot of, is reclaimed or repurposed artworks.

I have a environmental folk artist who makes everything from trash, literally trash from construction sites, rusty buckets of nails, all kinds of crazy things like that.

- [Kira] Yeah.

- [Karen] But we have local artists also, that use reclaimed hardwoods that are just gonna go to the dump.

I do bottle cap artwork, I take bottle caps, so many bottle caps, you can imagine here on the island.

- Yeah, yeah.

- We don't throw any of them away.

I probably have a million- - Whoa.

- Bottle caps in my studio.

(Kira chuckles) And so, I think that's a pretty important part of my artwork here because- - [Kira] Yeah.

- [Karen] We don't want things to go to the dump.

- Okay, so people that think that island life is slow, I would ask them to talk to you.

You own two boats, a gallery, you represent 40 artists, are an artist in your own right.

- Mm hm.

- And- - Yep.

I'm busy.

- Yeah, you're pretty busy.

- Yeah.

I thought we were retired.

- [Kira] Yeah.

- [Karen] Even though when I first got here, I thought it would be part time.

- [Kira] Yeah.

- [Karen] That I would have maybe January, February, March off?

- [Kira] Yeah.

- [Karen] Nope.

No, it's beautiful weather.

We're here open all the time.

- Thanks, Karen.

Let's go buy some fish.

- Let's do it.

(Kira and Karen laughing) - This is a great mask.

This is really cool.

This is way ahead of its time as they were built.

- [Kira] Jon Council is head of the Marine Animal Rescue program, as well as curator of the Avalon Diving History Museum.

- I've been in the oceanographic world and piloting submersibles and working with animals and things, and filming animals for over 30 years.

- [Kira] Did you create this museum?

- I did.

I did.

- Okay.

Tell me about it.

- This is one of the largest collections of vintage diving equipment, certainly in the United States.

It's a result of about, almost a four-decade-old career of commercially diving and scientific diving all over the world and so, it's my way of paying tribute to all these people that contributed in the diving industry for the last, you know, 50, 60 years.

These are Jacques Cousteau's personal camera housing.

- [Kira] Wow.

- This is one from Lamar Boren, this is.

We've had nearly 50,000 people that have come through in two years.

And it's really been spectacular.

It's already won awards in the industry.

So that's rewarding- - [Kira] Yeah.

- And it's great for kids.

It's free.

I use this as a reporting center for the Marine Animal Rescue program.

- Okay.

- And also as a fundraiser for it.

And we also have a dive park, right here about 50 yards away.

So it's one of the most popular dive spots in the country.

- [Kira] What does a dive park entail?

- [Jon] Well, it's like a ski resort for divers.

- [Kira] Oh, just because the natural gardens are so beautiful down there?

- [Jon] It's spectacular.

It's a nice dive here.

(gentle music) - [Kira] You don't have to tell me twice.

Off to the dive park we went.

(gentle strumming music) - [Jon] Probably the biggest thing about getting in the water is that, as most people know, about three quarters of the planet is water.

And obviously, there's a completely different ecosystem or environment.

In order to see those things, you have to get down there some kind of way and for most people that means diving.

And if you can get under water and start seeing things that are there, all of a sudden you have a better understanding of another part of the planet that you never saw before.

And I think just through knowledge and understanding is where we start to get the points of concern and caring.

- Whoo!

Just saw about a thousand fish.

(gentle strumming music continues) So many ways to work up an appreciation for our planet.

And an appetite.

We headed to the Bluewater Grill, where Australian owner Rick Staunton takes pride in sustainably sourcing his catch of the day, which Chef Manuel Pedroza grills to perfection.

In this case, swordfish.

- To set the record straight, we don't solely serve swordfish at the restaurants.

Obviously, it's fishing.

So, some days you catch them and some days you don't.

- Right.

- But when we do catch them, which is a lot, you know, we're providing other restaurants on the island with fresh harpooned swordfish.

- [Kira] Because harpooning swordfish eliminates the possibility of catching unwanted fish in nets, it is considered the most sustainable way to catch swordfish.

Ooh!

Beautiful!

- The great thing about harpooning a fish is from the time when you harpoon it, to the time you get it up on the boat can be a couple of hours, and then it gets immediately dressed and packed in ice.

Whereas, if you, you know, gillnetted fish, they can be on a boat anywhere up to, you know, three, four weeks packed in ice.

- Wow.

- It's really the best swordfish you can get.

- Thank you.

To gain a more profound appreciation of the sacrifice involved in our meal, oh, yeah, Rick invited us to join in on a swordfish harpooning expedition.

- [Rick] They spotted the swordfish from a pretty significant distance.

- [Kira] Yeah.

- [Rick] Chased it down, and then we had to get over and above the swordfish, and it's like the olden days, it's, you don't take a gun, you throw the spear.

(wind whipping) (participants screaming) First of all, you're very fortunate that you didn't see me harpoon the swordfish, because I would've missed it.

But Cam, total pro, harpooned the swordfish.

So, it's an exhilarating thing as I think everybody on board witnessed.

You can't replicate that.

It's just the thrill of the hunt and it was fantastic.

(gentle music) - [Kira] While watching a giant swordfish futilely fight for its life was humbling and horrifying, I am grateful for the experience.

- You know, talking about the gratitude about what we do, I was a trial attorney in Sydney.

So, that's a very boxed-in life.

And here, look around us and see what you see.

It's not that boxed in.

20 miles from one of the largest metropolises in the world.

- [Kira] Yeah.

- [Rick] Los Angeles.

And we're here.

How good is this?

It's spectacular.

And I come from Sydney, right?

(Kira chuckles) Sydney's pretty damn awesome.

Sydney's fantastic.

And this is also fantastic as well.

So, you know?

- You're a grateful guy.

- Totally grateful, yeah.

I mean, how good does it get?

- I mean, I'm grateful for you to inviting us on the boat.

So thank you.

- [Rick] I'm very grateful that you would join us today, and obviously, the luck is with you because we got a fantastic swordfish today.

- [Kira] I feel that.

(water churning) ♪ A tropical heaven ♪ ♪ Out in the ocean ♪ ♪ Covered with trees and girls ♪ ♪ If I have to swim I'd do it forever ♪ Like all of our island adventures, this one is ending too soon.

But what will endure, is my appreciation for American visionaries like William Wrigley, Jr. And entrepreneurs like Rick Staunton, who enrich the tapestry of our nation.

For artists, for dancers, and for old-fashioned romance.

♪ Romance, romance, romance ♪ ♪ Twenty-six miles across the sea ♪ ♪ Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me ♪ ♪ Santa Catalina ♪ ♪ The island of romance, romance, romance ♪ (playful music) KIRA: For more information about our series visit our website at www.IslandsWithoutCars.com