Along California’s Beaten Paths with Huell Howser

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When I first arrived in California from upstate New York nine years ago, I had many first impressions.  These impressions included the rough condition of Highway 99 in the Valley, the abundance of vegetables and fruits available at local restaurants, and the frenzy of the real estate market in those pre-recession days.

Other impressions of California came through my television screen from the California’s Gold program hosted by Huell Howser who passed away earlier this month.

During our first years living in the Central Valley and not knowing much about what to see and do in the state, my wife and I watched Huell take us on the road to practically every corner of California.  His visits would consume the entire half-hour of the program, unlike the minute-and-a-half features I was accustomed to seeing from local television news.

He wasn’t much for the so-called rules of producing video stories.  His segments were essentially shot in a rambling style with the host inviting the videographer to follow him as he walked through museums, nature settings, and iconic California sites.  He’d even have the camera roll while inside the vehicle he drove as they would tour all over the state.  There wasn’t a lot of editing to the shows.  Most of the segments were shot “freestyle” with the host telling his videographer to “pan over there” or to “zoom in on this”.  

A friend of mine who is in the television news business says Huell probably broke over ten-thousand rules of television story construction.  That may be an exaggeration, and it misses the point.  California’s Gold was off-the-cuff television.  It was heartfelt, and thanks to the homespun narration, it was entertaining.

Over the years, I saw Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Chico, and other places first on California’s Gold, then later on my own.  Huell Howser made the introduction; I did the rest.Good friends saw to it that I take in Yosemite, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Hollywood when I first arrived in California in 2004.  But it was Huell Howser and his California’s Gold program that made me anxious to tour the Missions along the coast, and curious to explore the geographical center of the state at North Fork in Madera County.  His program fed my desire to find the places off the beaten path.  I shared some of those places in my book 9 From 99, Experiences in California’s Central Valley, in 2010.

Since my first impressions California some nine years ago, some changes have taken place.  Highway 99, while still not the greatest travel thoroughfare in the state, has gone under some improvements that include more six-lane stretches of roadway.  The real estate market is making some recovery after those very lean years when the recession hit the region the hardest.  But many things have stayed the same.  And thanks to Huell Howser, many Californians were able to see and learn more about the history of the place we call home.  

We can thank Huell Howser, for taking many of us off the beaten path all these years.  

Steve Newvine is a former television journalist and author of 9 From 99, Experiences in California’s Central Valley.  He lives in Merced.

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Business Cards

I managed to save at least one business card from every job I had where a business card was required.  Looking back on them now, I see these cards as symbols of my professional life.

The very first business card I had didn’t have my name on it.  I was a summer relief account representative for a radio station.  Management did not want to invest in a box of calling cards for someone who would be with them only a few months. 

I remember typing in my name of some of the cards so that my clients could ask for me if they called back.  If you ever sold radio time, you would know that no one ever called me.

I have cards from my years as a television journalist.  In fifteen years as a reporter and producer, I amassed cards from television stations affiliated with the three major networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC. 

I got out of the business before FOX became a television network.  I have cards with a different look from the same station as frequently these stations would change their logo to give their image a new look.  

I have cards with logos I either designed or approved the design of from a couple of organizations where I was the person in charge.  I wasn’t much of a designer, but I did insist on one basic principle for the layout of a business card:  the phone number had to be in a typeset large enough for the naked eye to see. 

Even today, many business cards try to cram too much information into the small space.  The most important thing on the card, the phone number, is often so small that I feel as though I need a microscope to read the number.

I also have a card from the time when I was looking for a job.  It had my name, address, email address, and phone number (all in large type).  Someone told me I should put some highlights of what I could offer an employer on the back of the card. 

I didn’t want to spend any more money on printing, so I left it just the way it was.  Fortunately, I wasn’t out of work too long.

All of my business cards read horizontally, as opposed to some cards you see where you must turn the card a quarter turn.  Someone said this was a good idea because it would stand apart from all the other cards someone had.

As a person who accepts business cards from associates, I can tell you that I’d rather have them the standard way.

When I think of unique business cards I received over the years, two examples come to mind.  One was from the Eastman Kodak Company.  Their employee business cards back in the 1990’s were photographs, printed on Kodak paper (“for a good look” as their commercials at the time would say).  

allen bailey

The other unique card came from Allen-Bailey Tag and Label, Incorporated in Caledonia, New York.  This manufacturer of tags and labels for industrial, medical, and professional applications uses a calling card that is a business card size version of a price tag complete with reinforced hole at the top.  

They still use that design, and according to company Partner and Director of Marketing Richard Phelps, Junior, the tag style goes back to before 1975 when he joined the company.  “It was a man by the name of J. N. White who I believe first proposed it to Allen-Bailey,” Richard says.   "JN was our resident artist at the time and he went on to found his own company, J.N. White Designs.”

Richard says in his nearly forty years with the company, the card design still gets lots of comments.  “I've yet to hand out one of my business cards at a show or face-to-face with customers when it does not generate a response for its uniqueness.”  

This year, Allen-Bailey added the QR Code on the back of the card.  The code is linked to the company's website.  The company is looking to link the code to the person's individual contact profile within Outlook.

I look at the business cards I had over the years, and I think about each and every job I held.  With all the changes in technology and business practices in the digital age, it’s nice to know that one tradition, the exchange of business cards, continues to thrive.

Nothing beats the old fashioned business card.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.  He’s grateful to the team at Allen-Bailey Label & Tag for providing him with a picture of their current business card.