Hi-Jinks of 1924 Were All Fun, No Speech-Making
JUNE 2008 - In 1924 over 500 REALTORS® from the Los Angeles and San Francisco boards gathered at Del Monte for their annual Hi-Jinks celebration. The three-day party included sports, a parade, banquet, and all-around fun. As the California Real Estate Journal reported, “While the Hi-Jinks is in no sense of the word a convention, the Realtors of the two cities reap much benefit from the annual gathering...and everyone went back to his desk a better Realtor for having attended, although some of them painfully admitted that they could not stand it like they could in the olden days.”
The Jinks started with a parade in front of the Del Monte, led by Los Angeles Board Secretary Tom Ingersoll dressed as a Spanish alcalde. Following him in a cage were President W. L. Brent of Los Angeles and Harry B. Allen of San Francisco.
The two boards tied 2 to 2 in the baseball game, the San Francisco pitcher striking out the last Angeleno batter with three men on base and two out. San Francisco’s basketball team romped to a 30-10 win, while the Los Angeles men triumphed in the tug-of-war.
Finally there was the annual Hi-Jinks dinner in the Del Monte dining room, “notable for the absence of speech-making.” Movie star Monte Blue was a special guest.
After the fun, when the REALTORS® began to return home, the June, 1924 National Real Estate Journal noted that the Jinks “is proving again the old principle that those who learn to play together also learn to work together."
