Bermuda Shorts, Bloody Mary and Duncan Yoyo

Question – What do Bermuda shorts, the Bloody Mary and the famous Duncan yoyo all have in common?

Answer – They were all created by Palm Springs residents.

Bermuda shorts – There are many stories that connect Bermuda shorts to Palm Springs.  The one that makes most sense is that they were “invented” by cowboy Frank Bogart, a former mayor of Palm Springs early in his career when he was in charge of promotion at El Mirador Hotel in the 1930’s. He bought some men’s trousers at the I Magnim store located at El Mirador and cut them off at the knee – then hired men to wear them while pulling rickshaws (with El Mirador signs on the back) around downtown Palm Springs. This was back in the days when photos and newsreels provided major news coverage. Pictures of this “new men’s fashion trend” were shown all over the world, providing free promotion for both Palm Springs and El Mirador Hotel.

The Bloody Mary – The Racquet Club Palm Springs was a private club for Hollywood stars and other celebrities. The club featured bungalows where members would stay while visiting Palm Springs. Because the Racquet Club was private, members could party as late into the evening as they wished, and often would awake the next morning somewhat under the weather. One of the Racquet Club bartenders took a fairly bland cocktail containing vodka and tomato juice, spiced it up and added some veggies – an attempt to provide a “wake-up” for the dulled senses of overindulgent members. This became the Bloody Mary as we know it today!

Duncan yoyo – In 1928, Donald Duncan, owner of the Duncan Toy Company, built what still remains as the largest single estate in the Old Las Palmas area of Palm Springs (15,000 sq. ft. of living space on just over 4 acres of land). In 1930 he started selling the Duncan yoyo, and teamed up with Hearst newspapers to promote yo-yo contests (still in existence today). The newspaper advertised the contests, and players had to sell 3 newspaper subscriptions to compete. A single promotion in Philadelphia sold 3 million yo-yos in 30 days.