WINTER, PINE KNOT LODGE & HOLLYWOOD:
Courtesy of BigBearHistorySite.com

At the same time that the film industry was getting started in Big Bear Lake, tourism was beginning to take off.  Lodges were being built all over the valley. Real Estate values were soaring. Business was good, but only during the summer.  During the winter months, the lodges and most resort businesses would close down and their owners would leave the hill.  Except for a hand full of hard core locals, Big Bear sat empty.  The ski resorts didn’t exist yet.  During the winter months, there was absolutely nothing going on in Big Bear.

Until Pine Knot Lodge opened it’s doors to the movie studios, Big Bear was a ghost town during the winter. – Rick Keppler collection.

However, there was a local guy back then, by the name of Fred C. Skinner, who wanted to do something to try and change that.   Fred was manager of the new Pine Knot Lodge, which was Big Bear’s largest resort.  He had organized Pine Knot’s first Chamber of Commerce, and in 1914, Fred informed Hollywood production companies that the Pine Knot Lodge would remain open during the winter if they wanted to film. He even brought in a generator, and Pine Knot Lodge had electrical power five years before electricity reached the valley.  The movie industry enthusiastically supported Skinner’s efforts and began filming right through the winters.  Few people in Big Bear today realize just how important Fred’s work was back then.  Until the  ski resorts came along, it was the film industry, not the tourists, that kept the Big Bear community alive through the long winter months each year.

The Big Bear community and the movie industry pretty much grew up during the same time period.  The film companies mixed easily with the local community, and Big Bear residents enjoyed working as extras on films whenever they were needed.  Many early Big Bear pioneers including Dad Skinner, Bill Knickerbocker, Henry Shay (of Shay Ranch), and some of the Talmadges of the IS Ranch, all worked as extras in these early films.

If you’d like to come to Big Bear and discover what Hollywood’s love of our valley is all about, consider staying with us at RS Vacations. Book your Big Bear Vacation Rental today!

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