Across from Doc’s Lab is a mural I came across just off Cannery Row in Monterey, CA.
Look at this picture and you will see what looks like a scene from ‘back in the day.’ Now, if you’re familiar with Cannery Row – the book, chances are that this picture will quite fit the image — of the Cannery Row in Monterey — that John Steinbeck painted onto your minds as you went about reading it.
Look out Doc’s window and you just might see the vacant lot by the tracks and the grocery story (Lee Chong’s in the book) across from the lab, where the doc went to pick up his beer at the end of the day. The Lone Star Restaurant that you see here might as well be the Bear Flag Restaurant that we’ve read of. Then there are the old discarded boilers that later became homes, and even a person that reminds us of the mysterious ‘Chinaman’ in the story. And could that dog be Darling, the pup that Mack and his friends brought back from their Carmel Adventure?
That the setting in this picture quite resembles the backdrop of The Cannery Row is no coincidence.
Bruce Ariss the person, who’s whose painting this was originally, was said to have been a contemporary of the Steinbeck. And this picture might well be a portrayal some of the landmarks and people that inspired the characters and scenes in Cannery Row — the literary work.
My reading tells me that Steinbeck spent a good amount of time in what is now Cannery Row when he visited his friend, a certain ‘doc’ (read Marine Biologist) who had a laboratory there on the Row. ‘Mack and the boys’ in the novel are also based on a certain group of people who lived there in those days. A black and white photo of a few young men on a truck even inspired a mural in 2008. It can now be seen on a trail that runs parallel to the Cannery Row of today. You can see the cutout mural here — Mack and the Boys by John Cerney.
Across from Doc’s Lab, Bruce Ariss
Coming back to the Bruce Ariss picture, here’s a full-length shot of the painting that now stands just off Cannery Row at the end of Bruce Ariss Way.
Linking to
Monday Mural
Want to see more murals?
Murals featured on Tipsy from the Trip
So much to see here. thank you
Yeah. That’s a busy place. 🙂
Thank YOU, Bertie. 🙂
Great mural – the dog, though, made me smile the biggest 🙂
🙂
He probably smelled some fish in that pail.
Thank you for visiting, Iris. 🙂
Beautiful mural and I like the connection with the book. Will have to read it.
Thanks for participating Divya
It’s a beautiful book. The story is a very vivid picture of a community.
Thank you for hosting this meme, Sami. 🙂
Nice memory of cannery row. I liked that story as I also like this mural.
Cannery Row is a great classic. Having read the book, I find this a very interesting mural.
Thank you for stopping by, SC. 🙂
…wonderful, I like the Blue Diner!
It does look very charming, does it not?
Thank you for coming this way, Tom. 🙂
What a great way to connect today’s reality to fiction and history!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
The story probably did have some fiction in it but it was a reflection of the times. And the town seems to have taken the book very seriously and has tried to keep itself closely connected to the classic and the history there. I thought that was very nice. 🙂
Thank you for coming this way, Mae. Welcome. 🙂
Cool mural. I enjoyed reading the history and the connections to the place and to Steinbeck
The connections make it all very interesting, don’t they?
Welcome here, MNL.
Hope to see you here again. 🙂
Fascinating work, well captured!