Exhibiting local history

Leaning over a copy of a 1950s map of Newport Beach, 76-year-old Dolores Perlin traced her memories: hanging out at the Fun Zone, renting speed boats and racing them inside Newport Harbor, packing a bunch of girlfriends on Johnny Weissmuller’s surfboard, and swimming across the harbor.

Perlin, a Newport Harbor High School graduate, grew up on Balboa Peninsula. Her father, Joseph “Francois” Marshall, managed Christian’s Hut, a restaurant on the bayside. In 1947, Perlin was Pirate Queen during the Pirate Days celebrations in early fall.

Back then, the water in Newport Harbor was pristine.

“It was so clean you didn’t believe how clean it was,” Perlin said.

Perlin’s stories are just some of those told in the “Dredges to Dreamboats” exhibit opening today at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum.

The exhibit, presented as part of the city’s year-long centennial celebration, sails through Newport’s nautical history. The exhibit is a compilation of first-hand information provided by local oral historians and real nautical artifacts, donated by Newport residents.

“What this exhibit gives us is more of an appreciation of where we are,” said Nautical Museum President David Muller.

There’s a stack of tuna fish cans bearing copies of original labels from Newport Western Canners. Balboa Peninsula resident Gay Wassall-Kelly passed on her pair of wooden water skis from 1955. There’s even a pair of men’s and women’s swimsuits, dating back to the beginning of the century.

Four red tourist binoculars, modeled after those on the local piers, act as miniature television screens, displaying a mix of video and still shots of old and new Newport Harbor.

“It’s a way to present film that otherwise you might not see at all,” Muller said.

Drive down Coast Highway now and it’s hard to imagine a time when developers were giving away waterfront lots on Newport Harbor. A 1922 photo of a completely undeveloped Newport Harbor tells the story.

The exhibit has been a labor of love for the museum and the student curators from Cal State Fullerton. The young curators add a fresh perspective to the exhibit, Muller said.

“We also bring new eyes to this information,” said Joanna Grasso, a grad student in the university’s exhibition design program.dpt.09-water-BPhotoInfoB01RQ7I120060609j0kgjancDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Dolores Perlin, left, a lifelong Balboa Peninsula resident shares stories of Newport Beach with Nautical Museum President David Muller while looking at 1950s poster replicated for the show.