Roger Bacon: Hermosa Beach’s ‘Wheels and Deals’ man
Roger Bacon behind the wheel of a 1954 with dad Les, brother Bob, and mom Marion. PHoto courtesy of the Bacon Family by David Hunt [Reprinted from Easy Reader, July 3, 1997. Bacon passed away on March 1, 2019 at age 88.] It’s easy to picture Roger Bacon in the middle of a three-ring circus, attired in red top hat and tails and shiny black leather boots, snapping his whip at snarling lions, climbing atop a lumbering elephant, serving up death-defying acts of courage and the occasional shot of seltzer to the face. Bacon, a stocky, barrel-chested man with a ruddy complexion and sandy hair, never ran away with the circus. But for 14 years, between 1951 and 1965, he walked the line between showman and salesman to sell cars in Hermosa Beach. His energy and antics helped propel the family business, Les Bacon & Sons, to its place as the top-selling Ford dealership west of the Mississippi. Along the way he beat labor union attempts to organize his salesmen, set a whale carcass on fire in front of the dealership as a publicity stunt, dug holes in local streets to test suspension systems, sponsored beauty contest to attract crowds, and led parades of new cars through the beach cities. “We…
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