At the end of the nineteenth century, there was an ever increasing demand by hat makers for plumes, especially ostrich, to decorate women's millinery. With new legislative restrictions on hunting wild birds for fashion, ostrich farming became a successful enterprise in California, Arizona, Texas, Arkansas, and Florida in the 1880s so that feathers could be clipped from the farmed birds to satisfy the American demands for hat making using ostrich feathers.
Two South Africans - Conning and Edward Atherton -- came to California and Atherton grandfathered the ostrich farm boom in Orange county. Originally the pair came to sell their large stock of ostrich plumes, but found no takers as "shipping" had taken its toll on their fluffy freshness. Conning moved on to banking in San Francisco, but Atherton took charge of the live ostrichs which had been shipped to Anaheim in 1882 from their exhibition in San Francisco. The farm began with about 50 birds.
Like many a boom, the bust was not far behind, however. The sudden flood of ostrich plumes lowered prices and the trends shifted away from large Gibson Girl picture hats adorned with bird fluff. The ostrich farms became touristy "theme parks" like the alligator farms and the great pigeon ranches of Los Angeles (when squab was a restaurant regular).
Edward Atherton eventually sold out to other interests and raised Valencia oranges and Orange county's once ubiquitous walnuts.
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