Entertainment
Vaudeville performers used Idora Park stages; famous stars who emerged from Oakland included Hobart Bosworth, a widely known leading man in the early days of film, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, and possibly Lon Chaney. It has been said that Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton improved their skating skills at the Idora Park skating rink described (in 1913) as the largest in the world. Something called the Cabaret de la Mort existed for a time. Jack London's daughter Becky describes trips to Idora Park with her father (link below).
Aimee Semple McPherson held the largest outdoor baptism to date before 10,000 spectators in the Idora Park swimming tanks after returning from the "Orient" following the death of her husband, Robert James Semple from dysentery.
Read more about this topic: Idora Park