Chapter 7: "“Making the Palace Flophouse Home…”

Steinbeck's ancestral home in King City, CA. This is at the Hamilton Ranch. Since the "Palace Flophouse" does not exist today, this post will feature some of the "homes" John Steinbeck knew as a youth and as an adult. Since we draw from our own experience, some elements of these homes may have lent components to the setting in Cannery Row. 

"The Steinbeck House" in Salinas, CA. This is where John spent his formative years. In spite of the grandiosity of the old Victorian, John's family was middle class. 

John and his first wife Carol Henning's home in Pacific Grove, CA (adjacent to Monterey, walking distance to Cannery Row). They moved here in 1930. Meager beginnings!

A training army which has not been equipped with guns and artillery and tanks uses artificial guns and masquerading trucks to simulate its destructive panopoly--and its toughening soldiers get used to field guns by handling logs on wheels. (Steinbeck 35)