Jeffrey Stanton Santa Monica Pier A History from 1875 to 1990, Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1990, 1943
Chapter 5: Santa Monica Pier on the Skids (1941-1974)
"A series of winter storms wrecked havoc on the fishing fleet . . . on January 14, 1943 . . . then seven inches of rain during a 56 hour storm in late January and forty eight boats washed ashore . . . and then the fish market crashed going from 21 c to 13 c per pound.
"In February 1943, Security First National Bank sold the Santa Monica Pleasure Pier to Walter D. Newcomb, who was managing their pier under a lease agreement. Newcomb, who owned the pier's gift shop and arcade, had taken over management at the beginning of the war when Lt. Commander Harry E. Walker entered naval service.
" . . . the city . . . assigned Newcomb the bank's twenty-one year franchise that began on June 7, 1936.
"Johnny "Tarzan" Weismuller was a frequent pier visitor and an honorary captain of Santa Monica's Municipal Lifeguard service and actually leaped from the pier to save a tiring swimmer, August 6, 1943.
"The city toughened its lease policy, limiting extent and cancelling leases that allowed alcohol sales. Olaf Olson had ben operating a cocktail bar, but had recently vacated the premises.
" . . . the Santa Monica area became a rest and recovery area for returning soldiers and airmen. In late November, the Army began leasing the beach club hotels, first the Grand Hotel, Del Mar and Edgewater Clubs. Later they leased the Miramar, Ocean Palms and Shargri-La to quarter 1500 men returning from combat service. The beach club hotels operated like hotels rather than like an army base, and rotated about 2500 men per month through 14-21 day periods."