Jeffrey Stanton Venice of America: 'Coney Island of the Pacific,' Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987. 176 pp., 1941, 1938, 1935, 1934, 1933, 1932, 1931, 1929, 1923,
Chapter 6: Oil, Depression & War Years (1930-1945)
"Venice entered the Depression in the midst of hope and despair. On the one hand the economic downturn caused by the stock market crash and the subsequent failure of the banking industry meant little disposable income for the amusement industry. On the other hand the discovery of oil held the possibilities of untold wealth for the community.
"The Ohio Oil Company brought in a wildcat well on December 18, 1929 in Del Rey on county property just east of the Grand Canal at Avenue 35 . . . The . . . company then asked for a zoning variance that would permit them to drill for oil within the city limits on the Venice Peninsula.
"The town's excitement soon turned to oil fever. Parcels of land and mineral rights rapidly traded hands. Residents talked of nothing but oil and the money that could be made by having an oil well in one's backyard . . . Ocean Park residents, however, weren't so lucky. Santa Monica was strictly against drilling." p. 126
"Despite the economic cushion provided by the oil business, the amusement business began to suffer that first summer of the Depression. . . ." p. 129
"With spending money becoming scarce and money for new attractions non-existent, amusement men resorted to promotions and celebrations to lure paying customers to Venice and Ocean Park. The schedule for 1931 included the St. Patrick's Day parade, Easter Fashion Pageant, Pacific Memorial Day services, Fiesta Week in June, Independence Day with fireworks, Annual Bathing Revue, Mermaid Mardi Gras in August, Labor Day celebration, Halloween Carnival, Armistice Day celebration, 1st Annual Turkey Trot, two weeks long Christmas Fiesta and the 24th annual New Year's Eve Frolic.
"Amusement interests were fortunate that summer as the crowds at the beach were larger than in the previous two years and water temperatures hovered between a record 76 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit, only a degree or two colder than the waters off Hawaii. Hammerhead sharks were sighted in the bay for the first time. World wide weather was bizarre that summer; extreme heat and drought in North America with record rain throughout Europe. Inland Los Angeles temperatures hovered around the 100 degree mark throughout the summer and residents headed for the beach to escape the heat. Sunday's July 26th crowd that packed the narrow beach solid from Del Rey to the Ocean Park Pier was estimated at 350,000 people. Five hundred people took a late evening swim by moon light near the pier. the only discomfort was the swarms of mosquitoes that plagued Venice throughout the summer.
" . . .
"The pier's amusement rides were considered safe, but on August 13th there was a bizarre accident on the Ocean Park Pier's Hi-Boy roller coaster. The front car became uncoupled from the rest of the train and didn't make it to the top of the next hill. The empty rear cars, with much less momentum, stopped near the bottom. When the front car, rolling backwards, struck the rest of the train at the bottom, its four passengers were hurled backwards out of their seats to land in the empty car behind. It was a lucky accident or they might have fallen between the rails to their deaths.
"Others weren't always so lucky. There were always signs posted warning passengers 'Do not stand up!' One teenager, no doubt showing off to his friends, disobeyed the warning sign when Some Kick coaster first opened in 1923 and had his head smashed in by a protruding post. Over the years some stood up and were hurled out of the cars on sharp turns, only to land on the pier far below or sometimes in the ocean. Most were drunk but a few did it on a dare, One kid tried to ride a coaster unseated, hanging on to the restraining bar by his hands alone. He lost his grip on a fast turn and died when he struck the pier pilings below.
"Many consider 1932 the worst year of the depression. Banks like the First National Bank of Venice and Ocean Park's Marine Bank were failing in record numbers, and jobs were scarce everywhere. But Los Angeles was preparing for the 10th Olympiad and the Venice/ Ocean Park amusement interests intended to take advantage of it. They planned to lure the Olympic crowd with 25 cent Pacific Electric roundtrip excursion fares on Wednesdays and Sundays.
"In May the Southern California water polo team, composed mostly of Venice swimmers, won the West Coast championship. Five Venice men including Wally O'Conner (captain), Phil Daubenspeck, Charles Finn, Herb Wildman and Bill O'Conner won positions on the United States water polo team. The team upset Brazil and Japan in the playoffs and tied Germany 4-4 in the semi-finals. But in the August 11th final match, they lost to Hungary 7-0.
"Venice held some interesting events that summer. July 4th [1932] festivities included a daredevil's descent by parachute while operating a fireworks show. Louis 'Speedy' Babbs leaped from a plane at 8000 feet with bombs strapped to his body and a brand in his teeth. Unfortunately, one of the bombs prematurely exploded and his clothes caught fire at 5000 feet. Spectators didn't realize what had happened until his writhing body, enveloped in flames, dropped out of the fog into the clear a few hundred feet above the ocean where speed boats quickly rescued him. He was hospitalized with first and second degree burns. p. 130
"Natural disasters in 1933 and 1934 did almost as much to damage Venice as the Depression did. The Long Beach earthquake on March 10, 1933 wrecked the high school auditorium and damaged a number of buildings . . ." p. 130
"Then in January 1934 heavy rains caused Ballona Creek and the Grand Canal to overflow and flood Venice . . . The Works Progress Administration did, however, begin work on building a flood control levee on Ballona Creek the following year. It helped but failed to curtail the brunt of the 1938 flood.
"Congress pass the Little Volsted Act on April 7, 1933 as a prelude to ending Prohibition. It authorized the consumption 3.2% beer in any municipality that would allow it. Los Angeles put the issue on the May ballot and it passed. . . . By the end of the year the states ratified the repeal of the 21st Amendment, and it became legal once again to drink liquor on December 5, 1933." p. 132
{p. 133 photo :1941 aerial view of the Sunset, Venice and OP Piers, and Santa Monica.}
"The Venice Surfing Club gained prominence during the time {1935-1941} of the Mardi Gras festivals. Its thirty to forty members, mostly teens and young adults, met at a small clubhouse on the end of the Sunset Pier. It was first formed as a paddle board club in the early 30's, but when members like Luigi Varlucchi, Tom Wilde, Ed Adams, Tom Blake and Tully Clark began shaping the big wooden boards and experimenting with unmovable rudders placed on the tail, most members began to surf. Lifeguards reserved half of the beach area between Sunset Pier and the Venice Pier exclusively for surfboards and paddle boards.
"Venice began to recover from the Depression after 1935. Business conditions improved, primarily because of the success of the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, which was busy making DC-3's. Workers seeking housing and families who were staying in Venice through the winter because of higher rents inland cause a housing shortage. Garages were converted into living quarters and single family residences were converted to multi-family." p. 135
Gambling, Bingo and Prohibition
"While few people were spending money on amusement rides during the Depression, they were spending it on bingo or at least a variation of the popular game. Bingo was considered a gambling game and therefore was illegal in Los Angeles. However, the clever game operators invented variations that allowed the customers to use their "skill" to select the numbers called. This might involve tossing marbles in a grid, or rolling balls down an incline. Game cards costing a nickel to a quarter, depending on the number of players, offered prizes of $1.50 to $50.00.
"One of the most successful operators was John Harrah and his son Bill. The former Venice mayor was badly in debt after the stock market crash, yet owned mortgages on a number of beach properties far above their deflated value. One such property was the Plaza building at the entrance to the Venice Pier. At the time it housed mostly bowling alleys and a pool hall. They decided to use part of the empty space to open up a variation of bingo which they called the "Circle Game." Players sat at a large circular style bar during the game and marked their bingo cards. A revolving game board with its connecting runway was placed in the center. Each player in turn determined the next number by rolling a ball down the runway so that it landed into one of the numbered slots. The 32 seat parlor grossed $100 the first night it opened on July 4, 1932. The Harrahs were so successful that they soon opened a second game called Tango, then a third.
"In 1934 the state passed a law outlawing bingo as a game of chance at his parlors and others that lined the coast. The police and county sheriffs raided the games to shut them down. The arresting officer became confused when Harrah's game didn't even look like bingo. They managed to stay open nearly six months after everyone else was closed by constantly changing the games and keeping one step ahead of the law.
"The legality of the games were constantly challenged in court, but there were still periodic raids and closures in 1935 and 1936. While Harrah became fed up with the constant legal trials and uncertainties and moved to Reno in 1937, others evolved the game into a variation called Bridgo. It lasted until after World War II when a final courtroom test closed the "games of skill" for good.
"The late 1930's brought back the popularity of the offshore gambling boats. A fleet of these boats began in 1929 with the operation of the Tango anchored five miles directly west of the Venice Pier. Water taxis would deposit gamblers at these floating casinos that sometimes offered entertainment and dancing in addition to crap tables and roulette.
"In 1938 Tony Cornero converted a 41year old brigantine into a gambling ship. It had a superstructure especially designed as a luxury gambling casino. His investment, rumored to be $600,000, was financed by Bugsy Siegal and George Raft. He towed his boat exactly 3.1 miles offshore, and announced by radio and newspaper advertisements that he was open for business. He offered a challenge, a $100,000 reward to anyone who could show that any game on the Rex was rigged.
"It was a first class operation with good food, top name dance bands, unwatered booze and honest games. Gamblers had a choice of playing craps, roulette, blackjack, chuck-a-luck, high spade, wheel of fortune, Chinese lottery, stud poker and faro. There were Tango layouts between decks and 150 "one armed bandits" lined the casino walls. The operation was a success and netted Tony $300,000 per month.
"The Rex and the other gambling boats were a thorn in the side of anti-gambling forces. The local authorities could do nothing because they operated just beyond their jurisdiction. Police often harassed the water taxi service, but their efforts were struck down in court. Finally California Attorney General Earl Warren decided to take action. He armed himself with nuisance abatement warrants and went after the gambling fleet.
"He had no difficulty shutting down two boats in Long Beach and the Texas off Venice, but the Rex didn't give in easily. Cornero got wind of the operation when seventeen unarmed plainclothes officers tried to sneak aboard the ship with the other customers. Bouncers spotted them easily and escorted them off the ship.
"Warren rounded up a flotilla of State and Game boats, manned them with deputies and ordered them out to the Rex. Cornero was ready and repelled the invasion with high pressure hoses. The authorities laid siege for nine tense days while Cornero's men stood guard with sub-machine guns. His attorneys filed suit after suit charging Warren with everything from harassment to piracy.
"Then Tony Cornero unexpectedly surrendered on August 9, 1938. The war moved to the courts. The high court finally ruled a year later that the three mile limit in the Santa Monica Bay extended from an imaginary line connecting Point Dume to Point Vicente. Tony had to pay fines and court costs."