Jeffrey Stanton Venice of America: 'Coney Island of the Pacific,' Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987, 176 pp., 1906, 1905, 1904, 1903, 1897, 1896, 1895, 1890s,
Chapter I: Building Venice of America (1904-1906)
. . .
"Abbot Kinney had been feuding with his three Ocean Park Improvement Company partners for some time when they met in the company office in January 1904 to divide their beach front property. Kinney and his former partner Francis Ryan had purchased the tract of land just south of Santa Monica in 1895. Here they had developed a modest seaside resort by building a golf course, tennis courts, country clubhouse, boardwalk and a fishing pier at the foot of Pier Avenue. They gave the Santa Fe Railroad a small tract of land with the understanding that they would build a pavilion there, and a much larger tract to the Y.M.C.A. in hopes that the construction of an auditorium and bathhouse would attract conventions and assemblies to Ocean Park. The remainder of the property was subdivided into small 25 x 100 foot, $45 lots which sold well considering the economic slump of the 1890's. Unsold lots were rented for $15 per year with the understanding that 'neat and substantial cottages' would be built upon them. Transportation to the resort was arranged when a spur of the new Los Angeles electric railroad was extended south from Santa Monica to Hill Street in 1896.
"When Ryan died in 1899, his widow remarried. Thomas H. Dudley proved to be a satisfactory business partner for Kinney, as they began to pursue active development plans. However, in 1902, Dudley sold his half of the company to Alexander R. Fraser, George Merritt Jones and Henry R. Gage, three businessmen who didn't see eye to eye with their strong-willed and imaginative partner. After nearly two years of constant feuding, Kinney and his partners decided to divide their holdings with the flip of a coin." p. 6
Kinney won, and chose the southern half of the property.
{p. 7 photo of Ocean Front Walk 1906 looking north to the Fraser Pier}
"The southern half of their Ocean Park property consisted mostly of sand dunes fronting unusable swampy marsh, while the northern half had become a very popular and fashionable resort. A large number of beach cottages had been built and some permanent residents were beginning to settle in the area. A casino, containing a restaurant and vaudeville theater, was built beside the pier in summer 1903 as a replacement for the Auditorium that burned in 1897. There were plans for an immense bathing pavilion complete with plunge, ballroom and amphitheater to be built on the boardwalk south of the pier." pp. 6 & 7
{pp. 8 & 9 photos of the Ocean Park Plunge, 1905; Ingersoll's Toboggan Railroad. 1903; The Ocean Park Bathhouse, and the beach north(sic) of the Ocean Park Pier.}
"The Los Angeles Pacific had first extended tracks south from Santa Monica in 1901. A short line was completed in 1902 directly from Los Angeles. Its route was across bean field, following what is now Venice Boulevard, then north along Electric Way to Ocean Park. By 1903 Kinney had persuaded E.H. Harriman to extend its tracks directly to the beachfront." p. 8.
{p.10 photos of Pier Street entrance to Ocean Park Pier, 1905 and Bandstand and Casino at the Ocean Park Pier, 1905.}
"Disaster struck in February and March {1905]. The heaviest storms in more than a generation . . . the beach was littered with one vast pile of driftwood from both Kinney's and Ocean Park's piers. . . . " p. 12
{Yet by July 4, 1905, 40,000 people poured into Venice of America. Arend's forty piece Italian band played on the bandstand at the foot of the [Venice] pier. p.13}
"Ocean Park had a small celebration of its own that Fourth of July. Kinney's ex-partners {Fraser, Jones and Gage} dedicated their new bathing pavilion. The $150,000 building, with its graceful dome and turrets, was the pride of Ocean Park. Its interior contained a 70 by 70 foot salt water plunge and hundreds of dressing rooms. Patrons could rent the latest in bathing attire. At night the electric lights were ablaze, its thickly beaded towers made it look like a fairy palace silhouetted against the sky.
"It was apparent that these men weren't going to let Ocean Park become a second class resort. Plans were advanced to build a semi-circular Horseshoe Pier that would incorporate the two smaller recently built piers at Pier and Marine Avenues. A large 250 x 210 foot auditorium with music hall and balconied outdoor bandstand would be built on the land end.
"The pier already had a few amusements. These included a small tented carousel and a ferris wheel, which was set up along the boardwalk near the pier to entertain the children during the busy summer seasons. The first permanent ride wasn't built until the 1903 summer season when L.G. Ingersoll built his two-passenger toboggan coaster on pilings part way over the ocean adjacent to the casino. Each two-passenger car was pulled to the top in this gentle forerunner to the roller coaster, and then released to coast down along a wide but gentle oval track containing only a few three foot dips along its length. . . ." p. 14
(By the end of 1905 Ellery's Band replaced Armand's Band at the Venetian Gardens.) p. 21
"Ocean Park business interests were willing to enter the competition for the tourist's amusement dollar in a more substantial manner. As soon as Kinney announced the opening of the Midway Plaisance the previous fall they talked of building a Coney Island style amusement area, but only if they could convince promoters to build a scenic railroad, haunted castle, chutes and grottos on the pier or nearby on the sand.
"The area south of the pier was ruled out since all of the beach from Navy to Horizon streets was deeded to the public during the first official meeting of the newly incorporated city in February 1904 for non-commercial use only. They could either build on their nearly completed Horseshoe Pier or on the south side of the pier in Santa Monica. . . . The only entertainment feature to open that spring was a roller skating rink that occupied a portion of the newly completed Auditorium building." p. 23
"Ballroom dancing was an important social activity at any seaside resort at the turn of the century. . . . The finest orchestras played a variety of slow dances that were popular at the time.
"Roller skating was another popular pastime that year and during the fall became the rage in Southern California. Both the Venice and Ocean Park rinks were jammed nightly. Admission was ten cents and skate rental two bits. They featured exhibitions of championship skaters, Friday night races, and the new sport of roller polo.
"Venice quickly fielded a team in the fledgling Southern California Roller Polo League. They were handicapped in their first game against Long Beach because the team used ordinary ball-bearing skates, whereas their opponents used pin-bearing skates that enabled them to run, jump and stop quickly. Seven hundred spectators watched Venice defeat Long Beach 2-0 in their first home game in October. Games were every Wednesday and Saturday nights and the local team made headlines by winning most of the time . . ." p. 28
Jeffrey Stanton Venice of America: 'Coney Island of the Pacific,' Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987. 176 pp.
Chapter 2; Coney Island of the Pacific (1907-912)
"In the spring of 1907, Venice of America and Ocean Park, two sections of the city with opposing business interests were experiencing a series of muted differences. Neither the Marine Street businessmen led by G.M. Jones in Ocean Park, nor the Kinney people in Venice dared risk an open feud because it would be bad for business. The basic problem was that two rival communities were growing up in one municipality.
"Venice in 1907 was part of the city of Ocean Park which had previously dis-incorporated from the city of Santa Monica several years before. The issue had been over differences in attitudes among Santa Monica citizens dealing with gambling and serving alcoholic beverages in the Ocean Park pier district.
"There was a power struggle going on between Kinney and Ocean Park' five man Board of Trustees, two of whom were his ex-partners. At first their tactics were subtle; they provided less than adequate police, fire protection and garbage collection in the Venice of America area. When the citizens passed a bond issue to finance the City Hall, Kinney offered several land parcels that would have been fairly central to the community. Instead the trustees accepted a 10 acre site offered by David Evans, a partner of Mayor Burke. The land was in Venice's outback, . . . Despite an unofficial straw vote by the property owners in favor of an alternative site, the Trustees paid Evans $5,000 for the property and awarded the building contract to a contractor in May.
"Meanwhile Kinney . . . decided to consolidate . . . his two amusement areas . . . on the beach.
"When he applied for a construction permit for his bathhouse, the Board of Trustees refused to act. Several of them, who owned the Ocean Park Bathhouse, a mile north of Windward Avenue, were accused of being afraid of the competition. . . . Kinney . . . ordered his men to pour the concrete foundations for his new bathhouse." p. 36
"The Trustees were infuriated. They immediately pulled the licenses for Kinney's tent city, and ordered it removed. His liquor licenses were revoked, dancing was banned in the pier ballroom, and Marshall G.G. Watt was instructed to remove the foundation of the bathhouse by whatever means possible.
"The bathhouse foundation was scheduled for demolition by dynamite on Monday, June 10, 1907, a day when the beach crowds would be gone. Marshall Watt posted the necessary warning signs. But early that morning women and children began arriving with picnic baskets. At 9:30 a.m. Watt ordered them to disperse-they didn't move. Soon more than 200 women, mostly from the Pick and Shovel Club, a civic club of which Mrs. Kinney was an ardent supporter, were picnicking on the uncompleted walls . . .
"George Culver, city street superintendent, who was to perform the demolition, . . . at noon gave up . . . and the city Trustees did not attempt to demolish it again.
" . . . the incident focused attention on Jones' boss rule and the corrupt Board of Trustees.
"Kinney's strategy was to dis-incorporate . . .
" . . .
" . . . the dis-incorporation election was held on September 30, 1907. . . . The election was fought bitterly by both sides." p. 31
"Ocean Park forces won a hollow victory. Although Kinney's supporter's were clearly dominant, 206 to 176, they couldn't muster the necessary two thirds majority to dis-incorporate. The city government began to fall apart shortly thereafter, as several Trustees resigned under duress for their involvement in police department corruption. Kinney got his revenge in the 1908 spring elections. His Good Government League candidates forced the remainder of the Ocean Park supported Trustees out of office and controlled the Board of Trustees in to the early 1920's.
"It would be another three years, in another election before voters would finally change the name of their city officially to Venice. By 1911, . . . " p. 33
[In 1907 a concert by Placido Gilgi's sixteen piece band at Kinney's Midway Plaisance, where all the buildings had been painted white. "The attractions included Leora's trapeze act, and Tarasca's daring bicycle ride in which he rode down a steep ramp to gain enough speed to leap through a circle of fire then across a 36 foot wide gap." p. 33]
"Meanwhile, Alexander Fraser, Kinney's old partner, formed the Fraser Million -Dollar Pier Company. Their intent was to build the world's largest amusement pier in Ocean Park. It would be 285 feet wide, incorporate the existing pier and extend 1000 feet into the ocean. The pier alone without the buildings and concessions would cost $175,000. It would have a Dancing Pavilion, Revolving Cafe 110 feet in diameter, Thompson Scenic Railroad, Palace of Mysteries, Carousel, Mountain Roll Railroad, Trip to Mars, Vaudeville and Scenic Theaters. the grand opening would be June 1911.
"They were serious this time. The contract was awarded July 29, 1910. Half the pier piles were in place by December, and they had extended the pier to almost 1500 feet. By the time the buildings were under construction the following February the payroll was running at $10,000 per week." p. 38
"Ocean Park's Million-Dollar Pier was rapidly nearing completion. The L.A. Thompson Company, who had acquired the property south of the pier, was building the Dragon Gorge Scenic Railroad parallel to Ocean Front Walk. The building took up several blocks and contained several attractions like the 'Grotto Cafe', a revolving restaurant, and the 'Auto Maze'. The Looff family was building an ornate carousel in the Hippodrome building on the site of the old Toboggan Railway between the Dragon Gorge and the Casino. It was a 50 foot diameter pit machine with horses four abreast.
"The Grand Canyon Electric Railroad out on the pier was one of the first attractions to open. Its centerpiece was a 135 foot mountain peak with a waterfall at its summit. At night the electric lights gave it the appearance of an erupting volcano. The $100,000 ride built by Paul D. Houshi had a third rail to power the four car trains around curves and up steep inclines. A motorman had control of the car's speed and often added unexpected thrills by powering down the hills as well as up. It is remarkable that there were no serious accidents as the cars often exceeded their safe speed limit on turns.
"Apparently the builder wasn't initially satisfied with the attraction, for he began extensive renovation after it was open only one month. The ride turned out to be too short because of the high speed of the cars. In an attempt to make it the longest scenic railroad in the world, he added 200 feet of additional track, put in nine more dips and a scenic tunnel. The new improved ride was nearly a mile in length.
"Fraser's Million-Dollar Pier officially opened the weekend of June 17th, 1911. Tens of thousands attended the two day gala event. They danced in the huge ballroom at the end of the pier, watched vaudeville at the 1000 seat Starland Theater, or visited the pier's many rides, show and exhibits. The 'Third Degree' advertised 'a smart show for smart people', when in reality it featured a moving sidewalk that transported people past snow and mountain scenery. There was a Crooked House to explore, the City Jail to escape from and the Society Whirl. One of the more interesting exhibits was the 'Infant incubators' which showed the latest in medical technology. Premature infants were given free care by trained nurse in an era when it wasn't readily available at local hospitals.
"Additional attractions opened later that summer and into the fall season. Another hippodrome opened on the pier adjacent to the dance hall. It featured an ornate Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel. The Mystic Maze and Panama Canal exhibit also found space on the pier." pp. 42 and 43
{pp. 44 and 45 photo of Fraser's Million- Dollar Pier}
{p.46 postcards 1912 Carousel; Front of the Dragon Gorge Scenic Railroad; Dance Pavilion; Night Scene of Ocean park and Santa Monica from the Pier.}
{p.47 postcards of Fraser's Million-Dollar Pier Auditorium, 1911; entrance to the Frasier Pier, 1912.}
"The new Neptune Theater, an early nickelodeon, and the Merryland penny arcade opened for business on Ocean Front Walk across from the Thompson Scenic Railroad. By 1911 penny arcades were becoming amusement park mainstays. For a penny, people could drive slot cars, have their strength tested, or watch historical events in a hand cranked kinetoscopes(sic). Couples could have the emotion of their kiss measured, and men could look at what at that time were considered rather erotic shots of women clad in bathing suits.
" . . .
"That fall it began to look like the Ocean Park area would soon have two additional piers. Jones sued Fraser and won the franchise to build a small 400 foot by 100 foot pier next to the Million-Dollar pier. He wanted Fraser to tear down the small portion of the pier on his side of the property line.
"But the big news was Great Western Amusement Company's pier project across from the Decatur Hotel immediately south of Fraser's pier. Plans showed a pier 1000 feet long, 263 feet wide with a gigantic entrance arch 113 feet wide, 94 feet high and 60 feet deep. The Tivoli Cafe was to be on the south side of the arch in a 50 foot square tower, 135 feet high. A large 105 foot high racing roller coaster with 13,000 feet of track would occupy an area of nearly two acres. A casino, ferris wheel and sever other concessions would be built on the remaining space,m and at night 10,000 light bulbs would illuminate the entire pier. Work didn't start on the pilings until mid May 1912, and by then there was no rush to finish it for the coming summer season." p. 47
{p. 48 photo and postcard Along Ocean Front Walk just north of the Dragon Gorge Railroads, 1911; Dragon Gorge Scenic Railroad car on a high turn, 1911}
{p. 49 photo Ocean Front Walk at the Fraser Pier. The Dragon Gorge, the large ornate structure with the towers, was an early roller coaster. The white hippodrome building in the center housed a Looff carousel.}
{p. 50 a schematic map of Fraser Pier, 1912}
{p. 51 photos: The Crooked House on the Fraser Pier; the Tombs, 1911; Castle Court on the Fraser Pier, 1911.
"The Venice/Ocean Park area had become the finest amusement center on the west coast . . . Besides the innovative rides, dance halls, theaters, plunges, and bowling alleys, there were a dozen places for a game of chance. Hype and innovation were the rule , and it was on the Venice Pier that Felix Simmonds, a concessionaire, claimed to have invented the hamburger. In 1912, the bathing beauty contest was started as a promotional feature for the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper.
" . . .
"Venice was , in those days, a place of wonder. It was a dream of genteel good come to life. . ." p. 52 {which also has a photo of 1912 Hippodrome Carousel.}
" . . . shops included a wide selection of picture postcards, plaster of paris Italian statues, coral beads and mother of pearl necklaces. Outside on the piers and on Ocean Front Walk, vendors pushed little carts. "Hokey-Pokey's - two for five," they called. They sold little squares of ice cream. Others sold candied apples, endless twists of long pearly white salt water taffy, clouds of pink cotton candy, strawberry phosphates, and cream puffs filled with custard. . . " p. 53 {which has a photo of the aftermath of the September 3, 1912 Fraser Pier fire.}
"The Ocean Park amusement area seemed to be awash in new pier proposals when the Mountain Roll Company announced their plans in July 1912 to build yet another pier. This one was to be medium in size;. 225 x 900 feet. An eight track mountain roll feature was planned as the main attraction and the remaining space to be used for concessions.
"Jones and Fraser meanwhile continued their squabble until that summer the court finally ruled in Jones' favor. It seemed that when Jones and Fraser were partners there was a transfer of 100 feet of property, which had become the entrance of the Million-Dollar Pier. Jones claimed half of it, so the pier entrance would have to be cut in half. He could then build a larger pier, 150 x 400 feet.
"Unfortunately, most of the new Ocean Park pier projects were prematurely derailed when fire broke out on Fraser's Million-dollar Pier at 5 p.m. on September 3, 1912. Diners first noticed flames in the Casino restaurant. The cause was thought to be either a cigarette or a defective flue in the kitchen. A stiff shore breeze, fanning the flames, spread it quickly to other structures on the pier and to the buildings across Ocean Front Walk. Seven hundred firefighters from twelve municipal fire companies, some as far away as downtown Los Angeles, took three and one half hours to get the fire under control. The problem in fighting the fire was a lack of water pressure. They managed to stop the fire at the Ocean Park Bathhouse when the wind shifted to an offshore breeze.
"The fire totally destroyed the pier, all of the amusements and six square blocks of businesses including many nearby hotels on Pier and Marine Streets. In all 225 structures burned. The loss was set at $3,000,000 with little of it covered by insurance. The business outlook for Ocean Park was bleak that fall, especially when Fraser, who was having a dispute with Santa Monica, talked of selling his beach property and moving out of town." p. 53
"Electric tram service on Ocean Front Walk between Venice and Ocean Park began operation in 1916." p. 51
Jeffrey Stanton Venice of America: 'Coney Island of the Pacific,' Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987. 176 pp., 1919, 1918, 1917, 1916, 1915, 1914, 1913
Chapter 3: Growth through the Teens (1913-1919)
"Ocean Park businessmen were systematically rebuilding their burned out business district. . . .
"Fraser was discouraged and ready to leave when local businesses persuaded him to proceed with his new pier. . . .The State Amusement Company, run by Ernest Pickering, signed a long term lease to operate the pier's amusements.
" . . .
"In April Santa Monica filed an injunction to stop Fraser from building his pier. The city claimed that they owned 42 feet of ocean frontage at the foot of Pier Avenue, which in their eyes was merely an extension of the street. Fraser had previously given the city an easement to extend a sewer outfall there, but didn't deed them the land. Actually the injunction only prevented Fraser from building his pier entrance buildings adjacent to Ocean Front Walk. He was able to continue construction by setting the pier pilings further out than he had intended on the sand beyond the disputed property line.
"The pier was rushed to completion and reopened on May 30, 1913. It was a much simpler design with a broad boardwalk running down the center of the pier. Various rides, booths and concessions were on either side. The pier, with is salt water fire prevention system using ten hydrants and a powerful steam pump, was supposed to be essentially fireproof.
"Many of the attractions on the old pier were rebuilt. The 200 x 230 foot Dance Hall stood on the the ocean end. Harry Hines directed his orchestra in the $50,000 structure. The bowling alleys and billiard hall were adjacent to it, and beyond them was the Rosemary Theater. A Parker carousel opened on the south side of the pier next to the Crazy House. Other attractions included the Breaker's Cafe, Crooked House, La Petite Theater, Roller Skating Rink, City Hall, Baby Incubators, Puzzletown and Mystic Maze. The pier lacked thrill rides its first season, but it did attract its share of tourist dollars.
" . . .
"Venice and Ocean Park businessmen were constantly campaigning for lower Pacific Electric trolley rates . . . . The Pacific Electric company . . . finally obliged and began offering special twenty-five cent half-fare days to the beach, mostly on summer Thursday.
" . . .
"A new round of competition between the two pier areas occurred during spring 1914. Fraser won his court case against the city of Santa Monica and was now able to build at his pier entrance at Ocean Front Walk. He decided to go ahead and rebuild the Casino.
"Promoters managed to successfully raise the capital to begin construction of the Ben Hur Racer on the north side of his pier. The three-in-one project contained a big racing roller coaster designed by William Labb, a 7000 seat bandstand on a broad plaza and a 56 foot diameter carousel within the structure. An immense electric sign with the picture of Ben Hur driving a chariot adorned the top of the bandstand. The coaster was 75 feet high, 4200 feet in length and extended 700 feet over the ocean. It took much longer to build than expected, but it did manage to begin operation in late summer." p. 55
Pickering joined Kinney in 1914.
" . . .
"Venice 's fascination with new forms of transportation extended to the automobile as well. road racing, the most exciting spectator sport of the era, captured the public's fancy and also that of the Board of Trustees, who authorized the 1915 Venice Grand Prix on the the streets of Venice. It was roughly a triangle course down Electric Avenue, Rose Avenue, and Compton Road (Lincoln Boulevard). The curves were banked for high speed turns. Eight thousand dollars in prize money was offered.
"A Saturday afternoon St. Patrick's Day crowd of 75,000 watched the 300 mile road race from the bleachers and anywhere they could find a view. Seventeen drivers entered some of the fastest racing machines of their day; Bugatti, Simplex, Stutz, Mercer, Peugeot, Maxwell, Napier, Chevrolet, DeLage and Hercules. Mechanical problems plagued most of the drivers as one after another dropped out of the grueling race. Dave Lewis was in the lead on the 80th lap with just 17 laps to go when engine trouble forced out of the race. Barney Oldfield's Maxwell went on to an easy victory. Billy Carlson, also driving a Maxwell, finished second just 41 seconds behind Oldfield. Only eight of the seventeen entries finished the race. Average speed of the winner in the four and one-half hour race was 68.5 mph.
"The race was considered a success despite injuries to bystanders when a scoreboard toppled, and the death of an elderly spectator who wandered on to the course and was struck by a car. However, the city lost $10,000 due to gate crashing and the sale of 1000 counterfeit tickets by con men. Despite 40,000 paid admissions, thousands rushed the gates and sneaked in when ticket takers were unable to handle the large crowd." p. 60
"Venice was beginning to play an important part in the motion picture business which was quick to take advantage of the town's unique architecture and colorful amusement district. Nearby studios like Biograph and Bison in Santa Monica and the Ince Studio in Culver City sent film crews to Venice. Charlie Chaplin starred in the 'Kid at the Auto Races', while Mary Pickford and Harold Lloyd each played the lead in movies along the Venice canals. Movie companies became so numerous and disruptive to local business that for a time in 1915 there was talk of banning them. However no action was taken and in later years movies like 'The Camera Man starring Buster Keaton and several 'Our Gang' comedies were filmed along the beach front and on the pier." pp. 62 and 63
" . . . The Venice/Ocean Park area had four permanent movie theaters: the California and Neptune Theaters on Ocean Front Walk near Windward, and the Dome and Rosemary Theaters on the Ocean Park Pier. Also, Venice's large auditorium on the pier was often used to show movies. Sound from its fine organ was a welcome addition to those silent films. Admission then was ten cents for all seat, although some theaters charged only a nickel for children." p. 63
"Ocean Park amusement interests suffered another setback that winter when a fire broke out in the Dance Pavilion on the Ocean Park Pier at 1 a.m. just as Christmas ended. The night watchman discovered the blaze in the check room and immediately called for help. The fire, fanned by a slight sea breeze, began its march up the pier. It consumed the Pioneer Bowling Alleys, Eskimo Village, Paris by Night, numerous small concessions and half the lofty Ben Hur Coaster before the combined fire brigades of three beach cities stopped it behind the Rosemary Theater. One-third of the pier was in ruins. The water-soaked Indian Village survived, but its merchandise was stolen when it was put out on the pier sidewalk.
"The origin of the fire was thought to be arson. A concessionaire saw two men in a boat rowing away from the pier shortly before the blaze spread, but nothing was ever proven. When the firemen were cleaning up, they pulled down some of the Japanese gambling game wheels and found intricate electric wiring on the under side of the spindles. The games were rigged!
"The first priority of the State Investment Company, operators of the Fraser Pier, was to build a temporary dance hall. Dance halls were more essential to nearby business interests than most people realized. Once their small 60 x 80 foot hall opened on February 12, 1916, other business' receipts improved dramatically." p. 64
"However, the company had much more ambitious plans. Obtaining the lease on the Jones Pier gave them control of 500 feet of beach frontage. They planned to rebuild the pier, erect a big first class cafe at the northwest corner of Ocean Front Walk and the pier entrance, add a big parking lot similar to the one on the Abbot Kinney Pier, . . .
"By April work on their new concrete dance hall near the end of the pier was nearing completion, and it looked like they would make the Easter Sunday opening. H.W. Schlueler leased space on the Great Western Pier at Ocean Front Walk. He razed the Pier Athletic Club where many famous boxers trained and the adjacent shooting gallery to make space for a 165 foot square building. It would be part dance hall and part concert hall. The dance hall section would be under an enormous 100 foot diameter concrete dome.
"Tom Prior and Fred Church leased space on Ocean Front Walk between the Fraser Pier's two entrances. They planned to introduce a new concept in amusement park rides, a racing carousel. They called their ride the 'Great American Racing Derby'. The inside portion of the ride was a standard carousel with 62 jumping horses and menagerie animals. However, on the outside rim of the 72 foot diameter machine were forty racing horses grouped four abreast in ten distinct races. The horses, which were set in six foot long tracks, would move back and forth as the side rotated, sometimes nosing ahead to gain the lead, other times suddenly falling back. The ride would slowly gain speed until it reached 25-30 mph, then the bell signifying victory for each of the lead horses would ring and the ride would slow down to a stop. The winners of each race would receive free repeat rides.
"I was impossible to determine ahead of time which horse would win since the cables that moved the horses back and forth criss-crossed beneath the platform. The cable pulling the outside horse in one row might be pulling the second horse out in the row ahead . . .
{Prior and Church opened their ride February 4, 1917.}
"The Dome Dance Pavilion, however did open on time for the Fourth of July weekend. Ben Laietsky's Orchestra provided the music. The dance hall did record business on July 4th. 34,000 tickets were sold at five cents each to 68,000 dancers during the all day and evening dance sessions. Dance sessions in those days ere usually three slow numbers long; combinations of fox-trots, one-steps and waltzes. When it was over they would clear the floor for a new group. In the evening Tex La Gronge entertained pier spectators with a thrilling daredevil aerial show surrounded by fireworks." p.65
{page 66 photo Main promenade on the rebuilt Fraser Pier, 1913.}
{page 67 photo of the opening of the Ben Hur Racer roller coaster in Ocean Park, 1914}
{United States entered the Great War on April 6, 1917.}
"The Venice Vigilance Committee was formed and sought out anyone making disloyal remarks. Sometimes they were over-zealous and harassed shopkeepers of Germanic origin. Slackers and idlers, also considered disloyal, were picked up in periodic raids on the pier." p. 66.
" . . . Venice was almost the only place in the vicinity of Los Angeles where drinking was still legal. . . .
"Nearby Santa Monica voted to go 'dry' on January 1, 1918. Venice's election of the liquor laws was to be that April. Both sides were campaigning for their cause, sometimes fighting unfairly. Just days before the election the Grand Jury began to dig into alleged fraud and false voter registration in Venice. It was an open secret that almost anyone who would vote 'wet' could obtain free lodgings in Venice . . . The 'wets' carried the April 7th election by 509 votes. Venice and Vernon were now the only places in Los Angeles County where one could buy a drink or a bottle of liquor.
"The war effort did little to restrict additions in the amusement zone. Church-Prior installed another Great American Racing Derby on the Venice Pier between the Auditorium and Melodia. It was a larger machine, 315 feet in circumference with 64 horse in rows of four set on the racing rim. It was a much more efficient design with no inner carousel . . . "
"Tom Prior, who operated the business, seemed to be at odds with the politicians in both Venice and Santa Monica. When the trustees insisted that he cease playing his Race Thru the Clouds calliope, he severed relations. He scheduled a religious music concert one month later to prove to his foes that his calliope could play reverent and subtle music.
"He also sued the city of Santa Monica for unreimbursed expenses incurred in the building of a bandstand in conjunction with his Racing Derby on the Ocean Park Pier. In January 1918 he removed the ride from the pier and attempted to demolish the building. Fraser called in the police to stop him. Prior claimed that Santa Monica's restrictions, particularly those against games of chance, were bad for business. This was hard to fathom since just the previous season his ride had 211,993 customers during the period from June 1 to September 16.
"W.H. Labb and William Ellison . . . took over the management of the Fraser Pier . . . they had ambitious plans . . .
"When the Armistice was signed November 11, 1918, California was in the midst of a killer influenza epidemic. At first the flu epidemic wasn't feared, for county health officials like Dr. J.L. Pomeroy were certain that Southern California's sunshine would prevent it. But by late October the flu spread and the health department overseeing Venice and Santa Monica was forced to close schools, theaters, saloons and all places where soft drinks and ice cream were sold. The latter places had to establish a sanitation and sterilization system for glasses before they were allowed to reopen. Regulations were quirky and often silly. Music and liquor were allowed in restaurants, but no dancing. Bars and saloons had to shut down but not package liquor stores.
"At first the flu seemed to spare Venice. Perhaps washing down the streets with salt water did the trick, or due to the lack of medical facilities the afflicted just went elsewhere. Regardless, Venice was well enough to lift the quarantine for the Armistice Day celebration. Only one dance hall and two theaters were closed, while nearby Santa Monica was shut down tight. Everyone thought the epidemic was over when an alarming increase occurred-169 new cases and six deaths were reported the week of December 12th. Everyone wore flu masks on the streets, and the flu bandits were having a splendid time robbing businesses. The influenza epidemic was still around but abating by the end of January 1919.
" . . .
"That summer the district attorney clamped down on all the so called 'games of chance' in both pier districts. It affected all those games where a prize was given, but not amusement games where admission was charged like skee ball and bowling. While there had been previous crackdowns on gambling style games, this time it looked like the games would have to change to those involving skill only. . . .
"In Ocean Park concessionaires were becoming extremely unhappy with pier management. They and the local business owners demanded that Labb and Ellison advertise, put in real attractions and decent entertainment on the pier. The American concessionaires felt that the Japanese concessionaires were getting a better deal . . . Ernest Pickering purchased the Fraser Million-Dollar Pier on July 2, 1919 . . . the Rosemary Theater's move(d) into the old Racing Derby building along Ocean Front Walk. . . . " p. 69
Jeffrey Stanton Venice of America: 'Coney Island of the Pacific,' Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987. 176 pp., 1924, 1923, 1922, 1921, 1920, 1920s,
Chapter 4: Setbacks, Rebuilding, & Political Confusion (1920 -1924)
" . . .
{p. 72 postcard of Lick's dome Pier, 1922; Frolic ride on the Pickering Pier, 1920}
{p.73 photo of Dentzel Carousel on the Pickering Pier in Ocean Park, 1920}
". . . Ocean Park Pier owner, Fredrick Pickering, and amusement ride designers Fred Church and Frank Prior, who took over after his father's death . . . {razed} the old 'Rapids' ride to make space for a new roller coaster designed by John A. Miller . . . the 70 foot high 'Big Dipper' featured dips on the curves as well as the straight-aways . . . opened May 8th, 1920 . . .
"Leonard Crandell was busy razing his Scenic Railroad and planned to move it to Ocean Park. The 1500 seat California Theater was to be built on the former coaster site. New attractions near the end of the pier included the Bug House, an illusion ride where one sat in a swinging chair that appeared to swing higher and higher. In reality the walls rocked back and forth, higher and higher, until the room turned upside down around the nearly stationary customers. With the nearby Pig Slide the player had to throw a ball through a circular hole to star the animal performers. The little pigs that were released from their pens slid down an incline and were then herded back to their pens by a trained fox terrier. In addition, a Noah's Ark attraction depicting the biblical story opened near the pier entrance.
"Construction began in March on the expansion of Ocean Park's Pickering Pier and the addition of five exciting new rides. Pickering, . . . . was doubling the size of his pier to 400,000 square feet. It would be the largest pier in the world . . .
"Crandell decided to design and build a brand new racing roller coaster on the old Ben Hur site instead of reconstructing his outdated scenic railroad. His new Blarney Racer wasn't a very fast ride . . . It shared the site with a Ye Old Red Mill ride whose course ran under the arches of the racing coaster . . . On the far end of the site was a rather unique attraction, the Monkey Speedway Auto Races. It was a game in which monkeys would peddle miniature autos along three tracks and people could bet on the winner of each race." pp. 73 and 76.
"Pickering rebuilt and enlarged the pier's dance hall and placed new rides around it. The Captive Aeroplane and Tango rides were built directly opposite the Crackerbox Dance Hall. Over the Top, a big hit at Luna Park in Coney Island, was installed by Henry Riehl in the area west of the dance hall. It was a cross between a Virginal Reel and a small spiral coaster. The rotating saucer shaped cars, traveling up, over, and down the 30 degree slope, steadily spiraled inward until they exited through a tunnel to the outer loop's station.
"The 'Frolic' ride was placed directly across from the 'Ye Old Red Mill'. Twenty four people rode chariots that whirled around a circle 200 feet in circumference. The chariots tipped forward and backwards at a 45 degree angle, and swayed outward with centrifugal force.
"William Dentzel's beautiful 72 animal 'Carousel' occupied an 80 foot square building between the Frolic and the new Rosemary Theater. This Philadelphia-made ride along with its mechanical organ cost $22,500. Other attractions making their debut that season were Over the Rockies, a ride in a tub in and out of dark tunnels., The Bug House, a shooting gallery, and the 'Kentucky Derby' game.
"Ocean Park residents were proud of their new pier, and realized that they needed a convention center to accommodate thousands of visiting delegates. They approved $375,000 in bonds in the May election to build a new auditorium, bandstand, and auto park on the north side of the Pickering Pier. The bandstand plaza in front of the auditorium could entertain 10,000 people, and the auto park set on pilings behind the building could accommodate 500 autos.
"Two hundred men worked diligently to finish the pier, buildings and attractions in time for the June 18, 1920 grand opening. It was a weekend of celebration in which all the rides operated at capacity throughout the day until midnight, and the dance hall was full of happy couples. Twenty five thousand people came on Saturday; 60,000 people on Sunday. Their fun filled day was capped with a 30 minute fireworks display each evening.
"Stockholders were certainly pleased with business that summer. Pickering declared and paid one percent dividends on a monthly basis. In August he hired Barr's Illuminated Aerial Circus to entertain nightly. The plane had lights outlining it as it did tricks. Seventy five thousand people watched the show the first night." p. 76
{page 74 schematic of the Pickering/Lick Piers 1923}
{p. 75 photos of 1920 Blarney Racer roller coaster at the Pickering Pier and an aerial view of the 1920 Pickering Pier in Ocean Park.}
"Ocean Park got a big boost in September when Charles Lick, Austin McFaddden and George Leihy invested $250,000 in the construction of a new pier behind the Dome Dance Pavilion. The proposed Lick Pier at the foot of Navy Street adjoining the south side of the Pickering Pier was almost entirely within Venice's boundary.
"The 800 foot long, 225 foot wide pier was to have a roller coaster, dance hall, 40 car Dodge 'em, Caterpillar, Captive aeroplanes and Limit rides. McFadden, who was in charge of construction, hired John A. Miller to design his roller coaster. Plans were for the longest and steepest pier roller coaster in the Bay area. Each of its dips would be double instead of single; down 75 feet, up 60 feet, down 58 feet. They called the 600 foot long coaster the 'Zip' when it opened in time for Easter in 1922.
"Lick's new 22,000 square foot Bon Ton Ballroom featured an oval-shaped dance floor for better acoustics. The hall was large enough to be split into tow separate ballrooms with different orchestras. Major Baisden's twelve piece orchestra was the first to entertain dancers when it opened. The old Dome Dance Hall was converted into a theater, and a Casino was under construction across from it on Ocean Front Walk just north of Navy Street. It too would have a dance hall and shops, with billiards and bowling in the basement.
"Pickering made only a few changes to his pier that spring. He added the Double Whirl, Dodge 'em, and the Witching Waves rides to round out the amusements. . . . People rode a boat shaped car around an oval track, propelled by the down grade of a moving mechanical wave. Bell cranks and huge connecting rods imparted the wave motion to the ride's flexible metal flooring.
"The Double Whirl had cars set on a figure eight track with a slight incline where the two circular sections crossed. The cars were pushed by radial arms, rotating around the two fixed hubs. When the cars approached each other at the top and collision appeared inevitable, each car would glide into the other circle." p. 83
" . . . As the Windward business district proved to be too small to accommodate the city's rapid growth, other business centers developed including the Ocean Park Pier business district centering around Marine Street, the area next to city hall where Shell Avenue met the Short Line Track and on an area near the Center Street Pier. The existence of these centers and the lack of any central hub created political factionalism that weakened and often paralyzed Venice's municipal government." p. 86
"There were other problems such as an undependable supply of fresh water delivered by three water companies, a city owned incinerator whose volume of garbage had outgrown capacity and an inadequate municipally owned sewer system that had been designed in 1912 for 3000 people. The sewer system was so badly overloaded that at times the State Board of Health quarantined much of the ocean and beach on both sides of the outfall at the Center Street Pier. A new treatment plant had been designed, but voters did not approve the sale of bonds in the April 11, 1922 election." p. 86
{p. 87 picture looking north from Venice Plunge tower, 1922 toward O.P. Piers}
{p. 88 Picture of the Ocean Park Bathhouse and beach, 1924; people seem to be watching people entering the bathhouse.}
{p. 89 Picture showing Lick Pier and the Bon Ton Ballroom and Zip roller coaster, 1922.}
February 20, 1923 new charter and bond measures were defeated in the election.
July 10, 1923 annexation to Los Angeles vote defeated, 1849 to 1503.
"Overt gambling had always been an integral part of Venice's fun zone. razzle dazzle and layout games, where spinning wheels determined the prizewinners, proliferated along the boardwalk and piers. Their legality was questionable. Arrests were made periodically by crusading district attorneys and local police.
"Larger scale gambling was also the de-rigueur. Whether the gaming took place in private dining rooms at the Ship Cafe or in small casinos in the basements of various hotels and restaurants, if one were looking for a place to lose their money it was easily found.
"In September 1923 the police raided a gambling club that occupied the quarters of the Submarine Garden, once a high class cafe beneath the old Dome Pier. They found a maze of tunnels, cards and $150 on the tables and then arrested fifteen alleged gamblers.
"The place was very difficult to raid. It looked like a pool room, but the back of the room led to a long tunnel with branches leading every which way Exotic futuristic paintings, water stained and covered with cobwebs decorated the walls, and secret doors opened behind angles in the tunnel. Sand, covering the tunnel floor concealed secret buttons which operated a system of buzzers and colored lights in the main rooms of the labyrinth. The system of tunnels was so involved that it took two hours to find the fifteen arrested, and at least that many more were believed to have escaped. As soon as Lick found out about it, he closed the club. "During the years that Prohibition was in effect Canadian liquor was smuggled into Venice from offshore rumrunners by high-powered motorboats that docked beneath the pier in the dead of night. Mobster Tony Cornero ran the operation. Kinney's underground utility tunnels along the alleys on either side of Windward Avenue proved handy to the smugglers who delivered to 'speakeasy' bars in the basements of the business district. There were a few newspaper accounts of police engaging in shootouts with rumrunners along the beach near the Ocean Park Pier." p. 90
{Page 91 picture of Ocean Front Walk at the Pickering/Lick Piers; 1923}
"Another disastrous fire occurred in early 1924. This time both the Pickering and Lick piers in Ocean Park were totally consumed in an early morning blaze on January 6th. The fire was believed to have stared at 9:30 a.m. in the Ritz Cafe kitchen, but it didn't explain how the fire spread so rapidly. Some thought that rubbish was set ablaze beneath the pier near the restaurant.
"When the firemen first arrived it seemed like the Municipal Auditorium was doomed. Fire trucks laid hoses but before the water could be turned on, flames burst up from underneath and the entire walk was ablaze and the hoses burned. Another fire truck broke and the water stopped.
"The wind blowing offshore toward the southwest rose to its height and all of Ocean Park was threatened. Rumors that they were going to dynamite scattered the the huge crowd who lined up on every street to watch,. They became panic stricken. Many on the concessionaires who became trapped on the pier dove into the cold water.
"Ten fire companies fought the blaze. The shift of the wind by several points at 11 a.m. had firemen worried. Had it blown parallel to the beach, it would have devastated the entire business district. Luckily the Dome Theater's concrete structure at the northeast corner of the pier contained the fire and prevented it from leaping across Ocean Front Walk. By 11:45 a.m. firemen had the fire under control, and not one building east of Ocean Front Walk had burned.
"The losses were enormous, $2,000,000, with only $100,000 of the loss insured. Both the Rosemary and Dome Theaters were destroyed, the latter's loss alone was set at $500,000. All of the pier's rides and concessions were completely destroyed, with the exception of the sea end section of the Giant Dipper coaster. Frank Prior thought he could rebuild it because the ride's most difficult section was intact. They and everyone else would have to await new owners." p. 92
{p.92 pictures of the OP fires and remains, 1924}
{p. 93 picture of smoldering ruins, January 6, 1924.}
Jeffrey Stanton Venice of America: 'Coney Island of the Pacific,' Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987. 176 pp., 1929, 1927, 1926, 1925, 1924, 1920, 1920s, 1919
Chapter 5: Annexation & Ruin (1924-1929)
"The Venice Investment Company and West Coast Theaters acquired Pickering's beach holdings for $2,000,000 just two weeks after the fire. The sale was a windfall for Pickering, who took a terrible loss and would have had difficulty financing a new concrete and fireproof pier that Santa Monica would have insisted upon. The new owners got a 50 year lease on the beach property, or at least they thought they did.
"When they applied for a building permit in mid February, city officials in Santa Monica informed them that they wouldn't grant a permit but would instead lease the sand which they claimed the city owned. Santa Monica officials intended to advertise for bids for a pier franchise on their property. The stunned new owners filed for an injunction to stop the bidding.
"The auction took place at City Hall on March 18, 1924. The Venice Investment Company, intent on regaining control of the pier property, out bid several other companies. Their winning bid was $2,000/month. The next day they announced plans to rebuild the pier at a cost of $3,000,000 and begin work one week later. Other than clearing the site, little was accomplished that spring. Work would begin in earnest on the pier in the fall.
"Owners of both the Dome and Rosemary theaters on Ocean Front Walk put higher priority on reopening than the Venice Investment company did. The Rosemary Theater began operating immediately in temporary quarters on the promenade at Kinney Street. The new 1600 seat Dome Theater, rebuilt in only 23 days, opened May 30th at the proposed entrance to the pier. The original interior had a Spanish design, but the following spring they redecorated it with an Egyptian motif to match the theme of the new dance hall. They also added a $65,000 organ.
"Lick, whose pier resided across the Venice boundary line, was able to begin reconstruction almost immediately after the fire. Work on his pier progressed rapidly, and by May 14th the Bon Ton Ballroom was ready for paying customers. The interior of the enlarged ballroom was decorated in a modified Louis XV motif. Caryle Stevenson and his orchestra entertained nightly and day on weekends." p. 94
{Page 94 photo of the rebuilt 1925 OP Pier. Playing at the Rosemary was Milton Sills "Men of Steel"}
{Page 95 Schematic of the 1929 OP/Lick Piers}
{Pages 96 and 97 1926 view of the South side of the Lick Pier.}
"Lick's new pier was basically the same layout, as his old pier, the Bon Ton Ballroom, Dodge 'em ride and a few concessions along the south side of the pier, with space for a roller coaster behind. Lick needed a new roller coaster for the summer so he contracted Prior and Church to rebuild their famous Giant Dipper coaster on the site formally occupied by the Zip. The 85 feet high ride opened July 4, 1924.
"The 1924 spring election brought to power an administration that seemed bent on self-destruction. The Civic Betterment League slate, C, Gordon Parkhurst, H.L. Anderman and Thomas Thurlow, gained control of the Board of Trustees and had no ties to the Kinney Company. They were committed to local government only if public confidence could be restored to enable financing of a comprehensive series of civic improvements. However, one of their ideas of improving Venice in the name of progress was to build more roads. That meant paving the Pacific Electric's right of way on Trolley Way and filling in the canals . . ." p. 98
{Page 98 photo of the Lighthouse slide and midway looking east on the OP Pier.}
{Page 99 photos of the Egyptian Ballroom on the OP Pier, 1925, and the entrance to the Hi-Boy roller coaster on the OP Pier.}
" . . .
"Nearby in Ocean park 200 men began working on the 960 foot long, 275 foot wide concrete pier. Work was progressing steadily and the owners expected it to open for Easter." p. 99
{Page 100 photo of the Toonerville Fun House on the OP Pier, 1929}
{Page 101 photo of the Parker carousel on the OP Pier before it was moved to the Venice Pier in 1929.}
"The Egyptian Ballroom on June 27, 1925 was the first to open on the new Ocean Park Pier. The owners made a point of emphasizing the word 'fireproof' in all their advertising. They built the structure entirely of reinforced concrete and steel. The pier, too, was fireproofed with a concrete deck. Eight fire hydrants were connected to a 200,000 gallon tank on the roof of the Dome Theater.
"The ballroom's interior was a replica in miniature of the Temple of Rameses III, King of Egypt. Carvings on the wall painted in soft Egyptian colors depicted the likenesses of all the kings of the ancient kingdom on the Nile, and sketches depicted its historic highlights. There were scenes of Cleopatra and the death of Karasan, soul god of the Nile. Dance music was provided by Dave Snell's orchestra.
"Jone's Fun Palace on Ocean Front Walk on the north side of the pier opened several days later. The large fun house style structure contained slides, rotating barrels, a miniature coaster, various kiddie rides and a large ornate Parker carousel. It was a large machine on a 48 foot diameter platform with 45 horses set three abreast. It also had to chariots and one row of very small horses." p. 101
"The pier celebrated its grand opening with a ten day festival beginning on Saturday August 29, 1925. One hundred thousand people visited the pier on opening day and watched entertainers like Jack Cox make a fire dive into a tank of water. There were numerous new rides and attractions to suit people of all ages including the 75 foot tall Hi-Boy roller coaster, (another Miller design), an Aerial Swing, Speedboats, Flying Planes, the Rosemary Theater and a bowling and billiards center. The Lighthouse Slide towered 150 feet above the bay and almost beneath it was the Miniature Auto Speedway where pint-sized autos raced through tunnels and over hills.
"Toonerville, the new fun house, looked from the midway like a village of dilapidated, possibly haunted shacks. Inside among its mostly dark winding passages were slides, rotating barrels and creepy things that scared you in the dark.
"A Looff carousel was installed inside the Merry-go-round building. The three abreast menagerie style machine was an old model built in 1916. It had beautifully carved giraffes, rabbits, ostriches, lions and stags among its rows of fancy white prancing horses.
"Venice continued to become more and more politically impossible to govern. . . . The trustees called a special annexation election for October 2, 1925 . . .
" . . . opponents charged that the amusement businesses were only concerned that Los Angeles' stiff 'Blue Laws', which contained anti-gambling statutes and also banned Sunday and all night dancing, could close one-third of the piers . . ." p.102
{p.. 102 photo of Aerial view of the OP Pier, Bristol Pier and SM Pier, 1929}
{p. 103 photo 1927 midway of the OP Pier}
" . . . Annexation won 3130 to 2215.
". . . Venice became part of Los Angeles as scheduled on November 25, 1925.
"Venice's amusement zone was affected immediately by Los Angeles' Blue Laws. The Sunday dancing ban and anti-gambling statutes went in effect and pier business consequently suffered. The effect was most pronounced in the Ocean Park area. Huge Sunday crowds thronged the Ocean Park Pier while few patrons wandered over to Venice's Lick Pier side where the Bon Ton Ballroom and other game concessions were closed. After two danceless Sundays amusement owners decided to campaign for a special amusement zone." p. 103
{p. 104 photos of The Chutes on the OP Pier, 1929}
{p. 105 Venice Beach looking north to the Lick Pier, I suppose}
""There was a big debate over the Sunday Blue Law measure. Its opponents were mostly churches aligned with ultra-conservatives. The Venice Chamber of Commerce countered that the blue laws drive business out of Venice into the unrestricted amusement zones in Santa Monica. It was definitely affecting business as 24 places went out of business and one-third of Edison's meters were idle in the amusement zone. They pointed out that Sunday was the only day a working person in Southern California could get away for pleasure.
"The majority voted for the special amusement zone with all night and Sunday dancing: 112,305 for it, 77,832 against it. The Venice vote was more than three to one in favor and Venice dance halls reopened for Sunday business May 16th.
"The Venice Ballroom was once again crowded with Sunday dancers. Ben Pollack and his Californians occupied the ballroom bandstand. Customers, who bought forty dance tickets for a dollar, danced the charleston, fox trot, waltz and pivoting, a dance where the couple turned continuously as they moved rapidly about the dance floor.
"Attendants walked the floor and enforced the law against dancing 'cheek to cheek' by tapping the offending couple on the shoulder and instructing them to move apart. At the end of each five minute dance, attendants used a big long rope to herd the couples off (p. 105) the dance floor and keep them separate from the new group coming onto the floor. Single girls would watch from the side until an eligible male would ask them to dance, while couples who came together usually occupied the loges."
"Venice's first spring as part of Los Angeles was a quiet one, until the disappearance of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson thrust it into the national limelight. She checked into her suite at the Ocean View Hotel on May 18, 1926. The she and her secretary walked to the beach. Aimee waded into the surf while her secretary read a bible. When she failed to return an intensive search making national headlines was launched.
"Airplanes and deep sea divers were called into the search. Thousands of 'Sister Aimee's' followers came to the beach to help and to pray. One mourner committed suicide and a lifeguard drowned during the search for her body.
"Of course it was rumored that local amusement interests were involved in foul play. The evangelist had advocated a referendum to ban Sunday dancing in Venice.
"A month later they held a memorial service at Venice beach. Then two days later Aimee reappeared outside Douglas, Arizona, and told a tale of kidnapping, torture, and escape across the Mexican desert. When contradictions in her story surfaced, charges were filed against her for obstructing justice. However, prosecution was suddenly halted, and all charges against the evangelist were dropped in 1927.
"Ocean Park amusement interests enjoyed the unexpected publicity and as usual prepared for the busy summer season by adding new attractions to their Ocean Park Pier. The Whip and Scooter rides were place between the Merry-go-round building and the Dome Theater. Other new attractions in 1926 included the Pig Slide, Freak Slide Show, Captive Aeroplanes, Tango and Rabit {sic} Racer.
"One of the most unusual attractions added that year was the 'Chinatown and the Underworld' wax works. Each of the 29 separate exhibits, designed by F.R. Glass of New York City, featured realistic scenes such as McGurk's suicide hall in the Bowery, a Chinese opium den and a wedding showing slave girls and tong hatchet men. Underworld scenes included gambling dens with the capture of drug smugglers, an electrocution at Sing Sing, crimes in the Parisian sewers, Brooklyn's black hand kidnapper's in action, the Furnail murder and several dramatically portrayed beheadings and torture scenes. They were a complete replica of the noted New York City Mott and Tyler streets inside. The entire wax exhibit was a work of art." pp. 113 and 118
"Ocean Park held their Mardi Gras festival and water carnival over the Fourth of July weekend. The three day festival climaxed with a presentation of 'Ocean Park on Fire', a grand firework display that held spectators spellbound. Apparently tourists who missed last year's fire, could watch a reenactment of the disaster in miniature.
"Ocean Park's parades and celebrations during the twenties were an alternative to those of rival Venice, somewhat offbeat and different. While the Children's Floral Parade had been an annual event since 1920, the Male Beauty Parade was first staged in the late twenties. Males of every type from Hollywood Sheiks with oily pomaded hair to big he-men competed for the $300 in prize money. There were burly men and puny men, ones that were fat and short, others that were tall and lean. There were prizes for the most perfect figure, most handsome male, most athletic male, homeliest male, and even a comic division." p. 118
"The roaring twenties ended with one last pier expansion in Ocean Park. In April 1929 E.P. King, general manager of Ocean Park Realty Corporation, announced $3,000,000 worth of improvements to the Ocean Park Pier. They lengthened the pier 500 feet and built five new buildings and attractions.
"Foremost was C.L. Langley's $150,000 Shoot the Shoots ride at the very end of the pier. It was the highest amusement chute ever built, and the only one on a pier. The 56 foot wide pool at the bottom contained 150,000 tons of water. Although the ride first appeared back in 1895 at Sea Lion Park in Coney Island and was a standard feature at most amusement parks, it wasn't built in the Venice/ Ocean Park area until concrete piers were built strong enough to support its huge weight.
"Flat bottom boats would make a thrilling descent down a 120 foot high 30 degree sloped water runway into a three feet deep pool. In charge of every boatload of passengers was a competent oarsman whose duty was to bring the boast to the landing stage after the boat ran out of momentum. They stood erect in the rear of the boat and maintained their balance with one heavy single oar in hand as the craft struck water at the bottom and bounded in the air. When the boat stopped the oarsman sculled it to one side of the pond where passengers landed.
"Other rides installed nearby were a Ferris Wheel with seats in pairs facing each other, some kiddie rides and an Aero Glider, Jone's Fun Palace on Ocean Front Walk was converted into a roller skating rink." pp. 123, 124, 125
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
Jeffrey Stanton Venice of America: 'Coney Island of the Pacific,' Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987. 176 pp., 1945, 1943, 1941
"America prepared for war in 1941. The draft was enacted and nearly 200 local youth were serving in the armed forces when hostilities broke out on December 7, 1941 . . .
"A blackout was immediately instituted, and National Guardsmen patrolled the beach. Helmeted air raid wardens took their duties seriously as they inspected their blocks nightly for any stray shaft of light that might become a beacon for enemy warships and subs. The Douglas Aircraft factory was completely camouflaged so that it looked like a harmless housing tract from the air.
"The amusement piers were open throughout the war except at night. Soldiers and sailors came to the piers and boardwalk on weekend leaves . . .
"Dancing was a favorite way to meet local girls. Harry James and Benny Goodman played swing music at the Casino Gardens on the Ocean Park Pier. The Venice Dance Hall offered country and western music by the best bands in the west.
"By 1943, threats of invasion had diminished sufficiently to permit near normal operation of the amusement zone during the evening hours. The piers were also a haven for young Mexican-Americans who adopted a style of dress distinctly their own. The boys wore ducktail haircuts, flat pancake hats, peg-top trousers, reet pleats, long glittering watch chains and long drape coats. The girls, dubbed 'cholitas' wore tight fitting sweaters and black hobble skirts that stopped above the knee line. Going out in your best attire was called 'zooting'.
"It was inevitable that tension would develop between the 'zoot suiters' and the servicemen that congregated at the piers on weekend nights. On the night of May 8, 1943 rumors circulated along the beach that one of the 'zoot-suiters' had knifed a sailor and a clash began. Several hundred soldiers, sailors and local teenagers ran the Mexican-Americans out of the Aragon Ballroom on the Lick Pier. They clashed again after midnight along Ocean Front Walk at Navy Street in front of a crowd of 2500 spectators. Thirteen 'zoot-suiters' were arrested and 28 more were taken into custody following the battle.
". . .
"The stage was set for another round of fighting the following weekend. Police roadblocks intercepted over a hundred 'zoot-suiters' bound for Venice, and arrested eight local youths who were discovered carrying concealed weapons. It ended the Venice wars but the clashes soon moved to downtown Los Angeles where worse racial violence took place.
"The war years weren't very good for Venice. In 1943 the California State Board of Health quarantined the beach as far north as Brooks Avenue because Los Angeles was dumping raw sewage into Santa Monica Bay. [The quarantined was lifted in 1950.] . . .
"The war ended on August 14, 1945 . . . ' p. 138
Chapter 7: Dismantling of Venice (1946-1972)
". . .
". . . the {Venice} pier closed at midnight on Saturday April 20, 1946." p. 139
"The beach widening project begun in 1947 resulted in the sluicing of over 14 million tons of sand from the dune site of the proposed Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant in El Segundo to as far north as the Ocean Park Pier. The width of the beach along the eight mile stretch was increased to a uniform 500 feet. But the summer of 1948 sluicing progressed as far as Brooks Avenue. It was strange to see the Sunset Pier completely landlocked, the beach stretching far beyond its outer pilings. The project, including the sewage plant, was completed in 1950. The beach quarantine was lifted the following year.
" . . . the Ocean Park Pier entered a period of renovation just after World War II and kept the area's amusement park tradition alive. First they installed a double ferris wheel near the end of the pier. Edmund Marine's huge Strat-o-liner ride was also nearing completion. He and chief designer Bob Goldworthy had started working on it in 1941 but the war had interrupted their endeavor. When its four large sleek cars were finally attached to the tower's long swivel arms in 1946, pier people predicted the cars would fly off and land in the ocean.
"The Chute the Chutes closed permanently in late summer after an accident claimed the life of a little boy. He stood up and fell out of the boat as it slid down the ramp. Four years later Harry Cooper's Kiddy Town opened at the bottom of the ramp where the pool stood. This enclosed area had a miniature roller coaster, an airplane ride and several small kiddie car rides.
"But even these changes did little to increase business or the waning popularity of the old-fashioned amusement pier. Teenagers and young adults with families were indoors watching television or driving their cars to outdoor movie theaters for entertainment. Also, the closing of the bingo games in 1949 deprived the pier, especially the Lick Pier side, of much of its income. Pacific Electric's decision to shut down 'red car' service to the Venice/ Ocean Park area on September 15, 1970{?} didn't help either.
"By 1951 Lick Pier's Aragon Ballroom had fallen on hard times. The most recent orchestra to play there only drew eight couples, and KTLA television dropped its weekly telecasts. Its manager, Gordon 'Pops' Sadrup, in one last effort to salvage his declining dance business, hired band leader Lawrence Welk to perform a miracle. Welk's brand of light popular danceable music had drawn crowds at the Aragon back in 1946 despite the competition of Tommy Dorsey at the nearby Casino Gardens.
"Welk played at the Aragon and KTLA was persuaded to resume the telecasts. His first televised show on May 2, 1951 drew numerous viewers despite the late midnight hour. Before long the Dodge dealers of Southern California became sponsors, and Welk's 'Champagne music', live from the Aragon Ballroom, became a popular national television show.
"The Venice area continued to deteriorate physically throughout the fifties. Pawnshops and liquor stores replaced the souvenir shops and bingo parlors. Tourist were replaced by derelicts, drug addicts and motorcycle gangs, and winos passed out laid beneath the sheltered colonnaded archways on Windward Avenue. Property values. far from rising, dropped dramatically.
"On June 23, 1957, the Urban Renewal Agency in Los Angeles announced that a portion of the city's $100 million in federally allocated funds would be available for redevelopment in the Venice area. . . . The majority of Venice's property owners were against relinquishing title to their property. . . . In March, 1958, they voted against it . . .
"In the late fifties a new group of people began to settle in the Venice area. They adopted a new lifestyle that rejected the bland contemporary values of work and success in favor of a Bohemian life centered on poetry, jazz and art. Jack Kerouac's novel called them the 'Beat Generation'.
"The Beats were lured by Venice's low rent, mid climate and toleration of their lifestyle. They included painters like John Altoon, Ben Talbert, Tony Landreau, George Herms {and Wallace Berman} and Fowad Magdalani - 'the mad artist of Venice West' who experimented with the limits of abstraction and new forms of assemblage works. . . . The poets included Stuart Perkoff, Frank Rios, Tony Scibella, Lawrence Lipton and James Ryan Morris. They wrote about disenchantment and nuclear overkill. Others included folksinger Julie Meredith, light show impresario Jimmy Alonzi and sculptor Tati.
" . . .
"Lawrence Lipton chronicled the coffee houses, personal searches, artists, poets and others of 'Venice West' in his book The Holy Barbarians. He called Venice the 'slum-by-the sea'. . . ." p. 142
{p.143 photo of OP Pier concession Felix the Cat.}
" . . . the Beats were soon followed by a new generation of 'flower children.'
" . . . Many art-educated upcoming artists gravitated to Venice in the early 60's because studio space was cheap. The first wave, who settled along Market and Main streets, included Peter Alexander, Billy Al Bengston, Ron Cooper, John Altoon and Dewain Valentine. They were soon joined in the late 60's by Chuck Arnoldi, Laddie Dill, Ann McCoy, Tom Wudl and Tony Berlant. . . . . " p. 143
{p.144 photo of the OP Pier Midway, 1950)
{p. 145 photos of the Skooter ride and the Looff carousel on the OP Pier, 1952}
Chapter 8: Pacific Ocean Park (1958-1967)
{page 147 photo Neptune's Courtyard entrance to POP}
"In 1956 CBS and the Los Angeles Turf Club {who also developed Lake Arrowhead} were granted the lease on the Ocean Park Pier and they proposed to build a $10,000,000 nautical theme park to compete with Disneyland. They closed the pier after Labor Day, hired the best amusement park designers and Hollywood special effects experts they could find and began to design innovative new attractions for the theme park. In all 80 special effects men, scenic designers and artists worked for more than a year on the project. They like Disney, found corporate sponsors to share the expenses of some of the exhibitions. To save money they renovated existing buildings and incorporated six of the old attractions into the layout; the merry-go-round, roller coaster, Toonerville Fun House, Glass House, twin diving bells and Strat-O-Liner ride. They called the new park Pacific Ocean Park.
"The 28 acre park was decorated throughout in a sea-green and white moderne look, an evocation of the ocean itself. Its entrance set amidst fountains, sculptures and large sea horse and clam shell decorated frieze, set the mood of the wonders within. The ticket booth in Neptune's Courtyard was set under a six-legged concrete starfish canopy; plastic bubbles and sea horses adorned its top. All day admission was ninety cents for adults, less for children. This included access to the park, Neptune's Kingdom, the Sea Circus and the Westinghouse Enchanted Forest exhibit. Other rides and attractions were at additional costs.
"Opening day on Saturday July 28, 1958 drew 20,000 curious people and dozens of Hollywood celebrities. Sunday's 37,262 paying customers brought traffic jams to the area. During its first six days it out performed Disneyland in attracting customers.
"Visitors entered the park through Neptune's Kingdom where they took a submarine elevator down to the suboceanic corridors below. Water filling the elevator's clear central tube gave the illusion of descending beneath the sea. Across from the elevator was an enormous sea tank set in the corridor wall. It was partitioned so that it appeared the shark and prey cohabited the same tank. Beyond and covering one entire wall along the corridor was a large diorama filled . . . " p. 147
{p.148 schematic of POP - 1959; p.149 aerial view of POP, 1963}
{p.150 Ocean Skyway bubble cars; p. 151 Local beauty queen}
"with creatures that couldn't live in captivity. Motorized artificial turtles, manta rays, sawfish, and sharks glided by over coral reef and hanging seaweed. In the distance, barely visible in the glimmering light was Neptune with his scepter in hand sitting on his throne. The display was a masterpiece of special effects, a convincing illusion of waterless liquid space presented by your Coca Cola bottler.
"Next door was Westinghouse's free Enchanted Forest and Nautilus Submarine exhibit. They had a 150 foot model, atomic reactor section of the famous atomic sub. Nearby was a room full of electronic appliances and gadgets for the House of Tomorrow. A modular house was put together by machinery as part of the show.
"The main feature of the Sea Circus area was the performing seal and dolphin shows. Two thousand people could watch the shows several times daily in the large amphitheater. Afterwards they could feed the seals in the Seal Pool.
"The twin Diving Bells nearby offered excursions beneath the surface of a large salt water tank. As one of the bells was loaded with passengers, the other was slowly pulled below the surface by hydraulic pistons. Those inside peered out of the small portholes in search of fish. Water seeping through the bell's riveted metal seams reminded one of the tremendous pressure outside., Then there was a sudden rush upwards, and the ride was over as the diving bell popped explosively to the surface. The two long lines of people, nervously awaiting their turn, were splashed by the sudden surge of water.
"The Ocean Skyway entrance was but a few steps away. Here passengers could board bubble gondolas for a six minute, half mile ride that would take them 75 feet above the Pacific. It offered panoramic views of the bay, Santa Monica Mountains, and the park. As it reached its turn-around point near the Mystery Island's volcanic peak, it offered a tantalizing preview of the Banana Train ride.
"Union 76's miniature Ocean Highway gave drivers a choice of futuristic styled model cars. The long, nearly oval course was built like a causeway directly over the ocean. Other rides in that section of the park included a Ferris wheel and a tilted aerial stye ride called the Paratrooper. Its two passenger seats suspended from parachute canopies swung outwards as the ride gained speed.
"On the other side of Neptune's Kingdom was a unique attraction called Flight to Mars. The inside lobby was decorated with a mural featuring a barren Martian . . . " p. 151
{p. 152 photo Union 76 Ocean Highway}
{p. 153 POP's main midway}
"landscape. Space travelers entered a round tiered spaceship-like theater with a column bank of television screen set in the floor's center. The door sealed and the seats reclined back as the ship prepared for flight. The whole theater and the individual seats shook during takeoff, while views of Earth receding in the distance were projected on the television monitors. A few minutes later the ship approached Mars and passengers prepared for a landing and were made to feel like they were slowly descending. The whole theater was built like an elevator so when passengers exited they stood before a vast diorama of the red planet and its green alien creatures. Visitors were magically returned to Earth by entering a mirrored black-light teleport chamber at the exit door.
"Across the main midway was the Flying Carpet ride, a fantasy excursion into the Tales of the Arabian Nights. Passengers boarded vehicles resembling large flying carpets that were suspended from above on tracks. The cars soared high into the air above the city lights below, past lofty mountains painted in the walls, and far away to the Sinbad's Bagdad where Arabian palace spires soared skyward. Below was a giant genie coming out of Ali Baba's lamp, and other characters from the old tales and legends. To attract customers they hired a giant 7'4" tall man whose Arabian Nights costume and large turban made him look gigantic.
"The Mirror Maze in the next building was a standard Fun House style attraction. The building's transparent facade revealed dozens of reflected images of each of the people inside the labyrinth. One had to first find a path through a glass maze to get to the area where the floors moved. Barrels turned, and rooms slanted, daring one to stand up straight. Then it was back into another maze of glass and mirrors to find a way out.
"Davy Jones Locker further along the midway was a much more interesting Fun House with a nautical theme. The revamped Toonerville Fun House was a walk thru with tunnels decorated with fake underwater paraphernalia including divers in old helmets. It had a crooked room, two slides with a bump in the center and dozens of distorted mirrors. Customers had to squeeze through giant upright padded rollers to exit. Teenagers liked the attraction because it was mostly dark, inside.
"Almost across from it was the Flying Dutchman, a 'dark' ride on tracks. Treasure chest styled cars passed through the hull of an old Spanish galleon where it narrowly missed upsetting a stack of rum barrels. Inside behind bars were prisoners crying to get out, and further on skeletons of those who were imprisoned far . . . " p. 152
{p. 154 Diving Bells}
{p. 155 Space Wheels, twin double Ferris wheels}
"too long. Threatening pirates gathered in one cabin to argue over their treasure. The overflowing treasure chest nearby had gold doubloons and jewels spilling out.
"The Deepest Deep was a smaller 'dark' ride that gave the illusion of exploring the sea in a two-man submersible. People would ride in a tracked car with a plastic bubble dome past fake looking underwater scenes. A hydraulic piston raised, lowered and turned the cars as they passed different scenes like mermaids and treasure chests. The ride was cheaply done and had endless mechanical problems that kept it closed much of the time.
"Round the World in 80 Turns took one for a tour of France, England, Germany, Turkey, China and Japan. The tub-like cars would whip sharply to the left and right to change scenes. Due to constant complaints of nausea and neck pains it was closed midway through the second season.
"Fun seekers could try hunting for big game on the Safari Ride. Tracked jeeps equipped with electronic rifles wound its way through African jungle. Lion prides fought over a recent kill and an occasional rhino would charge the jeep. The man-made plywood cutout animals were slightly animated.
"There were plenty of old fashioned thrill rides along the Ports o' POP midway. Foremost was the Sea Serpent roller coaster. It was from the old pier but was now painted in an array of gaudy colors. The Whirl Pool was a huge centrifuge that pinned customers to the wall, then the floor dropped out. Another centrifuge ride called the Shell Spin slowly tilted until riders were being spun vertically. The old Stat-o-liner ride was now called Mr. Dolphin, and the Flying Fish was merely a 'wild mouse' coaster with cars decorated to look like fish. Nearby were Octopus and Mrs. Squid rides. The latter was a flat 'Scrambler' style ride whose cars would swing back and forth across the platform. They spun and appeared to narrowly miss each other as they crossed each other.
"The park's best ride was the Mystery Island Banana Train Ride at the end of the pier. Eight giant totem poles and two outrigger canoes formed the entrance to the area. Explorers crossed a suspension bridge above a 9000 gallon per minute waterfall to an authentic Polynesian stilt house where they boarded the U.S. Rubber train. The train, like those of tropical banana plantation trains, was pushed by the locomotive.
"The excursion carried one through a tropical paradise of palms, bamboo, and banana trees, past coconut throwing monkeys and into two back to back counter- . . . " p. 154
{p. 156 The Sea Serpent}
{p.157 Safari and mirrors}
{p. 158 The Sea Tub}
{p. 159 POP main midway]
{p. 160 Whirl Pool and Shell Spin}
{p. 161 Mr. Dolphin}
"rotating tunnels that simulated an earthquake. The tunnels led to inside the heart of an erupting volcano where the train circled the bubbling volcanic crater. Once the passengers passed through the spider caves, the train's precarious tracks suddenly emerged on a suspension bridge over real ocean surf below. Before the startled passengers realized it, the train just as suddenly reentered the mountain into a large room where geysers erupted. Finally it passed through a tropical rain storm complete with lightning and through the jungle to the passenger loading station. Then as the ride came to an end a friendly gooney bird shrieked, "Hope you enjoyed your trip!"
"The park had two dining and shopping areas. Inside the park was a recreation of a New England harbor called Fisherman's Cove. Outside along Ocean Front Walk was the International Promenade offering superb cuisine in authentic foreign restaurants, as well as exotic souvenirs, gifts and imports in the various shops.
"Apparently many people enjoyed Pacific Ocean Park, for by the time it closed for construction and remodeling on January 5, 1959, it had attracted 1,190,000 visitors. Management decided to add four new attractions at a cost of nearly $2,000,000.
"Fun Forest located near the Sea Circus was primarily for children. It had helicopter, boat and covered wagon rides. It also had a picturesque tree maze with slides and other surprises. They purchased a 96 passenger ride called Space Wheels for $225,000 and placed it between the whale tank and Ocean Skyway ride. It was comprised of four ferris wheels, stacked two high, which rotated at the ends of four giant arms. Each wheel in turn spun in its own orbit as the arms revolved.
"The company planned to add an ornate bandstand area for entertainment and 8700 square feet of space on the south end of the pier for Zooland. This area adjacent to Fisherman's Cove would feature baby polar bears, penguins, otters, flamingos, and other aquatic animals. Neither of these two attractions were completed.
"The second season's attendance wasn't nearly as good as the first. The owners decided to close it in October for the winter, then announced a month later that they sold the park to John Morehard for $10,000,000.
"It was obvious to the new owner that the park needed a one price admission policy to attract more customers. He set a price for the following spring of $1.50 for adults and $1.00 for children. He did, however, expect to raise prices for the busy summer tourist season. The Sea Serpent roller coaster was still an extra twenty five cents per ride since it was the one ride not owned by the park." p. 161
[p. 162 Entrance to Mystery Island]
[p. 163 Mystery Island]
[pp. 164 & 165 Three photos of Mystery Island ride]
"Morehard's goal was to run the park as a small family amusement park business not as competition to Disneyland. He hoped to attract teens and family repeat business from people who lived within 30 to 40 miles.
"Unfortunately the park continued to lose customers. The trouble was that Pacific Ocean Park was in a run down, seedy part of town and the area attracted the wrong element. The nearby streets were littered with bums and winos who accosted customers for money. Local teenagers. aware that their parents frowned on them going to the park on weekend evenings, often told them they were going to a movie and then sneaked down to P.O.P.
"Local kids had a knack for sneaking into the park for nothing. They often used a catwalk beneath the pier to reach a trapdoor near the shooting gallery. Sometimes it was unlocked, but if that failed they would climb over the high exit turnstile.
"The park, too, was having trouble maintaining its own operation. It offered a large number of rides and attractions for the price, but with such a high overhead it had to skimp on maintenance. Rides were often broken and everything deteriorated against the rough ocean elements. In short, the park with its peeling paint looked run down It did, however, attract 1,216,000 paid customers in 1963.
"It was sold in October 1963 to Irving Kay, a San Francisco real estate developer for $7.5 million. The deal included some other property. At first he leased P.O.P. back to management headed by Jack Roberts, but then in January he sold the park to Roberts' company, Amusement Purchase, Inc. for $2.5 million.
"The 1964 season was the park's most successful attendance wise. It drew 1,663,013 visitors. New rides included a flat ride called the Himalaya near the Sea Circus, and a Monster Mouse steel roller coaster where Fun Forest stood. The coaster's ability to make 90 degree turns made the ride downright frightening. Passengers thought that the cars had jumped the track as the front of its small cars hung over the narrow track before they abruptly turned. The smaller Flying Fish 'wild mouse' was replace by a small Ferris Wheel and tilted centrifuge, called the Mixer that was located elsewhere in the park, and the kiddie rides were moved to the Fisherman's Village area.
"But Santa Monica in 1965 began its Ocean Park urban renewal project. There was wholesale demolition of nearby buildings and closings of streets leading to the park. The entire area was disordered while they were building two large apartment towers. A street leading to . . . " p. 165
[p. 166 Rock-O-Plane and Mr. Octopus]
[p.167 Flying Dutchman and Flying Fish]
[p.168 Westinghouse Enchanted Forest]
[p. 169 Union 76's Ocean Highway and Skyway; Paratrooper ride; Twin Diving Bells]
[p. 170 Sea Circus; Entrance to Mystery Island]
"the park would be open one week, then deliberately closed the next. Customers often called from nearby phone booths to complain that they could see the park but couldn't figure out how to get there. Attendance dropped to 621,000 in 1965 and 398,700 in 1966. Roberts paid bills rarely, not even his modest lease rent to Santa Monica.
"Santa Monica was ready to pull his park license at a meeting on March 16, 1967 when Roberts showed up at the last minute with a fist full of policies proving that the park was covered with $1.5 million in insurance. The city was ready to close the park when they got a cancellation notice from his insurance company.
"The Urban Redevelopment board was concerned that his park with its peeling paint and boarded up restaurants along Ocean Front Walk would scare away prospective apartment tenants. Although they would have liked to see the park closed, and nearly accomplished it during construction, they publicly wished Roberts well.
"Roberts, despite years of lagging attendance and piles of long overdue bills, expected things to improve. He was negotiating a loan of $1,600,000 from the Teamsters. In addition, urban redevelopment left him with a brand new access street, ample parking and a bus stop. The Cheetah, a mod rock and roll club planned to open in the Aragon Ballroom.
"Finally at the end of the 1967 season, P.O.P.'s creditors took action and forced the park into involuntary bankruptcy. Santa Monica precipitated the action when they filed suit to take control of the property because Roberts owed them $17,000 in back rent since 1965. The park closed on October 6, 1967.
"A.J. Bumb became Trustee of the park, and on April 25, 1968 federal bankruptcy referee Norman Neukom gave permission to dispose of the park. When he was asked if P.O.P. might be saved, he replied, 'No Chance! Santa Monica doesn't want it there.'
"The auction began on June 28, 1968 and ran through the 30th. The proceeds from the sale of 36 rides and sixteen games were used to pay off creditors. The park's dilapidated buildings and pier structure remained until several fires and the final demolition in the winter 1973-1974 removed it from all but people's fond memories. The long era of Venice/Ocean Park amusement parks was finally over." p. 170
[Rear cover OP night scene; amusements on the OP Pier]