Your Stories
Here's your chance to send in your stories and photos to create a collection of photos and written memories about the pier. You may send in your own at yourstories@santamonicapier.org, or mail your submittal to Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation, 200 Santa Monica Pier, Suite A, Santa Monica, CA 90401.
I recently read an article in the Daily Breeze that
you would like to have people submit stories and
memories about the Santa Monica Pier. I hope this is
what you are looking for as I have many fond memories
of growing up on and around the pier. For a number of
years the pier was like a second home to me. In 1957 I
was ten years old and The La Monica Ballroom was
converted to a roller skating rink. This was a place
that I would spend almost every weekend until I was
16. At first it was named "
The skating rink was a lot bigger than any other
skating rink I had ever seen. The floor was the
biggest in Southern California. My brother, sister and
I began skating at the Ocean Park rink which closed to
make way for The Flight to Mars ride for the new
Pacific Ocean Park. We were happy when we found out
that the pier had a skating rink.
I grew up during the fifties and sixties. Our rented
house was on Nielsen Way and Grand Ave in Ocean Park.
Our father had left us and my Mother raised the three
of us by herself. She had introduced us to skating as
a form of entertainment and also to keep us occupied
during the summers.
Jack Goodrich, who was once in vaudeville and then as
a stuntman in movies, and Roller Derby legend Charlie
"Specs" Saunders opened the rink in late 1957. We were
overjoyed. On Friday and Saturday the rink hate a
"Late session" from 10:30 until 1 AM. They would dim
the lights a play Rock N Roll. We would either skate
along the Ocean Front or ride our bikes and skate from
7:30 until 1.
We have a number of skating clubs such as the Dance
and Freestyle clubs that competed in State
championships. But it was the speed club that was one
of the best in the West. We were known for having one
of the best clubs in California. I was on the 1962
Men's Relay that took first place at the State and
Regional meet. They had closed the rink to the public
by then as the roof was unstable. But they allowed us
in to work out as we prepared for the State meet.
The pier seemed to me to have many different moods in
those days. It wasn't as popular then so we didn't
have to contend with the crowds. I remember walking up
the ramp from the Ocean Front and finding the pier
shrouded in fog, the lights just faint glimmers of
halos. Quiet and lonely. On weekends it would come
alive with families and fisherman.
My brother and I spent many nights at the end of the
pier fishing, sometimes falling to sleep against a
bench. We would sometimes climb down a ladder and walk
the stringers under the pier.
After the skating rink was torn down in late 1962 I
found other interests and moved on. But no matter
where I go when I come back to the area the pier is
the first place I come to,just to visit an old friend.
When my boys were growing up I would bring them to the
pier and try to explain to them how important the pier
was to me. Now I bring my grand children when they
come and visit. Counting the times my Mother would
come with us that is four generations that have spent
time on those decks.
I still visit the pier a couple of times a year and
the sounds and smells remain pretty much the same. It
recalls a period of my life that was less complicated
and less stressful. To be kid and have the pier and
the beach as my own playground was something that will
remain with me until the day that I die.
Sorry to be so wordy but trying to pack 4 years of old
memories in an email is somewhat difficult. Please
feel free to use all or any part of this email.
Thank you,
Jack Beehler
From B Anahita King:
The Pier...A Fascinating Place for this Hick from Utah
I live far from the ocean (Utah), but have had the joy of visiting the Santa Monica Pier 3 times over the past 4 years.
I am an avid Three's Company fan, and when I made my first trip to the Santa Monica Pier, I almost found myself looking
around for Jack, Crissy, Janet, Mr. Furley, and Larry riding the carousel and bumper cars and shopping for T-shirts.
When I subscribed to the Pier's newsletter, I discoverd the fascinating history of the Pier.
I recall seeing a low-budget movie made in the '60s that starred Dennis Hopper.
The main character fell for a mermaid lady who lived on the Pier.
I often wonder how many other movies were filmed at the Pier.
I am nearing retirement, and one thing I plan to do when I leave the rat race behind is stay at the Holiday Inn near
the Pier and just hang out for a few days. I love to people watch, and it will be so nice to just sit and enjoy watching
other people enjoying the Pier. My wife, who is just a youngster at age 54, will want to ride the carousel.
In the few days that we will stay in Santa Monica, I'll take enough videos and photos to keep us entertained for years.
Of course, one must-do activity will be to rent bicycles and ride to Venice Beach.
It's too far for an old codger like me to walk.
People who live in Santa Monica, especially those who are within walking distance of the Pier,
probably don't realize how fortunate they are. To those of us who rarely get to visit Santa Monica,
there is a mystical power that draws them to the Pier. Thanks for helping keep this magical place open for newer generations
to enjoy.
Dwight Turner
Roy, Utah
Free Falling Down the Bridge to the Santa Monica Pier
It was the Winter '78 and they came pounding on my door way early Saturday at 6 am. I'd been out late and was still a little, uh, 'fuzzy'. I cracked the door and saw one of Santa Monica's finest. "You are are under arrest. You are going the station now. Pay the bail or you will stay!" I forgotten to pay a damn traffic ticket. I said, "Without coffee?" but she smiled not.
Oh, man! I toss on clothes grumbling - that $328 was supposed to go toward the rent! No coffee? Grrr! OK! I'll go the the station and take care of this little problem, like I have a choice! I'm disheartened, angry at myself, frustrated and still a teensy bit buzzed. And no coffee?
I return home two hours later and strap on my racing skates to work out my frustrations - it's worked for me in the past. The bike path is almost empty on this foggy and cold Winter morn - a surreal sandscape as fogs part then thicken on my cloudy mind and body. I shiver as tiny droplets evaporate from my steaming skin. "Hey, I've never skated the bridge down to the Santa Monica Pier - I'll do it NOW! I'LL show THEM!"
Big man. Bigger mistake!
I 'jay-skate' quickly across Ocean Avenue and go under 'The Sign' to The Pier. Something inside me warns, "Gosh, am I sure I really wanna do this?" but it's too late to go slow and suddenly I'm in over my head going over the top like a greased rock, faster and faster, gravity propelling me down the multi-layered bumpy surface, my stomach flipping. I could get kilt just trying to keep upright! How many times have they attempted to patch this old thing? Instantly I'm flailing and hoofing it, dodging potholes, avoiding cars, large cracks and rocks. Semi-controlled my fast decent is unavoidable as rough surfaces constantly change from decrepit asphalt to variegated concrete as I try staying upright.
Finally reaching the bottom I now face new challenges and dodge pylons, logs and, uh ooh! - people, and I'm still at TOP SPEED! Finally I stop near Moby's Dock and take inventory; swollen brain and jangled body parts, breath steaming and gasping in the cold air, fingers and toes numb - at least I'm still in one piece! Well, sorta!
Surprise! I look up breathing heavily, damp with cold sweat in the chill. Early morning tourists have stopped and are staring at me with wide eyes, "Is that idiot crazy or just plain stupid?"
Well, I made it. Apparently! The frustrations were out of my system. The sweat dried and I warmed. Rent was paid eventually, and I still skate regularly - just not buzzed at break neck speeds Free Falling Down the Bridge to the Santa Monica Pier.
Oh. and I take care of the very very few moving violations I receive extremely quickly! - Paul
Almost went under
Went swimming around 1950 with my father, Willard, next to the Pier. I was
around 4 or 5 years old and couldn't swim, so I foated about in an inner tube
while my father swam around. I fell off the tube and tried to paddle for a
while, but wasn't going to make it long when my father rushed back. When we got
home we told my mother, Charlotte, that I'd had my first swim. She looked at
us funny, and the next week they started taking me to a public pool for real
lessons.
Santa Monica Pier
We are going to Los Angeles, San Francisco + California I remember telling my 3rd grade class in New York,
not quite realizing that they weren’t 3 separate places.
In San Francisco, we drove through the Haight Ashbury, and looked at the hippies with the windows rolled up.
A long time shell collector, I was excited to go to the beach in California to collect sea shells. The coastline of
Long Island + Brooklyn was no more exotic than razor clams and moon snails…
We came to Santa Monica and there were lots of little starfish dried up on the beach!
With a bucket full of shells, we walked down the pier, where there was a
Sea shell shop, owned by a woman named Nancy Hutchinson, or something like that.
My parents let me pick out any shell I wanted. I chose a carrier snail –
a big snail which cements shells or small pebbles onto the rim of its shell at more or
less regular intervals When it selects an object, the snail squirts glue from its own body onto its shell.
What is cemented there is a function of what is available on the substrate on which the snail lives.
I was so amazed by the collection of shells in this shop in Santa Monica that Nancy Hutchinson,
I’d met in the shop, became my one + only pen pal.
Hello Everyone:
My name is Jan, I just turned 65 in July. I am a native Californian. Born and raised in Manhattan Beach. I have seen a lot of change in the Santa Monica Pier over the years.
Santa Monica Pier is now and always was, a very special place to visit! Especially the merry-go-round! As a child, one of my on going life goals was to reach out as far as I could, to get the very special "gold ring".
Years ago the merry-go-round had a ring grab challenge. As a rider you would choose a horse located on the outer edge. As one point near the edge of the merry-go was a rack holding large heavy rings. As you went by, you would lean out and reach as far as you could, hold out your finger and try to snag a ring. If you were lucky, you snagged the "gold ring"... which meant that you would get a free ride. I remember getting so sick going around and aroung and around again trying to get those darn rings!
Love and Peace - J
1966
When I was six my grandpa used to take me to the pier on Saturdays.
We'd go to Berle's ceramics,next to the Merry-go-round and I would scurry over to the trillions
of little bins of Tiki's,clowns and animals. Flat clown heads with a variety of expressions
were Grandpa Clyde's favorite.Grandpa was a Big fan of Emmit Kelly,so Clyde Sr was all about clowns.
I was , as any good six year old would be in 1966 Santa Monica,in love with Tiki's.
They had little classes at the store and Berle would show you her technique for
faux wood staining the teeni tini Tiki heads and then she would adorn them with two
single red rhinestones in the eye sockets.The Teeni Tiki's had a little loop at the top and a
length of lanyard could be run through the loop,making the most wonderful and exotic necklace I had ever seen.
With huge sparkling ruby red eye's.
Berl's was a huge vat of ceramic dust,creaky wooden floors and every shape of ceramic figure.
Your nose blew white for day after an hour in the haze of the silky air.
We had a few ritual's at the pier.
Grandpa would take me to visit the Portuguese and Japanese fish mongers,who would torture me by eating live fish.
Grunyon maybe or just little minnows? And every time grandpa (the grand comspirator) would walk me up to the counter and
I with my little kid amnesia would have forgotten about the little men and there sinister plot to scare the
little blonde girl to death.
I fell for it every time.
"hey Lizzy Mr. Yamamoto has something really neat to show you".. and like a little dope
I would bustle up to the counter where he would flip the small wriggling slip of silver into his mouth and swallow.
I could even see the little fishes form bang and bandy down his throat and the small
japanese man would laugh and say," ooh this is a good fish, you try this,ok little blondy,yes?"
And he would waggle a little fish at me.
I would shriek in terror and then laugh.
Grandpa loved to torture me like this and I guess in falling for it,every single time, I loved it too.
I always got a ride on the Merry-Go-Round as payment Gosh I loved the music.
I remember falling in love with Scott Joplin's music at the carousel.
Who wouldn't?
It framed the who carousel experience with a sweet nostalgic air.
The smell of popcorn,corn dogs,taffy and taqueto's.
(When taqueto's were two for a quarter).
I miss the pier as it once was in all of it's rustic glory.
I miss Sindbad's and the Pieces of Eight.
I miss the Jumbo slide and and string of fish markets.
I would sometimes go with my Mom,who would flirt her way into the best fish bits for her Bull-Bitch
(bouillabaisse for the picky foodies) and it would end up costing her a fat six bits.
Oh! What a wink and a smile could do back then.
The quarter tram that ran from the pier to the old P.O.P would crackle and slap over the wooden planking
of the old board walk that run the length of the strip.
Seven different artists did a black and white chalk profile of me growing up.
Each costing about four bits.Grandpa always gave a generous tip.
This was were I first learned about tipping."tipping is not a town in China Grandpa would say'"
Yeah it's hocky,but it stuck.
Life was genuinely sweet and simple then.
I could use the tattered pale green, Big Blue Bus pass I used to get me to
St. Monica's every day,and ride to the pier and with fifty cents have a ball all day.
I would slip my blue and grey wool skirt off and reveal my bright green shorts.
The ones I had snuck on under my skirt before leaving for school that day.
I would dig through my book bag and find my sailor hat with the cellophane green and blue
sun shade eyes and then spend the rest of the day as a groovy kid immersed in the awe and wonder at the magic of the pier.
Being a kid in Santa Monica will always be my favorite bit of heaven.
And the pier was the cherry!
Lizzy Menzies
My Story
My father, born in 1914, grew up in Santa Monica and witnessed many incarnations of the Santa Monica boardwalk and pier.
Every Sunday we would walk along Ocean Front Walk and he'd recall the things he had seen over his lifetime;
gambling boats, prohibition, the Red Car, his first job as a towel boy at the Big Plunge,
meeting Merle Norman on the beach when she was selling suntan oil and later working many years for her,
his paper route through the Venice canals before they were filled in, and many other accounts.
One constant source of delight for him that was passed on to me me was the carousel on the pier.
It was the first amusement park ride I ever enjoyed and it is still my most beloved.
The stories that he passed on to me will be treasured forever.
Alana Coghlan
Santa Monica Born
I was born in 1952 at Santa Monica Hospital. My father and mother lived in Santa Monica on Pearl St.
near 14th prior to my birth. My parents had met in Venice where my father worked at many of the Roller Coasters
that lined the beach side and my mother at an ice cream palor in Ocean Park.
The coaster on POP was the same coaster that my father had worked at years before it was put on the Ocean Park Pier.
Coming from South Dakota, my father settled in Santa Monica in the early 1920's,
living at boarding houses and working as a "carnie". My mother grew up in Venice for the most part,
as my grandfather worked for the Al G. Barnes Circus that wintered in Venice.
He bought a house Carroll Canal and is buried along with my grandmother in Woodlawn Cemetary.
I lived in Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Topanga before returning to Santa Monica where I was born and have lived since 1976.
Iuse to roller skate in the old ballroom on Saturdays and also rode the go karts that use to be down near the Merry go Round.
The rides on the trams down to Ocean Park were always fun too. I also played the many games and fished off the pier in my younger years.
I graduated from Olympic High School in 1970. It seemed like the 70's were a changing point in the pier and the people that frequented it.
I spent time at the old Cheetah Pier whiched housed a club named "The Beach House". Good rock n roll and lots of cool people hung out there.
I ate at Sinbads with my Dad quite a bit too and later at the Boat House.
Val Streit
100th Celebration of Santa Monica Pier:
Moments for New Memories
What a treat to read the new Santa Monica Pier History book!
Reading it makes you feel a deep appreciation for the stories people have shared.
And thankfulness to those who have kept the pier and its fun there over all these years!
The images and words tell of experiences and memories folks have for this "people's place" told so vividly,
you feel you have stepped right into years past.
The book's words and images are an invitation for every reader to create their own treasured moments on the pier today.
Those moments will become memories of pier history into the future.
So it was that on a very recent Sunday in February 2009,
treasured moments at the pier were created that will live vividly into the future�
A Dad enthusiastically brought his two children and his parents (their Granny and Poppo)
to the pier for a day of fun before he was off to his work.
The grandparents and grandchildren walked hand-in-hand onto the pier with fun in mind - fun riding rides,
fun lunching on burritos and beverages together, fun checking out the games with hopes of
prizes and then fun having the day topped off with salt water taffy, kettle corn and COTTON CANDY!
The Dad, ever so gently, placed all-day full-ride wristbands on his children's arms.
His kindness in this gesture was so genuine.
He spoke softly with each child as he made sure the wristbands were just right,
adjusting the bands with care so as not to be too tight nor too loose.
As he prepared them for the day, his gentleness, beaming smile and words to them felt like a reverent,
quiet prelude to the full, high-decibel feelings of fun to follow riding Pacific Park rides!
His voice gave assurances to his children that they were in for a treat to be enjoyed!
It was a precious moment between the Dad and two children.
His mother, the Granny, especially treasured watching her son at that moment.
She knew the connection between this father to his children was familiar evidence of
this Dad's own history as totally a "people person" -
always enthusiastic in inviting and including others in what he knew to be fun,
always taking great care and enjoying the anticipation and preparation for fun,
always hoping fun would be terrific, always setting forth to have fun with the smiles and confidence.
She knew this had always been his way from childhood onward.
She silently celebrated the moment of seeing him this way now.
That was the first treasured moment of this day at the pier.
That wristband moment signaled good times were about to begin-
just as good times have happened on the pier for 100 years.
And there's every reason to believe that on down the road of time,
those two precious children, in their turn as adults,
will replicate the ritual of placing whatever is the equivalent of today's wristband on a child to signal,
"Your ticket for terrific fun is in place� I love you�now, off we go!"
The two children set off with their Granny and Poppo.
They made their own rhythm of footsteps traipsing along the wide boards of the pier
to each and every child ride - the frog hopper, the yellow submarine, ship,
jeep ride�carrying with them that magical combination of assured confidence mixed with a smidge of anxiety:
confidence knowing the rides were fun and anxiousness anticipating having the rides take them to far edges of excitement.
They were beaming with big smiles when they returned to their grandparent's side at ride's end, fully ready to go again!
Having conquered all the child rides, the question came of what do with the adult rides?
The children did not entertain the roller coaster or the giant dragon boat as options for even a moment.
But, the Ferris wheel�yes, that was one to think about doing. Initially the intrepid Pacific Park
traveling squad foursome got in the Ferris wheel line together - Poppo, Granny, grandson and granddaughter.
While in line, they kept looking up at the wheel from the ground.
But halfway to loading, as they made their way along the maze,
the granddaughter's gaze upward caused her to grasp the magnitude of Ferris wheel height.
Without equivocation, she made a decision. With her already infamous fearless-but-not-foolish three-year-old knowledge
of her own limits, she bowed out, stating calmly and confidently, "That's tooooo-oooo scary!"
She was happy to take respite seated beside her Poppo on a bench directly beneath the big wheel
where she could watch her brother and Granny go round.
The brother, a self-assured 5 years old, and his Granny waited in anticipation for their turn.
As they waited, the Granny told her grandson the true tale that not only had she never ridden this Ferris wheel, she,
in fact, had NEVER EVER ridden ANY Ferris wheel in all her 62 years! She repeatedly thanked him for going on the
Ferris wheel ride today. It was a ride, she told him, she had always, ALWAYS wanted to do and a ride she was SOOOOO
happy to be doing with him! This sunny February 2009 day in Santa Monica held the moment of a first to be forever remembered!
As their wait continued, the Granny and grandson began to pass the time by speculating on what color their cab would be -
a fun game of prediction where every color could be the winner! Their accelerating anticipation to find out which color cab
would be theirs matched their accelerating excitement of going on the ride! Then, it was time.
A cab emptied and the brave pair was signaled to get on board.
Now the Granny was thinking that they could sit side-by-side so if he (or she) felt overwhelmed,
hugs of re-assurance could be easily given. When she offered her grandson a seat beside her,
he thought for a moment scanning the enclosed cab. As though re-calculating the cab size and
motion he had been observing from the ground, he confidently determined and stated they should sit
opposite from one another to "keep it balanced". The grandson sat facing the shore, the Granny facing the sea and sky.
The Ferris wheel took their cab on its first crescendo ride up and, upon arrival at the top,
there was an exquisite moment of shared wide-eyed wonder exchanged between the Granny and Grandson!
Simultaneously, they both held their breath in awe! Their grounding to earth was left below!
The moment was fantastically filled with emotions of being on an adventure in an almost unbelievable place,
generating a reaction of living wholly in a wonderfully wild place suspended in the free space of air,
a reaction of not even being seated on the seat, in the cab, on this wheel!
As the Granny mustered the single word,
"Whoa!" the grandson smiled supremely and declared, "Now THAT"S romantic!"
This five year old knew a wonderful use of the word romantic in a sense much like the romantic composers of
the 19th century era had in creating incredible symphonies! This five year old atop the Santa Monica Ferris wheel
had summoned his wise soul to describe the experience in the ways known in the music by Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Beethoven!
The Ferris wheel continued its revolutions taking the grandson and Granny on repeated ascents to the top
including several swaying stops at the highest point - but no arrival at the top was as spectacular as that first one!
Throughout the ride, they could see the younger sister watching below, waving each time the cab carrying her Granny and
brother came into view. Someday, she too will have her first Ferris wheel ride to add to her history of pier experiences.
As the cab came to a stop at ride's end, the Granny and grandson stepped out onto the solid ground with
promises to one another that they'd do this again! Speculating that maybe their next ride could be in the
evening with all the lights of the pier and stars of night sparkling like magic!
The historic moments of the February 2009 Ferris wheel ride at the pier would, indeed, be re-visited.
And, in the Granny's heart, she grabbed hope that there would be a day into the future when her grandson
would be taking a grandchild for just such a ride as they had today�then, he would know, for himself in his own way,
what a special moment that can be for a grandparent with a grandchild. So it is that the Granny's 100th Celebration
wish is for the pier and Ferris wheel to be there for generations to come just as it is there now and has been there
for generations in the past. It is a wish given in thankfulness for having memories on that February day that can
return in the future.
