Santa Monica Section
Presented here is a visual profile of the Santa Monica Pier Carousel and its building, the Looff Hippodrome, from the 1970’s through the 1980’s. During that time, both underwent restoration, going from being remnants of their former selves to re-attaining their magnificence. Also seen here are images from the turn of the century through the decades preceding the 1970’s and 80’s and some of more progress afterwards. The photos end in 2001 because I moved away from the Santa Monica area.
For background information about the carousel, Hippodrome and carousel operations during the 1980’s:
Santa Monica, Not Without Pier 1978
Diary of a Carousel, PTC 62 at Santa Monica Pier Part I, Volume 21, #1, Spring 1994
The Carousels of the Santa Monica Bay, Volume 24, #2, Summer 1997
The Carousels of the Santa Monica Bay, Part II, Volume 24, #3, Fall 1997
Early 1900s
B. Williams Collection
1930s
B. Williams Collection
1940s
B. Williams Collection
1950s
B. Williams Collection
1960s
1960s – Muscle Beach.
1963:
Video by youtube user strangepursuit:
1967
1967 – A day at the Santa Monica Pier.
B Williams photos
1967 – Local Los Angeles TV station Channel 9 KHJ’s weekly show, “Groovy”, hosted by Michael Blodgett (psychedelic suit) and the band, Buffalo Springfield, north of the pier. The show featured beach party music. Stephen Stills (cowboy hat), Neil Young (checkered shirt).
B. Williams Photos
1970
1972
1972 – The existence of the pier was threatened by a campaign to eliminate it and build a luxury resort island in the bay. Battle lines were drawn. In the end, the “Save the Pier” opposition won and the beloved pier was saved.
1973
Video by youtube user PismoBeach:
March 1973 – a fire spared the carousel, but damaged the upstairs apartments which were then condemned. The carousel was privately owned and in poor condition.
B. Williams photos
1974
The horse pictured here, top left, was one of two small horses that were inside of the chariots. One was retained by the owner of the carousel when he sold it to the city in 1977, the other one disappeared in the early 1970’s. The few remaining windows in the carousel building were painted over, creating a dark and uninviting atmosphere inside.
B. Williams photos
1977
1977 – Despite the family-fun daytime scene in the picture, top, left, the pier was a run-down, rough and tough place. Gang activity, outlaw bikers and rowdy adults had chased the families away. Inside of the carousel building, the horses wait to be rescued in their crumbling building. In 1977, the city buys the carousel and the pier achieved landmark status – the future looks brighter. The flowers and butterfly on the chariot are original paint.
B. Williams photos
1978
1978 – A lessee promises to restore the carousel, put in a restaurant upstairs and build a water park. The carousel building is cleared of debris, the grates are removed from the windows, allowing sunlight and fresh air inside. There are high hopes for the deteriorated carousel and building. The plan fails to materialize. The city reclaims the carousel.
B. Williams photos
1979
1979 – The decking out front of the carousel building is replaced. A “B” movie cult classic, Blood Beach,starring John Saxon, uses the open space for the scene in the film where the monsters under the carousel building are blown up by setting off a special-effects explosion.
B. Williams photos
More video footage circa 1979 provided by youtube user PismoBeach:
1980
December 1980 – A last look at the carousel before it begins to undergo restoration from winter 1980 through the spring of 1981, a city-arranged project. A new chapter in the life of the carousel is about to begin. The original decorative paint on the chariots was painted over, never to be seen again.
B. Williams photos
1981
January 1981 – Removing the horses proved to be a challenge – bolts and screws were held in place from years of rust and a combination of hardened grease and sand. Moments after the picture, second from the left was taken, the platform collapsed as the horse was released at both the top and the bottom. Once removed from the carousel, the horses went off for stripping.
B. Williams photos
February 1981 – At the Strip Shop in Glendale. The horses are lined up, waiting for their turn for stripping off the worn paint that is no longer protective of the wood. The pole holes are plugged to prevent stripper from getting inside of the horses’ hollow bodies. They were placed in a tank filled with chemical stripper, then hosed with cold water after the paint had been removed. Some of the original paint on the “butterfly horse” is revealed in the stripping process.
B. Williams photos
March 1981 – Back from the Strip Shop, the horses wait to be painted and some undergo structural repairs. The horses were clear-coated prior to painting. Accumulated grease is scraped from the cups that are at the top of the jumpers’ poles. A team from Connecticut did the repairs and painting. A parade of curious onlookers peer in to see what is happening. Outside, the decaying building shows no signs of the project going on inside.
B. Williams photos
May 1981 – The painting of the horses is going well until it was decided by the fire department that it was dangerous to have air-borne flammable paint in the old building, so the final clear-coating was sprayed on at the city yards in the city bus paint chamber.
B. Williams photos
June 1981 – The local members of the National Carousel Association (NCA) gather to pay respects to the newly restored carousel. NCA president, John Hayek, who came from Michigan for the event, gives a speech. Mayor Ruth Yannatta-Goldway, with purse, who was instrumental in getting the carousel restored, is to his right.
B. Williams photos
B. Williams photos
A gathering of some of those involved with the carousel’s restoration.
September 1981 – Carousel restoration completed, a grand opening on August 14th and the carousel is open for business! Harvey Gaylin and Barbara Williams were chosen to operate the carousel as independent contractors. A new ticket booth and fencing have been built and new benches brought in, all by the pier maintenance shop. The operators put up a photo exhibit, the first of several, to educate people about the historic carousel. Tickets are collected on the ride, here by Harvey, the old-fashioned way. We kept careful watch on the carousel at all times when it was operational. Riders often changed horses from the outside row standers to the inner row jumpers, which was unsafe.
B. Williams photos
News footage video tape footage provided by Harvey Gaylin
December 1981 – A surprise visit from Santa, a disguised carousel operator!
B. Williams photos
1982
July 4th, 1982 – An unprecedented number of people descended on the pier for the annual 4th of July fireworks show. Despite the posted warnings of fines and arrest for illegal fireworks, the beach was ablaze. The carousel closed early, the operators went up on the roof to view the spectacle, but soon departed as it became apparent that it was an unmanageable situation. This was the last year for the city’s evening fireworks show. They began to be held at dawn the following year.
B. Williams photos
Malibu Fire seen from the Pier – October 1982
Begining of restorations Fall 1982 – Phase 1 of the restoration of the building: sprinklers, windows, interior dome paint, building structural repairs, new lath and stucco. The signs on the building, one proclaiming the horses are from the Black Forest in Germany (not true), one thanking the public for saving the pier in 1973 and one about the unique, upstairs apartments are removed in preparation for the new exterior surface. The un-restored carousel building just prior to exterior restoration.
B. Williams photos
Dome Painting, Fall-Winter 1982 – With the scaffolding in place to allow for installation of the multi-level sprinkler system, it was decided to paint the dome utilizing the structure. Prior to painting the interior, the ground floor ceiling was soot-stained from the 1974 fire and years of accumulated grime. It was covered with a maze of old electrical wiring, gas and plumbing lines.
B. Williams photos
Harvey Gaylin photos
New Windows – Fall-Winter 1982 – At first, it was hoped the old window frames could be salvaged, but most proved to be badly termite eaten. A few were salvageable, the majority are new windows, made in an area at the back of the building that was cleared of old debris. All of the windows have tempered glass.
B. Williams photos
Harvey Gaylin photos
New Decking on South side of carousel building – Fall-Winter 1982 – While work continued on inside of the carousel building, the pier’s decking on the south side is replaced by the pier maintenance department.
B. Williams photos
New Stucco, Fall-Winter 1982 – All of the old stucco was removed, new lath and three layers of new stucco was applied. The new colors for the building were what were found to be the original colors. The stucco’s texture is a 1920’s style. A second staircase to the second floor was built.
H. Gaylin photos
B. Williams photos
1983
Winter 1983 Interior Renovation – Under the supervision of and by the carousel operators, the carousel’s mechanical parts in the center were steam-cleaned, the iron crank and gears shafts were removed for cleaning and straightening, a new commutator (the electrical unit that powers the lights on the long wooden sweeps above the horses) was installed, the main bull gear bearings were re-plated for hardness, dry rot in the legs of the standing horses was chemically treated, new step-ups and a new mounting system for the jumpers was installed, the platform was balanced and refinished. The original braking equipment (no longer used) for the carousel was removed from the center of the carousel and placed on display in the building when the carousel re-opened for the summer of 1983. During this project, the jumpers were moved upstairs for safekeeping.
B. Williams photos
H. Gaylin photos
Storm January 27, 1983 – On the morning of January 27th, a ferocious storm hit the southern California coast and tore off the end of the Santa Monica Pier. It was an event that got national attention and it was a tragic turn in the plans for revitalization of the pier. The pier was closed to vehicle traffic for several weeks, but the barricade at the entrance didn’t stop everyone from driving onto the pier anyway.
A second and more severe storm occured on the night of March 1st 1983. All of the lower deck was lost, as well as Moby’s Restaurant. The total damage from both storms was estimated at the time to be 8.5 million dollars, with 30,000 square feet of the decking lost in the first storm and 20,000 feet lost in the second storm.
Home video of the 1983 santa monica storm from youtube user James Tavarez. Starts at 9:36.
B. Williams photos
B. Williams photos
B. Williams photos
Repainting the armored horse and a jumper Spring 1983 – carousel operator, Shandra, a multi-talented artist, repainted the most elaborate of the carousel’s three armored horses and several of the jumpers to improve upon the previous paint job.
B. Williams photos
H. Gaylin photos
New Flooring Spring 1983 – The old soft-wood floor has been patched in preparation for the new floor. Underlayment was installed first, then the new oak floor.
B. Williams photos
Raising the carousel Spring 1983 – Not taking into consideration that the thickness of the underlayment and new oak flooring had raised the floor level to precariously close to the underneath side of the carousel’s platform, the carousel had to be raised to create the proper clearance. This was done by Dave Bradley (white shirt) of the ride engineering firm of Bradley & Kaye in Long Beach.
B. Williams photos
News footage video tape footage provided by Harvey Gaylin
June 1983 – A celebration of the on-going restoration of the carousel building before opening for the summer of 1983.
B. Williams photos
1984
Summer Olympics 1984 – The Triathlon for the Los Angeles Summer 1984 Olympics started at the pier with a 0.9 mile swim followed by a 24.9 mile bike ride and a 6.2 mile run.
G. Kosteva photos
Ocean Discovery Center 1984 – The extension of the pier built for the boardwalk’s Ocean Discovery Center that was operated by UCLA. In 2003, Heal the Bay, a non-profit organization, took over and it is now the Santa Monica Bay Aquarium.
B. Williams photos
Christmas 1984 – Santa comes to the carousel once again (another carousel operator)!
B. Williams photos
1988
1988 – The Hippodrome with its new exterior lighting.
2000’s
2000
The carousel horses have been repainted.
B. Williams photos
2001
There’s a new color scheme in the building. The support posts have gone from gold to blue, the fence was a natural wood color – is it now stained dark. Blue has been added to the window trim. The exhibit case was maintained by The Friends of the Santa Moinca Pier Carousel. The Friends also financed portions of the carousel’s restoration in 1982. The outside of the building is a far cry from what it was prior to restoration.
From late summer in 1981 to early 1985, Gaylin – Williams Carousel Enterprises operated the carousel. A small staff was retained year-round, additional operators were hired for the summers. Art-oriented individuals who liked children were hired. The days were long and often unbearably hot during the summers, cold and short during the off-season. There were regulars who came to ride on the weekends that we got to know. Many thousands flocked to the beach during heat waves, filling the carousel building to beyond capacity and loading the carousel packed full for every ride. Not everyone treated the carousel with respect and that was hard. We worked as a team, though, and made it though difficult riders. The best comment was by an 8 year-old boy, “Did the horses used to be real?”
B. Williams photos
A log was kept for each day of operation with a ride count for regular riders and for The Friends of the Santa Monica Pier Carousel, the carousel’s non-profit support group, who rode free for an annual membership fee. On busy days in the summertime, there was barely enough time to count the tickets before the next ride began.
KNXT Channel 2 Reporter Maclovio Perez:
B. Williams photos
Jane Fonda at premiere opening 1981:
G. Kosteva photo
Julie Newmar:
B. Williams photos
Yvette Mimieux:
B. Williams photos
Santa Monica Mayor Ruth Yannatta-Goldway with the cake for the carousel’s 60th birthday in 1982:
B. Williams photos
Filming at the Santa Monica Pier – The pier has been a popular filming location for many years for both movies and TV. Here are stills from some of the movies.
List of spotted celebrities circa 1982:
Quicksand 1950 with Mickey Rooney
Night Tide, 1961 starring Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson – Hopper falls for a carnival act mermaid and fears she is a real mermaid who kills during the full cycle of the moon.
Inside Daisy Clover, 1965 – starring Natalie wood, Robert Redford, Christopher Plummer – Drama about a 15 year old girl who becomes a Hollywood star.
1965 footage from youtube user soapbxprod:
The Sting, 1973 – starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw – Two professional grifters set out to con a mob boss in Chicago in 1936.
Every Which Way but Loose, 1978 – starring Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Beverly D’Angelo – Eastwood as a fist-fighting truck driver who falls for a country and western singer.
Blood Beach, 1980 – starring John Saxon, Marianna Hall, Burt Young – Something under the sand is causing people to disappear.
Cutter’s Way, 1981 – starring Jeff Bridges, John Heard – Two friends on the trail of a murderer.
TJ Hooker – (1982 – 1984), a police drama starring William Shatner, Heather Locklear, James Darren, Adian Zmed, Richard Herd.
G. Kosteva photos
Unknown Early 80s Movie Shoot:
1995 – The Net – Action, Crime, Drama – starring Sandra Bullock. Cyber thriller in which Bullock falls victim to a conspiracy which leads to elimination of her identity and ultimately exposing the crimes.
