Murder Mystery
Map
Cyclone Racer 1
People on car 2
End of ride 3
Municipal Auditorium & Rainbow Pier
U.S. Navy
Marine and...
SUMMERTIME
AT THE PIKE
Part
Two
Short Stories
1
Page
2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
(Excerpts from
E-Mailed stories)
Rainbow
Pier
Short Stories
(Excerpts from
E-Mails)
Background:
All About
The Webmaster
Coming Soon
Early Rides
Pike
Home Page
Pike
Personnel
People who worked or owned a business
at The Pike
I
remember Frenchy along with Fog, Big Red, Roger and Les. These
men ( all Long Beach Police Officers ) took it upon themselves to
keep safe a young 18 yr. old girl. When I married in 61 they told my
husband they had been keeping me safe for him. I have always wondered
what happened to them.
Have you any info on Dick Waters--he
had a lot of arcade games...Harriet whose parents owned the café
? near the ferris wheel, Frankie Gould who had the band / orchestra at
the Lido Ballroom. I met my husband ( a Marine aboard the USS
Hornet. .Admirals body guard ) there and 3 weeks later we married and
on this March 16, 2011 we will be married 50 yrs.
I have so many memories and my greatest claim to fame back then ? I never got the name ' Pike Queen '
Thank you for the trip down memory lane
Paula Wakefield
Does anyone remember the jungle ?
Note: If you have any information, please email the webmaster at pikelb@yahoo.com and I will forward it to Paula.
* * * *
A number of years ago an article appeared in Westways magazine about Al Brown. I did not save the issue, so I am not sure of the date. I had been a seven-year old boy from Germany in 1929 when I first met Al. My wife and I called and visited him at the Lite-a-Line site soon after the article appeared. He was very gracious and showed us a small room literally packed with post cards and other paraphernalia about the Pike. We spent about an hour looking at the material and could have spent all day - time permitting. I have often wondered where all that historically valuable material ended up. Do you know? Does Richard Olson, who wrote on your site about Al's son, Leonard, know? It certainly deserved to be preserved by a responsible keeper of Long Beach Pike history.
My
parents and I were new arrivals from Germany sailing through the Panama
Canal and landing in San Pedro Harbor in June 1929. My mother's
uncle,
Fred Winkmann, who sponsored us, owned a souvenir shop directly across
from the original merry-go-round site (see above photo
showing my mother, her uncle and me in front of the shop.) We all
lived in the back of the store. Al Brown and other Looff
employees
allowed me to ride free as long as I wanted during lulls in
ridership.
My biggest joy came when I snagged the gold ring. Photo top right
shows my father (Jean J. Vogel,) my mother (Elsie F. Vogel)
and me (Hans W. Vogel) at age 7 in front of the original site of the
merry-go-round in 1929.
I have many more fond memories of Long Beach and the Pike in particular. Another Al who more or less adopted this little German boy was a life guard - Al Chin. Al was a Walt Disney artist who worked as a life guard in the Bath House Plunge and on the beach in front of the Plunge during the summer months. He allowed me to enter the Bath House free when he was on duty. The first time he let me in I went to the deep end where the 10 ft. diving platform was located (see attachment PlungePhoto.jpg and jumped in without knowing how to swim. Nobody saw me struggling to get out. Finally, I grabbed the water overflow rim and pulled myself up. I never made that mistake again nor did I tell my parents or Al about it.
I graduated from Long Beach
Polytechnic High School in February 1940. After serving in the U.S.
Army for 37 months (in Europe under General George S. Patton for one
and one-half years,) I graduated from USC under the GI Bill of rights
in 1947. My wife, Barbara (Bobbie) nee Bogart, graduated from Poly in
June 1940. We were married in the Normandy Wedding Manor at the corner
of Linden Avenue and Ocean Blvd ( it
has since been torn down) in September 1942.
Hans W. Vogel
North Tustin, CA
hvogel@alumni.usc.edu
Posted 12.17.09
Let's
start with the picture you printed in the Press Telegram on Monday
Sept. 20, 2003 and then we will take a short trip down my history of
the Pike, also known as "Walk of a Thousand Lights."
The Penny
Arcade was owned by Norris, the Sea Food Restaurant was owned my father
Murray Cohen, called the MC cafe and the next restaurant where the
shrimp sign is located was called The Corral, also owned by
father. My family came to California in the spring of 1942 from
New York and the first business my father had on the Pike was a Photo
Gallery where they took pictures of everyone and everything behind
stand up billboards to send back home to their families. I
remember my mother taking pictures with the sailors and giving them two
copies, one for their own and the other one to send back home.
After this business my father leased a restaurant directly across from
the Cyclone racer. This restaurant was called Joe-Joes. I
helped my father in the restaurant peel potatoes so he could make
French fries. When I was finished he let me watch the Punch and
Judy show that was on the East side of the Cyclone racer. If I
found any money under the Cyclone racer which was directly one the
beach, I would go on the rides. My favorite ride was the Merry
Go-Around. I would ride it and if I could reach out far enough
for a ring and be lucky enough to grab a GOLD ring I could ride the
Merry Go-Around another turn by just turning in the Gold Ring. There
was a pier next to the Cyclone racer on the West side called the Silver
Spray pier. This was torn down and then the Nu- Pike was
built. Next to the Double Ferris Wheel was a candy store called
Mcgruders salt water taffy which was made on the spot. I ate so
much of that salt water taffy that some times I couldn't even eat
dinner. Do you remember the end of the war. Well, I
do. I was helping my father in his new restaurant, called the MC
cafe in the City block of Pike Street when the WW2 ended and all the
Sailors reached into their top pocket of their uniform and threw all
their change in the air. I ran out side my dads restaurant, and
being only 6 years I grabbed all the money I could find on the
ground. I got kicked, stomped, pushed, but I did get a lot of
money for the RIDES. In 1948 my father opened another restaurant
at the other end of the Pike next to a Bar called The Hollywood on the
Pike. He called this Restaurant The Barbecue house. On Saturday
or Sunday all of us kids rode the Red car down to the Pike and went
swimming in the Plunge and if we had any money to see a movie we went
to The Strand Theater. After I graduated from High School, Polytechnic
and Long Beach City College I worked in this restaurant for ten years,
1960-1970. I had a lot of friends on the pike and got friendly
with all the police that worked the Pike Beat. This was their
breaking in area. I left the pike in 1970 and went to work in San
Pedro at the Dicarlo baking company. My father sold the first two
restaurants and he continued to work the Barbecue house restaurant
until he retired in 1976. There are so many wonderful memories in
my life that I have for the pike, I wouldn't trade them for
anything. I time gone by, but era not forgotten. Thank you
for my youth, Charles Cohen, Seal Beach, Cal.
My
name is Tim Edwards, and my brother is Ted Edwards Jr. We also
have two sisters. Our dad, Ted Edwards, was one of the head
mechanics at The Pike from the mid-1960's until he died in 1974.
We were able to run around The Pike like we owned the place and
had a large extended family with the other workers. We are
looking for anyone who knew our dad and if there are any photos they
might have of him. I was 6 years old when he died and have no
photos of him. Our mom was Jane Edwards so someone might know him
from her. Any help that you can give us would be appreciated.
The Pike and the people we grew up with there are a big part of
our lives.
Thanks,
Tim Edwards
CALFIRE02@yahoo.com
LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON A MAN NAMED: NATE MILLER
OWNER OF THE CARNIVAL RIDES AT THE LONG BEACH PIKE.
HE ALSO PROVIDED THE RIDES AT THE 1939-1940 GGIE ON
TREASURE ISLAND, SAN FRANCISCO, CA.
Robert Bohjanen email: rabbohjanen@hotmail.com
|
JOHNNIE WOLDRIDGE, Class of 1957, Bellflower High School RUSSELL HALL, Class of 1939, Paramount High School
I am trying to locate information on a man named Rodney D Poole,
aka Chico. This man is my father whom I have never had the chance
to know. I have been researching info about the Pike in the late 70's, but I really can't find anything useful. My mother gave me a timeline from when my father and her were together, hanging out at the pike. The period I am looking for in March 1977 to October 1977. I am in search of people who may possibly have known my father or my mother during that time. My mother's name is Elsie Johnson and she was only 17 at the time. My father was a Philipino man, short in stature with tattoos on his arms and possibly also on his chest. In a photo I have of him, he appeared to be approximately 20-30 years old,maybe younger but doubtful. Any information, that you could offer me or a direction in which to search would be greatly appreciated.  Posted 11/24/07 Please email the webmaster and I will forward your email to Tina. JANICE
GILLIAM, Class of 1956,
Jordan High School, Long Beach, California I have been searching for
my ex-husband and my son for many years now. If you run across
any information on any of these people, I would appreciate it
if you would share it with me. Haven't seen my son since 1962;
e-mail me with the information. 12/31/02 What a great New Year for them! Thank you for your help and good wishes. Happy New Year to all. Paul Prosise JOHN FAULKNER, Class of 1965, South High School, Torrance,
California JAMES HARMONSON, Class of 1954, Compton High School.
Tex
Puryear
George
Magruder - Magruders Salt Water Taffy Jones Pony Ride My father Winston "Mac"
Mckinzie and brother Ronnie worked at Jones Pony Ride at the
Pike in the 1960's. My father has since passed away but I remember
going to the Pike every weekend and spending virtually all day
riding on the kiddie "Fish" ride that was located next
to the ponies so my dad could keep an eye on me. |
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