Okay, a very quick and not very detailed overview of the Pike amusement zone in Long Beach, California. It started with The Plunge an ocean side bath house built in 1902 that coincided with the extension of a red car interurban line to Long Beach. The pike was the wooden walk way that descended to The Plunge and Long Beach fishing pier from Pine Ave. As time went by, visitation to The Plunge sky rocketed, and other competing attractions were built. A ballroom, an amusement park on the pier, which featured The Cyclone, a dual track roller coaster built on pilings over the ocean in 1936, restaurants and food stands. Beach front amusement zones and piers would eventually loose their popularity. Once common, only a few remain. The Pike was demolished in 1979. Printed on the back, "Published by Newman Post Card Co., Los Angeles, San Francisco." The Newman Post Card Company incorporated in 1902 and survived into the 1960s.
My grandparents used to live in Long Beach. It struck me as a somewhat forlorn and scruffy place, not at all like what you see in these beautiful postcards.
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