The Rainbow Pier, Long Beach, California

 

It always seems like Long Beach is looking for another tourist attraction.  Right now, it's the Queen Mary and the Long Beach Aquarium, which I admit, is pretty impressive.  So, in 1931 it was the Rainbow Pier.  It was a rainbow-shaped fishing pier, 3800 feet long, with a roadway on the top that allowed cars to drive over the Pacific Ocean.  Eventually, rotting pilings and storm damage made repairs prohibitively expensive so the Rainbow Pier became the Rainbow Lagoon after a hell of a lot of rock and dirt was dumped where the pier once was.  This card was once pasted into a photo album, so most of the back is covered in black construction paper.  I can't make out any of the written message, just a few letters that were exposed when it was removed from the album.  I can make out part of the postmark, so it was mailed.  Dated, 1937. 

Pierpoint Landing

 

This postcard was never sent, so I don't have an exact date that I can reference in this post.  Just going by the cars, I'm thinking sometime in the 1950s to the early sixties.  I have one clue, the identity of the publisher.  "X.45 WESTERN PUBL. & NOV. CO., 259 SO. LOS ANGELES ST., L.A. CALIF."  The hint is that there is no zip code, which were first used in 1963.  Pierpoint Landing was a sport fishing venue with some kiddie rides and exhibits that was in business from 1948 to 1972.  And the caption on the back, "PIERPOINT LANDING LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA. The landing at the tip of Pier A draws nearly as many spectators as fishermen. There are many shops and cafes here as well as live fish and seal exhibits." The Long Beach inner harbor is far different now. 

Long Beach Album Photo, The Second Side

Perhaps it's actually the first side.

This one's captioned, "Gwendolyn Ljunggren. Day she left for Waukegan-Ills."

When I get a name that's pretty common, I don't bother  doing any research.  If I ran "Mary Jones" I'd probably get a thousand hits on Goggle.  But Gwendolyn Ljunggren begs for a quick trip to Goggle land.

The first problem with searching for a woman is that they have a tendency to get married and take their husband's name, so it was no surprise that the only direct reference to a Gwen Ljunggren, in Los Angeles, that I found was a marriage record.  It didn't have a date, but Gwen's husband, Theodore Pretz was listed as head of household in the 1930 census.  His birth year was listed as 1906, and Gwen was listed as being 18 years old, giving her a birth year of 1912.  The photo on the other side of this picture was dated 1914.  I'm not very good at estimating the age of children, but I'd say four or five, so it's the right era.  And, since I wasn't willing to provide a credit card number to Ancestry.com, that was it as far as Gwendolyn went.

As for Theodore, his profession was listed as furniture salesman.  I also found out that he was a Marine in World War 2.  Let's say he joined up in 1942, which means he was running the obstacle  course at 36.  That's pretty old for that sort of duty.   He died in 1957.   Pretty young.

Of course, just because Gwendolyn Ljuggren is a rare name, it doesn't follow that this Gwen became Mrs. Theodore Pretz.  Perhaps she changed her name to Mary Jones and disappeared into the vast digital wasteland.

Long Beach Album Photo, Side One

Over the years, I have often written about my displeasure when antique dealers cut up photo albums.  Well it's time to do it again.  Please, I know you can make more money selling individual photos but come on, there's history here that should be preserved as a whole.

So back to this photo.  It's been cut from an album.  It's still pasted to a section of the page.  There's another photo on the other side, which well be the next post.  This one is captioned, "Red Star Yeast, Long Beach, Cal. 1914."  I doubt that this man was an employee of the company.  I looked it up, and the star on the man's bathing suit looks just like the one on the Red Star Yeast logo.  Just speculation, but I'm guessing that this album was put together by a woman, because, what man would see that star and think of baking.  Well a baker maybe, but the handwriting is kind of fine and delicate.

Is that the photographer's thumb?

The New Hotel Rosslyn

I went back and forth about this postcard.  I try and limit things on The New Found Photography to actual photographs or images based on photos.  At first I couldn't make up my mind.  Was this postcard a drawing or was it a hand colored and heavily manipulated photograph converted to a card.  In the end, after looking close with my best magnifying glass, I decided that all the fine detail that can be seen on the building's facades  indicated photo, so here it is.

Finding the history of The Hotel Rosslyn was a bit tougher than I expected.  In separate articles, I found dates of 1911, 1912, and 1913 for the main building's opening.  1913 was the only date that I could find that was mentioned multiple times, so I'm going with '13.  The annex opened in 1923.  (At least there was agreement on that date.)  I also found mention of an addition that burned down in the early 1940's.   Both the main building and the annex were designed by architect John Parkinson.

When the Rosslyn was built, Fifth and Main was the financial center of Los Angeles.   After World War 2, the banking and business hub of downtown L.A. moved west and north and the former banking district slowly went into decline and eventually became a haven for the down and outers, drunks, and drug users, prostitutes, hustlers, and petty criminals.  In 1959, the main hotel closed. It reopened in 1979 with a different name, The Frontier, but the new owners either couldn't afford,or didn't care enough, to change the outside signs.  A good thing, since one of the great things about both buildings are the large roof top neon signs.  Watch enough television, and some cop show will have a fight scene on the roof, with the sign framework in the background.  It must have been confusing having a Frontier Hotel signed Hotel Rosslyn right across the street from the actual Hotel Rosslyn, that was originally the Hotel Rosslyn Annex.

This card was postmarked "LONG BEACH, CALIF, FEB  4, 1:30 PM, 1935"  Judging by the message, the Rosslyn's decline was still in the future.  "Dear Donna, This is where mother and Esther stayed last night.  We have the grandest time here.  Love, Mother."  Addressed to, "Donna Wilson, 2946 Russell Ave. No., Minneapolis, Minn."  And somehow or another it made it's way back to L.A.

And now for my own remembrance of the Rosslyn.  When I was in my mid twenties, and first arrived in Los Angeles, I spent a couple of nights at the hotel.  It was an experience.  I can remember getting out of bed when I heard a lady weeping in the hallway outside my room.  I took a quick look and saw a woman leaning against the wall, shabbily dressed, with a platinum blond wig, crying.  A few hours latter, another woman knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to party.  And she'd only charge me twenty bucks!  The second night of my stay, water started coming through the ceiling.  I found out, the next morning, that my upstairs neighbor had died of a drug overdose while filling the bathtub.  Two nights were enough for me.

Today the main building has been converted into lofts.  Micro lofts starting at $789 per month.  The annex is still a hotel.

Long Dresses on Long Beach

I've noticed a tendency of blogger to cut off  the right side of images, so hopefully this slightly wider scan will give a fuller view.  And if not, well, so it goes.

Another hand colored postcard that no doubt started out as a black & white photo.  Imagine going to the beach wearing those long dresses and wool suits.  And wool swimsuits!  I don't see how they stayed afloat.

Another View of the Pike

A latter view of The Pike at Long Beach, California. But, not that much latter. Take a look at the large white building on the right side of the card and see a sign for the Theatorium movie theater. Built in 1908 and demolished in 1917. The Rialto Theater in the foreground started out as a restaurant and was converted into a silent movie theater in 1917, it would survive into the sound era and close in 1948. I have a feeling that when this photo was taken, it might still have been the restaurant, but the colorist updated things with the new sign. Too, take a look at the crowd in the foreground. Most of the people haven't been tinted, and the buildings in the far background have been outlined. The photographer probably exposed for the shadow area of the crowd, which caused the far better illuminated background to wash out. The detail would still be there but would print very light. Published by "M. Kashower Co., Los Angeles, Cal." in business from 19194 to 1934.

The Pike at Long Beach

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.

Topsy's Cafe Postcard

By and large, I don't buy a lot of postcards, but I wanted this one because it was a great companion piece for an old souvenir photo folder I own from this club, (see my post published 8/25/09) and because it confirmed my assumption that Topsy's had a plantation theme. Printed on the back, "TOPSY'S CAFE is located at 8101 Long Beach Boulevard 15 minutes from 7th and Broadway and a short drive from Long Beach. No cover or minimum charge Sunday or week days. For reservations telephone LAfayette 1414." Is that 7th and Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, and is that via the Red Car Line?