Here are your responses: “MY SWEETEST MEMORY ON THE PIER is the night that I went to see a Twilight concert on a Thursday night and decided that by getting on the solar powered Ferris wheel it would be all the more entertaining to hear the music. As a I saw the ocean with the lights and the darkness, it was so intoxicating. So for the price of admission in the evening, I could hear great reggae music. It looked like going straight in to the ocean if you sit in the Ferris wheel and it‘s just a fabulous feeling.
“MY SECOND SWEETEST MEMORY IS the first time I walked down the pier ramp and decided I would probably never come back there again with all the poorly maintained ramping, the sidewalks which are way too high and dangerous and all the tourist … are just clueless and not locals crowding down toward the pier.” “ I REMEMBER THE RICKETY boardwalk, the rickety things and I remember just walking out onto the pier sometimes holding my bicycle and walking there and watching the waves and also during the day I remember going to this wonderful place that used to serve homemade French fries. They were absolutely delicious and you had to eat them immediately otherwise they were greasy and awful. I remember Sinbad’s and I remember getting very, very drunk at one of the great places they have now and now it’s just cleaned up it’s like anything else, however, I do enjoy looking at the Ferris wheel.
I love the old pier, really do, and it’s not just because I’m old.”
“WH EN I WAS LITTLE WE USED TO go to the pier and ride the merry-go-round and play in the shooting gallery arcade and go to the beach and dig for sand crabs. Recent things; I had a cousin coming in from out of town and went down there and we had a big lunch and then we went on the rides, one goes back and forth, and told him, ‘No, you’re going to get sick,’ and he went on it anyway and he threw up.”
“MOST CHERISHED MEMORY OF THE Santa Monica pier was driving in a car full of teenagers down there. You could drive on the pier and get each a bag of one dollar homemade potato chips. I miss them still today every time I look at the pier.”
“I WAS HIGH ATOP THE SANTA Monica Pier with my sweetie but it was-n’t on the Ferris wheel. It was in the sky-line cable chairs that went over the Pacific Ocean. It was on this ride at Pacific Ocean Park where my husband first proposed to me three months after we met and gave me his fraternity pin — August 25, 1961. We were married three months later on march 4, 1962. If that ride still existed at the Santa Monica Pier, that is where we would celebrate out 46th anniversary next march.” “ MYFIRSTTRIP TO THEPIER was several years ago, a couple of days after a friend and I drove across the country, mostly on Route 66 from New England to live here. I remember a film crew was filming “The Fugitive” with David Janssen and we were so excited about seeing my favorite program filmed. The crew, seeing us … invited us to eat lunch with them. It was wonderful with the beach and the Pacific Ocean nearby, listening to the excitement and everything, the conversations. We always headed to the pier to eat at a seafood restaurant that is now long gone and my husband and I would take our children to ride that grand old merry-go-round. We always took visitors and family from back east to visit the pier and stroll along there. We have many wonderful memories of the pier there. May it always be there. It’s a wonderful place. It’s free. You can enjoy the ocean, the wonderful Pacific Ocean and you always have all kinds of different people, economically, ethnically, etc. It’s a wonderful place, the fresh air and the sun, just enjoying being alive.”
“ALLOW ME TO FORGET THE FOND memories so that I may dish a little dirt. In the 1940s and early 1950s, the hot spot on the Santa Monica Pier and the place to be was a dance hall that sat next door to the merry-go-round. The dance hall was home to Spade Cooley, the king of western swing and his orchestra. Spade was a trained violinist and preferred to play and write western swing music. Spade drew big crowds and was one of the best western entertainers of his time. But alas, poor Spade. In a heated argument with his wife, Spade wrung her neck. During a court jury trial, Spade accepted a seven-year plea bargain to serve time in prison. After the sentencing, the jury was polled. It was then disclosed that the jury intended to find Spade not guilty. Spade thought by serving his sentence in prison would be better than possibly serving a life sentence in prison. Spade was wrong again. After awhile in prison, the young man died and made his ascent to glory – died a broken man with a broken heart. Sounds like a western tune. I find it also interesting to note the possibility that the Santa Monica Pier may have been one of the last things that mob boss Lucky Luciano saw in Santa Monica while driving along Pacific Coast Highway after paying respects to film actress Thelma Todd just a few miles north of the pier. Lucky’s last stop in Santa Monica during his departure on that evening was a pharmacy located on the southwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and 11th Street, now a florist shop. Lucky purchased a aspirin … then onward to New York City.”
“MY MOST CH ERISH ED M EMORY of the pier goes back to the winter of 1983 when storms took out nearly a third of the pier. My only regret is that the storm didn’t take out 100 percent of the pier.”
“MY MEMORIES OF THE SANTA Monica Pier are from the mid ‘60s, especially during ‘68 to ‘72 when I worked on the pier at the restaurant Sinbad’s while attending the high school … When it was sunny, the pier was always packed with people. There were also those foggy nights when the pier was deserted and the occasional customers would come in for a quiet meal. I
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 20, 2007. Read the original PDF.