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The
Pike
The "Pike",
often known as
the "Coney Island
of the West", was
a large amusement
park on the waterfront
in Long Beach,
California. The
pier was built
on the waterfront
in 1893 and by
1896, the strand
was lined with
horse-drawn carriages
parked in front
of the Joyland
and Fairyland Theaters.
In 1902, more than
60,000 people gathered
to celebrate the
start of Pacific
Electric service
from Los Angeles
to Long Beach.
The Red Car Line
from Los Angeles
ended at the Pike
and as the Pike
grew, it became
a meeting point
for the masses,
drawing the largest
crowd in its history
with a beauty contest
in 1925.
As the years passed, the park kept
pace with new and modern rides
including a brand-new cyclone racer.
Even so, it retained its old-fashioned
air of the country carnival with
fun for all, and no admission fee.
Charles I. D. Looff, best known
for building the first carousel
at Coney Island in 1875, originally
operated the Pike amusement center.
Looff is considered to be the first
of the great American carousel
manufacturers, building 17 carousels
for him and 40 rides in total (of
which only 11 have survived). Today,
a Looff hand-carved horse sells
for $10,000 to $50,000.
The World's Fair was held in St.
Louis, MO in 1904 and a part of
that exhibition was the "Pike." Below
are quotes from the fair's program:
"The Pike was a street
a mile long, solidly lined
with amusements, more varied,
more elaborate and more
costly than any previous
exposition had ever contained.
When night came, and the
exhibit palaces were closed,
the throng was on the Pike.
Everyone on the grounds,
took a stroll down the
Pike, to see the life and
motion and color and light,
to hear the bands and listen
to the ingenious gentlemen
whose wits were sharpened
in the competition for
patronage, and whose vocal
powers, assisted by megaphones,
vied successfully with
the brass bands. It was
an inspiring spectacle
-- fifty or a hundred thousand
people ceaselessly moving,
the wise and the simple,
the great and the humble,
all pleased and happy,
care-free and safe."
Walking down the main street of
the Pike in Long Beach you would
see arcades, shooting galleries,
cotton candy, hot dogs, cafes,
and a Ripley's Believe It or Not-type
sideshow and other exhibits. It
must have been like being at the
Worlds Fair.
It is safe to say that Charles
Looff, being in the amusement business
since 1875, was at the 1904 World's
Fair in St. Louis or may have even
had an exhibit there. Perhaps he
was trying to create his own "Pike" in
Long Beach.
For 90 years, The Looff Building,
which once housed a carousel and
later a gaming hall, was open every
day, every week, and on every holiday.
It closed only once: July 1, 1918,
the day Charles Looff, its master
craftsman died.
Throughout the years there was
a lot of tattooing going on at
the Pike. Bert Grimm ran its most
famous shop at #22 Chestnut Street.
When Bert left St. Louis in the
1950s he moved to this Chestnut
Street location. Sadly by then,
the Pike was already beyond its
prime. Bert's shop at #22 Chestnut
was one of the largest compared
to many of the other shops at the
Pike, which were like oversize
closets.
Following is a very short list
of tattooists who worked at the
Pike:
Fredrick Boehme
Bert Grimm
Owen Jensen
Jimbo
Lou Lewis
Lee Roy Minugh
Jane Nemhauser
Don Nolan
Alfred Orsini
Zeke Owens
Rio de Janiero
Bob Roberts
Bob Shaw
Phil Sims
Col. Todd
Lyle Tuttle
Rick Walters
Tom Yoman
Tattoo Archive © 2003
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