1926 (1925) (1927) (1920-1930) (1930-1940) Table of Contents
Fred E. Basten Santa Monica Bay: The First 100 Years, A pictorial history of Santa Monica, Venice, Ocean Park, Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu, Douglas-West Publishers: Los Angeles, CA, 1974, 227 pp., 1926 See Text
John Cage A Year from Monday, Wesleyan University Press: Middletown, CN, 1967. See Text
Harry Carr Los Angeles City of Dreams (Illustrated by E.H. Suydam), D. Appleton-Century Co.: NY, 1935, 402 pp. See Text
Industrial Bureau, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Manufacturers' Directory and Commodity Index, 1926, 288 pp., See Images and Text
David Clark L.A. On Foot: A Free Afternoon, Camaro Publishing: Los Angeles, 1976, 1927, 1926 See Text
Donald M. Cleland A History of the Santa Monica Schools 1876-1951, Santa Monica Unified School District, February 1952 (Copied for the Santa Monica Library, July 22, 1963). 140 pp., 1926 See Text
Robert Gottlieb and Irene Wolt* Thinking Big: The Story of the Los Angeles Times, Its Publishers and Their Influence on Southern California, G.P. Putnam's Sons: NY, 1977. 603 pp., 1926 See Text
Jim Heimann Sins of the City: The Real Los Angeles Noir, Chronicle Books: San Francisco, CA, 1999, 159pp., 1926 See Text
James W. Lunsford The Ocean and the Sunset, The Hills and the Clouds: Looking at Santa Monica, illustrated by Alice N. Lunsford, 1983, 1934 1926 See Text
Tom Moran and Tom Sewell Fantasy by the Sea Peace Press: Culver City, CA, 1980 (1979) (Originally published by Beyond Baroque Foundation with a grant from the Visual Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts), 1926, See Text
Hollister Garage, Main Street at Hollister, September 8, 1926 See Image and Text
Hollister Meat Market on Main Street at Hollister, looking south, September 8, 1926 See Image and Text
Shearon Rooms and Apartments at Main Street and Marine looking towards Ocean Park Blvd., September 8, 1926 See Image and Text
D. Hersh American Furniture on Main Street at Pier Avenue, Shearon Rooms and Apartments across the street by the Standard Oil station, September 8, 1926 See Image and Text
Cecilia Rasmussen L.A. Then and Now: In 'Whites Only' Era, an Oasis for L.A.'s Blacks Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2005 B2, 1926, 1920s See Text
Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn and the Denishawn Dancers, Program 8 December 1926 See Images and Text
Jack Smith The Big
Orange Ward Ritchie Press: Pasadena, CA,
1976.
Sister Aimee's Temple See
Text
Jeffrey Stanton Santa Monica Pier A History from 1875 to 1990, Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1990, 1920s See Text
Jeffrey Stanton
Venice of America: 'Coney Island of the Pacific,' Donahue
Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987.
176 pp., 1927, 1926
Chapter 5: Annexation & Ruin
(1924-1929) See
Text
Notes:
John Cage's Boy Scout Radio Show on KNX ends, 1967, 1926
Documents
Fred E. Basten Santa Monica Bay: The First 100 Years, A pictorial history of Santa Monica, Venice, Ocean Park, Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu, Douglas-West Publishers: Los Angeles, CA, 1974, 227 pp., 1926
"Advertising 1926:
Ocean Park: The Unsurpassed All Year 'Playground of the West' Because the miles of natural silver strand bathing beach The Mammoth Indoor Ocean Park Plunge Always courteous Attendants and Efficient Swimming Instructors The Ideally Beautiful and Alluring Egyptian Ballroom And innumerable high-class attractions on the Ocean Park Pier 'The Playground of the West' All Steel and Concrete Construction-Absolutely Fireproof." p. 154
Harry Carr Los Angeles City of Dreams (Illustrated by E.H. Suydam), D. Appleton-Century Co.: NY, 1935, 402 pp.
Chapter XXV Characters Make a Town
" . . .
"[p. 331] One night about twenty-five years ago, the stars were straining to squirt all the light possible and the moon was doing its best, Aimee McPherson was coming to town. The business of soul-saving began to boom.
"Aimee was a lusty, rust-colored blonde with a voice that rang like a bugle, a Napoleonic instinct for publicity and an eye for the main chance.
"She began holding gospel meetings in a little upstairs room over a store; then she expanded into a small church. Finally she moved into the Philharmonic Auditorium, which she packed to the doors. Later she bought a lot near Echo Park on Glendale Boulevard and built the Angelus Temple from which the Four Square Gospel began to resound.
"From the day of the opening, the auditorium seating thirty-five hundred people had been packed to the gunwales day and night. The sick came to be healed on the platform. Everything is on the platform. The Temple Silver Band parades the streets; over the radio Aimee's electric voice makes the ether tingle.
"Aimee puts showmanship into her soul-saving. When whe preaches about the ninety and nine sheep and the one little lost sheep, ninety-nine husky assistants come in with baa-a-a-aing sheep around their backs and after a dramatic [p. 332] pause, Aimee walks on with a lost lamb in her arms. The sick and afflicted throw away their crutches on the platform shouting "Amen." Aimee keeps the show moving.
"[p. 331] She collects the money with Scotch thrift. In Aimee's show the ushers do not shyly look the other way as visiting Hollywood fans put nickels in the plate. The nickels are handed back and bills are demanded. When Aimee wants a coat that will cost six hundred dollars, she says that she wants a coat and what it will cost, and the faithful will please come through. With the money in her hand, she says, "And now there is my mother. You wouldn't want me to be wearing a fur coat and a mother shivering in the cold. Now we will by a coat for my mother." Which, as far as I can see, isn't anybody else's business.
"In the summer of 1926, Aimee walked into the surf at Santa Monica and walked out at Douglas, Arizona. She said that while she was disporting in her white bathing suit, a man had asked her to come to his automobile to pray over a sick baby. As she leaned into the machine, he threw a sack over her head and whirled her swiftly away and away and away until she found herself in a shack in Mexico. Two wicked men and a woman kept her prisoner for several days, treating her kinda mean but being moved by the light of piety that shone from her sea-green eyes. Finally she escaped and walked a long, long, long, desparate walk into Agua Prieta on the border. Meanwhile a man had lost his life feeling around the surf for her in Santa Monica, and a blind lawyer at Long Beach had been approached by kidnappers demanding ransom money.
"There were so many unwilling to believe her entirely credible story thart she was arrested for perjury and tried for no discernible reason. Seeing their trade threatened if Aimee were removed frrom Angelus Temple to San Quent [p. 333] in, the Pacific Electric Railroad sent a famous lawyer to her defense. With the help of a protecting heaven, Aimee was acquitted. Her cause was afterward before the State Legislature, where a judge who had acted as her legal advisor was tried for impeachment.
"Of course there was nothing dubious about Aimee's story. At first blush it seems strange that a lady could be kidnapped in a sack in broad daylight on a beach where thousands of people were sitting. But no doubt their attention was distracted by the waves and so on. It was noted by the reporters that Aimee's shoes after her long, desperate walk, were not even scuffled. But this is understandable. Probably they wre non-scuff shoes or something of the kind. That Aimee was accused of occupying the period of time of her absence in a cottage at Carmel-by-the-Sea with a fascinating young radio operator is just one of those Hollywood stories.
"Coming back on the train from Agua Prieta, Aimee was noted by the reporters as putting what Hollywood calls "Shadow Powder" under her eyes, to the end that she looked haggard and wan.
""How come all this scenery?" they asked.
"Well, I have to look the part, don't I?" reproached Aimee. Heaven was triumphant and the charges all fell flat. The only objection that Aimee ever raised was when a reporter said she had thick ankles.
"The scandal only increased the devotion of her flock. Aimee knows that a leader of men (and women) has one cause for dread-monotony. Napoleon did not worry about his dead on the field of battle. But he did dread lest Paris should become bored. Aimee's flock is never bored.
"She knows reporters and reporters know Aimee.
"Now," she says, "This one is for you on the Herald. Cambell likes stories about love. And tell Hotchkiss on the Times about this one. He likes stories about money. And tell the Record that one about the little girl. They go for baby stuff.
"The only time Aimee made a false step with papers was when her mother, "Ma" Kennedy, fell in love with a wandering evangelist half her age and -quarreling with Aimee-threatened to "tell all." Aimee rang up the city editor of one of the papers and threatened to throw herself off the roof of Angelus Temple if the story was published. "And I am going to leave a note saying it was you who drove me to my death. And just see what that will do for your circulation."
"The city editor was grateful and enthusiastic. "That will be swell, Aimee," he said. "Give us half an hour to get a photographer out there. And be a sport. When you leap don't stand with the sun at your back, but in your face."
"But Aimee made the retort magnificient. She eloped to Yuma on a airplane with a handsome young baritone, and tipped off the rival newspaper.
"Although Aimee is what reporters call a publicity house, she is undoubtedly sincere in her religion. Once in the pulpit, she shakes and quivers with the holy zeal of a crusader.
"She would be possible in no other town. She is the Queen Bee of all the collective isms . . . meanwhile standing vociferously for the old-fashioned religion of our fathers.
"There is a reason for the amazing profusion of our religions of our pueblo, although they supply an ironic touch as being the product of a community in which it was once a prison offense to profess any belief other than the Catholic religion.
"Los Angeles rolls with the heavy rollers, shakes with the [p. 335] shakers, chases after new messiahs, patronizes fakers, charlatons, believes in vibrations, star-gazers, palmists, crystal-gazers.
"For one thing, this is a lonesome town. I don't know the name of the people who have lived across the street from me for ten years. Outdoor life tends to destroy neighborliness. No one stays home. People live, die, suffer, sorrow, have good luck and bad, and the neighbors do not know nor care.
"The result is there are hundreds of thousands of people who are starving in loneliness. They long for the friendly intimacies of the middle-west villages they have left. One man has seen this to be the case and has made a business of organizing home-state picnics for the last twenty-five years. Nearly every state in the union has at least one gathering a year, the numbers at the Iowa picnic running up past the hundred thousand mark.
"Lonesome Clubs wre invented in Los Angeles and have grown to their fullest flower here. They are patronized by elderly people who are introduced to each other and dance old-fashioned square dances and talk. It is the Emily Post etiquette of Lonesome Clubs . . .
"The reverse side of this pattern is that they have come here from little towns where their religions were as much under surveillance as their bank balances. Out here where no one knows them, they can step out and cut up. The village churches have been so much a part of their lives that their frivolity and dissipation turns naturally to new kinds of churches.
"As to patent nostrums, health cures and freak brands of medical science, there is also a reason. Many people have [p. 336] come out here sick, or with sickness in the family, hoping for magic. When the climate fails to supply the magic, they turn to some other kind of magic.
"Los Angeles is an advertising town. It was made by advertising. It thinks in terms of bill-boards.
"Aimee supplied all needs. She runs the best Lonesome Club on earth. She supplies the excitment. She has made the saving of souls dramatic. She heals them instantaneously on the stage in front of the pulpit. And she knows more about advertising than a circus press-agent.
"Aimee is the high-pressure salesman of salvation."
Industrial Bureau, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Manufacturers' Directory and Commodity Index, 1926, 288 pp.
Industrial Bureau, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Manufacturers' Directory and Commodity Index, 1926, 288 pp., 1926
[Curiously, Ocean Park and Santa Monica are metropolitan districts, Venice is considered part of Los Angeles]
[p. X] Labor
To the manufacturer, Southern California offers absolute freedom from labor troubles. There is an abundant supply of labor, both male and female, and it is 90% American-born, and practically entirely English-speaking.
A percentage of the available labor is of Spanish descent-a class which has for generations been engaged in the making of various cloths and fancy work, and hence is very nimble and deft with the fingers. Mills whch are using this class of help claim that they are the most efficient operatives to be found anywhere.
Many things combine to make the workman in Southern California happy, satisfied and efficient. "Open Shop" methods prevail; there is no labor strife, and strikes are unknown. Each man has his little bungalow, with flowers blooming the year around; his family is heaithier, and hence he takes more interest in the job that enables him to live here. There is no such thing as a tenement in Southern California.
To say that our mild, equable climate makes labor more efficient may seem theoretical, but manufacturers who have come here from the East attest the truth of the statement. We have no hot sultry days or cold, bleak periods to sap the energy of the operatives; our mills are never forced to shut down on account of inclement weather; our nights are cool all year, so that the workman gets his sleep regularly; hence labor in Southern California is 100% efficient 365 days a year, which i at least 10% more efficient than in the East.
To one accustomed to conditions in the East or Middle West, the bright and cheery faces of the workers in a Southern California factory are indeed a revelation.
The only "labor problem" in Southen California is to furnish employment to the many who seek it."
. . .
[p. 135] Manufacturers
[p. 135] Ocean Park
[p. 145] Santa Monica
David Clark L.A. On Foot: A Free Afternoon, Camaro Publishing: Los Angeles, 1976, 1927, 1926
"Directions: From downtown L.A. take the Santa Monica Freeway west to Lincoln Blvd., then right (west) on Pico Blvd., and left (south) on Neilson Way. Proceed south on Neilson as it changes into Pacific, then turn right (west) on Rose Ave. and park your car. Walk west to Ocean Front." p. 27
"You are now at the site of the mysterious disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson on May 18, 1926. Sister Aimee is the shining symbol of our city, with all its flamboyance, brashness and Culture of Eccentricity. If Chicago is the Hog Butcher of the Nation, tempting farm boys under the gaslights, then L.A. is its Faith Healer, the City of the Second Chance. Sister Aimee led the way with a brand of religion denounced by traditionalists as "supernatural whoopee." Most Angelenos agreed with Harper's Magazine in 1927 that she provided "the best show in town," and her Angelus Temple in Echo Park, seating five thousand, was a "must" item on the agenda of every tourist.
"Aimee created a charismatic faith to match the new competition of radio and movies. Thompson Eade, a former vaudevillian who told me that he had been miraculously cured of shell shock by Aimee, designed a giant stage on which sermons became panoramas. The stage set might show the destruction of the world in flames and believers crossing over into heaven, or Aimee would chase a band of devils wearing horns and tails (representing her enemies) around the stage with a pitchfork. On one occasion she roared onto the stage on a motorcycle in a traffic cop's uniform, jumped off the cycle and shouted, "Stop in the name of the Lord!" Her message was positive, never dwelling upon divine punishment and retribution. Many Protestant ministers resented her for taking away many of their parishioners, and labelled her services, a "sensous debauch." When Aimee led a crusade in London, these ministers sent a delegation to warn the British of "her tendency to induce insanity in her audiences." p. 28
"Sister Aimee's controversial career hit its peak when she disappeared from Ocean Park Beach, where you now stand, after leaving her room at the Ocean View Hotel, the large white building at the corner of Rose Ave. and Ocean Front Walk. Los Angeles went wild with panic at the news. Thousands, hoping for her return, kept a continuous prayer vigil at the beach. Her mother announced that she had ascended into heaven, to sit among the angels. but on June 23 she suddenly appeared at the Mexican border, with the story that she had been kidnapped by two miscreants named Jake and Mexicali Rose, and had escaped when they were drunk. The largest crowd ever to greet a public figure in L.A. turned out for her return, including the entire Fire Department (which she had converted) and the Mayor and the City Council.
"Skepticism was soon expressed, however, by reporters who noted that her flight across the desert had left her shoes unscuffed and her skin unburned. (I have interviewed one of first men to seee Aimee when she appeared at the border. He stated that she did not seem to have been through a long desert ordeal.) Aimee answered that neither had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego been touched by the flames of the fiery furnace. The most often-repeated explanation was that she had been in a "love nest" in Carmel with the handsome radio operator of her church, but this was never proven. Recently, Milton Berle, in his autobiography, claimed to have had an affair with her . . . What is far more certain is that she fed over one and one-half million people during the Depression, providing the only aid mission in L.A. where food, clothing and shelter were given with no questions asked and no red tape. Throughout the '20s and '30s, when Christianity was the third largest industry in Los Angeles after the movie industry and real estate, she gave hope and entertainment to many." p.30
Donald M. Cleland A History of the Santa Monica Schools 1876-1951, Santa Monica Unified School District, February 1952 (Copied for the Santa Monica Library, July 22, 1963). 140 pp., 1926
Ten years after the evening school came under the supervision of the high school principal, it was recognized as a separate department of the high school with an administrative head of its own. In September of 1926, Robert Evans was appointed principal of the evening high school and was given full responsibility for the establishment of a program and the employment and supervision of teachers. [60. Board Minutes, Sept. 2, 1926.] Upon his resignation in May, 1928, the Board of Education had difficulty in locating a person qualified to assume the responsibility for the school's administration. Thus, for one semester, the Evening High School was administered by W.F. Barnum and A.R. Veenker, principal and vice-principal of Santa Monica High School.
" . . .
Special Services
Many special services have been introduced in the Santa Monica schools during the years, some of the earlier ones being these: [46: Martin, op. cit., p. 60.]
1926 Miss Madeline DeFussi employed as first School Nurse.
" . . .
Robert Gottlieb and Irene Wolt* Thinking Big: The Story of the Los Angeles Times, Its Publishers and Their Influence on Southern California, G.P. Putnam's Sons: NY, 1977. 603 pp., 1926
Part II: 1917-1941
Chapter 13 Crime Waves, High Powers, and Union "Gorillas"
1. Times Fundamentalism
"The Times was a fundamentalist newspaper. It backed prohibition and vigorously attacked the "wet" Al Smith in 1928. . . . When Aimee Semple McPherson opened her Angelus Temple in 1923, the Times heralded Los Angeles's new evangelist. Like the other papers in town, the Times loved Aimee for her news value. When the evangelist disappeared in the ocean near Ocean Park beach in 1926, the Times carried lengthy page one stories for several weeks." p. 227
Jim Heimann Sins of the City: The Real Los Angeles Noir, Chronicle Books: San Francisco, CA, 1999, 159 pp., 1926
[p. 94] "L.A.'s most famous evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson* shrewdly combined theatrics and admonitions to her needy followers to "Give, give, give, until it hurts! Praise the Lord." Captivating thousands of followers with elaborate shows staged at her Foursquare Church in Echo Park, picutred above, she also broadcast her sermons to thousands more who sent in contributions, keeping Sister Aimee well endowed despite several scandal-tinged episodes. If L.A. was a city poisoned by sin, Sister Aimee was its antidote."]
James W. Lunsford The Ocean and the Sunset, The Hills and the Clouds: Looking at Santa Monica, illustrated by Alice N. Lunsford, 1983, 1934, 1926
Santa Monica Pier-Arcadia Terrace
"12. Sea Castle Apartments, 1725 The Promenade. Originally constructed as the Breakers Beach Club in 1926, it soon became the Grand Hotel. It was subsequently known as the Chase and Monica Hotels befoe being converted to apartments in the early '60s, and renamed the Sea Castle. The name "Breakers" can still be made out on the marquee over the entrance, even though the concrete letters have been partially chiseled away. One of the brightest moments in the life of the Grand Hotel occurred in 1934 during a reopening attended by film stars Jean Harlow, Anita Page, Joan Crawford, Ida Lupino, Alan Mowbray, and Maureen O'Sullivan."
Ocean Park
"24. Carlton Apartments, 3001 Main Street. A five-story apartment and commercial building originally constructed by the Santa Monica Elks Lodge in 1926 as a meeting hall and clubhouse with fifty-one sleeping rooms. The concrete letters "B.P.O.E." which stands for "Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks," are still visible on the front and side of the building, near the roof."
Tom Moran and Tom Sewell Fantasy by the Sea Peace Press: Culver City, CA, 1980 (1979) (Originally published by Beyond Baroque Foundation with a grant from the Visual Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts), 1926
Aimee Semple McPherson
"Aimee Semple McPherson disappeared from the Venice beach May 18, 1926. She had checked into her suite at the Ocean View Hotel and then walked to the sand with her secretary. The secretary ws reading from a Bible while McPherson waded into the surf.
"McPherson had become one of the wealthiest and most exciting evangelists in American history. She thrived on publicity and used elaborate sets and pageantry to dramatize her sermons at the Angelus Temple in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles. When she failed to return from her swim an intensive headline-capturing search was launched.
"Airplanes scanned the water's surface for signs of the missing woman. Deep-sea divers plodded along the ocean floor. Five thousand of "Sister Aimee's" followers came to the beach to help with the search and pray for their leader. One mourner committed suicide. A lifeguard drowned during his search for the evangelist's body.
"It was rumored that local amusement interests had a hand in her disappearance. McPherson had been advocating a referendum election to ban the Sunday dancing that was allowed at Venice by a special Los Angeles ordinance. Foul play was suspected.
"One month after her disappearance a memorial sevice was held at the Venice beach and flowers were strewn over the sea. Two days later McPherson reappeared outside Douglas, Arizona, telling a story of kidnapping, torture and escape across the Mexican desert.
[photo on p. 69 shows McPherson searchers with the Ocean Park Pier in the backgrond and signs indicating the Dome Theatre, the Rosemary Theater and Chop Suey.]
"Contradictions in the evangelist's story began to appear and charges that she had obstructed justice were filed against her. America enthusiastically followed the daily press coverage of the case's bizarre turns until prosecution was suddenly halted and all charges against the evangelist were dropped in 1927."
#189
Hollister Garage, Main Street at Hollister, September 8, 1926 - Geo Hermann Photo Art (City of Santa Monica)
http://www.smpl.org/archive/1191/IMG0095.JPG
#213
Hollister Meat Market on Main Street at Hollister, looking south, September 8, 1926-Geo Hermann Photo Art (City of Santa Monica)
http://www.smpl.org/archive/1191/IMG0094.JPG
#214
Shearon Rooms and Apartments at Main Street and Marine looking towards Ocean Park Blvd., September 8, 1926-Geo Hermann Photo Art (City of Santa Monica)
http://www.smpl.org/archive/1191/IMG0093.JPG
#215
D. Hersh American Furniture on Main Street at Pier Avenue, Shearon Rooms and Apartments across the street by the Standard Oil station, September 8, 1926-Geo Hermann Photo Art (City of Santa Monica)
http://www.smpl.org/archive/1191/IMG0092.JPG
Cecilia Rasmussen L.A. Then and Now: In 'Whites Only' Era, an Oasis for L.A.'s Blacks Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2005 B2, 1926, 1920s
"The Italian Renaissance Revival building, designed by architect Charles F. Plummer, became the Club Casa del Mar, opening in 1926. During Prohibition, wealthy white tourists went there for swinging beach parties, dinner dances and illicit gambling and drinking.
"Next door, Inkwell patrons reaped the benefits of the fancy hotel by dancing to the tunes of big bands that played at the posh address.
"Blacks also played volleyball and took late-night dips in the surf with the help of the hotel's floodlight system.
"Vera Williams remembered once when playing with a beach ball at Inkwell the ball accidentally flew over the fence onto Club Casa Del Mar's turf.
""When I ran over there to get it, a little old lady comes running up to me saying, 'You got no business over here.' And I just looked at her, didn't say anything. I just took my ball and went back, where I belonged."
Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn and the Denishawn Dancers, Progrram 8 December 1926
Philharmonic Auditorium Fifth and Olive Streets
Jack Smith The
Big Orange Ward Ritchie Press: Pasadena, CA, 1976.
Sister Aimee's Temple
"Gaudy and notorious she was, but Sister Aimee was also adored by tens of thousands of her followers as the personal handmaiden of God. As an evangelist she was bold, inventive, tireless and courageous, and these were qualities that served her with abundance in the great crisis of her life.
"{Her severest trial} began on May 18, 1926, the day Aimee Semple McPherson vanished; it ended, officially at least, nearly eight months later when the Los Angeles Superior Court reluctantly dismissed the criminal charges against her for conspiracy to corrupt morals and obstruct justice. On that May day half a century ago Sister Aimee disappeared while swimming, supposedly, at Ocean Park. Her mother, the redoubtable Minnie (Ma) Kennedy, a partner in her temple affairs, announced to the world that 'Sister is drowned. She has gone to the arms of Jesus.'
"For the next five weeks Ocean Park was the scene of a macabre carnival. Thousands came down to see where Sister had gone into the sea. A human chain, miles long, kept vigil on the sands around the clock. Boats and airplanes searched for Aimee's body. At night searchlights played over the water. Divers probed the pilings of Lick Pier. At least two men were drowned." p. 45
Jeffrey Stanton Santa Monica Pier A History from 1875 to 1990, Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1990, 1926
"On Monday February 1, 1926 waves from a huge mid Pacific storm began to threaten the Santa Monica Bay piers. The waves built up throughout the day until they were breaking during the night atop a fifteen foot high building at the end of Ocean Park's pier. The landing stage at the end of Santa Monica's Municipal Pier soon crumbled under the highest breakers since 1916.
"The storm continued throughout the following day as the giant waves began pulling up pilings by their roots and hammering the standing timbers into kindling wood. The night watchman notified the owners that the dance hall's foor was buckling. Workers arrived immediately after midnight to remove everything of value including a $2000 grand piano. Even boats that had been dragged onto the pier for safety were taken off the pier to shore.
"Word spread quickly . . . that the pier's collapse was imminent. Thousands swarmed the ocean front and atop the palisades . . . Police had to establish fire lines . . ." p. 57
"High tide peaked shortly after noon on Wednesday February 3rd. William Murdoch, a noted construction engineer, predicted that if the structure could survive until 1 p.m. that day, it would survive. . . .
"When the storm subsided slightly later that day, constuction workers found the ballroom floor buckled beyond repair. It had sunk three feet on the west side near the orchestra pit. The three principal owners were making determined plans to save the ballroom, but they were philosophical about the outcome. . . .
"Reconstruction began on Feb. 5th. Workers tore a hole in the side of the ballroom and moved a heavy pile driver inside. . . .
"The owners blamed the city. . . .
"The La Monica's interior was restored with loving care. the owners employed one hundred local artisans and construction workers. A.B. Rice, the famed dance floor builder, laid down the new dance floor. The ballrooom's decorations were the conception of the Russian artist V. Ulianoff and his partner John Thackento who painted the unusual motif, a mixture of Oriental, Russian and barbaric art. They used pale tints to blend in quietly with the lights and decorative schemes.
"Thousands including numerous Hollywoood celebrities attended the La Monica's gala reopening on March 25, 1926. Sally Rand, Follies girl and movie actress danced the Charleston and demonstrated various steps of the latest dance craze." p. 58
"The winter storm season wasn't over yet. On April 8th high seas, some say worse than the awesome February storm, tore the fishing fleet loose from their moorings near the Municipal Pier. Captain T.J. Morris, Paul Brooks and Lee Gregory tried to prevent a floundering launch, the "W.K." from wrecking the Municipal Pier. They were washed overboard and the unattended boat was later dashed to pieces south of the pier in front of the Edgewater Club. When Charles Trecy and Jack Dugan tried to rescue the drowning men, their small skiff was capsized by a huge breaker. Lifeguards rescued them but were unable to help the three fishermen who were swept south under the Crystal Pier and crushed against its pilings. Morris's body was found a week later offshore in El Segundo.
"These two destructive storms prompted the Greater Santa Monica Club to revive their harbor plan to protect the pier. They hired Taggart Aston, consulting engineer, . . . His plans were presented to members of the club and to Howard B. Carter, city engineer at their May 5th meeting.
" . . .
". . . R. J. Conners, the Edgewater Club's president opposed the harbor because it would end surf bathing in front of his club . . . "
Jeffrey Stanton Venice of America: 'Coney Island of the Pacific,' Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987. 176 pp., 1927, 1926
Chapter 5: Annexation & Ruin (1924-1929)
"Venice's first spring as part of Los Angeles was a quiet one, until the disappearance of evangelist Aimee Sempre McPherson thrust it into the national limelight. She checked into her suite at the Ocean View Hotel on May 18, 1926. Then she and her secretary walked to the beach. Aimee waded into the surf while her secretary read a bible. When she failed to return an intensive search making national headlines was launched.
"Airplanes and deep sea divers were called into the search. Thousands of 'Sister Aimee's' followers came to the beach to help and to pray. One mourner committed suicide and a lifeguard drowned during the search for her body.
"Of course it was rumored that local amusement interests were involved in foul play. The evangelist had advocated a referendum to ban Sunday dancing in Venice.
"A month later they held a memorial service at Venice beach. Then two days later Aimee reappeared outside Douglas, Arizona, and told a tale of kidnapping, torture, and escape across the Mexican desert. When contradictions in her story surfaced, charges were filed against her for obstructing justice. However, prosecution was suddenly halted, and all charges against the evangelist were dropped in 1927."
