July Celebrations

I'll bet you assume that I'll be writing about historical Fourth of July celebrations here at the Pier, right? I will, but first I have another fun fact with a July tie-in, all about a man named Charles I.D. Looff.

And just who was Charles I.D. Looff? Well, I'm writing this month's Jim's Corner from inside the Looff Hippodrome, which you probably know better as the Merry-Go-Round Building (or even the Carousel Building). This building was built by Mr. Looff in 1916, and from its opening day until 1939, the building housed one of his hand-made carousels. That wonderful collection of horses was sold to Belmont Park in San Diego, where it resided until 1976, when the horses were auctioned off individually to savvy collectors. Today Looff carousel horses are highly coveted.

You see, Looff carved the first carousel at Coney Island back in 1876; he also carved the park's second carousel and embarked upon a career of building amusement parks all across the United States, each featuring one of his carousels.

So where's the July significance? Charles passed away on July 1, 1918, not long after opening his Looff Hippodrome and the Pier's first amusement park. He certainly left a lasting impression!

And now… Happy Independence Day! From its earliest days the Pier has been a gathering place for Fourth of July celebrations and activities. Some notables include: a 1935 visit by the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, in which sailors enjoyed a day in Santa Monica and locals visited the ship; in 1946 the first annual "Santa Monica Fiesta" took place on the Pier, featuring paddleboard races, a bathing suit contest, and an airshow, all hosted by movie star Leo Carrillo; in 1953 KTLA became the first TV station to broadcast live footage from a helicopter when they shared that evening's fireworks show at the Pier.

For decades the Pier was the "go-to" location for people to gather for fireworks shows, up until crowd levels and increasing incidents of violence forced city officials to make changes. In 1987 the City unveiled a new concept called "Dawn's Early Light," moving the fireworks show from July 4 evening to 4:00 in the morning. While it was a creative approach, the move unfortunately did not solve the problem — the same large crowds gathered overnight on July 3 for the early morning show instead, and the incidents of violence actually increased. The tradition of Fourth of July fireworks ended with the 1990 show.

Despite no fireworks at the Pier, thousands of people still visit on July 4, taking in sunshine and salt air during the daytime and watching nearby fireworks shows launched from Marina del Rey and Pacific Palisades at night, all while enjoying the fun and activities here at the Pier.