The OFFICIAL CHANNEL for the Santa Monica History Museum
Since 1975 we’ve been sharing the rich, diverse history of the Santa Monica Bay Area. We are committed to serving the community by providing access to dynamic exhibitions highlighting the depth and complexity of our collective history along with our extensive collection of historical objects and an exceptional image archive.
We offer ongoing programming, pop-up exhibitions, and community events. We believe museums are for everyone and history belongs to everyone.
We invite you to visit in person: 1350 7th St, Santa Monica, California 90401
Santa Monica History Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization Tax ID 95-3019-295 santamonicahistory.org/donate
In the late 1940's my cousins and I lived on Frazier Ave in Ocean Park The beach was the playground for the three of us . children. We were warned never to go under the Pier. There was a story that a child had been attacked by a predator and the Pier was off limits. The beach was fine!
As a son of Santa Monica I have to say that pier was one of my earliest and fondest memories. Fishing off the pier or catching a fishing boat there early in the morning and bring back a burlap bag full of fish. In the 50's Santa Monica beach was completely safe for a kid to hang out at the beach with a couple friends all day, I learned to surf there. The sign over the pier a work of art imprinted in the brain of all who lived there. My father was fishing there when the 33 Long Beach earthquake hit - I will have to buy the book and thanks for the background.
Visit us in person to experience more of our exhibition, Coming Out West: LGBTQ+ Elders Share Their Stories. santamonicahistory.org/exhibitions/exhibitions-current/coming-out-west-lgbtq-elders-share-their-stories/
Fascinating history of the two families who received land grants in Santa Monica Canyon--la Boca de Santa Monica --the Entrada area --and also their descendants--and also their ancestors in Baja CA, New Mexico, including Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in the Inquisition.
Great presentation! I believe the actress with Tony Dow is NOT Cheryl Holdridge but is actually Beverly Washburn who also had appeared on "Leave It To Beaver." I'd also heard that the "Rotor" from POP ended up as the "Spin Out" at Magic Mountain.
I lived there as a kid from about 1958-1965. I moved from Santa Monica - my dad moved there in 1946. I must visit the museum... great history presentation.
There was a period of time between the bodybuilders being removed from Santa Monica and then moving down to Venice when the bodybuilders moved the equipment to a building a a few blocks east of Santa Monica. The equipment was placed in a dank basement of a building and became known as "The Dungeon". The builders trained there until Joe Gold, a retired merchant marine, in 1965, built Gold's Gym on Pacific Avenue in Venice. Supposedly, several of the bodybuilders pitched in a built Gold's out of mostly cinder blocks and cement.The building had no A/C or heat, had a skylight and front and back door they kept open to let the sea breeze cool off the place. The Venice 'Pit" came along later at that time in the mid-60's. Ric Drasin has some great videos here on YT where he talks about IT. Nice job on this video.
One has to assume they will call it "Original Muscle Beach" until the world shows some signs of caring. That day has yet to come. Face it: they blew it the first time around and now it's too little, too late. That's life.
To think those people were considered “ unsavory “ or “ fringe “…. People who were into health and physical culture. If they only knew what today’s “ fringe “ or “unsavory “ types are nowadays. I had the pleasure of meeting George Eifferman in person while he worked as a personal trainer at Las Vegas Athletic Club. Although he was past his prime he still was Muscular and in shape. What a great personality also he gave me his card and I cherish it to this day. Steve Reeves.. John C Grimek all the greats … our current “ body builders “ of today are the most unhealthiest people ever and they’re sadly dying off early in life. Back in the day … only a handful took gear and for low doses and most didn’t like it and stopped using it. That’s why they for the most part had the longest lifespans compared to the “ bodybuilders” of today.
It's a shame. Once all the white folks left, it turned into a hell hole. Now we call it "needle beach" because you can step on a dirty Needle. Come back white folks!!!!
Nice to see this, I grew up in Santa Monica in the 50's and early 60's. It was a wonderful place to be a kid - POP and the Santa Monica airport were my favorite haunts as a kid. With 4 times the population now, it's not the same place.
My first memories of POP were mixed with fun and terror. My 7th grade home room teacher took us there on a field trip. Everything went great until we were headed back to the bus, when this jerky kid decided to show off for some girl. There were these railroad tracks that were placed in the ground for car stops. About 4 feet high. They have sharp edges on the tops. So this kid tried to leapfrog over one of them and missed. It caught his leg and ripped a big gash inside his thigh. He was lucky he didn't rip his balls off, or worse. We had to take him into the medical station and get him stitched back up. That was the first time I saw the insides of a human leg.
I was in the 7th grade and our class went to POP. I returned a few years later and saw The Smother's Brothers perform. Then in 1968 I saw Janis Joplin and Big Brother at the old ballroom.
The traditional end of Route 66 is the Santa Monica Pier, which includes an official sign to mark the most western point of Route 661. However, the belief that Route 66 ends at the Santa Monica Pier is incorrect. Federal Highway rules stated one highway must feed into another to not “dead-end” a traveler, so Route 66’s new ending was re-routed to connect with “Alt 101,” today’s California Pacific Coast Highway2. The official end of Route 66 is about a mile from the ocean3
A film called "The Witch Who Came from the Sea" (1976) has some great footage of the POP area during it's 'ruins' period. Some of the best I've come across since 'The Slams' (1973).
My Father, Sylvester Paul Killian was the owner of Palisades Glass & Mirror Shop 111 Broadway in Santa Monica, CA from 1922 to 1944. I still have thousands of feet of 16 MM.film from that era. Contact rpkillian@gmail.com 702/732-4871. Rob, call me.
This is the best video you'll ever see about POP. Every ride that I thought I imagined as a seven-year-old is documented here. POP was absolutely the best competitor to Disneyland; sorry Knotts.
