Episode 15. Mom at the Pike

In this episode I interview a very special guest; my mother. When she was just five years old, she and her sister would visit the Pike. In this episode, mom recounts some of her most favorite memories of the pike.

Transcript

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Hey folks. Welcome to the Harbor area podcast. I have a very special guest today. I'm going to go ahead and let her introduce herself. Hi everyone. I'm Connie and I'm Joel's mom. I have my mom on the podcast today because she actually went and visited the pike when she was younger. And so I wanted to bring her on. As I had mentioned in a previous episode, she agreed, I didn't have to twist her arm. And so here we are. So she doesn't know what the questions are. So we're just gonna punch through them and see how. This goes. Here it is, mom, what are some of your earliest memories of the pike? It must have been about five. Five years old, 1967. And I remember my mom worked at the. Telephone company at GTE. And she would leave us at the pipe. And all the. Pike attendance would take care of. We got cotton candy. We. We got candy apples. We got stomach aches. Those were my fondest memories. Basically the park attendance, new you and your sister and so they would give you. Free things so that you could have fun as well with the other kids. I think it was more because they know my mom was busy working and she wouldn't be back like in 45 minutes. They took really good care of us and. By that they would get with cotton candy popcorn. Candy apples. And by the time we left, we had the worst stomach. You could possibly imagine after getting on all the rights. Let's talk about that. Was there a particular ride or attraction or game that you always looked forward to? Not really look forward to it, but I always challenged myself to going to the haunted house. And I was always afraid to go in there soon as the door would open. My hands would go over my eyes.

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Do you remember the laughing lady? I do. What was she like the laughing lady? She was scary. So she real, no, she wasn't real. It was like this. Big mobile. What would you call him? Oh, like Anna Metronic. Metronic. She would laugh and food, whole new car and she'd go back and then she'd come forward. You would think she was going to fall on you? Was she making like a noise, so that made it even scary to go inside the haunted house. And then you're just rolling and you see the door getting closer and boom. The door pops open and you're inside. I'm already with my eyes covered. Clicking through my fingers, seeing what I could see.

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Do you remember the name of the haunted house? Laugh. No. I just remember that there was dark. Big fat lady on the top. Holding something in our hand. And then. There was a man. Next to her. And he looked like. Circus leader. They would both be laughing. I don't know what it was called back then. We just called it the scary house. It was called laugh in the dark, laugh in the door. Do you remember that? Does that sound familiar? Probably because it was really dark in there.

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So I wanted to ask you, do you remember seeing. Elmer McCurdy. So Alan McCurdy, this was on the laugh house or the laugh in the dark. The scary ride that you mentioned. So he was actually a real dead body. He was like mummified and they had him in this exhibit and it was. I think right around like 1960. 2 67 67. That they found this body was actually real. But do you remember seeing that. Exhibit when you were in that, I would open and close my eyes because it was so scary to me. Five years old. Yeah. I just want me to get it over. Say I did it. But no, I don't remember. Seeing anything like that? Okay, good. But one of the, so the episode that I did previously, And I say good, because that could be traumatizing for a kid, but There was a dead mummified body on the ride. And nobody knew. Nobody knew until. Inside the ride. Yeah, I guess I think he was like hanging over when you would like. Come in. Oh, And it was Alma McCurdy. He was like a bandaid gone wrong. He tried a real mummy. Yeah, it was a real, it was a real dead body. Oh, my goodness. I remember as soon as I don't. It open as soon as our cart would hit the dark. And then we enter, then all this air would start blowing and all these months just started popping out and spinning around and. I just would cover my eyes and my sister with her. And by the time we got asked, he's it's okay. You can. Open your eyes now. Correction. He wasn't mummified. He was embalmed.

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My sister would have me. And then she goes, There we did it. We're out. And so she's let's do it again. And they said, no, I had to cook it on another rise. And so we would take off to this ride. The wall would spin around and then after you're at an angle, the floor would drop out. And you're stuck to the wall. Oh, like the UFO spaceship. Probably. Where it's like gravity and it's spinning really fast. And so you there's nothing else you could do, but just be stuck to the wall. Exactly like that. What other rights do you remember? We got on the roller coaster. How are you tall enough at five years old and get on a roller coaster or did they not check back that. At five years old, we already had that. We know somebody to get on it type of thing. No way. They would let us get on. Yes. They would let us get on and my mom would come and pick us up. She would just ask us, did you guys have fun? And we're like, yep. But our stomachs hurt. Do you know, if anybody died on the rollercoaster at the pike? I heard about that, that went around so fast that when it reached the top. The little ride just went right on flying into the ocean. I don't think we're really that close. To the ocean. For it to fly in there, but. It was probably going that fast that it could have. So that's. Interesting, because in one of the pictures that I saw of one of the Pike's early builds, and I don't know if this changed when they updated the rollercoaster, but. It was actually built over the ocean. Really. Moved it away from the ocean. Cause we were back for twice. The buildings, because I remember my aunt always wanted to go so she could see the sailors getting their tattoos. Do you remember anything about the dance hall? No. I don't remember it downtown. You bring up an important topic of discussion, which I didn't really address. And I wanted to, but it was the Navy men of the time, because it was a. Port already. And it was also, I want to say some military. Housing and services can you talk about that? I. My mom and dad had bought a house on a street called Seabright. And right across the street was all the Navy housing. Is this in long beach? Yes. Okay. And there were rows and rows of Navy housing that we would just ride our bikes to there. As long as we wanted. We were always alone. Riding around the neighborhood early in the morning, late at night. And we knew once the street lights went on that man, it was time to go home. So we would just leave our toys wherever we were at. And we would go back in the morning and they'd be right where we left. We can't do that anymore. It was definitely a different time. Did you feel safe in long beach when you were younger? I felt very safe because I knew my surroundings. I knew where I was at. I knew all the neighbors so we always played we rode our bikes together. To get for free. What's in the backyard. Our house we have Apricot's. Lemons oranges. Peaches. Thank you for sharing that. Talk to me about what was the rollercoaster like? It was scary. Five years old, maybe seven at the time. It was just really super fast. And I was, I remember before our cheeks were flat. Our cheek for flapping in the air. And I couldn't wait for the right to stop. Cause I was so scared. But I never wrote it twice. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Okay. That sounds scary. So I heard an R I read. That because there was a Big demographic of sailors that some sailors would get drunk or some person. My get drunk. We'll say some person might get drunk and. Try to stand up on the rollercoaster because they didn't have the same protections that we have today. And somebody did fly out. You can fact check me on that? Anybody? I could have sworn I saw it oh, die on the sword for that one. But what other rides do you remember? I remember the carousel. Oh, yes. The Luke carousel. It was so beautiful. The colors, the music was so loud. And the tigers and the horses and lions.

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It was a really loud the music, but it was such a. Like Oregon, like you could hear an Oregon plane. you see the carousels are going around. So we would wait patiently or sometimes there was nobody there. And we just stay on it until we got tired of writing it. We wrote every animal that was on there. So when you say every animal, it was if I remember correctly, there were like tigers and lions and bears of different. But they were like, you're funny. They were of there were different animals. So when you say different animals, when it wasn't always a horse and they looked like they were painted, perfectly. I like the colors were just so shiny. In the day as they were at night. It was really a pretty.

Headset Microphone (Maonocaster E2)-2: 11:03

Let's see here. Oh, so what other rides do you remember from the pike? The bumper cars. They used to lie this right? The bumper cards to ah, Yeah, a. It would get there really early though. Some of the people were just barely opening up their stands. But I remember my mom had to be at work by a certain time. And she would be back for us at. Maybe around 11 or 12. I don't know. If whiplash is better when you're younger, when you're older. I don't know if we ever got wet Blatch because when you're young, everything just snaps back into place where it goes. Yeah, you're a lot more flexible when you're younger, it would hurt. Oh, More at our age. You would see the sailors get on there with all the pretty girls. And we would just watch sometimes we'd just walk around and watch they wouldn't. Let us get on when a lot of the younger adults where there. Okay. So they didn't want us to get hurt. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. Do you remember? And I didn't talk about this, but it was called like the boardwalk of a thousand lights or something like that. It was lit up. It was a boardwalk, but it was lit up by like lights on the sand. In long beach. At the pike? No, I don't remember that. Okay. We always just stayed at the pike. My mom was doing her job, or sometimes my aunt would take us at nighttime cause she wanted to go and see the sailors getting tattooed. What did you say your mom did she worked for GTE? What did she do there? Clean the offices. Oh, okay. So she would claim the offices. She couldn't take us with her because back then, believe it or not. There was this building on ocean Boulevard. Where the pike ran off of. And my aunt used to work in that building. As a elevator attendant. So she would push the floor and take you up to the floor, help you with your bags and. Then get back inside and go to the next floor that would light up and she would help people in and out of the elevators. So mom couldn't take us because she had to know how to operate. The Elevator. And she didn't really know how so she. Use the stairways to get up and down. Cause she only did two floors of the whole building. I'm going to have to re-listen to this. Just I don't know what they say. I just remember this. There was a big building. But gargoyles on it. Oh yeah. And so that's where my aunt Linda, she operated. For sure. Okay. That's where she got it. I forget the name of that building. It's so beautiful though. And expensive. You've got to have money to live there. Let's see, building with gargoyles. That ought to be an episode. The long beach on ocean Boulevard. Oh, it's called the via Riviera is a really nice building. Um, all right we talked about the games. Oh no. We talked about the rides. So we're going to move on. Can you describe the atmosphere back then? What did it. What did it sound like? What did it smell? What did it feel like? Smells like the ocean. I was always cold. Happy. Lots of laughter. You could hear the pinball machines you could hear. People shooting at the. Target. And it was just the happy feeling all the time and we would leave it. Wasn't happy anymore for. As we wanted to stay. But we knew better than that. We knew it was time to go. We had to go. Yeah. Especially when the sun went down, because that's when all the the young. Would come out with a nice curly hair and burettes and teased up hair. And you could smell there. Perfume at night. They would wear a lot of perfume. I remember that. Were there any moments at the pike that left a lasting impression on you? I still have a picture of it today. Of me and my sister. Sitting on this moon. Taking a picture on it on a moon on the moon. It was like a back. Ground behind us. Around us, they wouldn't set us on something. But then the back problem would come out like, uh, what does the shape of the moon? It's like a Crescent moon Crescent, moon. Yeah. We're sitting on a Crescent moon. And my aunt took us. The picture and I still have that picture till this day. I know which picture you're talking about. I remember using it for my dad, the Los Muertos party. It was, it's an old picture I'm going to, if you let me borrow it all posted on the inside the. On the podcast, Instagram. But these. You got to see the pitcher folks. Just let me know what you think. Anyways, I tried passing that office two dead girls. Right, moving on. The roller coaster was called the cyclone racer. Yes. Yeah. The snake clone racer. I believe the cyclone racer was like the third edition of the rollercoaster that was there because apparently there were three, there was one built in, I think it was that first one that was built over the water. Which is really a fascinating to see. I'll see if I can post that picture as well. I got to find it. But yeah, the rollercoaster was built over the water. At least that's what it looks like in the picture. Do you remember? Any other games? Did you play any games? Did you win anything? Oh, yeah. We would tell us this ping pong ball. And it would land in a glass. And if it landed inside the glass, you want that. Class. Okay. That wasn't the ping pong ball. Okay. I never won any, you didn't win anything? No, but you played a game. Yeah, it was fun. Let's see, were there any street performers or unusual acts that stood out to you? No, the balloon guy, the con candy guy. They were always inside like this little mobile cart. And they would hand you everything through a window. There were little concessions. And there was a popcorn concession separate from the cotton candy and the candy apples. And hotdogs. I remember the hotdogs. They were all separate. Everything was separate. They had like their own little mobile. Yeah. Concessions to hand you the food and drinks from. I just remember eating so much and going home with a stomach ache. Because then remember we got on the right till everything was just like, Turning in our stomach. I can share this one story with your we've got on that ride that I tell you that yeah. Please pins you up against the wall. Yeah. Oh, you told me, go ahead. I remember this. There's an older man got on there with his daughter. And he was telling her not to be scared that it was fun and she was going to like it. And. We looked at each other, I wonder if they know that the floor falls out at the bottom after you're stuck up against the wall. He was so scared that his eyes looked like they were popping out of his face. And then all of a sudden, he. Peed his pants. And we all got wet. No. I don't know. Dress this, I think we had dresses on back then. Even when we were on the Crescent, mobile are wearing dresses. Yeah, you were wearing dresses. So we've got wet. That's gross. Yeah, it was, but I think it was even more. I was shocked when we saw his face after the right stuff. Cause his pads first. Super wet park. I, he looked like he was in a suit. Yeah. And then like a jacket and these slacks and he looked important. Yeah. And his. Daughter or granddaughter says it's really cute dress. And she had all these ponytails all over. And she was so happy when they got off. She was crying. She probably got Pete on the most. No, I think she just didn't like the ride itself. Both didn't. I worked out for Berkeley. Exactly. Oh my gosh. That's funny. Did you ever explore any of the shops? No. And if we get, I don't remember because I don't ever remember getting more than what was free. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I remember about it. That everything that we got there, everybody knew us by our name. They would call me Connie and my sister, Donna. All right. So the pike had a reputation for being both thrilling and a little rough around the edges. Did you ever witness or hear anything wild happening there? Bites, the police were always there. Oh, and also the Navy police would show up. Oh, I didn't know. They had Navy police. Yeah. They were called MPS. They were these round things around their arm and it said. Military police. Yeah. I don't know what it is now, but I didn't know. Then. But they would come and pick up the sailors that were too drunk and getting into a bar fight then. The police would never take them, but they were always held there until the military police. Oh, yeah. They had to collect their own men. Yeah. So yeah, the big fights. That would happen. Lonely. I get a glance at it. And then we would be taken out of the scenery. I'm glad I love that your stories talk about the Navy men. Um, because I did leave that piece out. Did the pike feel like a place for families, teenagers, sailors, or a mix of all kinds of people? So people, everyone would go, you would see families. Mom and dad with their kids, it was a really happy place. I always remember that I couldn't wait to be there the next day or whenever it was time for us to go there because. I just wanted to get on the right. Wait. So we glanced over the fact that you lived in long beach. That's how you know of the pike. How long did you live in long beach again? We must have lived there. Until we were lying. Until I was like nine, 10 years old. And then we moved out to Ellie. I went to school out there. Oh, the Hudson elementary. Yes, Hudson elementary. I think they're closing down. And there was this bridge where the circus would come into town. And the teachers would take us up over this bridge and we could see them. Down below with the lions and the elephants and the cages. What is this the circus? The second test. Oh, okay. I think it was circus Vargas. Okay. Yeah. They would come through there and I guess the school knew about it. They would take us over that bridge and we could see the actual circus going by. Oh, wow. Yeah. But the animals were in their cages. I think, I remember seeing that elephant and we used to saw some. Farm animals, but I'm not really sure what animals they were, but I do remember seeing the Elephant. Were there any local traditions or rules about visiting the pike? So your mom would leave you there all day. No from the morning when she would start work until the afternoon. So she started work just to give us we can't call the police cause it's too late, but just tell us. No, she never left us. There to go and run around town and. But Sue has leave us to go to work. And it took like maybe three or four hours sometimes. So she was part-time. Yeah. I get done with whatever it was. She was doing. Yeah. It's still there. The GTE building. They probably turned it into an apartment building or something. It could be some federal building who knows. We'll see them. Google it. What was the next amusement park that opened up that you visited? I guess just the circus. As we come to town, we never, he never went to Disney land. No, wait. You did go to. Marine world. Or Marine land. Yes. That's now a download Trump golf course. That's actually Terra Neha. Okay But it's next to the Donald Trump golf course. Yes. That's where I remember the Marine land bean. And I think we must have gone like once or twice to Marine land. But how did you get into Marine land if you were you didn't have a lot of money. My stepdad. Oh, He worked for a company called superior outdoor display. All day long, these. And he had a really good job and they would make the signs that you see on the freeway that say Pepsi. Oh, okay. The advertisements. Yeah. Yes. So sometimes you can see on the bottom there, the company who's advertising for them and he was superior outdoor display. That's what they call them. Interesting. Was there ever a time you felt scared or uneasy at the pike? No. When did you stop going to the pike and why? I think we stopped. Once we moved out of the area, Because we moved to Huntington park. Okay. So we left. Long beach and one hour to Huntington park. And we stayed with one of my aunts until my mom got settled and got her own place. And then we go to long beach every now and then what, if you could bring back one thing from the pike, what would it be? Maybe the tattoo parlors. Y. Because I'm old enough to get one now. You're so silly. All right. Hey, mom, thank you so much for coming on. And making this episode with me, it's been fun. You're welcome. Any time. All right, folks. From us to you, we hope you have a great rest week. Thank you for hanging out with me and my mom today. We wish you well. And we're looking forward to listening to this episode ourselves. Talk to you later. Bye. Bye.

Headset Microphone (Maonocaster E2)-18: 25:52

Hey, thank you for listening today. If you enjoyed today's episode, please make sure to click download. Let me know if you have any stories to tell about the Harbor area.

Headset Microphone (Maonocaster E2): 26:01

The podcast now has a phone number for listeners to call in and share their thoughts and ideas. That's right now, listeners can call in and share an idea for an episode or a favorite memory, a place or thing that you love about the Harbor area. Grab a pencil pen or your phone and take this number down. It's four to four. Two to 6, 6, 7. One eight that's four to four. Two to 6, 6, 7. One eight

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