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Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles' Space Age Nautical Pleasure Pier
Pacific Ocean Park—or as it was commonly known in Los Angeles from the '50s through the '70s, P.O.P.—was extraordinary in both its glamorous rise and spectacular fall.
As a family-oriented attraction in the '50s with modernist-styled rides designed by Hollywood's best, P.O.P.'s attendance surpassed that of Disneyland.
Christopher Merritt and Domenic Priore's spectacular history includes hundreds of images, most of them unseen elsewhere, including original ride designs and illustrations, including Tiki-rich, space age, and nautical rides. P.O.P. was often widely seen in movies and television shows throughout the '60s. Its Cheetah auditorium hosted important early rock shows, including those by Ritchie Valens, The Doors, and Pink Floyd.
P.O.P. was located at the dividing line between Santa Monica and Venice, the only spot during Prohibition-era Los Angeles were residents were allowed to dance and consort in a carnival-like atmosphere. The book also backgrounds the infamous "Dogtown" of the 70's in which surfers took advantage of big waves that rolled through P.O.P.'s rotting piers near homeless junkies.
As a family-oriented attraction in the '50s with modernist-styled rides designed by Hollywood's best, P.O.P.'s attendance surpassed that of Disneyland.
Christopher Merritt and Domenic Priore's spectacular history includes hundreds of images, most of them unseen elsewhere, including original ride designs and illustrations, including Tiki-rich, space age, and nautical rides. P.O.P. was often widely seen in movies and television shows throughout the '60s. Its Cheetah auditorium hosted important early rock shows, including those by Ritchie Valens, The Doors, and Pink Floyd.
P.O.P. was located at the dividing line between Santa Monica and Venice, the only spot during Prohibition-era Los Angeles were residents were allowed to dance and consort in a carnival-like atmosphere. The book also backgrounds the infamous "Dogtown" of the 70's in which surfers took advantage of big waves that rolled through P.O.P.'s rotting piers near homeless junkies.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
267 pages, Hardcover
First published July 15, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 15, 2021
For every success story like Disneyland, or Universal, or Knott's Berry Farm, there is a story of a theme or amusement park that strove for greatness, and ultimately fell short. This is one of those stories, and it's fascinating.
Pacific Ocean Park had its beginnings way back at the turn of the 20th Century, and this book does a good job at crafting the prehistory of the park, the beach, and the pier before the actual park came online. And man, what an ambitious park! It's basically a Googie explosion, with a "starfish" entrance that reminds me the Theme Building at LAX. Lots of themed lands like Disneyland, including an undersea world (I got very, very enamored of the term dry-for-wet, a theme park phrase meaning that it's dry but it looks wet; I don't know how I've been in the theme park world this long and have never heard it), a space area, and a Polynesian Pop area with a working train at the far end of the pier. The skyway that took you from one end of the park to the other was made up of dangling plastic bubbles you sat in and saw the raging ocean below. There was a rollercoaster and an Enchanted Forest and so much else that made both my midcentury and theme park brains go bonkers.
But the park - known as the P.O.P. (even when referenced in a Beach Boys song) - is no longer there. You know that going in, so this book has no choice but to become a tragedy. It starts with debt, of course, and the high cost of running an amusement venture. The salt air wreaking havoc on rides and facades. And, as things start getting a little seedier, in comes a new park runner named Jack Roberts, who's basically carny-from-carny. He brings in more pitch-til-u-win ventures, and off-the-rack rides. The more ambitious stuff falls into disrepair. By the end, even the shells of the old rides can't stand up against the powers of fire and water and decay.
But along the way, there are a lot of bright sports. The outsized optimism in creating a themed environment like this in the first place should be applauded, and I loved how it coincided with the youth movement of the late 50s. All of it's captured in these awesome photographs and copies of old maps and souvenirs. So too, sadly, are the pictures of the park's eventual destruction - although even these are beautiful in their own weird way.
I knew very little about this nautical space-age park going in, and I'm just so fascinated that something like this came to be at all. This is a treasure of a book.
Pacific Ocean Park had its beginnings way back at the turn of the 20th Century, and this book does a good job at crafting the prehistory of the park, the beach, and the pier before the actual park came online. And man, what an ambitious park! It's basically a Googie explosion, with a "starfish" entrance that reminds me the Theme Building at LAX. Lots of themed lands like Disneyland, including an undersea world (I got very, very enamored of the term dry-for-wet, a theme park phrase meaning that it's dry but it looks wet; I don't know how I've been in the theme park world this long and have never heard it), a space area, and a Polynesian Pop area with a working train at the far end of the pier. The skyway that took you from one end of the park to the other was made up of dangling plastic bubbles you sat in and saw the raging ocean below. There was a rollercoaster and an Enchanted Forest and so much else that made both my midcentury and theme park brains go bonkers.
But the park - known as the P.O.P. (even when referenced in a Beach Boys song) - is no longer there. You know that going in, so this book has no choice but to become a tragedy. It starts with debt, of course, and the high cost of running an amusement venture. The salt air wreaking havoc on rides and facades. And, as things start getting a little seedier, in comes a new park runner named Jack Roberts, who's basically carny-from-carny. He brings in more pitch-til-u-win ventures, and off-the-rack rides. The more ambitious stuff falls into disrepair. By the end, even the shells of the old rides can't stand up against the powers of fire and water and decay.
But along the way, there are a lot of bright sports. The outsized optimism in creating a themed environment like this in the first place should be applauded, and I loved how it coincided with the youth movement of the late 50s. All of it's captured in these awesome photographs and copies of old maps and souvenirs. So too, sadly, are the pictures of the park's eventual destruction - although even these are beautiful in their own weird way.
I knew very little about this nautical space-age park going in, and I'm just so fascinated that something like this came to be at all. This is a treasure of a book.
August 30, 2014
Excellent research and over the top illustrations make this a must read for So Cal natives who actually remember POP.
July 23, 2017
I've been to Pacific Ocean Park only three times and I loved it! This book brought back fond memories for me and it even detailed my favorite ride "Flight to Mars"! This book recounts the history of the previous incarnations of POP: Ocean Park Pier and Lick Pier and the journey to becoming an exciting amusement park at the beach and its ultimate downfall. The story is fascinating but the major reason to get this book is for its glorious illustrations. It's filled with photos from the '20's, sketches of the original layouts and concept designs, tons of photos of the attractions, clips from various TV and movies shot there, posters of the famous bands that played at the Aragon and Cheetah ballrooms including the Beach Boys and the Doors, photos of the various fires and shots of the Z-Boys of Dogtown. POP lasted less than a decade: 1958 to 1967, but I'll never forget it. If you've been to POP or a theme park enthusiast, this is a must have!
September 29, 2018
An excellent book! As close to a time-travel trip to Pacific Ocean Park as you're gonna get!
September 3, 2025
Fascinating account of the history of P.O.P., which, as a child I considered as better than Disneyland in the early 1960s. My only negative criticisms of the book are related to the illustrations. The type size of the captions is ridiculously tiny, and most of the photographs are of only fair quality. Other than that I do enthusiastically recommend the book. I learned a lot.
April 8, 2017
A fascinating survey of a lost piece of history. I'd never heard of Pacific Ocean Park before I stumbled across references to it online. This book brought the place back to life. It's well written, engaging and informative; it simultaneously took me back in time and made me wish I'd been around during the park's heyday. Like any good examination of recent history, it will both trigger memories of those who experienced the subject and provide new insights to those who lived through the era.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews