Murder
Mystery
Map
Cyclone
Racer 1
People on car 2
End
of ride 3
Municipal
Auditorium & Rainbow Pier
U.S.
Navy
Marine and...
SUMMERTIME AT THE PIKE
Part Two
Short Stories 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
(Excerpts from
E-Mailed stories)
Rainbow Pier
Short Stories
(Excerpts from
E-Mails)
Background: All About
The Webmaster
Coming Soon
Early Rides
Pike
Home Page
All the above photos were taken at Spokane's Riverfront Park in 2010
Spokane's Riverfront Park’s 1909 Looff Carrousel is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of America’s most beautiful and well preserved hand-carved wooden carrousels. The Looff Carrousel features 54 horses, 1 giraffe, 1 tiger, and 2 Chinese dragon chairs. It can also accommodate wheelchairs. Charles Looff, a master craftsman, created the Carrousel as a wedding gift for his daughter, Emma. One of the most amazing parts of this whole story is that this Looff Carrousel has been in operation for over 100 years.
Spokane's
Riverfront Park’s web site
http://spokaneriverfrontpark.com/index.php/RFP/page/359/
Charles
I.D. Looff
Born
May 24, 1852, Schleswig-Holstein;
Died July 1, 1918, Long Beach, California
Originator
of the Coney Island-style carousel,
Charles Looff is considered to be the first
of the great American carousel
manufacturers.
Looff settled in Long Beach in 1911 and lived
above his carousel at the Pike. Later, Looff operated carousels and
major amusements at Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Redondo Beach, Venice,
Ocean Park, and San Francisco. He built the Santa Monica Pier, was a
major contributor to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, and was the founder of
Playland in San Francisco.
The original Long Beach Looff carousel built in 1911 burned to the
ground in 1943. Its replacement, a makeshift mechanism,
remained until the demise of the Pike in 1979 and was sold piecemeal.
Even the "I.D." in Charles I.D. Looff has a story. He was born May 24, 1852, in Schleswig-Holstein and immigrated in 1870. A Ellis Island official told Looff he had to have a middle name 'for his I.D.' (or identification), so he chose "I.D."
Email from Richard Olson 5/5/07
As you probably know, Al Brown was one of Looff's best friends and worked with him on the Pike for years. After Looff died, Al kept the Lite-A-Line going at the far end of the old Pike in the circular building with the great Looff's neon sign on top. Al died a few years ago. His oldest son, Leonard, just died a few days ago, and another link to the Pike has come to an end. Leonard was one of my best friends--he went to Poly, Class of '53, and I went to Millikan, Class of '62--and we used to have great talks about the Pike, and even Shady Acres, which was run by Looff's son-in-law.
Best Wishes,
Richard Olson
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by
Paul Prosise
Screenmagic.com
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