You've seen Steve Stuart at Santa's Village, Disneyland, Marineland, and other places, but today we're visiting a new spot - Pacific Ocean Park! Now I admit that I am saving the better P.O.P. images for later, but for now let's check out snacktime:
It’s July, 1962 (or June – and it’s my 11th birthday-??) and another group of friends and I are enjoying cupcakes-? and Coca-Cola at the famous (or infamous) Pacific Ocean Park (POP). That’s my mom in the upper center, looking at me the way only a mother can. Next to me is Don, and to his left, my aunt. Down front, with their backs to the camera are Mark, Bill, Jeff and Dick. It would appear we’re “dining” at the Fisherman’s Cove, “… a recreation of a quaint New England fishing village… “… The area was a picturesque collection of quick-service food and beverage restaurants, all set to a Cape Cod theme”.
(The preceding brief quotes were taken from Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles’ Space-Age Nautical Pleasure Pier. I will happily use any opportunity to ‘plug’ that book, as it’s easily the best reference book about POP written to date-! If you have any interest in POP, or seaside amusement parks in general, don’t pass-up the chance to purchase a copy for yourself. You’ll be thanking me long into the future).
Can’t you just ‘sense all that Cape Cod goodness’ as you scan that scene-? Those cupcakes have more of a “Cape Cod feel” than the background we can see pictured here.
Oh, wait – it must be the yellow fire hydrant and that lonely tree in the planter box seen in this image that are providing all that New England “theming”. And are my mom and I wearing ‘similarly striped shirts’ - but with different colors-? How creepy – especially when one’s friends are rather near.
In the third view we can now see the faces of Dick, Jeff, Bill and Mark wolfing-down those ‘cupcakes’. And looking-around, based on the Thermos and a picnic basket, it seems the other diners brought some, or all of their own food and drink to Fisherman’s Cove.
But perhaps more amusing is the printed “message” emblazoned at both ends of each table: “We hope the previous users of this table left it clean for you”. In other words – “We’re too cheap to hire enough staff to clean-up after ‘previous users’-!“ Oh well. It’s doubtful those ‘self-service’ messages alone were a part of the downfall of POP, but at some point they certainly didn’t help keep it alive.
Stay tuned for more P.O.P. photos (and other stuff) from Steve!
I'd be wolfing down those cupcakes too! There's rides to be ridden. Of course if this was after going on the rides, I'd be so hungry I'd wolf down the cupcake anyway.
ReplyDeleteThank for sharing these, Steve. And thanks for posting, Major.
Steve, we often wonder about the people in the photos that the Major posts, now I'm curious....where are all these kids today? Are you still in touch with any of them?
ReplyDeleteThank you again, for sharing your family photos with us!
And now I'm craving chocolate cupcakes!
Good stuff. And, at that moment, somewhere in the pines of South Jersey my mother was full-to-bursting and just weeks away from delivering the bundle-of-joy that is me! (is I?)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pics. You're lucky to have so many of your childhood.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Tokyo. Wondered where these folks are now.
Those Coca-Cola cups are helping all of you be really refreshed (I'd posit that cupcakes go better with Coke, but that won't happen until the next year).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stevenook. Looking forward to more POP later. In fact, after seeing those cups, I think I'll have one now. [psshhhhh] Ahhh...I can taste the feeling.
Dear All-
ReplyDeleteYou know, all my friends in these images have long-since left the picture - as in following grammar and/or middle school. (Excuse me - make that 'junior high school'). I did email Marc a couple of years ago, and I know he has kept in-touch with Jeff, but the whereabouts of the rest of the group is unknown. Same is true for the other group of friends we're following at Disneyland. As for Judy and her brother Gary, we were still seeing each other into the early 1970's, but then we went our separate ways. And as we all know, that's often how these things go.
On the other hand, I still regularly see a friend I have known since I was eight, and a number of folks I've known since my 20's - although that doesn't seem to count as much.
I have fond memories of POP. But even as a kid, I noticed a seedy underbelly at that park that made me uncomfortable at times.
ReplyDelete