Letters to the Editor: There should be a memorial to Pacific Ocean Park’s bygone pier

To the editor: This was a wonderful tribute to two amusement piers that brought people and good times together (“A tale of two parks: One was a ‘poor boy’s Disneyland,’ the other had a Cobra Woman who was really a man,” July 4).

I live in the former honky-tonk neighborhood that was once dominated by Pacific Ocean Park and earlier versions of the pier that stretch back to the 1890s. During World War II, the ballrooms at the pier were open 24 hours a day with big bands entertaining swing-shift defense workers from nearby Douglas Aircraft.

Sadly today, there is no trace that the pier ever existed. Somebody should build a memorial there — not to war, but to a place where people once had a good time.

Richard Orton, Ocean Park

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To the editor: I really appreciated columnist Patt Morrison’s piece that mentioned the Long Beach Pike. I grew up in Compton and, from about 12 years on, hitchhiked down Long Beach Boulevard with pals to the Pike, where it was a strict rite of passage to ride the Cyclone Racer, ogle the harlots from afar, slum with the sailors and generally enjoy being nuisances to just about everybody near us.

Somehow, none of us got into trouble, as we were all used to being out of the house all day by the age of 8 or 9 and pretty streetwise. As of now, I recall none of us having gone to jail or ending up in the streets, so I suppose my belief is that a little exposure to the seamy side of life as compared to the helicopter parents of today is not necessarily a bad thing. Thanks for the memories.

Dell Franklin, Cayucos