Santa Monica Pier, California, 1935
There’s been a pier of one type or another at Santa Monica beach since the 1870s. The one in this shot was taken in 1935 and was referred to as the “Pleasure Pier” (as compared to the adjoining “Municipal Pier” which nobody notices) and is not wholly different to how the Santa Monica pier looks today. Most prominently we can see the Looff Hippodrome, which houses the carousel. Whenever I’m on the pier, I always stop by to watch the carousel and listen to the music because there’s nothing like a calliope to recreate the nostalgic sounds of yesteryear.
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It’s been a number of years since I last visited this carousel but I believe it is not a calliope but rather a “Fairground Organ or Band Organ” machine playing the music. A calliope is a steam organ.
Thanks for your note, Clarkus. Actually, I thought they were the same thing but I’ll happily bow to your superior knowledge!
This carousel can be seen in “The Sting” motion picture and you can hear the band organ playing in the background as well. If you visit the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar, they have an extensive collection of fairground/band organs as well as other mechanical musical instruments including the “unit orchestras” that were quite sophisticated for their time.