Category: The Pier

The air always smelled like Carmel Corn.

Early in the morning, after the last car honked its way out of the parking lots, Tick and Hwy 1 were finally still.

The street lights sizzled, traffic lights switched green, switched yellow, switched red and, occasionally, a night watchman’s dog barked, and there was a cricket.

Saleh’s porcelain white laundromat stared sternly, sleeplessly, lonesomely into the darkness.

Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk’s bar winked off as the bartender closed its door and pulled on his jacket to head home.

In the Garden of Love tattoo parlor, there might still be smoke and loose talk. Cigarettes that hung slackly from lips that could not find the words to call it quits.

The darkness ebbed imperceptibly as the new day rose.

The lost and hungover were still stumbling home, smelling rue in the dim lifting light.

The smell of coffee, somewhere.

By seven, people began to arrive, some unwillingly, almost all hopefully, at work. Tan windbreakers, sunglasses, clean hands broke the ice of the locked doors, wheeled up the awnings, started the motors and jumped on board to start the day again.

Six months later, the big ferris wheel went up, the lights went on and LUK Entertainment opened the first half of the new amusement park.

The Dilmacs and Ortrars were watching, and there were cheers on the streets outside the park as the bright lights opened up a whole new section of the sky.

There were huge ponds of water for kids to play and paddle around in. A giant water slide and an enclosed area of the ocean where supervised snorkeling was allowed.

Dizzy couples, kids and families exited rides giggling and panting.

There were lots of plush and slum concessions that ate nickels, quarters and dollars in exchange for a chance to  win a prize popping a balloon with a pellet gun or dart. Or, go ahead, choose a number and win some money or have your weight and age guessed.

When night came, the excitement and titillation crackled like handfuls of cellophane.

Electricity passed with a simple glance. Lights danced with an accidental touch.

Exhilaration and fun rose and fell with the spinning wheel and screams of exhilaration passed through the park like howling banshees.

A few months later, the combination race track and outdoor concert theater opened, featuring Johnny Cash, June Carter and Chuck Berry, with the Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk himself, along with his new girlfriend, Serena, as M.C. And host on the first night.

The neighborhood was no longer the same.

The first major attraction to open on Tick was the Old Fishing Pier. The rundown stringy pier was re-built and re-enforced with concrete and steel. There was a brightly lit sign over the entrance, and there was no entry fee.

But there were places to buy mustardy hot dogs, pickle, lettuce, tomato and onion topped hamburgers, a small clothing store with shirts imprinted with “The Pier in Long Beach”, shorts and fishing accoutrement.

A bait store, called Captain Hook’s, offered a selection of fishing gear, including rods, live bait, hooks and sinkers.

At the very end of the pier was a lookout with telescopes and sun chairs. Behind this, a small stage for live musical performances.

Close by was an excursion business that offered all-day fishing trips. And all long both sides of the pier were places for people to fish, with a special place for the children.

Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk turned the lot where the family grocery had been into a parking lot and there was a brightly lit sign that spanned Tick announcing and recommending the new attraction.

Tick itself was replaced with a broad and pedestrian only promenade. Just beyond the entrance was The Old English Cedar that now had a well lit salon and a neon sign proclaiming Madame Yasdi’s Reading Room.

A short space from there was the small five store strip mall with a newly renovated Aata Bakes that offered ice cream, in addition to her bakery.

There were concessions on both sides of the walkway leading to the pier, including a handwriting analysis booth manned by Orguz’ brother Mehmet.

On the left, between the strip mall and the Old Fishing Pier was a tall wooden fence where the entrance to the still-under-construction amusement park would be.