Santa Monica Pier now stands as the last remnant of the bay's once many pleasure piers. For over 100 years it has captured the imagination of its many visitors. This collection of vintage images, artwork, history and treasured lore offers readers the opportunity to travel through time.

Historic SM book

Pacific Ocean Park - or P.O.P. - was extraordinary in both its glamorous rise and spectacular fall. Located between Santa Monica and Venice, it was a family-oriented attraction in the '50s with modernist-style rides. P.O.P.'s attendance surpassed that of Disneyland and was often widely seen in movies and television shows throughout the '60s. Its Cheetah auditorium hosted important early rock shows, including those by The Doors and Pink Floyd. Merritt and Priore's spectacular history features hundreds of images, most of them unseen, including original ride designs.

Swim out into the Pacific and look back to the shore. To the couple kissing in the hot afternoon, and the young girl rollerskating along the front, and the family setting up camp on the soft, warm sand. To the blues and yellows and pinks of fierce, determined revelry. Santa Monica, where the wooden pier juts out into the Pacific Ocean, marks the end of Route 66. The great American journey west culminates here, and it is on this short stretch of coast that Sarah Lee began shooting her photographic series in 2015. In West of West Sarah Lee and Laura Barton explore the idea of the West in shaping American identity, with its idealism and notions of the frontier, and what the American West means in an age of political turbulence, when the East is the rising global force and the frontier is shifting once more.

2020 Miriam Matthews Ethnic History Award from the Los Angeles City Historical Society Alison Rose Jefferson examines how African Americans pioneered America’s “frontier of leisure” by creating communities and business projects in conjunction with their growing population in Southern California during the nation’s Jim Crow era.

When So-Called Dollars was published it was the first, and it is still the only book to deal comprehensively with its subject matter. The book begins with the legendary Erie Canal Completion issues of 1826 and proceeds to catalog 135 years of the Golden Age of American history, all the way up to 1961. Although there have been many propositions for reviving the book over the years, none were more than theoretical musings until two collectors, Tom Hoffman of Crystal Lake, IL and Jonathan Brecher of Cambridge, MA set the process in motion. They have been joined by two others, Dave Hayes and John Dean, to produce a remarkable new edition, of the sort that can only be the product of dedicated hobbyists who love their subject and see it as their obligation to share with others the knowledge gained from years of collecting. While the second edition holds true to the original in basic style and in substance, prices have skyrocketed and it offers much that is new. There are many more illustrations than in the first edition. In fact, virtually every type is now represented by a photograph. More historical information for the issues is presented in the text, which has been further expanded with additional listings of both previously unknown metal varieties and totally new items. The size of each item is now given in mm rather than in 16ths of an inch as in the 1963 edition. Each issue has been assigned a rarity rating of from R-1, indicating more than 5,000 known, to R-10, meaning unique. In addition, a loose-leaf price guide included in each book at no additional charge. The index has been expanded to include references to more subjects and places. Finally, there is a section of color plates. The Hibler & Kappen book remains the standard reference work on the subject with its HK numbers an instantly recognizable means of cataloging and identification.