Santa Monica: A Look Back To Postcards to 1917 Santa Monica from Today

Over one hundred years ago, Charles I. D. Looff, the owner of the Santa Monica Pleasure Pier in 1917, created a prospectus book in order to sell shares in his Pier or, potentially, sell the Pier entirely.

How this book from 1917 crossed my path began over a century ago. As Jens Lucking and I were shooting photography for the “Santa Monica: A Look Back to 1902 from Today” book, we were in the streets of Santa Monica’s Ocean Park district discussing what was different about a house built in 1900. It was then that Stephen Anaya walked out of his house, upon hearing that we were having a dialogue about its history, jumped right in. A year later, when the Santa Monica History Museum exhibited the book, I made sure Mr. Anaya got an invitation. He was moved by what Jens and I had created and, as luck would have it, Mr. Anaya is one of the great collectors of Los Angeles and Santa Monica Fine and Historical prints, and generously offered up a gem from his collection, a prospectus book for another adventure with time and place.

As Jens Lucking and I sought out the locations that were photographed over 100 years ago, the process became a means of connecting with a larger stream of continuity. It is with great pleasure that we share this book with you.