Who Were They?

Just a few days ago, I posted the tiny photo cut into the shape of a heart of the three Lewandowski sisters.

Well, because the photo had been identified on the back, the amazing Intense Guy was able to find one of the girls. Iggy, I do not know how you do it! So, he found an address for Geraldine and I dropped her a note in the mail. Last night I got an email from Gerry, who is now 83 years old and says that she enjoys fun and laughter, and that her family is very important to her. Gerry is pictured with her two sisters, and is the girl on the left of the photo. She told me the photo was taken in 1934 at The Pike amusement park in Long Beach, CA. Dulcy is the older girl in the middle and Dottie was 16 months younger.

This is a photo postcard of The Pike the way it might have looked to Gerry and her sisters. It existed in some form from the early 1900s to the 1970s, declining as the years progressed. In the 1970s the city of Long Beach tore all this down and rebuilt it to include much less beach and much more concrete. Follow this link  or this one to see photos of what the area looks like today. In the first photo, there is a small section of beach shown in the top left – that is all that remains of the original long beach in Long Beach. The large round building marks approximately the location of The Pike and moving lower to the right in the picture marks the rough location of the Rainbow Pier, which was a horse shoe shaped pier which was later filled in as a breakwater and used to create the rounded little harbor. In front of the shiny building next to the round one (the Aquarium of the Pacific) you see some water – that is called Rainbow Lagoon. Not to far from this area is the permanent location of the Queen Mary. There is a new Pike area with a Ferris Wheel, shopping, restaurants, etc, but nothing like the old Pike with the big roller coaster.

I will be mailing off the original photograph to Gerry tomorrow. I am so very happy to be in contact with her and to return to her a photo of her and her two now deceased sisters. I hope it brings back many happy memories!