Samo evening outlook

by Rena Roblin
California, USA
1940

Santa Monica, “the Pearl of the Pacific” has always been a sort of paradise near L.A. In 1940, with the depression behind it, the city was competing with the rest of Southern California for tourist dollars. This map beckons to travellers, “Inviting America to Come and Play in Santa Monica.”

Roblin demonstrates that there’s more to the bay than just sweat and sunshine by including Bernheimer’s Japanese Gardens, a Greek Theater, and some Mardi Gras action down by the Venice pier. She also depicts glamor attractions like the “Malibu Movie Colony,” yachting in the bay, movie studios (they were actually in Culver City), the swank Del Mar Club, and the grand LaMonica Ballroom (the largest dance hall on the West Coast) out on the pier. UCLA, in the top right, was booming by this time, and the football team featured none other than Jackie Robinson.