Playland Pier

Last Friday marked the 34th anniversary of Playland Pier burning down. I wrote about the history of Playland Pier in this blog at FYI North Idaho but had more memories of what a great place it was as a kid.

If you had a dollar, you had a whole day ahead of you. Ten cent ice cream cones, most arcade games were a penny, nickel or dime and for two cents you could get a souvenir postcard postcards from one of two machines, one with movie and singing stars, the other with mostly custom cars like those of George Barris. Like so much stuff we all had when we were kids, I curse myself for not keeping all those cards, like James Dean. Sheesh.

My all time favorite arcade game was an early version of foosball. It was a freestanding metal and glass case that cost a penny a ball to play, and believe me, I put a LOT of pennies into that machine. The playing surface was a lumpy soccer field covered with players fixed in place. Because it was enclosed the ball would eventually roll in front of a soccer player. On the front were two handles, each activating one team (you could even play by yourself). When the handles were flipped it would move a goalie back and forth and make all the players "kick". The harder you flipped that handle the harder the kicks. The back panel was painted like a full stadium and the front and sides were glass. For old glass it was damn tough. When we played we always tried to kick that little steel ball as hard as possible and although it may have been the loudest game in the arcade, that glass never even cracked.

The bumper cars were great except by the time I was old (and tall) enough to drive them, they were usually broke down or not in operation. I left dejected more often than I actually got to drive them.

Everybody's favorite was the swings. Like a sort of suspended merry-go-round, each swing seat swung out with centrifugal force and actually put you out over the lake. We always wondered how fun it would be to have one break shooting a rider out into the waters.

The merry-go-round still exists and about ten years ago there was even talk about bringing it back to Coeur d'Alene. I can't remember all the details but it was (probably still is) owned by a guy who collects, maintains and operated old carousels around the country. And his mother actually worked at Playland Pier once upon a time. Last I heard it was back east somewhere and it still has paintings that represent Coeur d'Alene and the lake.

The Empire Builder stops at Stryker, Montana

Uncle Ray was 20 years older than my Dad. He worked for the railroad and moved west from Virginia in the 30's. In the late 40's he was the Station Master at Naples, Idaho. Up until the mid 60's he was SM in Stryker, Montana, along the route of Great Northern Railroad's Empire Builder between Whitefish and Eureka.

When I was young we'd go visit, riding that train from Sandpoint. On rare occasion I'd even get to sit up in the Vista-Dome car, which felt like it was going to roll going around every corner. Such beautiful country. Too bad you go through it in the dark. AMTRAK still runs that same schedule.

Passengers looked wide eyed wondering where it the heck they were when the train stopped to let us off. Stryker consisted of about six houses at a junction. Uncle Ray and Aunt Mary lived in a small log cabin between the main road and the so-called station. They had a guest log cabin that we'd stay in. First place I ever used a chamber pot. Ray was a hunter and bear rugs were plenty.

The little station was fascinating for me as a little kid and loved the place. I got to sit at the main desk with the front window and make Uncle Ray or Aunt Mary translate the Morse Code from the telegraph. They also had a teletype machine and would relay messages to trains.

They'd tie the paper with a string then tie it to ends of a Y shaped pole sticking up the height of the train's window. A Conductor would reach out and snag the message as the train went past. I used to try and see the guy but it went by with such commotion all I ever saw was one second it was there and the next it wasn't. Standing on the platform maybe 15 feet from where the trains went by full speed was pretty impressive for a little kid.

Years ago we were in California seeing my brother, Ron. One day we went to the California State Railway Museum. One of the best museums I've ever been to. One of the displays is a mail car from the Empire Builder that you can walk through. Fun reading all the drop boxes, each and every little place on the line. Including Stryker, Montana.

More CdA City Beach Scenes

Here are two more recent photos of City Beach. These were taken after the changing rooms were taken out from under Playland Pier. The lower photo clearly shows where the steps went from the seawall down to the water. That's where the walkway to the dock is visible in my previous blog photos.

Both photos clearly show how the docks were situated and where the swim meets would have been in between. The lower photo also has the island dock and beyond it, the Union 76 Ball (sign) for the gas dock. It also shows the North Shore in the background so it would be the mid to late 60's. The upper photo I'm guessing is a few years later.

Thanks to all who make comments and add to the memories or clarify things I may have missed or are mistaken about. Stay tuned, I still have more to come.

My father was the manager of the CdA Chamber of Commerce from 1948 to 1971. Summer of 1952 my mother was on vacation from Edmonton, Alberta. As Dad walked through City Park along the seawall he saw two women who were obviously on vacation (heck, there was only like 2,000 people in CdA, tourists were easy to spot). Dad, as I saw him do with thousands of people all his life, welcomed them to the Lake City.

The rest, as they say, is history. I am a direct product of the Chamber of Commerce, born in the Iron Horse parking lot (Lake City General, more on that some other time).

Dad had traveled all over North America reporting for a semi-weekly publication, The American Field, which is THE journal for anyone involved with bird dogs. But when he came through the Pacific Northwest, he knew this was the place for him. And he fell in love with Coeur d'Alene.

Involved deeply in tourism and the promotion of CdA, North Idaho and Idaho in general (he sat on the first State Tourism committee with Louise Shadduck), Dad came into possession of all sorts of things. The above poem is one of those items. My guess is this was printed somewhere around 1930. I believe it stands the test of time.

My dad, Kyle Walker, has been gone 20 years and I cherish so much of what he left me. Not the least of are his sense of humor, value of family and friends and love of CdA. This blog, and this entire blog site, is dedicated to him, Mr. Coeur d'Alene.

Coeur d'Alene

in

Black & White

Part 1

My father, Kyle M. Walker, moved here from Kingsport, Tennessee in 1947. His first job was for a magazine called North Idaho Scenic Land. His writing, photography and public relations skills then led him to the position of Manager of the Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce, a job he'd have until retiring in 1971.

In those years, Dad showcased Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho around the world. He ran a booth at the Calgary Stampede almost ever year until the late 1960's, wrote, filmed and produced three 16mm movies (two narrated by Rex Allen) promoting the area and wrote countless stories in all sorts of outdoor, travel, recreation and institutional publications.

Dad passed away in 1989, but he left me with a great sense of humor, an openness to make friends and help people, a good photographer's eye and a huge sense of pride in my home town, county and state. He also left behind a lot of pictures.

My Mother, Edith B. Walker, donated well over a thousand 4x5" black and white negatives to the Museum of North Idaho after his death. I did keep stacks of magazines with his articles and a good number of 8x10 prints. Since I'm going to try my own blog, what better subject matter could I have but his photos along with my memories of living in Coeur d'Alene since I was born? So this one will kick it off, appropriate since we just had the annual 4th of July Parade.

This photo obviously shows the CHS Marching Band headed west on Sherman from 2nd to 1st Streets. I'm guessing the year was around 1950. The big building on the left was the Desert Hotel, Coeur d'Alene's own Pink Palace. Besides Templin's Motor Inn, the Desert was the biggest and nicest accommodations in town and even had a swimming pool. I took swimming lessons from Lorraine Ursaki in that pool (I was the best floater in the group, thank you).

The Desert also had two of the coolest things in town; a large meeting room with a huge mural painted by Ted Anderson depicting the Diamond Cup Hydroplane Races in front of downtown CdA, and in the basement, the Athletic Round Table with it's dim lights, colorful bar and big aquarium. Members of the ART got monthly calendars and I always remember reading the one hung by our fridge, wondering what it would be like to attend things like live music and the Friday Night Seafood extravaganzas.

My parents (mom) opened Ace Travel Agency in 1957 (more on that later) and by 1960, Ace was in the main lobby, on the left side of the main staircase, Registration being on the right. Colorful characters flowed through the Desert Hotel including an Indian man who lived there for a time. He looked like an Arabian Knight and always wore his turban and a big smile. Yup, CdA was integrated as early as that.

Under the awnings (upper center) were two offices. At the time of this photo all I can say is one was a pharmacy. In later years and among other things, on the left was the office for AM 1240 KVNI, back when it really was a local radio station. In the late 50's, the Chamber of Commerce moved from a small log cabin (located within 100 feet of the Centennial Trail Monument at Independence Point) to under the right awning. With both parents working in the same building, I literally grew up in downtown Coeur d'Alene.

Moving east is the Telephone building, now known as the Johnston Building. Yes, there really is a classic building under that black facade. Around the corner at 107 N. 2nd was where Ace Travel began. The office sat, as it does today, just a few steps below sidewalk level. One of the airline sales reps who called on Mom jokingly referred to it as the old Ace in the Hole, and still did when I saw him last some 10 years ago.

Crossing 2nd we find The Wilma Theater, home of the Saturday Matinee where us kids sat through double features of cartoons, news and B-thrillers. Creature From the Black Lagoon? Saw it. Just one of the countless reels I remember sitting through. I was the tallest kid in my gang and even though I was 11, the woman selling tickets always tried to charge me the 12 year old price, my older friends laughed as they paid less.

We'd always try to sneak up into the balcony, success being about half the time. The front row of the balcony tailed off to about 4 seats on each side that were walled behind, necker's nooks. As we got older we figured out why couples liked to sit there.

Damn shame the Wilma was left to rot, unkempt, forgotten, boarded up. We always hoped it could come back to life, like the Panida in Sandpoint has done. How wonderful to have a theater downtown. But, the owners saw it as only a piece of land and a liability at that. When the heavy snow collapsed the roof some 15 years ago, we knew it was never to be. Now it's a fenced lawn, woopie.

From there was, and is, the Eagles Lodge, bars and shops. At the time this was taken, Hudson's, aka The Missouri Lunch, was across the street with the Hudson automobile dealer and the Dream Theater, now all part of the CdA Resort Shopping Plaza.

Coeur d'Alene has grown and changed. It's not what it used to be, but I've never been anywhere I liked any better nor would I have ever wanted to grow up anywhere else on earth.

Stick around, I've got lots more photos and lots more memories.