Featured Products
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Henshey’s Department Store
$0.00 – $145.00PHOTO REPRINT
Henshey’s Department Store, 1940Henshey’s Department Store was located in the Tegner Building at the corner of 4th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard from 1925 to 1992. Founded by Harry C. Henshey and partners, it was Santa Monica’s first department store and for years anchored the City’s Central Business District.
Archive Details | Print Details
You might also like the book: Signs of Santa Monica
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Professional Building
$0.00 – $145.00PHOTO REPRINT
The six-story Spanish Colonial Revival style building was erected in 1928 -
Santa Monica Bay – Paradise by the Sea
$29.95SANTA MONICA BAY is a sweeping illustrated history of the region with hundreds of archival illustrations and contemporary photographs by Fred Basten.
We have several of Fred Basten‘s images in our collections.
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Farewell to Manzanar
$9.99During World War II a community called Manzanar was created in the high mountain desert country of California. Its purpose was to house thousands of Japanese Americans. Among them was the Wakatsuki family, who were ordered to leave their fishing business in Long Beach and take with them only the belongings they could carry. Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, who was seven years old when she arrived at Manzanar in 1942, recalls life in the camp through the eyes of the child she was.
First published in 1973, this new edition of the classic memoir of a devastating Japanese American experience includes an inspiring afterword by the authors.
Also recommended:
Santa Monica History Museum Oral History: Listen to Ted Tanaka tell his story of his time in Manzanar
Throwback Thursday Lecture Series: Japanese American Internment -
Living the California Dream (Signed)
$55.00African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era
In Living the California Dream 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. By presenting stories of Southern California African American oceanfront and inland leisure destinations that flourished from 1910 to the 1960s, Jefferson illustrates how these places helped create leisure production, purposes, and societal encounters.
Also recommended:
Throwback Thursday Lecture Series: African American Leisure Sites
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L.A. Lifeguards
$19.99Thousands of men, women, and children owe their lives to the Los Angeles County Lifeguards. Made famous by the television show Baywatch, these lifeguards patrol 72 miles of coastline extending from Zuma Beach to the Los Angeles Harbor. Working on some of the world’s most scenic and active beaches, Los Angeles County lifeguards protect the safety and lives of more than 50 million visitors each year. For nearly a century they have braved hazardous weather and surf conditions to rescue drowning swimmers, sinking vessels, and downed aircraft in the ocean. As the Lifeguard Operations Unit of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, they make more than 10,000 ocean rescues a year.
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The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook (Signed)
$22.95Santa Monica’s Farmer’s Market, one of the largest markets in the state, it stands at the forefront of the national trend toward cooking with local and seasonal ingredients. For more than 25 years, Amelia Saltsman has shopped its stands, talked with its farmers, and cooked its magnificent produce for family and friends. The result is The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook, a celebration of the market’s excellence and its hardworking farmers.
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Santa Monica Pier – A Century on the Last Great Pleasure Pier
$19.95Celebrate a century of good times on the Santa Monica Pier! Vintage images and magnificent color photos capture this beloved international icon at its very best. Its dramatic story of survival — fighting Mother Nature, politics and changing times — makes Santa Monica Pier more than a landmark, more than a pleasure pier or a must see on the West Coast. Santa Monica Pier is a slice of American history to be enjoyed again and again and again.
100+ black-and-white and color images
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Santa Monica Lifeguard Station Toy
$27.00This block set is the perfect accessory for all beach-themed play, with pastel-painted wooden parts that assemble in seconds using a simple peg-and-hole system!
Not for children under 3 years of age.
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Miss Muscle Beach 1952
$0.00 – $145.00PHOTO REPRINT
Winner Beverly Jocher, two finalists and two participants in the Miss Muscle Beach of 1952 contest before spectators on Muscle Beach, south of the Santa Monica Pier. The Hotel Chase, located along Ocean Front, is in the background.According to the Los Angeles Times, “Beverly Jocher, drawn to Muscle Beach from Philadelphia, could support 590 pounds of acrobats on her 110-pound frame.”
Archive Details | Print Details
You might also like the book: Remembering Muscle Beach
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The Bendy Straw
$3.00The bendy straw is 8.5 inches, made of 100% stainless steel and an eco-friendly way to save our planet!
Engraving on straw: Santa Monica History Museum
Straw does not actually bend.Bendy Straw History: After watching his young daughter, Judith, struggle to drink a milkshake with a straight straw, Joseph B. Friedman invented the bendable straw. The Santa Monica based company, the Flexible Straw Corporation, was founded in 1939, and in the late 1940’s was manufacturing bendable straws, with its first sales marketed to hospitals.
Visit us and see more history of the straw in our A Town at Work exhibition room!
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Ebony Beach Club Building
$0.00 – $145.00PHOTO REPRINT
The Ebony Beach Club building, located at 1811 Ocean Avenue
