Huntington Beach (Postcard History Series) - Softcover

Most of these images are from the personal collection of Marvin Carlberg, a Huntington Beach native who has painstakingly built his collection over the course of 30 years. The text is by local writer Chris Epting, author of 14 books, including Huntington Beach Then & Now, Roadside Baseball, and James Dean Died Here.

Title: Huntington Beach, review of the book
Author: Chris MacDonald
Publisher: California Beaches
Date: 6/20/2009

"Mesmerizing" is the only way to describe the fascinating new postcard book, "Huntington Beach," by Marvin Carlberg and Chris Epting.

The intriguing postcard photos, mostly collected by Carlberg, show Huntington Beach as an Agricultural Center, Oil Boom Site, Tourist Attraction and much more over the last 100 Years.

I was particularly fond of photos showing trams taking people to the end of the pier for 10- cents. (5-cents, kids), the incredible Oil Derricks from the 1920's and 1930's, The Holly Sugar Plant in 1910 and Sam's Seafood, with the cool giant fish on top of the roof.

The comments people made on these cards when they mailed them are priceless. One postcard of the Pier in 1953 has the message, "Dear Mom, this is the Life For Me!"
You'll also learn neat tidbits about the Navy using the pier as a submarine lookout post in World War II and the huge Methodist Tent City that gained national attention for our town.

Throughout the book, I was looking for pictures of my grandmother, who lived in South Pasadena as a kid and always talked about taking the Big Red Car to Huntington Beach to go swimming. I think I may have spotted her, but for sure, I found a real gem in this fun and educational book. Thanks Marvin for sharing your collection and Chris for the Lively Text.