The City of Los Angeles Honored Him Earlier This Year With the Inaugural “Venice Preservationist Award”
By Zach Armstrong
Jeffrey Stanton, one of Venice Beach’s leading historians who documented the beachside community’s rich history with his book Venice of America – Coney Island of the Pacific, has passed away at the age of 79.
The 240-page book, published in 1987, contains hundreds of archival photographs, schematics of amusement park layouts, along with text of Venice’s heritage and development from 1905 to present; an assortment of material Stanton accumulated through years of extensive research. According to Westland.net, he amassed the largest known collection of antique post cards and vintage photographs of Venice during its “turn-of-the century heyday”.
Earlier this year, on July 4th, Stanton was honored for his work with the inaugural Venice Preservationist Award issued by the City of Los Angeles. Stanton arrived at the ceremony in whimsical fashion: sporting a long red cape and gold crown, while perched on a raft which gently floated down the Venice canals to where an applauding crowd awaited as “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow” played over a loudspeaker.
“Jeff’s book is probably in more homes in Venice than any other. It’s the Bible. Without it, we wouldn’t know where we’re from or who we are. His gift to Venice is immeasurable.” said Robin Murez, the artist behind the Venice Flying Carousel and Chair of the VNC’s Preserving Public Places Committee. “Jeff didn’t know how immensely appreciated he was.”
Stanton was born in Pittsburgh, PA during World War II, “a childhood much different than today; with stories listened to on the radio and 78 RPM scratchy records played on crude sounding phonographs.” as stated in his online biography. Earning both a bachelors and masters in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he moved to Long Beach in 1969 to fulfill draft board requirements by designing weapons (airplane control systems and Minuteman missiles) in exchange to dodge the Vietnam War. Soon after, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked at Lear Siegler and Hughes Aircraft.
In 1978, after growing an interest in the Westside neighborhood, Stanton began collecting photographs of Venice and its amusement piers, growing his collection less than a decade later to over 600 photos of pier aerials, amusement rides, parades, canals and the business district. That collection consummated into the publication of Coney Island of the Pacific.
In 1979, after already creating a postcard company, he launched a cartoon tourist map business; he created a poster with advertising on the back, along with lists and locations of Venice’s murals and historic sights.
“The cartoon map concept caught on and others imitated my work and became successful nationwide.” his biography states. “It quickly turned into a fiasco when the Venice Chamber of Commerce banned the map and television coverage made me a celebrity. Another artist and I became carried away while drawing the cartoons that depicted a gang fight in the ghetto, mugging, prostitution and drug dealing. While it was true, parts of the community didn’t see it as a joke, and when they threatened the stores, it was only available at my postcard stand.”
Decades later, after several editions of Coney Island of the Pacific had been published, Stanton could still be spotted during the weekend along the boardwalk promoting his book and his postcards. “I do it mainly to keep busy,” he once stated. “Since I primarily do it to pretend I have a job.”
Copies of Coney Island of the Pacific can be purchased at https://www.amazon.com/Venice-America-Coney-Island-Pacific/dp/0961984902.
