![]() The Seaside Company offered a celebratory dinner at the Casino Coffee Shop followed by a jubilant dance in the Casino Ballroom.īut five more years of financial insecurity did not appeal to Looff. Late on May 17, 1924, the Giant Dipper officially opened, and beachgoers heard the screams of excited riders. Very early the next day, a 200-foot long line of eager riders had assembled to assure themselves an Opening Day adventure on Looff’s new ride for 15 cents. In the week before opening day, spectators saw workers trying out the ride to reveal any mechanical or construction defects. Curiosity seekers witnessed the clamor of three coaster trains, of 10 cars each, running steadily for 10-hours on Friday, May 16, to test out new parts and the safety of the track. (Santa Cruz Boardwalk archives - Contributed) It was built in 47 days at a cost of $50,000. Construction workers building the Giant Dipper in the spring of 1924. Our Giant Dipper was Looff’s passion and his most beautiful work. It cost Looff $50,000 to bring it all together, the equivalent of about $870,000 today. Work started on April 1 and finished 47 days later. By month’s end, Looff had assembled a 50-member construction team. We are assured of the very latest and most thrilling ride on the coast.”īy mid-March, two schooners had delivered their cargoes of lumber for the new ride. Looff the new dipper will have no superior in the United States.” In February, that same paper affirmed, “Arthur Looff, the owner and builder, is one of the foremost men in the amusement world of the Pacific coast, with a long record of successful operations. The Santa Cruz Evening News proclaimed, “According to Mr. In December 1923, Looff signed a lease to erect a coaster in Santa Cruz and became a Boardwalk concessionaire. ![]() His gentle and unpretentious nature made his zeal for coasters a puzzle. A self-trained engineer, he also had a knack for business. Arthur was a soft-spoken, teetotaling gentleman who regularly wore a tie and two wristwatches - one keeping proper time and the other a stopwatch. In 1922, Arthur Looff opened his first Big Dipper roller coaster at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. Charles Looff’s youngest son Arthur also worked in the family business which moved from the east coast to Long Beach and expanded into other amusement park rides. Looff’s hand-carved carousels include the Boardwalk’s oldest ride, our 1911 carousel. Looff, a Danish immigrant and acclaimed carousel designer. The story of our iconic Giant Dipper begins in the late 1800s with Charles I.D.
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