Post #579592 by TikiG on Wed, Mar 9, 2011 3:24 PM

Today I came upon a newspaper clipping from the Santa Monica Evening Outlook dated 1958 - focusing on James B. Casey carving tiki totems for Pacific Ocean Park(this article may well have been shown here in this thread back in 2004, I don't know.)

I thought the clipping should be posted here for the benefit of James B. Casey / Pacific Ocean Park fans of T.C.

Carving Pacific Ocean Park Poles
Makes Him Pier's 'Biggest Chiseler'

By REED McCLURE

James B. Casey is a man who
lives with a bad joke, an out-
rageous pun.
It's all because of his job on
Ocean Park Pier.
Casey is an artist with an ax.
Using the double-bitted tool of
lumberjacks, Casey is chopping
out totem poles which will deco-
rate the "South Seas Island"
when the Pacific Ocean Park
Inc., family-style amusement proj-
ect, opens July 1.
When Casey is at work he is
surrounded by wood chips.
Hence the joke: "Casey is the
biggest chiseler on the pier," his
fellow employees say.
Casey, 39, a former musician,
orchestra leader, law student and
television director, is a profes-
sional woodcarver, with a studio
in North Hollywood. His work-
not totem poles- has appeared in
a number of exhibitions and cur-
rently is on display in Westwood.
Right now, he is converting
Douglas fir pier pilings into to-
tem poles. He carved one pole
out of a rotten water-soaked pil-
ing and it looks older than the
authentic articles from the South
Seas.
Casey has found that a hefty
ax is useful in roughing out the
poles. This is the first time he
has used an ax on a woodcarving
project-and he has the blisters
to prove it.
The ax-swinging woodcarver
has done some research into the
subject and he believes his
products have the mark of au-
thenticity, He points out that he
only follows the style of the old
islanders and does not copy exist-
ing poles.

Could Buy Poles

Pacific Ocean Park could buy
totem poles being made today in
the South Seas. But the Twentieth
Century has caught up with
Polynesia.
"Those cats are pretty com-
mercial," Casey joked. Their
work has suffered. It's not as
good as it was in the old days
when the poles "had a lotta guts,"
according to Casey.
Two of Casey's poles will deco-
rate the bridge which will span
the waterfall at the entrance to
the South Sea Island. The island
is billed as a major attraction at
the end of the pier.
Heading the South Sea Island
concession is C.V. Wood, former
vice president and general man-
ager of Disneyland, according to
Jerry Conway, POP publicity di-
rector.
A feature of the island will be
a "banana train ride." A tiny
locomotive will push small open
passenger cars around the island
and through a volcano.
Passengers, Conway said, will
be startled by earthquakes and
volcanic explosions. Man-made
monkeys will throw coconuts at
them. The coconuts will miss,
of course.

Surprises Planned

This is just part of the ride.
There will be some more sur-
prises, according to Conway.
Casey, armed with his ax and
clad in a lumberjack's shirt
(it gets a little chilly these days
out in the unprotected end of the
pier) doesn't look the part of an
artist.
He doesn't act like one either
when he is describing his work.
"It's just a matter of getting
rid of the wood you don't want,"
he explains.