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Home Lodge: 1863
... phenomenon. Maybe... They just need validation. Boardwalk The backdrop/building could be one of those plywood "sets" with holes for your face at amusement parks and the boardwalk; The Deadwood Saloon, the Circus, the Sanitary Commission. Doing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 4:54pm -

June 1863. "Washington, D.C. Sanitary Commission workers at the entrance of the Home Lodge for Invalid Soldiers." From photographs of the U.S. Sanitary and Christian Commissions. Wet plate glass negative. View full size. Old Soldiers..... never die. They just fade away. FYIThe full address was 374 North Capitol Street. Get me rewriteIt looks to me as if the banner should proclaim, "The Unsanitary home of the Sanitary Commission." Grammar Cops Take NoteEvidence that the use of non-ironic quotes for emphasis is not a new phenomenon. Maybe...They just need validation. BoardwalkThe backdrop/building could be one of those plywood "sets" with holes for your face at amusement parks and the boardwalk; The Deadwood Saloon, the Circus, the Sanitary Commission. Doing good workThe Sanitary Commission did tremendous work for wounded Union troops at a time when the surgical response to a wound was "hack it off". Raising their own funds, they operated hospitals and nursing homes, and did work similar to today's Red Cross and USO. Staffed by many Unitarians and Universalists, the Christian Commission often tried to push them aside. Without the work of these good people many wounded would have died. The Reverend Thomas Starr King, Universalist minister of the First Unitarian Church in San Francisco, stumped the California gold fields and camps raising large amounts of money for the Sanitary Commission. He died young in 1864 and was held in such respect by California that his statue is one of two representing California in Statuary Hall in the National Capitol (the other is Father Junipero Serra). Small WorldI don't know what it is, but this picture seems to illustrate just how small in stature men were in the 1860s compared to today. Maybe it's the pavers or the picket fence? My first impression was that they all are well under 6 feet in height. Even the building looks tiny. (The Gallery, Civil War, D.C.)
Steeplechase Pier: 1910
... The Jersey Shore circa 1910. "Steeplechase Pier and Boardwalk, Atlantic City." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit ... Civilization was so nice. I miss it. Boards on the boardwalk At some time after this photo two lanes of tight fitting boards ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 3:10pm -

The Jersey Shore circa 1910. "Steeplechase Pier and Boardwalk, Atlantic City." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. What a great photo!Love the adult shade carriages; very energy efficient. [Atlantic City's famous "rolling chairs." - Dave] "The FUNNEST Place!"???I never got over the fact that their slogan was "Steeplechase - The Funny Place". Was the PLACE really "funny"? Or was it meant to imply that YOU would have fun with the entertainments there? This may be a quibble, but that slogan has bugged me for many years, since the Coney Island version of the Steeplechase ran an ad almost every day of the year in the NY DAILY NEWS using that "funny" line. Rolling ChairsAmazing these have been around for over 120 years in Atlantic City. From what I can find out the price for riding one is still very reasonable in today's dollars. What a difference a century makesCivilization was so nice. I miss it. Boards on the boardwalkAt some time after this photo two lanes of tight fitting boards lengthwise were incorporated into the boardwalk for the rolling chairs. In the photo the rolling chairs had to negotiate every board which was loose fitting. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC)
Hotel Chalfonte: 1907
The Jersey Shore circa 1907. "Hotel Chalfonte and Boardwalk, Atlantic City." The 10-story Chalfonte was A.C.'s first "skyscraper" ... next to the Saratoga Excelsior? Take a walk on the Boardwalk Have you ever seen so many Monopoly men in one place? "I'd like to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 2:41pm -

The Jersey Shore circa 1907. "Hotel Chalfonte and Boardwalk, Atlantic City." The 10-story Chalfonte was A.C.'s first "skyscraper" resort. View full size. This settingWould have driven the anarchists of the day into a violent frenzy! An MTV ProductionOn "Jersey Shore: The Black & White Edition," no one can see your orange skin. Ah, to be a millinerNot a single bare head to be seen. Mystery SolvedSo that's where all of the dignity went. Young NuckyIs that him walking by the carriages next to the Saratoga Excelsior? Take a walk on the BoardwalkHave you ever seen so many Monopoly men in one place? "I'd like to build a hotel, please." And on the rightis Haddon Hall, where my family used to vacation back about 60 years ago. Reverse ViewReverse view from Haddon Hall: Steeplechase Pier: 1905. Grand Hotel Isn't that a beautiful place? Just grand! (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC)
Gray Gardens: 1911
... looks like a bow tie affair. The Strand at the Boardwalk The Strand at the Boardwalk and Boston Avenue was bought by Steve Wynn for $8.5 million and torn ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 7:40pm -

Atlantic City circa 1911. "Hotel Strand." And a vista of manicured monochrome greenery. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. And it's dang hardto grow grass on the beach. Completely misunderstood"Hey Charlie, I lined up a couple of hoers back at the hotel." Replace your divots!Looks like the ghosted gent on the left is swinging away. I wonder what their task is here, surely not a path, maybe a garden area. The gents in the distance behind the hedge may have clippers in their hands. The Saratoga looks like a bow tie affair. The Strand at the BoardwalkThe Strand at the Boardwalk and Boston Avenue was bought by Steve Wynn for $8.5 million and torn down. In 1980 he built Golden Nugget Atlantic City casino at a cost of $140 million. It closed in 1987 and is now Atlantic City Hilton. Fireproof Fun in the SunThis hotel was at Pennsylvania Avenue (now Danny Thomas Blvd) on the Boardwalk, right at the famed Steel Pier. The hotel claimed to have a fireproof garage and baths supplied with running saltwater, similar to the saltwater pool at New Jersey's Palisades Amusement Park high atop the Palisades north of New York City. "The Hotel Strand is a modern, fireproof building, constructed of steel, brick and granite, and having a capacity of about 350 guests. It is situated directly on the oceanfront of Pennsylvania Avenue, the most prominent and widest thoroughfare of Atlantic City. The dinning-room is so constructed that a full view of the ocean may be had from every table. The bedrooms are so arranged that a suite of two or three with a private bath and parlor communicating can be secured." -NY Times, January 4, 1903 However, the fireproof boast caught fire fifty years later: "Mrs. Esther Schoenthal, 63, is the first of four persons to be rescued by firemen after being trapped on the 7th floor ledge of the blazing Hotel Strand at Atlantic City. Two other guests and a maid were trapped on the ledge for more than an hour as smoke boiled about them during the million dollar fire." -AP, April 1, 1953 It was eventually knocked down, and today the Trump Taj Mahal. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC)
Dolly's Go-Cart: 1905
... The little girl has a baby nestled in front of her. Boardwalk Rollers This is one of Atlantic City's celebrated rental "rolling ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 4:09pm -

Atlantic City, New Jersey, circa 1905. "Dolly's go-cart." Behind this little princess: a pushy mother. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Why are we here?Neither mother nor daughter seem particularly happy. The only one with a semblance of a smile is the doll! By the poundConsidering that it was 1905, their prosperity might be in direct proportion to their girth. Here's an ideaLadies, why don't we stop in here at the Green's and take a sea water bath. Then we can go out on the porch and watch these guys climb around on the billboard. Easter '04The Easter Parade at Green's Hotel. Cute VehicleI've never seen one of these before..for such a big girl! I wonder how Mom could see where she was going. But it is very cute and interesting. Thank you, Shorpy! SweetDespite the seeming grimace on the child (the sun?) this is a sweet picture. Most of the photos from this period the children seem to be in rather purposeful tow with their parents. And there are two dollies in this photo. The little girl has a baby nestled in front of her. Boardwalk RollersThis is one of Atlantic City's celebrated rental "rolling chairs," which have made numerous appearances on Shorpy. Most of them are "double chairs." Nice to have a close-up of a single. Some things never changeIf you've been to Disney World anytime recently you'll know what I mean. There are still "pushy mothers" pushing around strollers overstuffed with older children who are more than capable of walking. Around foreverThey still had the double wicker carts when I was a kid going to Atlantic City in the 50s and early 60s. I remember always wanting to ride in one. They remind me of the kind of bicycle carts you can hop in today in NYC. Rolling chairEven though these are pushed, they are still called "rickshaws" in Atlantic city. You can still get a ride on one now, but it will cost you about five bucks or more. If you're smart you will refuse the first price that they give you and bargain for a better deal. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, Bicycles, DPC, Kids)
Your Move: 1922
... possible? [It's mold on the emulsion. - Dave] Boardwalk with a Motel is where you landed, and that'll be $10,000. Early ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/08/2014 - 1:20pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "Traffic court -- George H. Scriven, Otto G. Hauschild." Another moldy oldie from the National Photo vaults. View full size. Weird white figureThere's a diffuse, irregular white circle that looks like damage to the image, but which is strictly contained by the boundary of the tabletop. How is that possible? [It's mold on the emulsion. - Dave] Boardwalk with a Motelis where you landed, and that'll be $10,000. Early Monopoly prototype? Boys and their toysIf I had seen this photo when I was eight years old I'd have known what I wanted be when I grew up. Subpoena the HorseHe saw everything! Pre-ComputersInteresting to see how they handled such graphics problems before the computer. This does look like more fun. Movable pieces! Can anyone recognize the lapel pins these two gents are wearing? DeskDon't look now but your drawers are open! Drat!You sank my battleship! Otto C. Hauschild Washington Post, Mar 4, 1959 Otto Hauschild, Served as Policeman 44 Years Otto C. Hauschild, whose 44 years on the Washington police force were a record in length and service when he retired in 1946, died of a stroke Monday at the Washington Hospital Center. He was 79. When Mr. Hauschild joined the force in 1902, the speed limit was 4 miles an hour and motorists going any faster were trailed by policemen on bicycles. He had beats in the 1st, 5th, 6th and 9th precints. During his longest assignment, from 1919 until retirement, he was an assistant in the Corporation Counsel's Office, preparing trial papers and conducting preliminary hearings in traffic cases. Studying traffic problems, he hit on the idea of reconstructing traffic accidents with toy cars. His system became so successful that it was adopted across the country to clarify complicated collision cases in court. Earning a law degree in 1928 from Georgetown University, he became the first policeman ever admitted to practice before the Supreme Court. Your tax dollars at workThese guys cannot conceal their happiness in getting to play their favorite boyhood game of "cars and trucks" on company time and with those beautifully detailed and crafted vehicles. They may be in their forties but had to have had lots of fun creating the crash in the center of the model town and probably taking dibs on whose child is going to finally receive those marvelous toys. FOB SOSI don't recognize the insignia on his watch fob. Is that a DC police fob? (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo)
Steeplechase Pier (Colorized): 1905
... the second photo I've colorized, also of the Atlantic City boardwalk in 1905. The original is here . I've cropped the picture for ... from the era. The colors on the other side of the boardwalk are less definite - my source postcards just show a lot of yellow ... 
 
Posted by scottr - 04/13/2011 - 9:57am -

This is the second photo I've colorized, also of the Atlantic City boardwalk in 1905. The original is here. I've cropped the picture for display on my monitor, so the dimensions aren't identical. I did some reading up on some of the elements of the picture. The colors I used for the Steeplechase building itself are more or less historically accurate, based on some color(ed) postcards from the era. The colors on the other side of the boardwalk are less definite - my source postcards just show a lot of yellow over there, but without much definition. Saratoga, Excelsior, and Quevic are all types of mineral water. View full size. Breathtaking BoardwalkYou did a fantastic job on this. It actually looks like it was taken in color! Thanks!My ultimate goal with these is to make them look like they were taken with color film, so I really appreciate the comment! (Colorized Photos)
The Water's Fine: 1914
Atlantic City circa 1914. "The Boardwalk and hotels -- Chalfonte and Haddon Hall." 8x10 inch glass negative, ... Publishing Company. View full size. Under The Boardwalk Little do they know now, but in just 21 short years that boardwalk they're strolling along will become the most valuable property in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/02/2018 - 5:05pm -

Atlantic City circa 1914. "The Boardwalk and hotels -- Chalfonte and Haddon Hall." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Under The BoardwalkLittle do they know now, but in just 21 short years that boardwalk they're strolling along will become the most valuable property in Monopoly! ChalfonteI stayed at the Llewellyn which was directly behind the Chalfonte and run by the Chalfonte, in the 1930s and early 40s with my family. It had less traffic and was very private. We enjoyed all that Atlantic City had to offer in a very quiet way. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Swimming)
The Dennis: 1908
The Atlantic City Boardwalk circa 1908. "Hotel Dennis." And the Marlborough-Blenheim at right, ... Publishing Company. View full size. Man under boardwalk Looks like the Monopoly game tycoon wondering what hotel to buy ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/21/2012 - 11:04am -

The Atlantic City Boardwalk circa 1908. "Hotel Dennis." And the Marlborough-Blenheim at right, along with a number of supporting players high and low. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Man under boardwalkLooks like the Monopoly game tycoon wondering what hotel to buy next. Curtain CallThe folks facing the camera look like characters in a play, wish I could better see their faces. Having worked at beaches for a number of years I'll imagine it's the end of the day, and they have their beach back to themselves. Many interesting characters in the background, including a Nosferatu imitator. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC)
The Wild, Wild East: 1911
... you can just hop and and do without some training. Boardwalk Empire Is that Nucky Thompson looking out the hotel window? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/24/2011 - 1:23pm -

Atlantic City, New Jersey, circa 1911. "Savoy Theatre, Schlitz & Young's hotels." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Re: I'm Freaked OutOh, good. I saw too many '50's sci-fi flicks without my mom's permission and she always warned me they'd warp my brain. Best-dressedI must say, the young woman all decked out in classic riding habit at the center is stylin' indeed. Complete with riding crop*, useful should that chap get fresh. *You can easily make out the handle in her hand, but as she's swinging it slightly, the rest is blurred and blends in with the folds of her skirt. I'm freaked outWhat the devil IS this? [Two saddles. - Dave] For the fairer sex Ladies' side-saddles to be exact. On the sideNeat! I'm a side saddle rider and I always scan any photo with horses for a glimpse of side saddles or ladies riding aside. Cool to see a side saddle in its original time. The lady is most likely holding a "hunt whip," which is different from a crop. Hunt whips have an L-shaped handle, usually made of antler, which is handy for hooking onto gates to open them without dismounting. The lash of the hunt whip is used to control the hounds on a hunt. Weird that the two side saddles that freaked out Rip seem to be "for hire." Riding side saddle is not something you can just hop and and do without some training. Boardwalk EmpireIs that Nucky Thompson looking out the hotel window? (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Horses, Swimming)
Pachyderm Promenade: 1905
... Publishing Company. View full size. Under the boardwalk Well, if the pachyderm's gotta pee, might as well be at the beach. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/08/2012 - 2:45pm -

New York circa 1905. "Coney Island -- Luna Park promenade." Elephants on parade. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Under the boardwalkWell, if the pachyderm's gotta pee, might as well be at the beach. Well, I liked itOnly a handful of people in this photo seem to be taking any notice of this wonderful parade. Difficult people to impress. (The Gallery, Animals, Coney Island)
Still of the Day: 1922
... proud of themselves." Reminds me of the series "Boardwalk Empire" and the futility of "Prohibition" of anything. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/18/2014 - 4:09pm -

November 11, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Still." Back-alley Mason jar hooch in the early years of Prohibition. National Photo glass negative. View full size. Nice haulI like to imagine the grinning lady by the fence thinking, "Okay good, they only found the decoy still and the small stash, so let's let them be proud of themselves." Reminds me of the series "Boardwalk Empire"and the futility of "Prohibition" of anything. No, not the jars!I hope if they were going to get rid of that hooch they didn't break those beautiful canning jars, like I've seen in films from that era! I've saved many a home grown vegetable and bulk picked or purchased fruit in jars like that. Those half gallons are especially hard to find! (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Lanza Motors: 1920
... (below) held at least five cars. - Dave] Boardwalk Anyone know what the boardwalk in the street is for? [It's a streetcar boarding platform. - ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/25/2012 - 11:55am -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Lanza Motors Co., exterior, 14th Street." Lanza Motors sold a car called the Metz; neither would be long for this world -- a world whose sidewalks were trod by ectoplasmic pedestrians. View full size. Metz Master 6Great photos thank you Dave for sending the information to http://www.metzauto.wordpress.com We have shared it with our members. Also here is a Google Street View of the site today. The Frank D. Reeves Center for Municipal Affairs is located on the site now. View Larger Map Forget the Metz...I'd love to see the inside of the La Pricesse corset shop! Metz Friction DriveThe earlier models of the Metz car used a unique continuously variable ratio transmission. It had a rubber-tired wheel that ran perpendicular to a huge machined flywheel on the motor. The driver operated a lever that changed the location of the driven wheel on the flywheel. When the driven wheel was dead center on the flywheel, that was neutral. As the driven wheel moved away from center in one direction an infinite number of forward ratios could be achieved. When the driven wheel moved away from center in the opposite direction an infinite number of reverse ratios could be achieved! While Metz Drive died in passenger car use, it was used on garden tractors for many years (and still may be). This clever transmission was limited in its ability to handle loads. It also had durability issues. Very modern bay windowThe window showing off the brass beds is quite modern looking; too bad the Metz didn't look as good. And where is the actual showroom for the dealer? [Behind the doors. - Dave] We'll Save Money On The Rent!An automobile showroom that's too small to hold even one floor model seems to have been a mistake. Unless the Metz 6 could really drive through those front doors. [The Lanza Motors showroom (below) held at least five cars. - Dave] BoardwalkAnyone know what the boardwalk in the street is for? [It's a streetcar boarding platform. - Dave] Metz Master Six Washington Post, Feb 1, 1920. TO HANDLE METZ. Lanza Motor Co. Opens Salesroom On Fourteenth Street. The Lanza Motors Company has opened a salesroom at 2008 Fourteenth street northwest for the sale of the Metz motor cars. The Metz is one of the oldest cars on the market, but up to this year they have built [only] a friction drive car. This year's model is a six-cylinder model with the standard type of transmission and gear shift. The car is built in four models, a five-passenger touring, three-passenger roadster, two-passenger coupe and five-passenger sedan. Ghostly MotionIf you look very closely, on front of the buffet and the corset shop, there are apparently disembodied feet on the sidewalk. I'd be interested to know how long the exposure was, for the people to be almost entirely invisible. [These are the "ectoplasmic pedestrians" mentioned in the caption. Exposure time would be around one or two seconds. - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo, Streetcars)
Asbury Park: 1905
New Jersey circa 1905. "Boardwalk, Asbury Park." "Notice: Bicycle riding on the plank walk is strictly ... we know where all the old-growth forests went -- to the boardwalk at Asbury Park. Has anyone been to Asbury Park in the last 10-20 ... do you suppose those dory-like boats were doing on the boardwalk? Props for photos? Exhibits? It looks like it would be very difficult ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 8:19pm -

New Jersey circa 1905. "Boardwalk, Asbury Park." "Notice: Bicycle riding on the plank walk is strictly prohibited." Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Oops. Wrong coast.Oh, yes. This "Winter" you speak of. It's some type of "season", isn't it? BeachwoodKnow we know where all the old-growth forests went -- to the boardwalk at Asbury Park. Has anyone been to Asbury Park in the last 10-20 years? Boy has it gone downhill! Calling Mrs. PuffWhat's with all the boats? I couldn't be that they are intended for lifesaving. You could drown twice before they got one off the pier. No ShowI’m curious to know what all the benches are for. It would take quite a crowd to fill all of them, so what would they be watching? Baby,We were born to stroll. RaysInteresting that in 1905, almost all the men are wearing hats and the ladies are under parasols. They must have been aware of the damage the sun can do. When I get my time machine,I'm going to make the woman in front cover her arms, such boldness, then it's straight to the roller coaster. At EaseThe awesomeness of this picture makes me yearn for simpler days. Not that these folks had things easier than we but just look at the carriage on the street to the left. Can you say, "leisurely"? Where's Doc Brown when you need him. Landlocked LifeboatsWhat do you suppose those dory-like boats were doing on the boardwalk? Props for photos? Exhibits? It looks like it would be very difficult to get one of these in the water unless there was some ingenious system of pulleys whereby they could be lowered onto the beach below. I can't read the "Notice" sign...tried to enlarge it, but I'm not very good at PhotoShop. Any ideas, Shorpy Nation? [Try reading the caption! - Dave] Ahhh...the caption!Yes...now I get it. Folks on the boardwalk were supposed to use the boats instead of bicycles! Check out the expression on the gal adjacent to the stern of the first boat. I think she's heebie-jeebied by that rat on the boardwalk a few steps in front of her. Off seasonAnother clue that it is not the high summer season is that none of the men are wearing their straw boaters. In 1905, these were a strict summer ritual from May through Labor Day. Big guy advised little guyI can see you've got a hungry heart and you're on fire. Don't worry, kid, someday the name Springsteen will mean a lot to people around here. Lifeboats in winter storageNote the lack of crowds, despite it being the morning of a a sunny day. There is no one on the beach or in the water. It's clearly the off season. I'd guess that the boats were stored high and dry on the boardwalk during the winter, and moved down to the beach for the summer. Tan, anyone?I can come up with three reasons people covered themselves while strolling along the boardwalk in 1905. I don't think they were worried about skin cancer. Modesty was becoming. This is not far from the time when Brits referred to arms and legs as "limbs" so as not to raise the eyebrows of society matrons. Middle and upper-class city dwellers didn't want to look like members of the laboring classes. "Red-neck" is a modern term, but the look has been around for a long time. Back then, you didn't want to be one. See Shorpy. Tanning for white folks has only been thought a mark of beauty and health for a couple of generations. Look at how pre-WW I advertisements portrayed women's complexions. Lily-white was in. Now we're starting to wear clothes again when we walk in the sun. Plus ca change . . . Sun and parasolsIt was considered very declasse to have a "tan" -- ladies had fair skin, farm girls were tanned. The woman in the front seems to be noticing the camera. And there is a well-dressed black man near the bottom of the frame. I'm always pleasantly surprised to see how many of these old photos are integrated. The bleachers appear to be set up for a parade. This could be for the Fourth of July, a major holiday at the time, except that there is hardly anyone around. Could this have been taken in the early hours of the morning? [This looks to be early in the season. - Dave] Decisions,decisionsI wonder which the dog finally chose-- the statue or the bush. What about reading caption?Dave, I understand your reply to Gooberpea to mean that the viewer should see button for "View full size." But on my monitor the sign about warning is still illegible with enlarged view. Wouldn't a reminder about the keystrokes to zoom in on page be more appropriate? If your remark to Gooberpea was supposed to be about the boats, the question of why they are where they are, I too am given no clue by the caption. What refer you? [Sometimes I wonder about you people. - Dave] Re: Lifeboats in Winter StorageI think the boats are lowered down to the water and not carried to the beach. They look small enough to be able to be rowed out under the boardwalk. I've never been to the boardwalk, but it seems to me that it's high enough to have clearance underneath for small boats such as these. Could that be the case? PhysiquesThe Men are Portly for the most part, but the Women have those nipped waists far as the Eye can see. Something to be said for corsets. And nowI was in Asbury Park in 2008. Things are looking up. BicyclesWay down on the South Jersey shore at Wildwood, bicycles were allowed on the boardwalk until 10 a.m. Unless one was cycling in a crowded area, enforcement was pretty lenient through the forenoon. (The Gallery, Asbury Park, DPC)
Pressing the Flesh: 1940
... On The Sand," "It has to be less crowded than this boardwalk is...." My Dog Filmed a Short Film on that Beach My dog filmed a video on the boardwalk and on the beach in this photo. We rode the Wonder Wheel together ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/22/2016 - 9:11pm -

New York, 1940. "Crowd at Coney Island." Gelatin silver print by Arthur Fellig, the press photographer known as Weegee. View full size. Fourth of July WeekendI was 8 my that year & mom had taken me to Coney Island beach since I was an infant. If this was the Fourth of July it marks the last time she put up with the crowds that were there (weather permitting) most every week end in July and August. After that it was Sunset Park Pool across the street from our third floor front apartment at 4109 7th Avenue in Bayridge, Brooklyn. No need for trolleys, subways and body odors. Kids who today think Woodstock and rock concerts in Central Park were huge should see this photo. I demonstrated in four "marches" on Washington and they couldn't hold a candle to this loony mass of humanity. In Living ColorA colorized version of this photo would be nice. Anyone up to the task? Where is WaldoBlack-and-white version. WoodstockThat was my first impression upon seeing the preview. Okay, Harry, where do we set up the tent?My one day spent at Coney Island Beach in 1958 or so was enough for a lifetime, and our subsequent outings to the beach at nearby (Jacob) Riis Park were far more pleasant, although I never became a big fan of beaches anywhere. The ride home on the bus and subway while still encrusted in sand and salt was truly the low point of every trip. Reminds me of:Where's Waldo. Yogi Berra's Quote“Nobody goes to Coney Island anymore, it's too crowded.” Small wonder, and he actually may have said it. However, he also is said to have said, “I never said most of the things I said.” Auntie Mary and cousin Joe in the tenth row back?How many megapixels to get that level of detail on this here newfangled digital film, then? Washrooms?Oh, the ocean. (I'm assuming it's there somewhere.) Special event?That can't have just been the regular Tuesday crowd, right? There had to have been something special happening that day, to have so many packed in like sardines .... It was so very hot on that day.None of the rides were open and Mister Handwerker ran out of red hots. Me?!?!jobaron I am somewhere in this picture. I grew up in Coney Island and, since this was taken on the Fourth of July, 1940, I most certainly am somewhere here. No way I wasn't on the beach that day... Anybody find me? :-) How many humans?Wow. Do that many people ever get together in one place any more? I know I have never been in a crowd that big in my life! Does Coney Island still get this overcrowded? Is the entire meyro NYC there all at the same time? to heck with Where's Waldo.Where's the water? It will take all day to find it. Show Us Your PitsI'll just show myself out now. No ExitSometimes it's nice just to get away from it all and go to the seashore Watch the birdieThe trick here seems to be: How do I get them to look at me? The Wonderwheel still stands and operates, as does the Cyclone, as far as I'm concerned the finest wooden rollercoaster in use. I once got paid to ride it for an audio experiment, and made 23 trips around it with a 24 pound tape recorder in my lap. I was a huge bruise the next day. They said my headphones flew off at one point and I calmly reached into space and grabbed them. What a great day. So Ralphie said"Why don't we go to the beach and get out of this hot, crowded city?" SunblindnessSomeone could have made a fortune selling sunglasses to this crowd... I only count about a dozen or so folks wearing eye protection. Today you'd only be able to count a dozen or so NOT wearing sunglasses! What a crowd! I'm getting claustrophobic just looking at the photo! A sea of humanityWonder what the occasion was? It's hard to believe there's enough room for anyone there to enjoy a peaceful day at the beach. Must have been a change for Weegee -- shooting live subjects, that is. Most of his photos I've seen are still life (or, more accurately, still "death") "Let's Go Down On The Sand,""It has to be less crowded than this boardwalk is...." My Dog Filmed a Short Film on that BeachMy dog filmed a video on the boardwalk and on the beach in this photo. We rode the Wonder Wheel together and also had our photo taken in a photo booth. He died on Oct. 18, 2015 at age 15. RIP Clancy :( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_CaQqDSRu4 Listen Without PrejudiceI always wondered where this picture was from! George Michael used it for the cover of his "Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1." and I always thought the woman in the center in the black bikini looked like my English teacher. Clearly, she was not; I'm not quite that old. East Coast For Sure!You can count the blondes on one hand! Good dayto head out to Flushing Meadows to the World's Fair! J. Edgar HooverMr Cool in the lower right corner cracks me up; he even wears fedora and sunglasses in the shower. Any open space will doWhere can I lay out my towel? Has anyone seen my flip-flops? What kind of drive would one have to go to such a place where you could hardly breathe? Like someone said..."where's the water?" Where Are They?So how did those folks find their blanket after the photo? That is one huge group of people. Was Coney Island Segregated Then?I see only shades of white and sunburned. Re: WoodstockYep, pretty close! This might make a good source for colorizers, too... Oh, the Humanity!My guess is 600 to 700 thousand people framed in the pic. About enough to fill 9 football stadiums. Ideal PlaceIf you ever wanted to lose a kid this would be where to do it! Anyone who's gotta use the washroomraise your hand. July 28, 4 p.m.Which was a Sunday. (Found with reference to a 2009 exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas which included this photo.) THE RIDE HOME?!!!!!I will NEVER complain about a crowd and traffic again. I have never seen anything like this before. The comment volume..........is proportional to the amount of exposed skin. Of course, there is also a female coefficient to factor in when applicable. Where are Mom's shoes?I was born in Coney but went to neighboring Brighton Beach. On one of those hot days, with blanket touching blanket staking our space, a crowd started to gather as someone was drowning. After things calmed down my mom discovered that someone took her shoes. I was about 12 but remember it as if it were yesterday as she walked to the train without shoes. Oh the memory that this photo stirred up. Thanks Looking back.Imagine the heebie-jeebies this gathering would now conjure, with the pandemic we're facing. Social distancing 1940 style. (The Gallery, Coney Island, NYC, Swimming)
Fantastic Nantasket: 1905
... there) and afterwards she'd take us to Paragon. On the boardwalk was the penny arcade, restaurants and a Fascination Room , some ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/02/2023 - 12:00pm -

Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts, circa 1905. "General view from Atlantic House -- Paragon Park and resorts." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Atlantic HouseAtlantic House is in this previous Shorpy entry. Was it taken on the same day (after a long walk!)? By the beautiful seaHere is Nantasket Beach today. If you spin around -- there is an old house on the hilltop that might be Atlantic House referenced in the 1905 photograph. Below that is certainly the rock outcrop in the photo. I just read the old house is not the famous Atlantic House hotel, which burned to the ground in January 1927. Here is a side-by-side comparison of the Atlantic House and the Atlantic Hill Condominiums, which now occupy the site. It's an interesting comparison of when a building wants to conquer the site it's on, and when it wants to blend into it. What do you do in Fantastic Nantasket?You can play "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"! An American game first recorded in 1879, this involves dancing in a circle, singing about a green and yellow basket, dropping a handkerchief, someone picking it up, someone catching that someone, who is kissed and/or tells the name of their sweetheart. Unlike Nantasket, an Indian word meaning "place of low tides", neither "tisket" nor "tasket" has any particular meaning, though some have been assigned to them over the years. Clutter Hillas opposed to the actual name - Atlantic Hill - seems like a good backup, given both the 'then' and 'now' scenes. (Yes, it's been a vistor to SHORPY before, and, yes, it burned...naturally!) On the rocksWhen I was a kid in the '60s and '70s there were not many homes left on the rocks. We'd climb them for the view. I have photos from up there of Paragon Park in 1984, the park closed and its fate unknown to me at the time. In summer every Wednesday my mother would take us there, she'd hang out with friends, and we'd be on the beach. On Wednesdays there was a band concert under the pavilion (still there) and afterwards she'd take us to Paragon. On the boardwalk was the penny arcade, restaurants and a Fascination Room, some sort of machines played by adults. What I remember was on a blistering hot day walking past this place, the door would be opened, and you could feel the ice-cold AC coming out. My wife and I still go to Nantasket a few times a year, mostly off season, it's peaceful. We drive through Hull to the Hull Gut channel. From there you can watch boats passing through, and off in the distance see planes leaving and landing at Logan International Airport in Boston. I've always thought Nantasket is sort of underdeveloped for what it is. Selfishly that's OK by me. Back in the '80s there was talk of a casino, it didn't happen, and the land still has nothing on it. (The Gallery, DPC, Swimming)
Gentlemen Will Not Get Gay: 1925
... the "human roulette wheel" from the Fun House on the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, CA. It was a great ride except for flying off and ... the Playland Sal is now ensconced at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Man, if they only still had that giant clown face, what a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/03/2012 - 11:56am -

Funhouse at the Glen Echo amusement park in Maryland circa 1925. Note the many cryptic signs. View full size. National Photo Company glass negative. Ride it, too!There is still one of these operating at Luna Park, which is right on the Harbour in Sydney, Australia. Leave it to the Australians to take litigiousness out of the equation--have you seen how little padding their footballers wear? "The Nauseator"Boy, that ride looks truly thrilling. Human RouletteWashington Post May 21, 1911 A New Glen Echo Outdoor Amusement Grounds Present Many Attractive Features With the opening next Saturday afternoon of the Glen Echo Park, which under its new management of local business men, has been practically rebuilt in the last few months, the Washington summer outdoor amusement season will swing into full stride. No single department has been slighted in the complete rehabilitation of the Glen Echo Park, in which 50 attractions will be in operation when the gates are open next Saturday. Important among these is a new open air dancing pavilion, ample enough in area to permit of its use by 500 persons at the same time, and this is only one of a dozen structures recently erected to house the newest devices to provide fun and merriment in summer amusement parks. The spacious interior of the amphitheater has been entirely remodeled into a new midway, in which have been placed ten of the latest contraptions with which to defy the trials of the "dog days," including a "human roulette wheel" and a "giant slide-ride," said to be the largest in the United States. Other attractions include a novel marine toboggan, the "social dip," a thrilling topsy-turvy ride, Ferris wheel, modern miniature railway, a new boating pavilion at the canal bank. Some Observations1. It is awfully loud in there - See the kid lower-center. 2. Gentlemen Still Do Not Get Gay - 2008. 3. The Carneys are as well dressed the patrons. 4. Sometimes the Bull Moose isn't so fun - It's at those times that it may be necessary to actually shoot the Bull. Was this ride called the Bull Moose by chance? Don't Shoot The Bull meant don't loiter after the "ride" is over?? [Also, who can tell us which building this is. - Dave] Dangerous ridesWhen I see photos of old amusement park rides I'm always amazed how dangerous they look. They use the throw people around like rag dolls. They would never have such rides nowadays. Maybe people were tougher back then- or maybe they didn't have good personal injury lawyers! Sign, SignEverywhere a sign. 1. Sit down on the wheel don't stand up. 2. Do not get on or off roulette wheel while in motion. 3. Last night we hung one rowdy. The rope still works. 4. The operator is a bird. He is perched high just to make the wheels hum. 5. Forget your cares. Be a kid if only for an hour. 6. Gentlemen will not get gay. Others must not. 7. The bull moose is for fun. Don't shoot the bull. 8. If you find a four foot round square please hand it over to ru---. 9. Rowdyism is the birth-mark of a rough n---. 10. The answer to the question "Why is a mouse when it spins" is the higher the fewer. Human roulette wheelNo doubt Dave will remember the "human roulette wheel" from the Fun House on the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, CA. It was a great ride except for flying off and smashing into someone else or being smashed into. Funny but we all had a great time, survived, and didn't feel a need to sue anyone for a few bumps and bruises. [I think you mean tterrace. - Dave] High Ladder to slide....Look how high the children climbed to get onto the sliding spiral....that must have been half the thrill climbing up that high... Getting GayBased on one OED definition of gay: Forward, impertinent, too free in conduct, over-familiar; usually in the phrase "to get gay". U.S. slang. I'd translate the sign from 1925 slang: "Gentlemen will not get gay. Others must not" Into current vernacular as: "Real gentlemen won't act like jerks. Others had better not." Spinningtterrace does indeed remember a fun house ride like this, but at San Francisco's Playland at the Beach rather than Santa Cruz. Not sure what the official name was; I called it the turntable. It was smaller and less elaborate than this, and just one of many things in the Fun House. Know what the best thing was about these things? They were made of wood! Highly-polished (in large part by the posteriors of the fun-seekers) hardwood, like this one. The giant slide was, too, as well as the tumbler, a big revolving cylinder. Those were the days when falling on your keister was fun. Fun houseI spent many a fun filled hour in the late 1950s in the Fun House. The slide was a favorite and the long climb in the narrow, steep stairs was kinda cool also. Do you remember "Laughing Sally"? Laffing SalI didn't realize until I just now did some searching that it's "Laffing," not "Laughing" Sal, and that the automaton was not exclusive to SF's Playland at the Beach, but a standard fixture of old-style amusement parks since the 1930s. Additional surprise: the Playland Sal is now ensconced at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Man, if they only still had that giant clown face, what a then-and-now pic that would make, but they shut the fun house down in 1971 for liability reasons. Why is a mouse when it spins?I'm pretty sure the sign at the far right says "Why is a mouse when it spins?", not "house." This is a pretty well-known example of an "anti-joke" (others are the classic "Why did the chicken cross the road?" and the shaggy-dog story "No soap, radio"). There are various different "punch lines," but Google suggests that "the higher, the fewer" is the most common. I'm sure a historian of humour somewhere would be interested to find this documentation of the joke from 1925. [Yes it should be mouse. The joke is mentioned in an 1899 newspaper article ("Mr. Scullin' connundrum"). - Dave] Rowdyism and ReminiscencesThe one sign must be "Rowdyism is the birth-mark of a rough neck." Here in the Twin Cities, we had the Excelsior Amusement Park (on Lake Minnetonka) up until the early 70's. It was built in the early 20's and replaced a park that had been on Big Island in the middle of the lake. Excelsior Park had a fun house with similar attractions. The "roulette wheel" was rarely operational by the time I was around (in the 60's), but I do remember riding it once and staying on it until the operator gave up (I was near the center, didn't weigh much, and had sweaty palms). There was a revolving barrel, which they later built a catwalk through and decorated the interior with fluorescent paint and black lights. Apparently they got tired of rescuing people who fell down trying to walk through it. There was a giant slide, and one of those obstacle-course-like things with sliding or jumping floorboards. It was equipped with air jets, presumably for blasting ladies' skirts into the air, but no one was ever operating them in my day. There were a couple of other attractions in the fun house as well. I also remember that they had "Report Card Day". You could bring your report card, and for every A, you got 3 ride tickets, for every B you got 2, and for every C you got 1. Very nice of them. Other attractions included bumper cars with metal bumpers, a rotted wooden roller coaster that occasionally jumped the track (my folks never let me ride it), a little train that took you out on a pier over the lake and many of the usual rides - ferris wheel, scrambler, tilt-a-whirl, etc. The carousel was a work of art by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. It's the only part of the park that survives and is now an attraction at Valleyfair - the modern-day, sanitized theme park in the Twin Cities. Here's a link to a picture of the carousel: http://www.nca-usa.org/psp/ValleyfairPTC/001_34.html You can see others by clicking Previous or Next. Where's Sal?I thought Playland's Laffing Sal lived at the Musee Mechanique now (http://www.museemecaniquesf.com/). The SlideLongtime visitor, first time commenter ... love Shorpy. Anyway, there's a slide almost identical to this, from the same time period, in my home town of Burlington, Iowa. You can still go on it, and it is indeed terrifying climbing up those steps -- you don't realize how high it is until you're about halfway up. I have a photo but am not sure how to post it. [First, register as a user. Then log in and click the Upload Image link. - Dave] Re: Laffing SalHere is the Laffing Sal at Santa Cruz. As seen on the Silver ScreenI've seen this ride in a silent movie -- if I recall correctly, it was "The 'It' Girl" with Clara Bow. Looked like fun -- if I ever make it to Australia, I'll have to check it out! Looks boring for the womenNot much a woman of the time could have had fun doing there, modesty ya know. OopsYou're right, Dave, that was tterrace: https://www.shorpy.com/node/3695 No matter, thanks for stimulating so many great memories. Doug Playland-Not-at-the-BeachI am enjoying the posts about the old Fun House at Playland-at-the-Beach. In our Playland-Not-at-the-Beach museum in El Cerrito, California we have many artifacts from the beach amusements. A few points I would like to correct: 1.) The Fun House was not demolished in 1971. It was torn down after September 4, 1972 -- the date the whole park closed and was demolished to make room for condominiums. 2.) At San Francisco's Playland she was named Laughing Sal -- the variant spelling "Laffin' Sal" was used in many other parks across the country. She was also known as Laughing Lena and many other names. The Sals were mass produced and purchased by amusement parks out of a catalogue. 3.) The Laughing Sal that is now at Santa Cruz was the final Sal at San Francisco's Playland. There were earlier ones that wore out. Santa Cruz purchased her from the John Wickett estate for $ 50,000. Wickett had purchased her for $ 4000 decades before. To learn more, visit our website: www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org, or better yet, visit our museum for the time of your life! Richard Tuck Playland-Not-at-the-Beach 10979 San Pablo Avenue El Cerrito, CA 94530 Website is www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org email: Richard@playland-not-at-the-beach.org (510) 232-4264 x25 for reservations (510) 592-3002 24-Hour Information Line Does anyone else rememberDoes anyone else remember the "disembodied head" versions of this Laffing Sal thing that were a gift-store fad in the late '70s-early 80s and scared the crap out of me( and probably most other small kids) at the time? They don't seem to have stuck around very long, for obvious reasons. The WheelThe wheel at the Fun House in SF which I used to frequent in the early 40's I remember as having a low fence around it into which you slammed when you were eventually swooshed off the platter. Am I misremembering? This one looks a bit hazardous for passersby. Scariest thing for me? Those big padded spinning wheels you had to walk between to get in the place. My friends were usually well on their way before I worked up the nerve. Laughing Sal - East CoastFor those of us on the East Coast, the "Laughing Sal" who used to reside on the Ocean City, Maryland, Boardwalk is currently on display at the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum. She's no longer mobile and they have her enclosed in a glass case, but you can push a button to hear a recording of her laugh. In fact, if you click here, there's a (not very good) photo of her at the bottom of the page, and a sound clip of her laugh will automatically play, so turn up your speakers! Going UpSimilar slide in Burlington, IA: http://www.nolamansour.com/images/Thanksgiving07-08.jpg It is scarier going up than down. Crapo ParksI was born in Burlington & grew up in a neighboring town. I know I've gone down that slide but it's been years and I can't remember if the slide is at Dankwardt or Crapo Parks. (For those not familiar with the area, yes Crapo is an unfortuante name for a very pretty park. Pronounced "cray-po"). At Crapo, there are two artillery guns (I don't know exactly what they were - they had seats & long barrels). They were up on a bluff and I remember sitting on them and shooting imaginary shells to Illinois. Chautauqua AmphitheaterAccording to the historical marker at Glen Echo, this building was the original Chautauqua amphitheater built in 1891. It opened as the fun house in 1911 and operated till 1948. In 1956 the termite ridden building was burned to make room for a parking lot. Attractions in the building included, the Rocking Pigs, the Whirl-i-gig, Crossing The Ice, and the Barrel of Fun. The Anonymous Tipster (07/25/2008, 4:36pm.) is remembering correctly: the roulette wheel was later altered by sinking it into the ground resulting in a low wall around the edge. Thank YouI appreciate the translation, I've been sitting here (in our current Internet vernacular) going o_O trying to figure that one out, ha. (The Gallery, Natl Photo, Sports)
Greetings From Asbury Park: 1914
... The North End Hotel on the Ocean Grove side of the boardwalk circa 1914. George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. ... and I'm glad that she didn't live long enough to see the boardwalk fall into ruin. One of the large buildings (the Exhibition Hall?) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/23/2012 - 6:44pm -

"Asbury Park, New Jersey." The North End Hotel on the Ocean Grove side of the boardwalk circa 1914. George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. "In the Beautiful Seaside Air"That's the title of a Victor record by Billy Murray and the Peerless Quartet, circa 1915. My late Grandma's favorite vacation spot was Asbury Park, and I'm glad that she didn't live long enough to see the boardwalk fall into ruin. One of the large buildings (the Exhibition Hall?) once had a museum of player pianos and mechanical music boxes, which all worked. I wonder what happened to them? Postcard View Trim and FitA fantastic picture. Caught in mid-conversation, everyone seems so animated, even the onlookers on the benches. The men, as always, were in ties, sport coats and hats, even though it was probably summer. But what is really astonishing is that absolutely everyone in that picture is trim and fit, no fatties in sight anywhere that I can detect. Ninety-five years later, another picture taken in the same area would undoubtedly yield a broad selection of suburban New Jersey heavyweights. In case of fire -- run for your lifeThe lace on each of those dresses is gorgeous, and the expressions on the faces make you feel that you were really there. But on the far right is a bucket labeled for fire. If you tried to put out anything larger than a burning napkin with that little bucket you would be in sorry shape. There is no apparent supply of water with the bucket. What did they expect you to do, run off the boardwalk, over to the waves, and run back, one bucket at a time, to splash the fire out? [Weren't fire buckets usually full of sand? - Dave] Fourth of July, Asbury ParkGossip overheard on the boardwalk this day: "Did you hear, the cops finally busted Madam Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do?" Feels like I am right there.I love that you can get all the root beer and ginger ale you want for 5 cents! A Derby?Guy at bottom right: "You're on holiday, man - where's your straw boater?" DynamicsWhat a wonderful negative. I marvel at these treasures, some of which are well over 100 years old. I wonder how well our current generation of digital images will fare over this same time. My fear is that most of them will be lost forever. (I've already heard people bemoaning the loss of pictures they were to "busy" to transfer from an old computer to a new one.) But I digress. This picture is a wonderful microcosm of American society. There are dynamics at work here. A father and his "soon-to be flapper" daughter just exiting the bottom of the frame. Three young girls walking up the boardwalk, one of whom seems to be casting an eye back ... to what? (a rival?) Not far away is an animated discussion between three men. A little farther up, a family (?) of six females and two small boys, stretched out in a line. A man all alone, suffering from a cold (?) and on and on. Until up on the right, most disturbing of all, a small knot of men clustered at the swimming pool fence. Ansel Adams had the Zone System. I'm working on the points system. First I points it here, and then I points it there ... So Many ScenariosOne need not walk into the "SCENARIO" entrance to see them. For free, a lot of them are playing out right here. Here are some favorites: The Prohibition is clearly in force here. Against smiling. What a grim bunch of happy vacationers. The man talking in front right to the other two - he is flashing "East Side," homie. I hope he got the right sign back, for the sake of the man in the bowler. The man, dead center, blowing his nose. Look at the wide latitude he is given. No wonder. A runny nose in 1914 was fearsome. I give up trying to see what the young girl, front bottom center, is turning around to spy upon. If a young man is returning that gaze, about 20-30 people might be alive today as a direct result. The Summer of '47Wow! This brought me back to 62 years ago. I spent a week in Ocean Grove with a family of neighbors while my dad was on a business trip in Europe. High spots of the time there was at the Carousel on the Asbury side of the lagoon, going for the brass ring, and seeing a performance of "Pirates of Penzance" in the huge old wooden auditorium. Ocean Grove was an old Methodist tent-meeting resort back then, like Ocean City farther down the Jersey Coast, and Oak Bluffs up on Martha's Vineyard. At Saturday midnight, chains were put up on all streets entering the Grove to prevent any auto traffic on Sundays. I wonder if they still do that there. And thanks for putting up the old postcard to reorient me. Everyone is so thinin a good way. "By the sea........by the sea, by the beautiful sea, you and me, you and me, oh, how happy we'll be..." I don't know the rest of the words but it seems to precisely describe this photo of the halcyon days of 1914. Looks like a "barbershop quintet" of five similarly dressed males who just might be entertainers. Wish I was there. Oh, the clothes!I know, I know. If all we talked about in Shorpy comments was clothes, we could still be here all day. But this is one of my favorite fashion eras, where the elaborate styles of the nineteenth century were enjoying a happy marriage with the simpler, more practical ones of the twentieth. I could spend hours just poring over the lace insets the black-hatted lady in the lower right is sporting on her summer frock. The bemiddied teen girls at center are adorable, yet comfortable enough to play with the boys. And every man is Maurice Chevalier! Re: Can you hear me now?Is that person serious? You get a lot of comments like this, Dave? [No comment. - Dave] Can you hear me now?This is such a detailed recreation, it almost had me fooled. The man with the cell phone gives it away as a fake. He is about even with the man blowing his nose, a few paces to his right. Clever, Dave. But not clever enough :-) [Seeing as how his hand is empty, he's probably not chatting on his cell. - Dave] It was a jokeUm, I was joking. I guess I sounded too much like some of the genuine comments that insist Dave is trying to pull the wool over our eyes in some fashion. I'll try to be more obvious in my attempt at humor from now on. Love the site, and this picture in particular. Sunday DriversBob, sorry but they no longer put up the chains across the roads on Sunday. It ended back in the Seventies. Someone from New York, vacationing in Ocean Grove, complained that a Newspaper Delivery man was allowed to enter the Grove in the early hours on Sunday to deliver the Sunday paper. A lawsuit ensued and now the chains are gone. At one time nothing on wheels rolled in Ocean Grove on Sunday. Not bicycles or baby carriages. Everyone walked. Even cars had to be parked either in garages or out of town. Not on the streets of Ocean Grove. Most everything in Asbury Park and Ocean Grove, from that time, is gone. Even the carousel that had the brass ring is gone. I was born in Neptune and raised there about 60 years ago, and still live down by the beach. (The Gallery, Asbury Park, G.G. Bain, Sports)
The Funny Place: 1911
... evocative, as I've been watching the wonderful Boardwalk Empire. And that Steeplechase face is so iconically creepy, I love ... ready in the warm Atlantic surf, the big crowd up on the boardwalk is waiting for that annual favorite, the ever-so-sexy Wet Swimming ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 3:43pm -

Atlantic City circa 1911. "Bathing at the Steeplechase." George C. Tilyou's Steeplechase Pier and some interesting signage, including a bear-filled Steiff Toys billboard. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Full Moon OutLooks like a little wardrobe problem. Pre-Alfred E.I believe we have the inspiration for the first "What, me worry?" kid. Nucky's WorldThanks for all the recent AC shots. They're particularly evocative, as I've been watching the wonderful Boardwalk Empire. And that Steeplechase face is so iconically creepy, I love whenever it pops up. Only one reason for such a turnoutAs hundreds of young ladies make ready in the warm Atlantic surf, the big crowd up on the boardwalk is waiting for that annual favorite, the ever-so-sexy Wet Swimming Gown Contest. Inspiration for the Coppertone kidin the straw hat. Backward sign"Lipschitz Cigars"? That's true, especially if you don't light 'em. Hello!And we have one guy staring back at the camera with a big "hiya!" for the future. Large Swimmies?Or has this bather got air pockets in their swimwear? I think that is a hat this person is wearing. Mystery SolvedSo Atlantic City is where Hannibal Lecter grew up. Master of his domainWhy, yes, here I am. It's Tillie!Anyone who went to Asbury Park, NJ before 2004 will remember Tillie, the famous mascot on the side of the Palace Casino. I realize now that he is named after George Tilyou. Tilyou must have built both amusement park piers. Thank you for teaching me something new about my beloved home state and one of its beloved icons. [update: "Tillie" was indeed Tilyou's mascot. appearing on the Steeplechase Piers at both Coney Island and Atlantic City, and the Palace Casino in Asbury Park. Tilyou deserves his own day of recognition for bringing so much pleasure to decades of visitors to the NY/NJ shore resorts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillie] No Way to Explain New York Magazine, Jun 28, 1993 Summer Places By Pete Hammill There is no way to explain to today's young about the vanished past. But it retains a fierce power. On a recent visit, I walked west on the boardwalk and saw the Parachute Jump rising 260 feet above the summer sky. The old ride had been repainted, landmarked, fenced off, existing now only as a piece of municipal structure, a monument to what we lost. Worse, it is all that remains of Steeplechase - The Funny Place, the fifteen-acre amusement park that George C. Tilyou founded in 1897 and that was vividly alive when I was in my teens. The symbol of the park was a huge grinning face, a slightly menacing mixture of Alfred E. Neuman and the Joker. A mechanical racehorse round around the edges of the park, the carved wooden horses and their live human riders moving into the dells and over water and above hedges, while music played on a blurred sound system. Steeplechase charged a general-admission price that kept out the winos and the riffraff (bragged those who paid), but that didn't free it of Coney Island's tawdry charms. The rides and runways were packed with thousands of people, eating corn, cotton candy, ice-cream cones. During World War II, you saw sailors in the park, laughing wildly in bumper cars, moving kids aside to try games of chance and sometimes winning plaster Kewpie dolls and stuffed animals. Oops, after posting this I learned that the above extract of a Pete Hammill column is probably referring to the Steeplechase Pier at Coney Island, not the one in Atlantic City. Apparently the Alfred E. Neuman/Joker face was a signature logo of the franchise. These make me a bit sadEvery time I see people of this era enjoying what was to be the very last years of stability I get a little morose thinking what was to come for them. They are all gone now and with them stories of a much simpler time. [This was an era of mind-boggling change. There were people alive in 1911 who were born in a world without trains, planes, automobiles, electricity, telegraphs, radio, phonographs, motion pictures or telephones, and then came to see all of these things during their lives. Hardly "simple times." - Dave] PioneerYesterday I watched the 1952 movie, Million Dollar Mermaid, on TCM about the Australian swimming champ Annette Kellerman (played by Esther Williams). It had a beach scene that took place in 1907 and the bathing suits looked just like this. Kellerman was one of the first to popularize tight fitting one piece bathing suits for women and was even arrested for indecency for wearing one in Massachusetts! Lucky NuckyEnoch "Nucky" Thompson (re: Boardwalk Empire) is probably sitting over there, cigarette in hand, glass of bourbon (neat) on the table, counting his money! Re: ... a bit sadMy grandmother was one of those people Dave refers to in his comment response below. She was born 19 years before the Wright Brothers' first flight, and died five years after we'd landed on the moon. Marking time with Halley's CometI think it was fascinating that Mark Twain was born in a year when Halley's Comet was visible on earth and he died at 74 while it was once again visible on earth. Astronomers estimate it passes approx. every 74 to 75 yrs. apart and I got to thinking that my mother saw it twice since she was born in 1910 (the year Samuel Clemons died) and lived until 1995, ten years after its 1985 return. Though we tend to get nostalgic for our loved ones and wish they were here to see what is happening now, we don't realize all the experiences and adventures they had which we will never know and will never come again. Every era has its redeeming events and we have no choice but to live in the world in which we find ourselves. My mom fondly remembered the depression years as being her favorite for special memories even though they were living an austere life. She was in the bloom of youth, beautifully good-looking, madly in love with her husband, had her children then and enjoyed endless good friends and made life-long relationships. She lived close to the 1939 World's Fair in NYC for that year. The lack of money was part of her joy-filled memories of "making-do", simple amusements like the beach above (they had buses), common every-day activities were relished, no car, no vacations, thrifty creative cooking, just totally embracing the intangible happiness of loving and living life. She never seemed envious or resentful of the affluent, but thrived in living her life with enthusiasm and survived well into the age of computers, space stations and skype, surely a life well-lived. Yes, time machines would be great, but will never happen, so we might as well live while we can. Unlike Halley's comet, we only go around once. Those SwimmiesThose "large swimmies" are probably Ayvad's Water-Wings, made in Hoboken. Meant for either adults or children as an aid to swimming or learning to swim, they were canvas, coated on the inside with some sort of water-repellent substance, and had a stopper made out of wood and metal. I have an old pair in pristine condition. You can still find them quite frequently on eBay. I think they were marketed from about 1900 to 1930, so there are lots of pairs still out there. You can also spot them in old mail order catalogues. Harlot!Who is the slut showing her knees just above the SHORPY watermark?! Re: a bit sadThe comment regarding people living in these times and having all these new inventions reminds me of my grandmother, who was born in 1903 and lived on a farm for her first 20 years. She died at age 105 in 2008. About five years ago I asked her what she thought was the most important improvement had happened in her lifetime. To my surprise she said the invention of the tractor was the happiest for her. It unburdened the hard life the draft horses on the farm had. They still used them to pull the wagon to take them to town, but they didn't have to work in the fields anymore. Grandma was sharp as a tack til the day she died, so it wasn't dementia talking. The StrandI see a building with signage calling it the Strand. I am familiar with one in Galveston, TX which has historical significance back to prior the famous 1900 hurricane. Are these related? Was there a chain of Hotels under this name? ["Strand" means beach. - Dave] (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Swimming)
Keep Smiling: 1906
The Jersey shore circa 1906. "Rolling chair on the Boardwalk, Atlantic City." In the distance, the giant safety razor seen on the ... This resort wears the aspect of summer, with a crowded boardwalk, and ideal sky, warm breeze, and everything in the way of amusement ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 11:39am -

The Jersey shore circa 1906. "Rolling chair on the Boardwalk, Atlantic City." In the distance, the giant safety razor seen on the Gillette sign in the previous post. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Keep SmilingWhaddaya mean, keep smiling ? I AM smiling. The Wicked Witch of the East?The smiling, striding woman on the left is a dead ringer for Margaret Hamilton. Ouch!I was admiring the smiling lady, which seems uncommon in this period, and when I panned over to the stern couple in the rolling chair with the sign I laughed myself out of my chair. Thanks Dave, this is the most delightful photo I've seen. A Short Time LaterI hope the poor bugger in the rolling chair hopped out and ran away with the smiling lady and left that evil eyed old biddy behind. Hotel TraymoreAs noted in Dave's comment, vantage point for the previous birds-eye view of the beach. Is it a smileor a maniacal grin? The lady on the left seems to be holding her cane in a very threatening way. Perhaps it's her husband in the rolling chair running off with her mother! Rolling chairsAh, that's what you call them. I was thinking maybe "nobility scooter." Hello Pork Pie HatLove the gent's hat. A cool modern topper, especially compared to the fusty lady sitting next to him. Rolling Chair Evils Washington Post, Apr 22, 1900 Reforms in Atlantic City Rolling-Chair Evil Regulated This resort wears the aspect of summer, with a crowded boardwalk, and ideal sky, warm breeze, and everything in the way of amusement and entertainment in full swing. So great is the multitude of people that certain features of the city which have given it its attractiveness promise to become, and to certain extent now are, veritable nuisances. Once of these is the rolling chair, which every invalid who has ever been here and many of the perfectly able visitors know and have enjoyed. There are other visitors, those of the pedestrian class, who find their strolls on the Boardwalk at times almost blocked by the chairs, which line up five and six across the walk. There are no less than 600 of them. But a new grievance against the chairs has come up. Careless attendants have recently been employed, and because of the rolling of the chairs against a number of visitors, several handsome Easter promenade gowns have been torn, and others ruined by the dust and grease from the unprotected wheels. The authorities have now stepped in with vigor, and all the chair attendants are to be uniformed, provided with badges, and are to held accountable to the police department. This move will be hailed with general satisfaction. The morals of the Boardwalk have also been tuned up by the authorities. It took the police an entire week to learn that one or two mutascope showmen were exhibiting for "a nickel a look," scores of pictures decidedly "Frenchy." Then one morning Mayor Frank Stoy and a Baptist clergyman took a stroll and examined the pictures. Before night official orders were issued, and before morning the mutascope men had changed the pictures in toto, and now complain that business has fallen off. But the police order stands. Washington Post, Feb 12, 1939 Atlantic City Rolling Chairs Prove Popular The Boardwalk rolling chair, almost exclusively an Atlantic City vehicle, which was first introduced in 1887, is still a popular feature in the resort. The late George Hayday at first rented the chairs to invalids, who found the Boardwalk chair rides stimulating but later learned that persons in the best of health also enjoyed the chairs. The chairs, which are constructed here, were later enlarged to accommodate two or three persons. There are now 1,500 in use. Everyone who has ever visited Atlantic City will remember them and many a romance has started under the moon in a Boardwalk rolling chair. Should the weather prove to be a trifle cool, a warm robe and glass windshield protect the ride. Amazing photoIt's almost surreal the way the characters pop out of this photo. The clarity of those early lenses makes one wonder why modern cameras can't match the dots per inch. Amazing! [It's not so much the clarity of the lens as the size of the "image sensor." In this case, a humongous 8 by 10 inches. - Dave] Sun GrinsThe "smiling lady" doesn't seem to be smiling to me. She has the same expression I do when I go outside and forget my sunglasses. I have VERY light sensitive eyes and end up with the "sun grins" without my sunglasses, even in cloudy weather. I can easily assume I'm not the only one to have this problem. DopplegangerLooks like Amy Winehouse stumbled into a time machine. The third wheel Oh God, Harold, She's gaining on us, give the man another dollar! (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Travel & Vacation)
New Garden Pier: 1920
The Jersey Shore circa 1920. "Atlantic City Boardwalk and New Garden Pier." An apt seaside metaphor might be the billboard ... full size. 136 people on the beach, 78,000 on the boardwalk, also a second (third) story man caught in the act. Heisey's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/28/2013 - 11:22pm -

The Jersey Shore circa 1920. "Atlantic City Boardwalk and New Garden Pier." An apt seaside metaphor might be the billboard as a sort of terrestrial barnacle, encrusting every available surface with ads for yarn, hair nets, cough drops and typewriters. 5x7 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. 136 peopleon the beach, 78,000 on the boardwalk, also a second (third) story man caught in the act. Heisey's GlasswareThe A. H. Heisey Glass Company was established in Newark, Ohio in 1896. At first Heisey produced mould pressed patterns that simulated cut glass styles of the era. Table sets, cruets, small condiment jars, bowls and syrups were a large part of this production. By 1920, many of these early patterns were no longer considered stylish and Heisey was forced to join the new trend as consumer interest moved toward etched and cut patterns. During the 1920's many glass companies began to focus on color and Heisey was no exception. Vaseline glassware was made in the early 1920's. Later, about 1925, Moongleam (green) and Flamingo (pink) were introduced. Other distinctive colors soon followed and and the period from 1925 to 1938 was Heisey's most prolific color era. Heisey Glass Company Can someone direct meCan someone tell me what "Direction of Stanley Co." refers to, which appears just below the 'Globe' advertisement? I cannot for the life of me figure just what that means, unless there is some part of the sign which is not in view here. Great to see that young Shorpy had tagged the pier with his name. [The Stanley Company of America was a theatrical booking agency, owned and operated theaters and was a pioneer in motion picture exhibition. The Globe Theatre sign advertises the fact that their attractions are supplied by the company and are therefore as wonderful as you'd expect from them. - tterrace] Sumo ping pong?Dave knew when he posted this that someone would comment on the sign for Japanese Ping Pong. But I won't, I won't ... the heck I won't -- I give up, is it any different than any other country's ping pong? BTW happy to see the dog being walked on the beach found the newspapers to do his duty. The BeachDo the folks crammed on the boardwalk know it's there? So Crowded!I can't believe the congestion on the street. It must be a cooler day, as I see coats and overcoats on many folks. Notice the man climbing out the window to the right of the Luden's sign? Or the two men standing on the roof just below the "For Rent" sign and gazing at the crowds below? What a great photo! [That "street" is the Atlantic City Boardwalk. - Dave] BernaysThanks, to Ishadoff, for your information on Edward L. Bernays! The first thing I noticed in this picture was the ad for the hair nets, and thought of how their business was soon going to be drastically reduced by the popularity of the "bob". I remember Grandpa's sisters telling me about getting their hair bobbed and then going to the photographic studio and getting their pictures taken. Their mother was furious and told them not to expect her to put those pictures out on the piano, with all of the other portraits. Within a few months, however, she had her own hair bobbed! I guess we have Mr. Bernays to blame for the "lunch lady" look! Edward L. Bernays and Venida Hair NetsEdward L. Bernays (1891-1995), American consultant to business and government, labored to bring public relations to the status of a profession. Bernays' campaigns for Venida hair nets and Procter & Gamble during the 1920s and Lucky Strike cigarettes during the 1930s provide good examples of his methods. At that time shorter hair styles were becoming the fashion among younger women. This development was a matter of no small concern to the manufacturers of Venida hair nets, who saw the market for their product disappearing along with longer tresses. Bernays was called upon for his advice. Soon prominent women were publicly expressing their preference for long hair over short and assorted authorities were warning of the dangers of unbound hair in factories and restaurants. In response, a number of state governments passed legislation requiring the wearing of hair nets on the job. Edward L. Bernays Some products don't melt awayLuden's cough drops are still with us! Japanese Ping PongJapanese Ping Pong appears to be an arcade game where one rolled balls across a table aiming to sink them through numbered holes. The table may have contained depressions or other topography to increase the challenge. The Poultry Item, April 1914. While visiting Atlantic City a young married farm couple became interested in Japanese Ping-Pong, a game consisting of an oblong table with twelve holes at one end, each bearing a certain number, and ten balls which are rolled from the opposite end with desire to score in these holes. Whenever they went for a stroll his wife edged and schemed to reach the ping pong tables. In a short time she developed enough skill—and luck—to get the second highest possible score. The game became an interesting feature of their vacation. "If the game is enjoyable here it will surely be entertaining at home," they decided. Before leaving the shore he bought a second-hand table and some balls for less than five dollars, had them packed and shipped home where fine emery paper and a little labor placed the game in an excellent condition. The following winter found friends and family turning many dull and dreary evenings into happy ones with newly found game from Atlantic City.
Islesworth Gardens: 1906
... of the casinos, locales such as this, evidently at the Boardwalk, are completely gone. I'll have to make a trip there with a camera ... House. Every morning was an open air breakfast on the Boardwalk, then to the beach and back to the Manlor to squirt off the sand in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 12:32pm -

Continuing our trip to Atlantic City circa 1906. "Islesworth Gardens Hotel, Virginia Avenue." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Just for a momentI thought the woman in the streetcar was texting a friend. Then I woke up! Great shot!I think the Trump Taj Mahal casino is there now. All GoneI'm about an hour's drive from Atlantic City, though not being a gambler, I don't go there often. With the advent of the casinos, locales such as this, evidently at the Boardwalk, are completely gone. I'll have to make a trip there with a camera and some of these old pictures to see the differences. Thanks for all the great pictures. The Streetcar!At first I was confused with the streetcar having its pole up in the wrong direction for a double track line but then I noticed that there is a crossover (a pair of switches in the street) allowing the car to "turn back" or "short turn" without having to go to the end of the route. The pole has been turned but the seats are still facing the wrong direction. The faded lettering on the sign on the roof also suggests that this car might not be going to the end of the line. InterestingThe only people I see around here using parasols are Asians. Remembering Atlantic City in the 1950sOur family vacationed in Atlantic City for many summers in the 1950s. We would load up our old Buick, include the dog, and take off from Cincinnati for that glorious week on the Jersey Shore. We stayed in an old converted mansion on North Carolina Avenue called the Manlor Guest House. Every morning was an open air breakfast on the Boardwalk, then to the beach and back to the Manlor to squirt off the sand in the backyard and go to dinner at Betty's Restaurant. The Manlor is long gone along with all the other old converted homes but those places had a charm that no Holiday Inn could replace. Look through the windowYoung lady in the window under the letter "N" of the streetcar looks like she just realized she has purchased the wrong ticket. TrumpedIf this is where the Trump Taj is now, I think it looked much better then! Her TownThe sidewalks are full of Mary Poppinses. The End of the Line or Back at 'Go'?The streetcar in the photo is interesting, having just arrived at this location on the track closest to the curb and the horse cabs. The car seatbacks are in position indicating the right end of the car was the front on arrival, the seat backs could be flipped over depending on car's direction. The outer arm rests are on the window ledges. The seats at the front and rear two side windows would have their backs to the window, the patrons facing the aisle. On cars with sanders the sand boxes would often be located under these lengthways seats which hinged up when filling with sand. However, the trolley pole has been moved around so the car will now travel right to left when it starts on it's next journey, the left end now the front. The car is short enough, altho' it has two 4-wheel trucks beneath, that the Motorman or Conductor could walk the trolley pole around with the trolley pole rope still able to hang over the end at either end with the trolley pole stand centered lengthways on the car roof. Without the trolley pole rope overhanging it would be difficult to centre the trolley pulley on the wire. A longer two-truck car would have to have a separate trolley pole at each end. There were also parameters governing the placement of the trolley pole stand on the car roof so that the pulley would track on the wire properly when the car beneath turned at a track switch at an intersection or went straight thru. Now, there are TWO tracks in the street, and this car will cross over to the far track to 'Run on the right' as it moves ahead on it's new journey. The 'crossover' in the street is visible by the man's head above the nearest horse cab and thru the cab behind. Thank You. Phones in RoomsThe Islesworth Gardens Hotel was popular with conventioneers (pharmacists, railroad ticket agents, elevator operators ...) 1908 Advertisement Impossible waistsThe women wearing corsets have those impossibly small wasp waists. I wonder about the young woman walking toward the camera. She appears to have a normal waist. The corset must have exacerbated the heat problem. Give me my smelling salts. And Gracious Sakes, I see a few women without their hats in public! City of the FutureIt looks like a futuristic city of dollhouses. They had some kind of super "green" vehicle that ran on hay and produced fertilizer instead of carbon monoxide... and even mass transit that ran on electricity! Wow, imagine if we could harness that kind of technology. No sunscreen requiredI but none of these people is thinking about sunscreen! Also, its a shame that we don't use parasols anymore. I count about 15 in this picture (if you count both sides of the street). Dress CodeNo shorts or tank-tops allowed! Good MannersNotice that the men use proper etiquette when walking with a female companion. The man walks on the street side, ladies to the inside. By the way, what is the covering on the roofs of the horse cabs? Is it some kind of treated cloth? In praise of ShorpyShorpy is my all time favorite web site ! It's like having a portal to the past. Shorpy lets us see in incredible detail what life was like decades ago. I tell everyone I know about this fantastic site. My problem with this site is that I could spend all day looking at the photos. Thank you for all of the work you do in making these Library of Congress photos look as good as they do. Fastest Way to Ocean CityThat interurban trolley on the right is from the Shore Fast Line connecting Atlantic City to Ocean City, New Jersey. It operated into the 1940s and was immortalized as the Short Line on the Monopoly game board. Car 6812West Jersey and Seashore Type Q semi-convertible, built by the J. G. Brill Co., Phila, 1904-05. Originally single ended, rebuilt as double ended car in 1908. Sold off in 1913-14 when new "Nearside" cars were delivered. The cars, incidentally, are numbered in the Pennsylvania Railroad fleet as the WJ&S was a PRR subsidiary. This is the kind of picturethat deserves the "even bigger" option, or the colorized version. Lovely, absolutely lovely in every detail. Exquisite photo. Speaking of Monopoly RR'sDid we ever find out why Darrow used the B&O railroad for his game? The Baltimore and Ohio never served Atlantic City; only the Shore Fast, Reading, Pennsylvania (later these would merge into the PRSL) and the Central RR of NJ (with it's its infamous Blue Comet) did. From Atlantic City to Ocean CityThe trolley advertises 2 ways to get to Ocean City: "SHORE FAST LINE ELECTRIC FLYERS VIA GREAT EGG HARBOR BAY" "ATLANTIC AVE. TROLLEY AND BOAT VIA LONGPORT" No. 6818 is a local Atlantic City car, maybe even a shuttle out to Atlantic Avenue. It does not have 3rd rail shoes, which Shore Fast Line cars needed, as they used a part of the West Jersey & Seashore RR to get across the meadows between West Atlantic City and Pleasantville, where the electrified railroad didn't use overhead wire. Shore Fast Line ran between Virginia Avenue and the Boardwalk, Atlantic City to 8th Street and the Boardwalk, Ocean City, both on barrier islands, via the Mainland. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Streetcars, Travel & Vacation)
The Steel Pier: 1904
... Past," and looking at the section on Atlantic City's Boardwalk. The book also mentioned the Steel Pier, which is the first time I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 11:08am -

The Jersey shore circa 1904. "Steel Pier, Atlantic City." Can anything compare to Atlantic City in the summer, and the feel of sand in your bathing-socks? 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Sand MosaicWow. At least three black families here. Great picture!There is a guy lying on the other guy's hip as a pillow -- now that's not something you would see today! Everyone is very appropriately dressed, not a inch of elbow or knee showing. How strange the Victorian era must of been. I suspect there is enough cloth in this one picture to dress the entire East Coast of beach-going folks today. What would they think?Suppose these folks woke up on a beach in Brazil and saw how the sunbathers looked nowadays. Misery Loves CompanyAnother miserable day at the beach according to these poor vacationers. Not a smile to be seen! An odd photoI'll give an internets for every smiling face you can find. Bathing Socks?I see exactly one pair of unsocked feet. Virtually everyone has enough clothes on to weather a Noreaster in November. Why go to the beach at all? Hot? Cold?I'd like to know what time of year this was taken. No shadows. Body LanguageFor the young couple by the black umbrella, there is nobody else on the beach. True GritIt always strikes me how REALLY well-dressed beach-goers could be in the early 1900s. They aren't just fully-dressed -- they're wearing suits and hats and white dresses for a day in the hot sun and gritty sand! What never ceases to amaze me is that few (if any) people bring a blanket or towel to lie on. There they are, in their nice clothes just sitting and lying directly on the sand. Many of the men (and some of the women) are sitting on suit jackets, getting them all mashed up and sandy. Way more surprising than that, though, is the number of women in white dresses and/or white blouses lying partially on newspapers (possibly because the sand is so hot). All I can think when I see THAT is that they must have newsprint ink smeared all over their nice white clothes! Got a laundress?The privileged classes employed a washerwoman to launder all of these clothes. Otherwise, you stoked up the fire on Monday morning and boiled and stirred all day long. Good old bluing kept the whites white. I, too, am always astounded at how heavily dressed our ancestors were in the heat of the East Coast summers. Prior to this time period, in the latter half of the 19th century, bathing machines were on the beaches in the UK. They looked like little sheds, and you went into them, disrobed, put on your heavy-duty bathing costume, and ejected yourself into the waves. No witnesses. So this photo represents a gradual pull away from that Victorian commodity. Peppermint TwistJoey Dee and the Starlighters did this song, not Chubby Checker. In the age of wiki and google, I kind of feel foolish pointing this out, but then I am also in an age where most people aren't old enough to remember this. Castles in the sandI like seeing "flip bucket" castles here and there. Some things never change! Back to SchoolThe Steel Pier. Atlantic City. This is where Thornton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) developed and practiced his now famous "Triple Lindy" dive. Why go to the beach......if you aren't going in the water?? The people up on the pier must be enjoying the cool breezes without the hot sun shining on them! The view is just as nice above as below - so what is the attraction for the hot sand? More space maybe?? AND does anybody know what those big elaborate buildings house? Great pic - thanks again!!! No action?"How strange the Victorian era must of been." Well, Edwardian, to be precise. And all folks are doing is sitting, standing, or lying around. No activities of any kind. Isn't watching waves come in kind of like watching grass grow? Summer of '62Forty eight years ago, I watched Chubby Checker perform on the Steel Pier as he unveiled his second "twist" record, "The Peppermint Twist".. The "Pier" has an interesting history of storm damage, rebuilding, fires, rebuilding, diminishment, rebuilding, Miss America contest runways, cut-offs and add-ons. Seems like right now Donald Trump has made it an entertainment center once again. In 1904 when this photo was taken, my grandfather had just arrived at Ellis Island from Poland and in WW2, my uncle was stationed there, as Atlantic City was an Army training camp. A fascinating location, thanks Shorpy for the long trip down Memory Lane. Intergrated Too Couple hundred miles south and there would be a Blacks Only and a Whites Only beach sections. Good to see this intergration. [Yers. - Dave] What a coincidenceJust earlier today I was reading an older book entitled "Discovering America's Past," and looking at the section on Atlantic City's Boardwalk. The book also mentioned the Steel Pier, which is the first time I had heard of it. They didn't have a photo so I was glad to see one today. Seven inchesOf exposed skin in the whole field of view. I'm afraid I'll be underdressedHoney, where's my tie, vest, socks and garters and celluloid collar and second best coat? I'm going to the beach! Why go to the beach? Fresh air is the reason.We forget that most people lived in apartment buildings or rooming houses with few fans and obviously no A/C. It was common for people to leave their rooms for the day just to get out to where the air was fresh and a breeze might blow. In the summer months (at this time) in Chicago, people (whole families) slept in the parks at night if it was hot. In a time when illness was spread from living in close quarters people were encouraged to take the air to stay healthy. Given there was no TV or radio and few recordings in peoples homes - why not head out rather than sit in your stuffy rooms? Massacre!All those fully clothed bodies lying about on the beach remind me of corpses. Perhaps I have been watching too many cop shows. Oh Look! A ShorpyShooter!At least there's a camera on a tripod toward the front left, and who knows how much insight the cameraman has about future venues for his pictures! Steel AppearI watched Al Hirt's Steel Pier dance show on our black-and-white TV in the early '60s. It was like American Bandstand next to the ocean. I had no idea what a pier was, so I thought the show was called Steel Appear because it "appeared" on TV. (And I had no idea why the word "steel" was in the name, either.) Bathing suitsMy mother was telling me today my grandmother was scandalized by the appearance of men's bathing shorts. She felt that my grandfather's bathing suit, which in the 1920s consisted of a one-piece outfit with t-shirt length sleeves and cut mid-thigh, bordered on impropriety. My grandfather, a Presbyterian minister, wasn't the least concerned. Chicken Bone BeachThis is another in a series of images from Atlantic City. Last year Shorpy published a view that included a well dressed black family in the foreground. Now we find, in the photographic evidence, black families on the beach again. However, an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the beaches were restricted in most Jersey coastal towns, including Atlantic City. The story says that these beaches, presumably including "Chicken Bone Beach" in Atlantic City, were staffed with black lifeguards. A person quoted in the article says that "there were no signs saying colored-only beach ... you just knew your place." I think that the photographic evidence to the contrary is an inconvenient problem for some histories. The Diving HorseI was a young lad of about 6 when my parents took my younger brother and I to the Steel Pier in AC to see the famous Diving Horse. This was about 55 years ago. The horse didn't actually dive into the water; the front half of the platform the horse was standing on collapsed and forced the horse and rider to slide into the water from about five stories high. I felt sorry for the horse and worse later in life when I read that a few of the horses they used died of heart attacks from the experience. I also had to sit through a Vaughn Monroe performance and I'm not sure which was worse for a 6 year old. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Swimming)
Coney Island: 1905
... of them weighed more than three pounds. They shared the Boardwalk there on Coney Island with Violetta the Armless Legless Wonder, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2012 - 3:03pm -

Luna Park at Coney Island circa 1905. Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. Tonight only: "Infant incubators with living infants." View full size. EtherealThis is such a good shot; long exposure with unearthly looking lights. Ric Burns did a superb documentary on Coney, the incubators were quite an attraction. Infant incubatorsWere they space-age incubators designed to make super-babies? Or just run-of-the-mill babies for people who had never had one of their own? Coney PreemiesAnd Next to the Bearded Lady, Premature Babies (NYT) The babies were lined up under heaters and they breathed filtered air. Few of them weighed more than three pounds. They shared the Boardwalk there on Coney Island with Violetta the Armless Legless Wonder, Princess WeeWee, Ajax the Sword-Swallower and all the rest. From 1903 until the early 1940's, premature infants in incubators were part of the carnival. It cost a quarter to see the babies, and people came again and again, to coo and to gasp and say look how small, look how small. There were twins, even, George and Norma Johnson, born the day before Independence Day in 1937. They had four and a half pounds between them, appearing in the world a month too soon because Dorothy Johnson stepped off a curb wrong and went into labor. All those quarters bought a big house at Sea Gate for Dr. Martin A. Couney, the man who put the Coney Island babies on display. He died broken and forgotten in 1950 at 80 years old. The doctor was shunned as an unseemly showman in his time, even as he was credited with popularizing incubators and saving thousands of babies. History did not know what to do; he was inspired and single-minded, distasteful and heroic, ultimately confounding. More here. Infants in IncubatorsSounds like something out of a Tom Waits song -- you know, along with Horse-Faced Ethel and the girl with the tattooed tear. Did you have fun at Coney Island?"Yeah, I spent all night checking out the babes." Medical HistoryThe incubators were extremely important in drawing attention to premature infants - and in raising money to advance the research. Countless babies were saved by the facilities at Coney Island, and countless more saved afterward thanks to the research and effort Dr. Couney began. As distasteful as putting infants on display may seem, I humbly bow to his memory. If he hadn`t taken the first steps, medicine may not have gotten up to the level it is today in that field. And my son probably wouldn`t be running around healthy after having been born at 14 ounces. Coney's CouneyThe Coney Island History Project inducted Dr. Couney into the Coney Island Hall of Fame. "By 1939, he had treated more than 8,000 babies and saved the lives of 6,500. One of them was his daughter, who had weighed less than three pounds at birth. Couney operated under constant criticism and numerous attempts to shut down his exhibit, which many considered to be "against maternal nature." But Couney persisted and provided medical care for the children of parents otherwise unable to afford it. By the time his Luna Park exhibit closed in 1943, Couney's methods were being used in mainstream hospitals." More here. Plus some interviews with Couney's "incubator babies" and their relatives. Fascinating!I never realized that the technology that saved my twin boys' lives was pioneered in an amusement park. It would never fly today but thank goodness it did then! Coney PreemiesThis type of showmanship used to be common. As a former preemie (born in the '70's) it's interesting to know what came before. Thank you!I was born premature myself, 10 weeks early, weighing only 2 pounds 6 oz, with a hole in my heart that required surgery - after which I weighed less than a pound. It's thanks to the work of this doctor that I am alive today, and it's sad to read that after developing the technology that would save so many lives, he died forgotten. Man eating chickenI do not intend to be in a world of my own, but these comments reminded me of the time our family was completely bamboozled at the State Fair of Oklahoma by a canvas sign at the sideshow proclaiming "See the enormous LIVE man-eating chicken" (yes, I know - everybody got it but us) and of course we all paid our quarter and went behind the stage to see just that, a very large man sitting at a table eating chicken! Boy, did we learn a valuable lesson. It was just a few years later that the fraudulent labels were prohibited in those shows but numbskulls like us have become much more cautious. Live and learn. Dying by degreesConey Island has been dying by degrees for decades. It lost a lot of the old luster when Luna Park burned down in 1945 and Robert Moses ordered the land rezoned for public housing instead of amusements (Moses apparently hated the area's "tawdry amusements"). In 1953 he had the whole area rezoned for public housing and announced plans to demolish all of the amusements. This was eventually fought and the area between 22nd and the Cyclone were retained as an "amusements only" area. The last of the three great parks, Steeplechase, closed in 1964 and was demolished by Fred Trump (Donald's father) before the site could be given landmark status. He wanted to build more low cost housing but couldn't get the zoning changed. Current efforts by a group called Thor Equities are responsible for the sale and closure of Astroland. Closed.Coney Island seems to be closing for good. It's sad to think of the millions of people who had such fond memories there over the years. I guess it's true- Time eventually catches up with us all. http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20080907/Coney.Island/ [Coney Island, which is a great big actual island, is not closing. Astroland, which is closing, is one of the amusement parks there. Two famous Coney Island attractions, the Cyclone wooden roller coaster and the Wonder Wheel at Deno’s Amusement Park, won't be affected. - Dave] Couney on Coney"Growing Up On Long Island" is being presented at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook until the fall. Included is the story of Dr. Couney and the babies he saved at Coney Island. What a great presentation! Toys, games, child labor, celebrities, interviews, Bannister babies, and more. For info, call 631-751-0066 or email mail@longislandmuseum.org. (The Gallery, Coney Island, DPC, Sports)
Hotel Poinsettia: 1915
Circa 1915. "The beach and Boardwalk, Atlantic City." Back to the beach with another high-resolution ... between the crowds in their finery promenading on the Boardwalk, and the laid back people cavorting on the beach. So many candid ... stick to the old days This current shot of the AC Boardwalk so totally lacks the fun and energy of the 1915 picture. So much for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:35pm -

Circa 1915. "The beach and Boardwalk, Atlantic City." Back to the beach with another high-resolution panorama, this one made from two 8x10 inch glass negatives. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Beach AttireSkimmers for the gents and parasols for the ladies was all the fashion. But I think of that iconic photo of Richard Nixon walking on the SoCal beach in his suit when I see photos like this one. Nowadays I doubt you'd see long pants at the beach let alone a full suit or fancy dress. TraditionYa gotta build a sand castle! It's almost a rule! Interesting to note the evolution of swimwear when this shot is compared to earlier photos of beaches, either here or at Coney Island. These panorama are such a treat, especially when the radio just happens to be playing the Nat King Cole song, "Those Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer!" Perfect Timing. ContrastsThis photograph is a wonderful example of the difference between the crowds in their finery promenading on the Boardwalk, and the laid back people cavorting on the beach. So many candid views - the newspaper boy seems out of place on the beach. I'll stick to the old daysThis current shot of the AC Boardwalk so totally lacks the fun and energy of the 1915 picture. So much for "progress." Now to find a way to walk into that old picture. How did they do it in "Somewhere in Time"? Teddy Roosevelt goes to the beachThat's got to be him sitting on the sand facing the camera. Maybe he was planning to see Eddie Foy at the Criterion. All kidding aside, another fantastic beach montage. I still don't understand how all those ladies & gents promenading down the boardwalk clothed in layers from hat to spats aren't keeling over from heat prostration in 90-degree heat and sun. How did they do it? [It might not be 90, or anything close. - Dave] Looking For SomeoneThere is ia young woman standing toward the left of the photo. She is shielding her eyes from the sun and is looking out toward the beach...or the water. Even though I can't get a closer look at her, I can tell she is pretty. This is what drives me nuts about Shorpy, Dave. You don't have a Time Machine so I can go and meet her. Maybe she was looking for me. Sand in your clothes?I find it interesting that in all the theses beach scenes, unless they rented a chair or cabana, people just plopped down right on the sand in either their bathing suits or street clothes. No towels or blankets. Guess they didn't mind taking a little of the beach home with them. Clysmic Table waterBottled water has been around for at least 100 years. The illuminated sign on the far right must have been impressive after dark. AlasSuch a simple concept: the beach towel. What entrepreneur will step forward and offer a 6 by 3 piece of terrycloth to spread across the hot sands? Where's my time machine? Hotel Dunlop I've found nothing on Hotel Poinsettia, but I have researched a bit about Hotel Dunlop, which stood at Mount Vernon and Pacific Avenues. Sometime between when this picture was taken and 1916 the name of the hotel was changed to Hotel Overbrook and burned on February 4, 1916, killing six. [That's not the same building as the one in our photo. - Dave] People Being People In Their TimeI look at those people having fun in their time. When they look into the camera they're looking into the future. We're looking into the past. (Panoramas, Atlantic City, DPC, Swimming)
Eating with Melmac: 1963
... your Marin pictures! I used to live on the Larkspur boardwalk in the late 80s. Deck stuff That big pipe going up the wall is ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 02/10/2018 - 8:43pm -

June 1963. A year after my father sat on the deck reading the paper, here's my mother out there engrossed in her favorite newspaper activity, doing the crossword puzzle. I don't see the BBQ... er, grill, so maybe we were just eating outside to escape the kitchen's heat on a summer day. Besides the Melmac cup and saucer, other typical 1950s-60s paraphernalia in view includes square waxed milk and half-and-half cartons (Lucas Valley Dairy, for any vintage Marinites out there), another of our anodized aluminum tumblers, a woven basket chair peeking in at the left, and a decorative cement Japanese garden lamp. In the distance, our cactus garden, which by this time I'd taken over. More of my succulent collection in pots lines the edge of the deck. There's our rain gauge mounted on the fence. My Kodachrome slide. View full size. Love your Marin pictures!I used to live on the Larkspur boardwalk in the late 80s. Deck stuffThat big pipe going up the wall is actually a drain vent for the cement wash sinks in what we called our back porch - it obviously had been a porch at some point, as two of its walls were covered by shiplap siding. That's where we kept the washer, which drained into the sinks. Later, during the drought of the 70s, my father siphoned off the rinse water and used it for irrigating the garden. The enamel bowl under the pipe is indeed a water dish for our dog Missie. For you basket chair fans, here's one of ours with my nephew Dave in it in 1968. MelmacMelmac would be such a cool name for a kid.... SpinesWhose job was it to trim the hedge that borders the cactus garden? Hope you had a suit of armor. Boontonware evolved into melmac?In 1891, the Loanda Hard Rubber Company was founded by Edwin A. Scribner, and began the manufacture of molded hard rubber products. Seven years later, Mr. Scribner died, and the management of the firm fell to his son-in-law Richard W. Seabury. In 1906, was Richard W. Seabury, who, casting about for new materials, learned of experiments with synthetic resins made by Dr. Leo Baekeland, for whom the well-known material, Bakelite, was later to be named. Originally intended by Dr. Baekeland for a synthetic varnish, the new material was used by Seabury in making the world's first molding of organic plastics in 1907. Boontonware, a molded plastic dinnerware, was sold nationwide. George Scribner, son of Loanda founder Edwin Scribner, opted to continue the business of plastics molding and established Boonton Molding. The company went on to produce the famous Boontonware dinnerware, molded plastic plates, bowls, and cups manufactured in the 1950s and 1960s. The company also operated a factory outlet store in Boonton for many years. Nice place!I've thought this many times and have decided to post it: That looks like a nice place to live and grow. It's a Wonderful LifeFor an abused kid to see what a family looked like. Tterrace, go kiss your parents, even if it's symbolically. DrainpipeI take it that the metal dish under the downspout supplied water for a pet? ConfusedThat 'Alf' isn't in the picture some place. Great picture regardless; goes well with the previous photo of tterrace's Dad! Mystery PipeIs that some kind of heavy duty downspout (seems odd to flood the deck so close to the house), or is it a heavy duty water supply pipe that the hose is attached to? And is the dish/bowl beneath it there to catch drips or is it water for a pet? Basket chairI had a child-size version of your basket chair when I was little. It looked like an open fortune cookie balancing on spindly wire legs. Probably worth a lot of money now because it just oozed modernity and "cool." Alas, I think it was trashed many years ago. The photo as photoI must say, even with no backstory, this is very nicely-done, atmospheric photograph. I don't know if the intention was to do anything other than capture the everydayness of the scene, but it looks like lasting art to me. For our eventual enjoyment,For our eventual enjoyment, TTerrace was very busy with his camera. He likewise, clearly, was very busy with his mind. How many of Mom's gray hairs were a direct result of TTerrace's "busy-ness"? One can see that this was a proud and doting mother. One also can see that she needed the occasional escape into the backyard and into a crossword puzzle. Like we all do. Boontonware Factory Sale!My great-aunt worked for the Boontonware company, and she's still around and mentally sharp at the age of 97. Recent quote: "This black man doesn't seem too bad, and at least we're rid of that (%$&#*!!!) Bush!" (Censoring, mine) Once a year, they'd have a "Factory Sale," and people from all over New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania would come to it. In a show of family soldarity, my parents would always have Boontonware on the table. Even when eminent citizens like Senator Jim Buckley or the Postmaster General came to dinner... which, in retrospect, seems to have been a bit of a social mistake. Boontonware was almost as good as china, but that was a big "almost." Its main defect was that it scratched easily— which, of course, good porcelain never does. On the other hand, if a tipsy guest happened to drop a plastic plate on the floor (a regular occurrence), it wouldn't break. And Senators and Congressmen and Mayors did dine from Boontonware plates at my family's home. Melmac, eat your heart out! Amazing deck!I particularly enjoy this photo for so many reasons. There's just so much detail, texture and cool, soothing green. It's so casual and comfortable I want to jump in. Slices of TimeHow wonderful for you that you took these pictures and that you were able to hang onto them through the years! We had so many pictures, boxes of negatives and slides that just got lost over the years (usually "in moving," I don't know why everybody in our family always says the pictures got lost while we were moving, because it seems like most of the rest of our stuff made it!). Anyway, thank you for sharing these photos with us. Something else you don't see anymoreis that paper milk container. It would have been waxed, rather than plasticized, right? With the little paper plug in the corner. They tended to get a lot of wax in your milk. Old Lattice WorkI noticed the lattice work. Now all you see is lattice on the diagonal, where it was on the vertical, and horizontal then. In some instances you may find the old style. No smoke?In photos of this type/vintage, I instinctively look for an ashtray. If it were my mother or grandmother in the scene, the ashtray and cigarettes would be right there with them. I don't see them here, thankfully. MelmacI just bought a huge set of those exact same melmac dishes. I have the maroon, and also grey, dark green and chartreuse. Lovely.I want to sidle up to your mom with a pencil and offer to help her finish that crossword. (Too chicken to use ink!) BoontonwareIt is amazing how much Boontonware sells for on sites like eBay. I have collected Boontonware for years and have a new set that still has the stickers and hang tags attached. I grew up in Boonton Township and graduated Boonton High School. Boonton Molding Company was an iconic institution and the yearly tent sales were a huge event. Our cabinets were filled with Boontonware plates, cups, glasses, serving pieces, and more! Brookpark, not BoontonThe Melmac here is the Brookpark Modern design by Joan Luntz, not Boonton. She designed this first square Melmac (c. 1947), which originally came in this burgundy as well as emerald green, chartreuse and pearl gray. Later many other colors were added. The only other squared Melmac dishes were by Harmony House for Sears, but they look different. This is definitely a Brookpark cup and saucer. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Coney Island: c. 1904
Visitors stroll on the boardwalk at Dreamland, Coney Island, N.Y., c. 1904. View full size. ... picture. shadows See that line of shadows on the boardwalk that runs right in front of the lion statue? Now when this line of ... creating that shadow? So either those dark spots on the boardwalk aren't really shadows, but some sort of stained or wet spots, or else ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 09/08/2011 - 7:10pm -

Visitors stroll on the boardwalk at Dreamland, Coney Island, N.Y., c. 1904. View full size. TightwireIt appears that there is a tightrope walkers wire stretched across the large pool or beach area on the right hand side of the picture. shadowsSee that line of shadows on the boardwalk that runs right in front of the lion statue? Now when this line of shadows line up with the steeple with a cross find the shadow that is closest the cross. Okay? Now take a look up at the steeple itself. Do you see anything that could have been creating that shadow? So either those dark spots on the boardwalk aren't really shadows, but some sort of stained or wet spots, or else something is missing in the photo that had to have made the shadows. Man, these are some amazing time capsules. You have done a wondrous job of putting all this together. My compliments... EarlierThis must have been before The Warriors. shadowsSee the line of small flags? That's where the shadows are coming from. wow! looks amazing. like awow! looks amazing. like a futures past version of the town. more grand than it is now or will be after the current moneysmiths get their hands on it. Flags & HatsLook carefully and you'll see a string of flags that are causing those shadows. People's obsession with hats during this period never ceases to amaze me. The guy in the lower left corner is both carrying a hat and wearing one! Back then, if a person dared to venture outside without a head covering of some sort, I wonder if they might've been arrested for streaking. Tall building?Anyone know what ever happened to the tall building near the middle of the photo? I looked up some modern pictures of Coney Island and don't see anything resembling it. Shadows2....I believe the "spot" shadows are created by the low swag of flags; each shadow lines up with a flag. Tall BuildingNo, there's nothing like that there now. You will only find "Shoot The Freak." Tall BuildingThe tall building - the Dreamland Tower - no longer exists. The entire park burned to the ground on May 27, 1911. Dreamland (the park) was never rebuilt. (The Gallery, Coney Island)
Clown Eats Boy: 1953
Santa Cruz, California Beach Boardwalk September 1953. Here I am at the entrance to the Fun House, alas now ... I have some really happy memories of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk from about 1960. What a fantastic place. We lived over in San Jose ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/22/2011 - 10:35pm -

Santa Cruz, California Beach Boardwalk September 1953. Here I am at the entrance to the Fun House, alas now long gone. We might have gone down there for my 7th birthday; the prints from this negative (2-1/4 square Kodacolor) were made the following month. Wish I still had a shirt like that. View full size. Sigh...Why was it that vacationing in the 50s seemed so much more fun! We stopped to look at every roadside marker and we would go through all the small towns (before superhighways). My brother and I did not need any electronic games to keep us busy. When we got bored in the car, we would play some "car games" or fight! The fighting caused my Dad to say (every year), "I'm not taking you two anywhere in the car again!" Ah, fun times! Been there!I have some really happy memories of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk from about 1960. What a fantastic place. We lived over in San Jose and the best day was when my friend's dad took us and dropped us off for the day with TWO DOLLARS in our pockets. Life couldn't get any sweeter than that for two 10-year-old boys. By the way, remember the giant slide in the Fun House? Grab your gunnysack and go. Now that was a slide! And of course the spinning disk, the "Wild Mouse" ride, and the wooden roller coaster that could strike fear in you with just the sound of the cars roaring by. At the MoviesSome vague memory says that place was a backdrop of sorts of a Clint Eastwood "Dirty Harry" movie. Sondra Locke was in it, I recall. Maybe Sudden Impact. Kind of took the family fun aspect out of it. Sudden ImpactThe Wikipedia article linked in the caption says it was indeed "Sudden Impact." StillAnd still I here from "It" - "We all float down here..." Shirttterrace, I just happened upon a similar shirt on ebay (I’m not affiliated with the vendor in any way).
Carnival of Fire: 1905
Atlantic City circa 1905. "Hotel Chalfonte and Boardwalk." Where the diversions include shooting flames, rolling chairs and ... of the operator of those vehicles? [Chairman of the Boardwalk. - Dave] All the news I swear that the wind blew a newspaper ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/06/2014 - 10:27am -

Atlantic City circa 1905. "Hotel Chalfonte and Boardwalk." Where the diversions include shooting flames, rolling chairs and "social drama." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. What could possibly be the job description of the operator of those vehicles? [Chairman of the Boardwalk. - Dave] All the newsI swear that the wind blew a newspaper onto the face of the women in the first sedan chair the INSTANT the photo was taken - Hilarious! [That's the veil of her hat. -tterrace] The Strenuous LifeNice to see Colonel Roosevelt (right there behind the girl in white) out for a strenuous stroll on the boardwalk! (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC)
Saturday Matinee: 1925
... on one's "summer Sunday best" just to take a stroll on the boardwalk. So, between the fact that it's Sunday, and that "nice little boys ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 5:52pm -

1925. Sidney Lust's Leader Theater at 507 Ninth Street NW in Washington, D.C. Now playing: "The Air Mail," starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and an "Our Gang" short. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size | Even bigger. The Lost ReelsAccording to IMDB, only four of eight reels of "The Air Mail" still exist, at the Library of Congress. And what is "Carrie," some kind of candy bar? CarrieBetty Compson starred in the 1925 romantic silent film "Carrie." Her photo shows her to be rather attractive. Evidently she made the switch to talkies quite easily. Since it was being shown for 'free' it sounds as if it wasn't quite pulling in the crowds. [?? The filmography you linked to shows Betty playing a character named Carrie in the 1928 film "The Barker." I think the earlier commenter was on the right track in speculating that "The new Carrie" might be a candy bar. Or maybe something frozen, since there are little snowcaps on the letters. - Dave] Some things never change...Get a group of kids together for a photograph and you'll always get the few that "ham it up" for the camera! Carrie the Comic Strip?Running a convoluted search on Carrie I did find a 1925 comic strip called "Carrie" by Wood Cowan. The date is right. Perhaps these strips were printed & handed out to the kids or projected on the screen. I've never heard of this being done in movie theatres. This comic strip about a self absorbed flapper has a vaguely salacious edge & doesn't seem quite appropriate for this crowd however. Maybe. http://www.barnaclepress.com/list.php?directory=Carrie Carrie ConcessionsCarrie Concessions Inc. still exists, based in Miami. They specialize in ice cream and frozen treats supplied to concession stands, for example at movie theaters and ballparks. I believe one of the signs in the photo under the Little Rascals signs says "Carrie Ice Cream". [They say "Carrie Free Today." There wouldn't have been any national franchises based in Miami in 1925. - Dave] The other moviesThere are a couple of other films playing at this theater. First off there's "The Thundering Herd" starring Jack Holt, who had made a very successful career out of movie versions of Zane Grey novels. That's at the far left of the photo. On the side of the box office is a small poster for "The Buccaneers" which is a 1924 "Our Gang Comedy" featuring Joe Cobb, Allan "Farina" Hoskins (who was paid $350 a week which was more than any of the other kids in the group) and Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison (who is generally accepted as being the first Black kids star). Finally there's the serial, "Riders of the Plains" starring Marilyn Mills and Jack Perrin plus, in an apparently minor role, some guy named Boris Karloff. Apparently you got the "Carrie" for seeing the serial (and judging by what I've read about Jack Perrin's movies, it was a necessary bribe). Great facesI love looking at the faces of the kids in the "even larger" view. Where are they now? the younger ones would be about my dad's age, 90-something, and still around. It looks like the free "Carrie" was a ploy to get the kids to watch the first installment of the new serial, get hooked and come back in succeeding weeks to see the new chapters. Also notice that the "Jr." after "Douglas Fairbanks" is in very small type. His father was of course the famous actor of the time, but Jr. was a newcomer. Nice afternoon!How long would you be at the theater for one of the matinées? A short, a serial, a movie, a cartoon... sounds like you'd be out of Mom's way for a couple of hours at least. Double FeatureIn the 1940s & 50s, neighborhood theaters, in NYC, showed double features. They started at around noon, the last show went on about 9pm. A show would consist of a major studio release with the big name stars and a "B" movie. The B movie could be a western, a mystery or a lightweight comedy and more than likely would be in black and white. Add to that, the coming attractions, a newsreel and or a short subject or a cartoon. You had a program that ran about 4 hours. These were not shown as matinees or evening performances, but ran continuously from the theater's opening to closing times. Before TV came into most homes, people went to these shows at least once a week. CarrieI'm almost sure that the promotion here had nothing to do with the Carrie strip, which wouldn't have appealed to a crowd of youngsters. I'm with the frozen confection camp on this one. But you don't know how happy I am when a site I read every day, like Shorpy, links to my site, Barnacle Press! Why so dressed up?I know people used to dress more formally than is now the norm, but this feels unusual to me. Was there any special reason these kids are so dressed up? A modern viewer must miss a lot -- I'm sure some of these suits were more expensive than others, some were new and others would have been obvious hand-me-downs to a contemporary viewer. Some were probably made by hand and others were off the rack. To us, most of them look pretty much the same. Knickers and long pantsYou will notice that the male kids all are wearing knickers. On the right of the photo is a teen who has long pants. I can recall my grandfather (born 1901) talking about his excitement at getting his first pair of long pants some time around 12 or 13. Clearly the fashion was established so that the loose "plus-four" knickers could be adjusted as the kid grew. I am not sure about the more formal dress either, but I would hazard a guess that a trip downtown on a Saturday in Washington would warrant dressing up. Dressing UpI've noticed that people used to dress in a more formal manner when going out and about than they do now. If you look at photos of people at otherwise "casual" events (fairs, picnics, ball games, etc.) from as late as the late 1950's/early 1960's, you'll see the majority are in dresses, suits, ties, etc. Even at places like the beach, in the earlier part of the 20th century, it was customary to put on one's "summer Sunday best" just to take a stroll on the boardwalk. So, between the fact that it's Sunday, and that "nice little boys and girls" didn't go out in public looking like bums in 1925, I think that explains the snappy dress. In particular in this photo, those two boys in the front row at far right make me smile every time I see them. Obviously, the taller one is the class clown type, but the smaller one seems to be a very good sport. I'd be willing to bet that if the taller one didn't get killed in a war, that he went on to college, joined a fraternity, and became a successful local politician. Or a used car salesman. And was quite successful at either one. [Sunday? - Dave] Maybe Sunday?Sorry, I forgot you all can't read my mind. (*grin*) I was guessing that it might be Sunday, because the "Free Carrie" advertisement at far right says "Saturday - Sunday - To-Day." I was thinking that a further explanation for the fancy dress may be that they're all dressed in their Sunday best. I reckon it's a 50/50 chance, anyway. [There's a reason the titles of these posts are what they are. - Dave] Doh!!Yep, I'm an idiot. Dressing UpI'm certainly no history buff, but aside from wanting to look their best, isn't their well-dressed habits due to the fact that clothing was made of mostly natural materials, and not the synthetic stuff that's easy/cheap to produce these days? So clothing might have been more expensive, and seen more as a luxury than we consider it today (unless you're into labels). Not only that, shorts and flip-flops had yet to be invented, I think. Just my 2 cents for this fantastic blog! Carry's Carrie The Washington Post, May 14, 1925 Coming Attractions at Local Theaters The Leader Theater Saturday and Sunday will be special days at the Leader theater. The feature will be "The Air Mail," with Warner Baxter, Mary Brian, Douglas Fairbanks, jr. and Billie Dove. Added attractions are the latest "Our Gang" comedy, "The Buccaneers," and starting the brand-new serial in fifteen chapters, "Riders of the Plains." Through the courtesy of the Carry Ice Cream Company, each child will be given a free novelty ice cream, something new ... get yours. Its weird (and a bit exciting in that geeky way) how multiple Shorpy photos are getting cross-connected. May 14, 1925 was a Thursday so that suggests this photo was taken May 16, 1925. Given the plethora of "Carrie" signs with snow-capped lettering, the free ice cream treat was evidently called a Carrie. Indeed, the following week, Carry Ice Cream Company took out a full page ad in the Washington Post to introduce their new product and didn't hold back on its merits: Newest addition to Washington brings joy, pleasure, happiness, delights -- satisfies thirst, defeats the heat, tickles the taste, is easy to carry -- and costs only 5 cents Carrie is something like an all-day sucker -- only different! It might last as long -- but, in taste there's no resemblance. It's orange ice -- frozen on a stick! For quenching thirst it "takes the cake." For making the hottest day seem like a vacation with the Eskimos, it has no equal. The Air MailHere's a photo from my collection of THE AIR MAIL with Mary Brian and Warner Baxter. http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com/airmail.htm (The Gallery, D.C., Kids, Movies, Natl Photo)
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