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Atlantic City, New Jersey, circa 1910. "The Boardwalk at night." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
At one period after this photo two rolling chair lanes were created with boards going the opposite direction which created a smoother ride for rolling chair riders. All the rolling chairs in the photo have hard tires. Only one company (Eveler) had rolling chairs with balloon tires. The others (Shill, G. George, etc.) used hard rubber.
The Moerlein's and Spearmint signs appear to be neon lights. If so, they must be very early examples of that art form.
[Light bulbs only -- no neon. - Dave]
Here is as close to a comparative daytime view as I could find, looking down from the Hotel Traymore about four years earlier. The only sign I can see for sure in both photos is Moerlein's Barbarossa, which Google tells me is a dark lager brewed in Cincinatti, Ohio.
I couldn't identify any of the 1910 buildings in Street view. Based on where the Hotel Traymore was located and a slight dogleg in the boardwalk that you can see in the 1906 photo, here is where I think the nighttime photo was taken, on the boardwalk at S Kentucky Avenue.
I’ve never seen so many spectral bodies in one place before.
Smith's double chairs appear to be simply the famous Atlantic City rolling chairs for two. We know the exact date they were introduced there: June 11, 1887. TripAdvisor says that that 50-cent ride will cost you about $40 today.
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