Tales of the New Jersey Shore and its Environs

Our Pilot is Complete

2011-04-27T11:02:00.000-04:00

Many of you that follow me on Facebook know I have been working on a 25 minute pilot on Asbury Park called The Real Jersey Shore. It will be the first hopefully of many.
Our goal is to show viewers the real shore as a wholesome, family destination and not the reality trash on television.
Hate to let you know but there are a few new trash shows in production as I write this.

Our next step is for our fundraiser to approach NJ based corporations and perhaps a few wealthy individuals that wish to show the world the real NJ Shore and receive funding to move ahead with production.
Wish I could post the pilot for you but I am under legal constraints not to show it to anyone but potential underwriters.

Keep you posted.
Emil

Following and entering the raffle

2010-11-17T17:30:00.000-05:00

A fan just suggested that I move the 'Follow" box on the left of the page to the very top so it is visible.
Good idea and I just figured out how to do it.

If you have not joined as a follower please do and join the raffle for the Replica Monopoly game that I will raffle off when we hit 1000 Followers. We are at 540 today

Emil

Young's Pier - Atlantic City

2010-11-17T16:55:00.000-05:00

Before Captain John Lake Young ( he gave himself the rank of Captain ) built his massive Million Dollar Pier in 1906 in Atlantic City he began with Young and McShea's Pier. John Lake Young and his financial backer, Stewart McShea, bought the old Applegate's Pier and turned it into the Ocean Pier ( later Young's Pier.) The successful showman enticed Sarah Bernhardt to debut when the pier opened.

It burned in 1912 but by then he had opened his Million Dollar Pier.

The Blog and Facebook

2010-11-15T14:45:00.000-05:00

If you are reading this you are visiting my blog via Facebook.

THANKS ( you see I could not do that on Facebook :) )
While I have lost some fans because people do not want to click the links I am posting to take you to this blog it is worth it to have interested readers.

Facebook is a social media site that I was trying to use as a blog. It had many limitations regarding size, quality, number of images, type styles ( see above, ) and was wide open to hated SPAMMERS.

This blog has the same stories written by me so there is no down side. Just a matter of clicking the link to the blog when I post on Facebook.

While it is not a requirement to read the blog if you register to follow it on the left hand side of the page ( not the follow me on Twiter icon ) you get to enroll in the raffle for the Replica Monopoly Set once we hit 1,000 registered followers. All you need to register is a gmail, yahoo, twitter, AIM email address, etc

It is the "Follow" icon over the pictures of the 500 plus registered followers.

Mini Jerusalem - Ocean Grove

2010-11-15T14:25:00.000-05:00

When Ocean Grove was first established as a Methodist Camp Meeting ground- an " Eden by the Sea," a large attraction was the model of Jerusalem built by a local member of the community.
It was later covered with a protective roofed structure but eventually was lost to age and Jersey Shore weather.
This was an illustrator's depiction of mini Jerusalem in the late 1880s.

Emil

Hydrangeas in Atlantic City

2010-11-15T14:12:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe that there were once beautiful Hydrangeas along the Atlantic City boardwalk.

Don't forget to register as a Follower on the left hand of the page
We have 500 plus and as soon as we hit 1000 I will raffles off the Replica Monopoly Game

Emil

Riding on the Beach

2010-11-12T18:32:00.000-05:00

Back in the day you could rent ponies and ride along the surf in Atlantic City.

The massive Traymore Hotel is in the background.

Bradley Beach Tennis

2010-11-11T13:00:00.000-05:00

Oceanside tennis at Bradley Beach, NJ circa 1950

Enjoy.

Don't forget to sign up to follow the blog the enter the contest for the Replica Monopoly Set
As soon as we hit 1,000 we will have the raffle.

Wildwood back in the day

2010-11-10T17:29:00.000-05:00

A wonderful image of Kiddie Land at Night, Casino Arcade, Wildwood -by-the-Sea, NJ

Double click to see some great detail.

Monopoly and the Jersey Shore

2010-11-09T12:42:00.000-05:00

Since I am raffling off a 1st Edition 1935 replica Monopoly set with wooden houses and original style pieces when we hit 1,000 followers on this blog I thought I would re-post this story on Monopoly that I ran back in 2009.
Hope you enjoy it.
Emil

The inventor of Monopoly was Charles Darrow an unemployed salesman from Germantown section of Philadelphia.

Considering our current economic crisis I thought I would share the story of the game we all grew up with. I remember marathons that lasted days.

Darrow was struggling trying to support a wife and child. He visited Atlantic City as a child and later as an adult and knew the resort well. One day during the depths of the Great Depression Charles Darrow sat down at his kitchen table and decided to invent a game about buying and selling real estate. He made the decision to name his properties after the streets he knew from the time he enjoyed in America's Playground. Darrow chose streets that met Boardwalk from Park Place to the inlet.

When he came up one street short he just borrowed the name of a small, Margate community; Marven Gardens, and changed the name to Marvin Gardens. He also needed another railroad as the area was serviced by only three. Darrow took a local bus line; the Short Line and converted it to a railroad and made it famous. Hey it was his game :)

According to legend his first game was painted on an old oil cloth and he shopped it to the large game manufacturers including Parker Brothers. They seemed to like Darrow's game but felt it violated the rules of family games in that it violated the 45 minutes or under rule ( who thought of that one.) As we Jersey Shore types know a classic game of Monopoly can go on for days.

They also believed that his real estate transaction rules were too complicated for us amateurs. In 1934 they turned it down with no yes votes.

Darrow would not be deterred, borrowed money and manufactured several thousands sets and shopped them in the large departments stores of Philadelphia. The stores could not keep them on the shelf as word spread of the new "Jersey Shore" game.

Parker Brothers realized the blunder they had made and approached Darrow with a deal as long as he agreed to a few minor rule changes. The out of work salesman agreed and retired to a life of wealth.

That's the story of Monopoly. Break out the game and have some fun.

Emil

Ocean City -NJ The good and the bad.

2010-11-09T07:40:00.002-05:00

A sunny day on the boardwalk in 1923. This view is just west of Doughty's Pier

A completely different day 21 years later. The Great Atlantic Storm of 1944 turned the resort into piles of kindling. Depicted here the boardwalk at 12 Street.

Love the image quality. Remember to double-click to enlarge and please register to follow the blog.

A NYC Food Guy with deep Jersey Shore roots

2010-11-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

You know I enjoy promoting folks with a love of the Jersey Shore.

My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting and breaking bread with Mike Colameco - star of Colameco's Food Show on PBS. You can catch it on WNYC in New York and North Jersey and WNJN in South Jersey and Philly area.

Not only is Mike one of the knowledgeable people I have ever met in the world of food and wine he and his wonderful wife are Jersey Shore folks, and Mike loves to "represent" the Shore on air especially with his vintage tee shirt collection.

My kids watch all the time and still talk about his Steger's Beach shirt from Cape May. Mike says it is a 1970s classic.

Here is a link to find out more about Mike and his show and I hope all 21,000 of you will check it out:

http://www.colameco.com/foodshow.php

Emil

Monopoly Game Raffle

2010-11-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

Here is the actual game I will be raffling off as soon as we hit 1,000 registered followers on this blog.
We are almost half way there.
I have noticed that some of you are hitting the Follow Me on the Twitter icon near the bluebird which is great but that is not the same as Following the blog.

That button is right over the photos of the 400 plus people that have signed on.

Thanks
Emil

PS "Following" just means I can see who my fans on the blog are. That's all. No commitment from you. No SPAM. I don't release your email address.

While we have 460 followers Google sends me daily reports and thousands of people a day are reading the posts. Thanks

The Original Convention Hall Atlantic City

2010-11-06T09:23:00.000-04:00

This brochure was published a year before the "new" Convention Hall was opened which is why there are illustrations used.

Wonderful piece of history and possible to post because of the new blog format.
Don't forget to double-click on the pages to enlarge.
Cheers,

Emil

Asbury Park - the Carousel Casino and Palace Ferris Wheel

2010-11-05T09:15:00.000-04:00

Many of my FB fans asked for a high res image of this amazing piece of history.

It is the long gone Asbury Park Casino Carousel with a reflection of the Palace Amusement - also long gone - Ferris Wheel.
Classic Asbury.
Enjoy

Emil

Test Comment

2010-11-03T15:26:00.000-04:00

To those who have tried to comment with no luck please try to add a comment here

I think I corrected the setting

Emil

Some high quality Cape May images

2010-11-03T15:18:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are new to my blog you can see I am having fun with the high res photo capabilities it permits.
Much better than FB images.
Double click to enlarge
These are Cape May taken by me but I have more shore points and stories to follow

Emil

PS Please sign up on this blog to follow so we can hit 1000 and raffle the replica Monopoly set

EXCITING CONTEST

2010-11-02T14:56:00.000-04:00

While thousands of people are reading the new blog only 400 plus have registered.
There is no cost and it is nice for your author.

Once we hit 1,000 registered followers on the blog we will have a great raffle. All names go in a hat and the winner gets a First Edition 1935 Replica Monopoly Game with wooden houses and original pieces.
This was the year the game was introduced and the replica set includes a heavyweight game board with the original artwork along with wooden houses and hotels. Also included is a 16 page trivia book on Monopoly and naturally the tokens are sliver-toned looking liked the originals.
A great gift for lovers of the Jersey Shore.

Emil

Wesley Lake - Asbury Park - Ocean Grove

2010-11-02T14:40:00.000-04:00

This wonderful picture of Wesley Lake is one of the reasons I have switched to posting on a blog. The quality is 1000% better than Facebook.
I can write more copy, include more images and by double-clicking on the image you can really see the detail.
Color type available in all sizes and styles.
Check out the amusements that Ocean Grove once had. Shooting galleries, bowling, skee-ball, a movie theatre and a large merry-go-round.
The Moorish looking tower on the upper left is the Asbury Park power plant.

How many people remember that motorboat alley and the paddle boats?
While only 422 of you have signed on to follow the sites Google has reported that there have been thousands of views this week.
Please sign on as an official follower.
Once we hit 1,000 followers there will be a great prize raffled off.

The High Quality Photos of the Blog

2010-11-02T00:49:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons I chose this format was the amazing quality of the images I will continue to post with my stories. Here are a few examples of some misc Cape May images and a few figures from the the hand - carved Carousel at Casino Pier in Seaside

Double-click on the images to really see the definition and color

If you have a chance sign on to follow the blog.

Emil

The George Allen House

2010-10-31T17:36:00.000-04:00

Known today as the Southern Mansion - a popular Cape May B&B - the main section of the building was originally designed by nationally known architect Samuel Sloan for George Allen and constructed in 1863.

The home remained in the family until the mid 1940s when the last Allen relation died and her husband reportedly sold the house and all the antique furnishings for $8000.

When I purchased my cottage in Cape May in 1986 we would walk by the boarded up house with our young children and called it the haunted house. It was very scary especially at night.

In the 1990s it was purchased and lovingly restored and a large wing was added to the original house.

The new owners christened it the Southern Mansion because Sloan featured the plans for the house in a builder pattern book for folks who could not afford an architect and he called it the Southern Mansion.

My First Post After Facebook

2010-10-31T09:08:00.000-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Thanks to all of you who have registered to follow me on this blog. Hope more of you will join soon.
Google gives me "insights" so I can see the amount that of you that view a post even if you are viewing but did not register.

Here is a fun image of the entrance to the Steeplechase Pier in Atlantic City.
George Tilyou from Coney Island, NY started the Steeplechase Park franchise and the trademarked franchise eventually spread to the Jersey Shore.
His theme was innocent fun where the sexes could mix in the time before internet dating.
A teacher or shopkeeper from a city could meet and have fun with the opposite sex in a time when it was frowned upon without a chaperone back home.
BTW..the famous Tillie in Asbury Park originated from George Tilyou's demonic clown logo.

Follow Me on this Blog

2010-10-30T19:09:00.000-04:00

If you are reading this you were probably a fan on my Facebook site: Tales of the New Jersey Shore.
As recently posted on Facebook, after reaching the 20,000 fan milestone, I will be posting stories and photos on this blog from now on.

I encourage you to click the "follow" icon on the left and register. There is no cost, your email address is kept private and registering permits you to comment on posts.

If you enjoyed what I have done on Facebook you will enjoy my blog. Please pass the blog address along to your friends.

The story behind the author

2010-08-17T15:05:00.008-04:00

Many people have emailed me or asked me at signings how I began researching history and eventually writing books.
It is an interesting story.
Years ago I was turning over a small garden in the yard of our first home in Haskell, NJ. The house was on a postage stamp lot so the garden was maybe 15' x 40'
As I removed the sod and turned the soil over I noticed what looked like a piece of copper. Holding it up to the sun I noticed it had some writing on it so I brought it in the house to clean the soil and grass from it. I realized it was very old and something I had never seen before.
In the pre-internet age my next step was the local library. There I discovered that I had unearthed a 1786 NJ copper coin. Apparently as a solution to the abundance of British counterfeit coins- used by most people back in the day - NJ decided to mint their own coins.
As can be seen here one side reads " Nova Caesarea " and the other, E. Pluribus Unum."
The grant from James, Duke of York, to loyalists Carteret ( Governor of the Isle of Jersey ) and Berkeley, it read, " which said tract of land hereafter to be called by the name or names of New Caesarea or New Jersey."

So how did this 1786 coin end up in my 1950s era sub-division? That led to more research and I eventually discovered that the entire neighborhood was built on a farm that had been owned during the Revolutionary War by a farmer sympathetic to Washington and so he permitted the general's troops to camp in his fields.
I then went to work with a trowel, screen and by the end of the summer my tiny garden gave up dozens of Colonial era coins-some NJ and some English-Irish, silver and pewter army uniform buttons, brass shoe buckles and a variety of metal and glass items.
It was my intro to history, research, archaeology and after that I was hooked.
I would often stare at my neighbor's backyards and dream of what treasures rested beneath their above ground pools and well manicured lawns.
Emil Salvini - August 2010

Emil's Italy Trip 2010

2010-07-30T13:13:00.028-04:00

Many of my 18,000 plus Facebook fans have requested that I post pictures of my trip to Rome and the Amalfi Coast.
A few have said " No, this is a site about the Jersey Shore."
I have come up with a compromise.
I am posting them here on my blog and will post a link to the blog on Facebook.

If a fan wishes to see them great, if not they can skip the link.
To those interested I hope you enjoy the mini photo tour.

Cheers,
Emil

The Railroad Comes to Cape May

2010-03-13T13:40:00.019-05:00

As many of you know if I have a more detailed story or wish to post images in higher res I will use my blog and post a link on Facebook.

This is such a story. I received an envelope in the mail yesterday from Germany. It contained an item I have searched for years to add to my collection.. an original stock certificate from the first railroad to connect Cape May, NJ to the outside world.

Germany ? Go figure but I found it on Ebay and it is a genuine certificate. It is often easier to locate Jersey Shore items out of state where they are not valued by collectors as they would be in say a boardwalk flea market.
The actual certificate was issued in 1863 during the Civil War and the investor purchased two shares at $50 a share. This was no small amount in 1863 and the railroad was attempting to raise $300,000.

Here is the story:
Cape May was the first resort established on the Jersey Shore because of its water transportation monopoly. In the era before railroads and reliable roads existed, sailboats and later steamboats, would drop people off at Cape May on the trip from Philadelphia, down the Delaware River, and around the Cape May peninsula and pick them up on the return voyage. It was a perfect arrangement.
Records indicate that before the American Revolution wealthy families were summering in the fledgling resort. Further north the second resort to take advantage of a water monopoly was Long Branch, the Duchess of the North Shore, where massive steamboats would use piers as landing docks to disembark vacationers from Manhattan.

This arrangement worked for generations until a group of savvy investors decided to build a railroad, the latest transportation technology, to connect Philadelphia to the Atlantic Ocean. They looked at a map and decided the shortest route east took them to a desolate area known as Absecon Island. The new resort was a brilliant railroad scheme. They bought up the land between Philadelphia and Absecon Island, and it's value grew exponentially once the resort was completed. On July 1, 1854, a train full of investors, newspapermen and Philadelphia bigwigs arrived in the resort the railroad created; Atlantic City. Cape May was clearly in the cross hairs of Atlantic City developers and through years of political maneuvers were successful in slowing down a railroad connection between Philadelphia and Cape May. America's Playground began to take vacationers and revenue from the older established resorts.

Why take a steamboat to Cape May when you could now travel to the beach and back in one day. Cape May became the destinations for long-term visits and the railroad made Atlantic City the most successful resort on the coast.
The Civil War had taken a toll on Cape May and almost overnight they lost the families that came from points south. Many of these families never returned after the war with words like Shiloh, Fredericksburg, and Antietam, and thoughts of the thousands of men that lost their lives in these bloody battles were etched in the nation's collective memory.

Clearly the railroad represented the future of Cape May.

Charters were renegotiated, political deals were cut and almost a decade after that first train arrived in Atlantic City, local Cape May resident, Amelia Hand wrote in her diary in 1863, " We at last have a railroad from Cape Island to Philadelphia, and August 26th the cars made a trip for the first time..the route was performed in three and a half hours, quite an improvement over our old way of going to Philadelphia which took the most part of one day..."
She cautiously noted that two trains a day, "...bring us as near to a large city as one need wish be..." Perhaps she was clairvoyant.

The railroad she was referring to was the Cape May and Millville Railroad. Town elders like the ever-vigilant newspaper editor of the Cape May Ocean Wave, Joseph Leach, warned the citizens of the city that the long-awaited railroad and its promise of prosperity required a commitment from the island's citizens. He wrote that the city must provide "proper inducements to attract them ( tourists), and render their stay pleasant." He went on to say that Cape Island was fifty-years behind the times.

The citizens and entrepreneurs responded, new hotels were opened and the older establishments were renovated.
Cape May would never surpass Atlantic City as the #1 resort on the New Jersey shore again but in the end the Queen of the Seaside Resorts had the last laugh. Atlantic City ruled until travel modes changed again and the railroads were replaced with automobiles and air travel. Built for the railroad AC was not automobile friendly and as the years went by tourists used the Garden State Parkway to pass it by for destinations north and south.

A renaissance eventually took place in Cape May. While their competitor to the north dealt with urban decay and required legalized gambling to revive it, a new generation of families discovered the charm of the sleepy victorian resort that time and the wrecking ball had spared.

2010-02-20T11:53:00.001-05:00

Please check the archives on the left hand side of the page to view all of my previous blogs.

The Hotel Cape May

2010-02-20T10:47:00.009-05:00

In the early twentieth century there was an attempt to turn the undeveloped area of east Cape May into the Newport RI of NJ.
It was an overly ambitious effort and eventually went bust.

The plan involved dredging the harbor so larger ships could travel to Cape May, build mansions ( a few still exist like the Peter Shields Inn ) and the jewel in the crown was the Hotel Cape May.

As early as 1901 the local newspapers began mentioning the project but work did not begin until the Cape May Real Estate Company was formed in 1903 and Peter Shields was the director.

While Cape May development in the past had been driven by Philadelphia investors this time around major money came in from Pittsburgh and the papers quickly referred to the new group as the "Pittsburgh Syndicate."

The promoters envisioned a modern city with connections to the major railroads and a new harbor that would rival the ports of Philadelphia and New York.

The million dollar Cape May Hotel along with the harbor with a water area of 500 acres and a depth of forty feet ( the promoters promised it was deep enough to accommodate the largest ocean steamships ever built) were the 2 centerpieces of the project.
The Hotel Cape May opened to great fanfare in 1908. The celebration included a visit from the governor of New Jersey and an automobile rally from Philadelphia to Cape May.

Unfortunately the new development plans were built on a poor foundation of insufficient funds and six months after the celebration the Hotel Cape May mysteriously closed for repairs. Directors resigned and new people stepped into to jump start the harbor East Cape May project. It was not to be.

The ill-fated Hotel Cape May never fulfilled its promise to restore Cape May to the throne of Queen of the Seaside Resorts.. It remained empty for years.

The hotel was later acquired by the Admiral Hotel Company which attempted to operate it as a hotel.
The effort failed and the city took the hotel - The Admiral -over for back taxes in 1940 and it was sold to a group of developers that intended to convert it into a senior citizens home. During World War two it served temporarily as a military hospital.
Fundamentalist preacher Carl McIntire purchased the hotel and saved it from the wrecker's ball in 1963.
He changed the name to the Christian Admiral but the hotel was doomed from day one.
It was razed in 1996 when a deal was cut between the city that was owed back taxes and the owners of the hotel that also owned Congress Hall. Seaside lots were sold for McMansions and the money was used to restore Congress Hall that was also in need of restoration. It was a good plan since both hotels were key landmarks in Cape May and the sacrifice of one saved the other.
Now you know the story.

The Jersey Shore Perpetual Calendar

2009-09-23T11:54:00.006-04:00

This calendar was created by me for fans of the Jersey Shore. We used the profile image from our Face Book site " Tales of the New Jersey Shore"

It makes a great gift and since the day of the week, month and date change but never the year it is truly perpetual and never goes out of date.
Take a look at the image. An ingenious series of hidden wheels permit you to turn the dial on the sides of the calendar and change the date.

Buyers are looking for a convenient, secure way to purchase the calendar so I created this PayPal button. Just select it and PayPal will guide you through the process
The calendar is $20 plus $5 UPS shipping and handling. ( please no Box #'s as UPS will not deliver )
It is created and produced by hand in New Jersey and there is a 100% return guarantee. If you are not satisfied just return the calendar and you will be refunded your $20 minus the shipping and handling.
There is a limited supply no do not miss out.

A Beautiful Cape May day - 1918

2009-09-19T17:30:00.004-04:00

This is one of my favorite photos of Cape May, NJ .

There is so much history in this one image. An early horse-less carriage on a street, Beach Drive, that is today impossible to find a parking space.

On the far right are the massive columns of the old Lafayette Hotel-now replaced with a newer hotel.

Center right is Denizot's Ocean View Cottage ( built 1879) and operated at the time as the Arnold Cafe. The proprietors of the cafe altered the old cottage and replaced the bathhouses with an open beer garden.

The electric railroad on the left ran from Cape May Point to Sewell's Point along the boardwalk and on the beach, and was eventually extended to Schellinger's Landing in 1913. The boardwalk arches were illuminated with electric lights and extended the entire length of the old wooden boardwalk until the early 1920s.

The boardwalk was destroyed by the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944, rebuilt and destroyed again by the Great Atlantic Storm of 1962. It was then replaced with a macadam seawall still referred to by the locals as the "boardwalk."

Emil Salvini

Peter Paul Boynton - The Pearl Diver

2009-09-04T15:59:00.006-04:00

In the era before resorts hired lifeguards you entered the water at great peril. Should you require assistance and were lucky there might be a very skilled swimmer, an unofficial lifeguard for hire, on the beach. This was a common practice. While they would not throw you back if you or your family did not pay a reward :) ... it was expected.

A very interesting character was Peter Paul Boynton - known as the "pearl diver" because of his amazing swimming and diving skills. His name appears often as I do my research on the Jersey Shore and the U.S. Life-Saving Service that eventually became the United States Coast Guard.

He first popped up at Cape May where he operated an oriental gift shop while supplementing his income by saving lives during the summer season. Local residents blamed him for the devastating fire of 1869, he was questioned and released. They seemed to have it in for him and later arrested Boynton on a charge of filing a pistol from a moving train and endangering the life of a woman who claimed the bullet just missed her head. The City of Cape May fined hm $5.00 and Peter Paul had enough with New Jersey and moved Coney Island where his reputation as a swimmer, showman and entrepreneur grew. Boynton broke numerous swimming records and is credited with developing a rubber diver suit used by the early Coast Guard.
More to come on this amazing individual.

The Last Days of Pompeii - Coney Island Style

2009-09-04T09:24:00.002-04:00

Yes this is a blog about the Jersey Shore but from time to time I like to post something of interest from one of our sister resorts.

If I could turn the clock back I would love to have seen this display in 1885 at Manhattan Beach, Coney Island, NY. They did things up big at old Coney Island just the big apple today.

Every night during the summer season they would put on magnificent fireworks displays that were visible for miles.

They loved "historical tableaus" back in the day and this one; The Last Day of Pompeii, was a major attraction. There was an artificial lake in front of a monstrous stage setting. Live music played as actors played the hapless citizens of Pompeii before Vesuvius blew its top in 79 AD. Once the "eruption" began the actors would run for cover as the massive fireworks display represented the destruction of the city.

Gotta love it.

The Summer Station - Cape May, NJ

2009-08-03T14:09:00.013-04:00

Wouldn't you love to get off a train and be facing the beautiful Cape May beach? Back in the day the City of Cape May had two stations and you could step off the train and be within walking distance to the surf. ( there was a second competing railroad line but it is not part of this post or story)

The Jackson Street Winter station, which was located in the vicinity of the current day strip mall near the eastern end of the Washington Street pedestrian mall, ran a spur to Grant Street and Beach Drive. The Grant Street Station or the Summer Station as it was known was in operation during the summer season until the early part of the twentieth century.

It was a bit complicated but when the powerful West Jersey and Seashore Railroad ( owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad ) took over control of major train service to Cape May they compensated the smaller Cape May, Delaware Bay and Sewell's Point Railroad by permitting them to run the 0.63 mile track connection between the Winter Station and the Summer Station on Grant Street at the beach. The Cape May, Delaware Bay and Sewell's Point Railroad owned and operated the electric trolley tracks that ran from the steamboat landing on Cape May Point ( Sunset Beach ), past the lighthouse, along the boardwalk to Sewell's Point in eastern Cape May. You can see the trolley and tracks in many vintage photos of the Cape May beach or boardwalk.

I am posting two great images here. The first is the actual Grant Street or Summer Station at the beach when it was in operation. The second is an aerial shot of Cape May from approximately 1926 where you can see the station near the beach in the lower center of the photograph. If you look carefully you can see the Winter Station in the center of the image and follow the tracks from one station to the other. Must have been something to experience.

United States Life-Saving Service

2009-07-29T15:41:00.016-04:00

In 1766 the Scow "Nancy" was lost along the Cape May coastline in a violent gale. Witnesses watched in horror as twenty-three souls lost their lives. The Jersey Shore was littered with shipwrecks; some caused by storms and accidents and many caused intentionally by wreckers. An old trick was to hang a lantern from a mule's neck and to walk the beast back and forth along the shoreline on a dark, stormy night. An unfortunate captain who lost his bearings would think the light was from another vessel, a safe distance from shore, and would suddenly find his vessel snagged on a deadly shoal. " Pickens " filled many a seaside homestead or inn, and there were even reports of locals refusing to provide assistance, and rifling through bodies as they came to rest on the beach.
In one nasty two month period- Dec 1826 to January 1827 - two hundred wrecks took place along Absecon Island ( now Atlantic City. ) Lighthouses helped but more was needed. In 1848 New Jersey had the honor of being the first state to appropriate funds for surf boats, rockets, and other lifesaving apparatus to save life and property.
William Newell, a congressman and later governor of New Jersey, is credited with these appropriations and other lifesaving initiatives. He was responsible for improvements on the breeches buoy, which came to national attention during an event in 1850. A brig, Ayrshire, out of Scotland was wrecked off the wild shores of Absecon Island. More than two hundred Irish and British immigrants were aboard the ship in search of the American Dream, and had it not been for Newell's contraption they would have all gone to the bottom of the frigid Atlantic. A group of dedicated local fisherman carried a cannon-like device that fired a ball tethered to line that was then attached to the sinking vessel. A closed car was attached by a set of sturdy rings to the line, and over two days all but one of the passengers were saved.
The United States Life-Saving Service was formed in New Jersey from a group of battered huts along the windswept, desolate shores. An article in Harper's Weekly in 1884 mentioned Long Branch and how the summer visitors were unaware of the small, standardized stations and their fearless crews who faced hardship and danger from September to May. By the time the article was published, the coast of the United States was dotted with the stations, and loss of life in wrecks had been reduced by 75 percent. New Jersey had forty stations along its coast. The United States Life-Saving Service, forgotten now by most Americans, was absorbed into the United States Coast Guard at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Pictured here are two images. One shows a fearless crews launching their surf boat at the scene of a wreck. The other is the station at Deal, NJ. While the stations were supposed to be standardized, the wealthier communities wanted their Life-Saving Stations to reflect their affluence.
Emil R. Salvini

Spring Lake, NJ - old school

2009-07-23T17:46:00.003-04:00

A beautiful image of Spring Lake NJ on a summer day sixty-two years ago. The Essex and Sussex Hotel seen in the background dominates the oceanfront.

From: Boardwalk Memories, Tales of the Jersey Shore Emil R. Salvini ( Globe Pequot Press )

Mt Vernon Beach and Hotel - Cape May NJ

2009-07-19T16:43:00.047-04:00

In 1856 the world's largest hotel, the Mount Vernon Hotel, burned to the ground before construction was completed. It was built to accommodate 2,100 guests and its dining hall contained more than forty gas-burning chandeliers. Sadly the partially completed mammoth hotel had opened for the 1856 season to bring in some needed cash and just as it was closing in Sept - mercifully the summer crowds were gone - fire consumed the Mount Vernon. A co-owner, his four children and a housekeeper were lost in the conflagration.

The footprint of the doomed hotel was developed by a variety of firms - most failed - and building lots were eventually sold and cottages erected. I believe the hotel was located in present day Cape May from Broadway west along the beach where 2nd Avenue now ends. ( The Light of Asia - a giant wooden elephant related to Lucy in Margate was used as a gimmick to sell lots in the area but that is another story.)

The Mount Vernon Beach company produced a brochure and sold lots on a plot that began " 700 yards west of the West Jersey Railroad Station on Beach Avenue" ( current day Grant Street in Cape May.)

The development included what consists today of the western end of Cape May and the now deserted town of South Cape May. The resort currently ends on the western end of the beach and boardwalk which is today 2nd Avenue. Based on their brochure the Mount Vernon Beach company plotted streets that actually ran to 21 Avenue.

Building so close to the sea can be a gamble and most of the homes that extended t0 21st Avenue in South Cape May were eventually lost due to erosion and hurricanes. Many were saved and moved east. The streets in Cape May that extend west from and include Broadway - Patterson, First and Second Avenues- contain a number of the Mt Vernon Beach homes. The Thomas Weinman Cottage that once stood on a Mt Vernon Beach lot at Beach and Sixteenth ( see the image from the brochure) was moved to First Avenue ( see the new photo taken by me in 2009 .)
I often write that in an era when labor was less expensive than lumber homes were moved when the sea encroached. It was said that the movers were so skilled the cottage owners often left their china in their wall cabinets, and the cottage and plates came to rest on the new lot in one piece :)
Emil

The Stockton Hotel = Cape May NJ

2009-07-14T18:05:00.010-04:00

In 1869 the West Jersey Railroad built the luxurious Stockton Hotel at a cost of over $300,000. ( I am posting a rare view of the hotel from my collection )

The mammoth new hotel could accommodate over 475 guests and the dining hall could accommodate 800. The Stockton was designed by noted architect Stephen Decatur Button who created plans for over thirty buildings in the city. Many historians believe he was responsible for the "feel" of the Cape May we love and cherish today. He not only designed numerous buildings but his style was incorporated in "pattern books;" books used by local builders for cottagers who could not afford their own architect.

The Cape May Ocean Wave reported on the new hotel:

"By the time dinner and speeches were fairly over, the evening train from Philadelphia arrived, when guests crowded in, filling an extra page of the register with names of permanent boarders, and these have continued to daily increase ever since."

The hotel survived the Great Fire of 1878 that destroyed 35 acres of the city center. The Stockton Hotel had a long run eventually being torn down in 1910 to make way for new construction. The next time you are in Cape May take a walk down Gurney Street from the beach and you will see the eight Stockton Row cottages on your left that were once shadowed by the massive hotel. They were built by the same railroad in 1870/1871.

Another July 4th

2009-07-06T09:58:00.004-04:00

Love this image of Jersey Shore revelers on a July 4th over a century ago in Atlantic City.

Somethings never change

Cheers,

Emil

THe Cake Walk - AC Style

2009-07-04T08:17:00.006-04:00

It is believed that the African American dance form, the Cake Walk, originated on plantations in the deep South.

In the era before emancipation the best dancers would form a Cake Walk line and tradition states the winner often received a cake..thus the popular term, " That really takes the cake."

Atlantic City- and Young's Pier - was the first resort to feature Cake Walk dancers with African Americans as a popular act for tourists. Pictured here is a troupe posing on the pier circa 1910.

In later years white dancers would use black face to imitate the dancers but the genuine art form was an African American original. I would have loved to see this act in person.

Emil

( from the collection of Joseph Milligan III )

The Freeman Pier Fire- 1955- Seaside

2009-06-30T15:41:00.017-04:00

By the 1940s Freeman's Amusements, an early and major competitor of Casino Pier, was acquired by J. Stanley Tunney. a former pier maintenance man who had worked his way to mayor of Seaside Heights. He often said his luck changed when just before the small concession he owned with his wife ran out of money he was walking along the beachfront -during Prohibition - and found a large barrel that had washed ashore. He managed to get it home, bore a hole in it and discovered he had a barrel of "Grade A" Irish whiskey. To his delight he sold the barrel of liquid gold for $300 ( depression era money ) and that seagoing barrel kept his business afloat.

By 1955 Tunney was preparing his successful enterprise - Freeman's Amusements - and his beloved hand-carved carousel for the new season when on June 9th, fire, the scourge of wooden walkways everywhere - paid a visit and in a little more than two hours reduced his carousel and busy pier to memories.

A faulty neon sign is believed to have started the fire. Fifty-mile-per-hour ocean winds encourage the blaze to claim three blocks of boardwalk from Dupont Avenue in Seaside Heights to Stockton Avenue in Seaside Park. The blaze was a crushing blow to the community, but J. Stanley Tunny and his associates began immediately to clear the rubble and rebuild for the next season. They managed to open and eventually created Funtown U.S.A. ( now Funtown Pier ) on the border of Seaside Heights and Seaside Park.

Young's Pier Fire - 1912

2009-06-29T15:06:00.017-04:00

Many of you have read my posts on John Lake Young's Million Dollar Pier and the images I have posted of his home, the Italianate villa, Number One Atlantic Ocean, located at the end of his pier.

Before the Million Dollar Pier, Mr. Young had an interesting start in the amusement business. He was a genuine product of the AC Boardwalk and began his career managing a carousel built by master German craftsman Gustav Dentzel. ( I have posted images of the Dentzel family carousels in the past .)

Young assisted the immigrant with the English language, and watched in amazement as he saw Dentzel become wealthy collecting all of those pennies and nickels as Young operated the beautiful, hand-carved carousel.

John Young had dreams and tried his hand at a few boardwalk enterprises but lacked capital. While serving a brief stint as an Atlantic City policeman Young had a chance meeting one evening on the boardwalk that changed his life. While on duty he met and befriended retired, wealthy businessman Stewart McShea and the two discussed Young's ideas for cashing in on the Boardwalk boom.
Young knew the carousel business from his experience with Dentzel. Together with McShea he purchased a beautiful, brand-new, hand-carved carousel. The aggressive Young wanted to operate the carousel seven days a week but McShea was a devote Christian. They compromised and the carousel organ played spiritual songs for the devout audience on Sundays while the carousel took a day off.

Their next enterprise was a big one. They bought the less than successful Applegate's Pier in 1891 and named it Young and McShea's Pier. Young had a talent for the amusement business and the pier was an instant success. Nineteenth-century diva Sarah Bernhardt made her Atlantic City debut at the pier, and Young added one of the boardwalk's first thrill rides, the Flip-Flop Railroad. Somewhere down the line the pier became Young's Ocean Pier and he promoted himself to Captain.

Captain John Lake Young took part of his new fortune and built another larger pier; Young's Million Dollar Pier. It opened in 1906 and the Captain made another fortune.

He was also lucky to have had the vision and funds to build the new pier because on March 29, 1912, Young's Ocean Pier was lost in a mysterious blazing inferno.

The image I am posting is a very rare "photo - postcard" of the fire. I was lucky to find it at a flea market in Cape May this past weekend.

Enjoy...Emil

Another Sand Artist

2009-06-28T18:59:00.004-04:00

A master at work on the beach of Atlantic City in 1904.

As his sign states, "A few grains of sand."

The mariner on the left is amazing. High tide soon and time and tide wait for no man or his sand art :)

Number One Atlantic Ocean

2009-06-28T18:09:00.005-04:00

There you are in a village in Tuscany taking in this beautiful view.

The Italianate home, marble statues, manicured lawn, and lovely shrubs and grounds. Nothing like a trip to Europe.

Oops .. sorry wrong country.

You are looking at Number One Atlantic Ocean, the home of Capt. John Lake Young, located at the end of Young's Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The pier was built in 1906 and contained amusements that ranged from a giant aquarium to a massive ballroom and games galore.

Young knew the value of publicity so he built his own home at the very end of his pier, one thousand feet over the Atlantic Ocean, and called it Number One Atlantic Ocean. The villa, appointed with furniture commissioned in Europe, was featured in newspapers around the country. The home and formal gardens were outlined with thousands of miniature electric lights, a display designed by Young's fishing buddy, Thomas Edison , a frequent house guest. Many major celebrities were entertained in the home including President William Taft.

Sand Artist Early 1900's

2009-06-28T09:01:00.002-04:00

Another busy sand artist working along one of the original boardwalks at Atlantic City. These guys were skilled and most Italian artisan immigrants.

They made a living from the loose change tossed on a blanket from appreciate patrons.

They would build close to the boardwalk to save their work from high tide and to be close to the money.

The problem was a few rotten apples began mixing mortar in the sand, and that along with aggressive panhandling forced the city to ban the practice.

This image dates to circa 1905

Emil

Move We Must- Wildwood Ocean Pier

2009-06-26T19:39:00.005-04:00

The first major pier to be opened in Wildwood was christened the Ocean Pier ( opened for the 1905-1906 season.)

It was located between Poplar and Juniper and was over 1,ooo feet-long. The pier offered bowling alleys, roller skating rinks, a dance floor, a hand-carved carousel and numerous other amusements. I ran a post on it not too long ago.

What is great about this image is that as all fans of Wildwood know the beach is expanding annually and at low tide the refreshing ocean can be quite a distance from the boardwalk. The town officials were forced to move the boardwalk closer to the Atlantic on several occasions and pictured here is an early image ( circa 1920 ) of the Ocean Pier during one of the moves. Remember labor was less expensive than lumber back in the day so key buildings and cottages were often moved.

Emil R. Salvini

Ye Old Mill, Jack Rabbit and Carousel, Wildwood NJ

2009-06-15T20:38:00.017-04:00

Very old image of the Cedar Avenue entrance to the wooden roller coaster called the Jack Rabbit constructed by Wildwood entrepreneur Edward E. Rhoads in 1919. It also served as the entrance to Ye Old Mill boat ride, a dark, early-twentieth-century version of a tunnel of love. Rhoads contracted with the famed Philadelphia Toboggan Company to construct a hand-carved carousel to match and compete with the Dentzel masterpiece carousel built for the boardwalk pavilion known as the Casino that opened in 1897.

I am also including an aerial view of the Rhoad's carousel building ( flag on top ) and the monstrous Jack Rabbit coaster in the center left/background.

Third there is an amazing image of the Dentzel steam-powered carousel that brought fame to the Casino. ( from my book Boardwalk Memories, Tales of the Jersey Shore - Globe Pequot Press .) Click on the images for more detail and you can see the Dentzel trademark panel in the upper right of the carousel.

Bob Hope and AC

2009-06-10T19:09:00.003-04:00

When Atlantic City was America's Playground all of the major stars visited.

Publicity was the name of the game as it is today and in this vintage image a very young Bob Hope playfully challenges the regulation that men must wear bathing tops on Atlantic City beaches.

Great piece of nostalgia.

From: Jersey Shore, Vintage Images of Bygone Days - Emil Salvini ( Globe Pequot Press )

Cape May Point - 1919 Amazing View

2009-06-03T15:44:00.002-04:00

Just like the image I posted of Asbury Park this is a circa 1919 aerial view of Cape May Point.
The US military did a survey of the entire Jersey Shore after World War One for security.
The detail is wonderful and I have every resort and will post from time to time. Look at how much has been lost to erosion.

Emil

Morro Castle - Asbury Park

2009-06-03T14:42:00.003-04:00

Some new fans have been asking me about the Morrow Castle and if I had any images.
I posted a few awhile back but here is my favorite.

The luxury liner ran aground on the beach resort on September 8, 1934 when it caught fire at sea. More than a third of the 455 people on board lost their lives in the tragedy. The massive ship beached adjacent to Convention Hall, Asbury Park and the boardwalk, presenting a surreal spectacle. The cause of the fire that doomed the popular cruise liner has remained a mystery for more than seventy years but arson is suspected. The Morrow Castle eventually burned to a gutted shell and was quite a people magnet for months before being hauled away to the scrap yard.

The Light of Asia - Cape May

2009-05-28T12:15:00.006-04:00

Most fans of the Jersey Shore know of Lucy the elephant in Margate.
Very few know that she once had a cousin located a bit further south in Cape May.
Known as the "Light of Asia" or Old Dumbo by the locals she was designed by Philadelphia architect N.H. Culver and was built for land speculator Theodore M. Reger. ( Culver was no doubt influenced by James V. Lafferty, designer of Lucy in 1881 and Elephantine Colossus built in Coney Island in 1882.
Completed in 1884 it's owner, Reger, ran ads in the local paper soliciting tenants for his colossal Pachyderm. " Parties wishing rooms in the elephant to sell soda water, fancy articles, advertising, etc. and the privilege for bathhouses, ice cream garden and dairy. Apply on the premises or to T.M. Reger, 508 Walnut Street, Philadelphia."
The elephant stood forty feet, ten inches tall and a "howdah" or covered pavilion rested upon the giant's back. The hind legs were equipped with spiral stairs that provided access to the interior of the elephant. Two sets of stairs on either side of the interior led to the howdah, where an observatory offered to tourists for ten cents a scenic view of the Atlantic Ocean.
It was estimated that over one million pieces of wood were required to construct the elephant that was covered with a skin consisting of over 13,000 square feet of tin.
She was located in what later became South Cape May - now the empty stretch of beach between Second Avenue and Cape May Point that today borders the nature preserve.
Although the electric railroad ran along the beach from east Cape May to the point most people preferred to skip it and enjoy the view from the Cape May Point lighthouse for free. Some lots were sold but in the end the Light of Asia was abandoned and after years of vandalism the city sent her to the elephant graveyard.

The Annual Ritual - very cool

2009-05-21T13:43:00.000-04:00

My friend Neal sent me this:

Weird rituals greet start of summer season in NJ
By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press Writer Wayne Parry, Associated Press Writer - Wed May 20, 5:47 pm ET
OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Merchants in suits and dresses will parade into the sea in Ocean City, Atlantic City will "unlock" the ocean, and the beer will flow bright and early in Point Pleasant Beach.
It's all part of the kickoff of summer at the Jersey Shore. The recession is expected to slow travel and tourism somewhat, but tourism remains New Jersey's second-largest industry, and this weekend it kicks into high gear.
The number of drivers taking to the roads this weekend is projected to be down slightly as the recession keeps some folks close to home. About 7.4 million drivers are expected to use the Garden State Parkway between Thursday and next Tuesday, down from 7.6 million last year, according to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
"Financial uncertainty is what's keeping more people from traveling," said David Weinstein, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. "Even so, gas prices remain well below last year's."
The average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline is expected to be $2.20 this weekend, down from $3.81 last year.
"The high-water mark should be no more than $2.50 per gallon this summer nationally and the Jersey gallon is typically 10 to 15 cents cheaper than the national average," Weinstein said. "These prices continue to be a silver lining."
That should make it cheaper to get to Ocean City, the southern New Jersey resort that was named the state's best beach this week. On Friday, Ocean City merchants will don their best business attire, clutch briefcases, and march into the ocean to the strains of "Pomp And Circumstance," something the city does each year to kick off summer. No one is really sure why.
On Sunday in Atlantic City, Mayor Lorenzo Langford and Miss Atlantic City will symbolically "unlock" the ocean, though no one locks it back up again in October.
And in Point Pleasant Beach, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend is traditionally high school cut day, when plenty of youngsters - not to mention their parents - turn out early for a free concert at a boardwalk bar that spills onto the sand. This year's show features Rascal Flatts.
A major overhaul of the Parkway's Driscoll Bridge is finished just in time for the summer crowds. The $225 million project has given it greater capacity than the George Washington Bridge.
The bridge, over the Raritan River, expanded from 12 lanes to 15 and added shoulders. The lack of shoulders had aggravated congestion during breakdowns and accidents.
Air travel at Newark Liberty International Airport is expected to be down 6.1 percent this weekend, with more than 448,000 passengers arriving or departing.

Asbury 1944

2009-05-20T12:45:00.002-04:00

What man builds nature can take in a flash. This photo shows the unbelievable damage sustained by Asbury Park during the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944. Convention Hall in the distance sustained damage but survived the massive storm.

The Point Pleasant Beach Train

2009-05-16T17:13:00.005-04:00

Generations of families recall the little beach train that for almost 5 decades made the trip from Jenkinson's Pavilion to the boardwalk pier at the end of Broadway.

Tradition states that Orlo Jenkinson Sr bought the train after seeing one operate in Brighton England. At one time there were three shiny locomotives that pulled seven, two seat cars each and a pair of them always ran in seven-minute intervals often passing each other at 20 MPH.

By the mid 1990's the new owners of Jenkinson's lost interest in the train and the Zitarosa family purchased the train running it as a labor of love. Part were impossible to locate so locomotive parts were pirated from each other and by the end one locomotive could barely run at 5 MPH on a single set of tracks. The family struggled to find a buyer as they dealt with the constant deterioration of the tracks caused by the sand and heat. In the end they gave up the good fight and the old beach train became a Jersey Shore memory.

Picnic with Lucy

2009-05-16T11:00:00.003-04:00

Lucy has led a varied life since being built as an attraction to promote real estate sales in South Atlantic City ( now Margate.) The 65-foot-high pachyderm was a distant cousin of the Light of Asia in Cape May, and the Elephant Hotel ( or Elrphantine Colossus) in Coney Island. She is the only surviving relative. Lucy did a stint as a hotel, tavern, and even a summer cottage. She was going to ruins until a group of preservationists saved her and moved her inland to nearby Margate. Lucy is now a National Historic Landmark and worth a visit.

Pictured her is a picnic circa 1930 when she was still located along the boardwalk.

Asbury in amazing detail -1919

2009-05-14T17:30:00.002-04:00

In 1919 the US Army took aerial images of the entire Jersey Shore from Long Branch to Cape May Point for defense purposes..
They are a wealth of knowledge for historians and fans of the shore. I am posting it in large format so you can click on it and really see the detail.

I'll be posting various aerial views of NJ resorts in the weeks to come. There is an Asbury #2 image to follow. Some towns like Cape May have 4 or more images to cover the entire city.

Emil

Come On, Rise Up - crank up the volume

2009-05-13T12:42:00.005-04:00

My money is on Asbury Park coming back.
Once known as the Duchess of the North Shore I see good things happening.

Emil

"Dreamland" Coney Island NY

2009-05-12T20:31:00.010-04:00

Yes I know this is my blog for the New Jersey Shore but some of our best boardwalk amusement parks evolved from Coney Island attractions. Dreamland looks like a magical place.

Advertised as the Great Pleasure Park of West Brighton Beach it was massive collection of amusements.

The park had thousands of electric lights to outline the buildings, Venetian canals, trained animals, a 3-ring circus, high-divers, a miniature railroad, etc.

Take a look at the illustration and my description from left to right.

On the far left is the bizarre Midget City that the park populated with little people where tourists would gawk at the inhabitants as if they were zoo animals. The tower next to it was a 300 foot observation structure that must have looked incredible in the evening outlined with miniature white lights. Next is the pier where the boat is docking. There was a covered ballroom over the pier. The "fire" on the right was actually an exhibit called the "Realistic Fire Exhibition." Lastly the pier on the right with a hump-like shape in the middle of it was a "Leap-frog Railroad."

Wouldn't you love to have seen it for a day?

Two Views of the Asbury Park Casino

2009-05-12T14:49:00.004-04:00

You recognize that guy right ?? :) :)

He was getting ready to take over the planet, and the Casino, well, it traveled in another direction.

The one constant is change.

Emil

Lots more Asbury Park " Come on, Rise up."

2009-05-11T20:45:00.024-04:00

The Boss wrote " I can hear the organ's song but the congregation's gone..My city of ruins"but our famous troubadour also added " Come on, rise up !"

Many people believe he wrote this heart wrenching song about the horrors of 9/11 but he actually wrote this for his lost city of Asbury Park and first performed it at a benefit for the resort.

Here are some wonderful old images of the boardwalk, the inside of Convention Hall and the Casino.

Come and on Rise Up

Emil

Asbury then and now

2009-05-11T16:42:00.011-04:00

I stopped by Asbury Park today on the way back home from Cape May.
Some progress since my last visit but very slow.
A few nice shops open on the new boardwalk but the Casino remains an eyesore and the Casino Carousel building is fenced off.
Take a look and keep your fingers crossed.
Emil

Ocean City NJ 1944

2009-05-10T09:07:00.003-04:00

As I feel asleep in the Cape May cottage last evening the day had turned from bright,sunny and 87 degrees to a thunderous hailstorm with a wondrous show of lightning. The wind off the ocean picked up around midnight and the the awnings and windows howled into the morning. I laid in bed and thought of the ever changing weather of our Jersey Shore which makes it so exciting to live here.

In September of 1944 The Great Atlantic Hurricane as it became known - no names back then - ripped the resorts along the coastline to shreds and turned towns and boardwalks into piles of kindling.

Pictured here is Ocean City the Day After.

PS This morning in Cape May it is cold, windy and sunny. A nice day for a taking photographs.

Emil

Arson? Cape May,NJ Style- 1878

2009-05-07T19:56:00.016-04:00

The ancient Ocean House hotel was located on a precious piece of real estate..only one-half block from the beach and near most of Cape May's best cottages and hotels.

Sometime during the early hours of November 9th, 1878, while the city slept and all of the tourists had left months earlier, one or more arsonists entered the vacant Ocean House which had closed for the season.

The fire was first observed by a workman repairing the roof of the Stockton Hotel at approximately 7 AM. Although he noticed smoke emitting from the roof, no alarm was sounded until a few minutes later when, as the local paper would later report, " a lady standing at the corner of Washington Street was remarked by Colonel Sawyer, a member of city council, to be gazing intently in the direction of the Ocean House."
Shortly after the alarm was sounded, flames burst through the Ocean House roof in half-a-dozen places. A thirty-six mile an hour northwest wind fanned the flames and it soon became apparent that the old hotel was lost.
Excited residents wondered if their inadequate fire department could save the city. The local fire fighting equipment consisted of an antiquated hand engine with fifteen feet of rubber hose, three small chemical trucks and one hook and ladder truck.
I document the fire building by building in my book, The Summer City by the Sea, An Illustrated History of Cape May, NJ ( Rutgers University Press ) and it is one hell of a story.
Calls went out to the large cities of Camden and Philadelphia and their fire fighting equipment was loaded on trains headed for the tiny wooden city.
Historians would later erroneously write that the fire did so much damage because there was not enough water at hand. Not true. There were plenty of artesian wells owned by the hotels and a main city well that was 25 feet in diameter and 30 feet deep and they were all full of water.
The problem? Old rotten hoses and pumps that had been shut down by the hotels for the season. Water, water everywhere and no way to bring it to the fire.

When all was said and done the Philadelphia newspapers declared it was the city of Cape May's Greatest Fire. Thirty -five acres of devastation and ruins. Seven major hotels were lost and more than thirty cottages and bathhouses.

If you were going to rid yourself of an old hotel in need of expenive repairs well starting a fire in November was the perfect time. Owner of the Ocean House, Samuel R. Ludlam, was conveniently seen on the early morning train for Philadelphia the day of the fire and was not aware of it until he reached the trains first stop. Ludlam was dragged before the court but was released due to lack of evidence. Very convenient.

The good news..no loss of life and in the end the conflagration created a thirty-five acre blank canvas for the city - still popular with the public and investors - to be rebuilt as a smaller, scaled-down version of its pre-fire self.
The charming buildings that we love Cape May for today were built around the same period of time due to an immoral owner looking for a way out of his repsonsibilites for an aging, once great hotel. Funny how things work out in the end.

The Sindia - Ocean City NJ - treasure ?

2009-05-07T13:12:00.007-04:00

In 1901 the brave men of the Ocean City, NJ, U.S. Life-Saving Service were put to the test when the 3,068-ton-, 329-foot, four-masted, steel-hulled bark Sindia was driven ashore by a four day gale that the ship had encountered off the coast of Cape May.

The crew of thirty three, including Captain Allen McKenzie, fought the gale fearlessly until the seventy-mile-per-hour winds and waves drove the Sindia onto to a sand bar off Ocean City and eventually split her hull in two.
The ship, now filling with sand and water, came to rest parallel to 16th and 17th Street. All hands were saved by the U.S.Life-Saving Service. The owners, the principal being oil mogul John D. Rockefeller, sent a salvage crew and security guards immediately to the site.
.
It is a long story - you can buy my latest book- Jersey Shore-Vintage Images of Bygone Days ( GlobePequot Press) :) :) to read the entire tale but I will say there was thought to be a solid gold statue of Buddha that was never recovered. In 1991 the Ocean City, NJ beach was replenished by the Army Corps of Engineers and the remains of Sindia now lie under the beach where thousands enjoy the sea every beautiful summer day. A small marker on the boardwalk is the only reminder of the doomed ship and indicates the location to those who stop and take a look.
Got a shovel ???

The Abbey- Cape May

2009-05-07T12:19:00.004-04:00

Many of you Cape May lovers know this as The Abbey, a popular B&B.
The house was designed by famous Cape May architect Stephen Decatur Button who over three decades designed more than forty buildings in the tiny resort.
Button's influence was even greater because pattern books featured structures that had his imprint and local builders would use pattern books to "design" cottages for those who could not afford an architect. This is one of his surviving masterpieces, the John McCreary House located at Columbia Avenue and Gurney Street. McCreary was a coal baron who resided in Philadelphia and summered in Cape May.

Hindenburg Disaster-72 years ago today

2009-05-06T20:45:00.002-04:00

Seventy-two years ago, May, 6, 1937, the giant German airship, the Hindenburg, the pride of the Third Reich, met a fiery end as it attempted to dock at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in NJ.

In less than one minute 35 of the ship's 97 passengers perished thus ending the promise of giant, trans-Atlantic, passenger rigid airship travel.

Pictured here is a photo of the Hindenburg with the Nazi Swastika on its fins passing over the seaside town of Atlantic City on its way to a date with destiny.

Seaside - Fun Town - 1967

2009-05-06T17:56:00.003-04:00

One of the oldest Seaside Amusement complexes, Freeman U.S.A. ( now Funtown Pier ) was destroyed by a boardwalk inferno in 1955. Beach property was too valuable to remain undeveloped, and in short time Funtown USA emerged from the ashes. Lost in the fire was the hand-carved Dentzel Carousel. This 1967 photo shows the Sky Ride, an elevated monorail that was added to the new amusement center. It also depicts the children's' favorite- the miniature railroad.

The Restless Boardwalk - Wildwood

2009-05-05T19:24:00.005-04:00

Fans of Wildwood know how long that walk can be at low tide from the boardwalk to the refreshing surf on a hot summer day. Well the wooden walkway did not begin life at its current location. The boardwalk was moved numerous times over the twentieth century and often significant buildings were moved with it.

To understand the history of the Wildwood boardwalk one needs to know that sections of the walkway were moved quite often as the beach grew because of man-made obstructions to the natural sand flow. Most people do not know that in the nineteenth century Cape May was known nationally for its massive beach and long, gradual strand that permitted sea-bathers to walk quite a distance into the sea in waist-high water. The local Cape May joke is that if you want to know where Cape May's once beautiful, wide strand disappeared just look north to Wildwood.

In 1911, the boardwalk. along with Ocean Pier, was moved closer to the Atlantic.

Pictured here is a copy of the loser's proposal to move the walkway in 1911. Imagine all that work for just under $16,000.

I am also attaching a photo of the Ocean Pier being moved east with the new boardwalk.

The Hotel Train..."Really..."

2009-05-04T18:15:00.012-04:00

I always refer to the fact that back in the day "labor was cheaper than wood." Folks in the nineteenth century moved buildings at the drop of a hat if the the sea threatened them. Labor was inexpensive and there were few obstructions such as overhead wires and lines. Most of the homes in my neighborhood in Cape May were moved from what was once South Cape May as the sea claimed more and more homes.
Today the town of South Cape May no longer exists. I was once told by an old timer that some crews were so good they could move a house 10 blocks with the dishes still in a built-in china cabinet and never break a dish or the plaster walls.
I am attaching an illustration of the Brighton Beach Hotel in 1888. It became apparent to the owners of the Coney Island landmark that the sea was undermining their hotel ( see the upper left hand corner ) and it had to be moved. During the winter of 1887-1888 six locomotives slowly pulled the behemoth hotel in specially laid tracks 600 feet to higher ground. ( The newspaper that produced the illustration did it in advance so they showed more locomotives than were actually used.) The move went so well that the hotel was open for business as usual that summer.

The United States Hotel - Long Branch

2009-05-04T15:14:00.004-04:00

Most of you have never heard of the Pach Brothers but those of us who love the Jersey Shore owe them a debt of gratitude as they took some of the earliest photographs of the Jersey Shore in existence.
Their specialty was stereographic photography and pictured here is the United States Hotel in Long Branch. This is old school and and dates to the early 1870's. The hotel was built in 1852 and was the quintessential seaside hotel.
Instead of offering the standard fare of the day the owners hired the chef of the noted St. Nicholas Hotel in New York City. There were expansive piazzas with ocean views on three sides of the hotel, a house orchestra for daily serenades and three weekly hops. A well manicured lawn made croquet a favorite of the guests. The proprietor even supplied a life guard for his guests in the era before resorts provided them. All this for $4.00 a night.

Here is some trivia... the hotel had a connection with the Pach Brothers. In the summer of 1866 they traveled to Long Branch to take portraits of the rich and famous and caught the eye of President Ulysses S. Grant, who summered there during and after his presidency. Grant and some of his wealthy buddies funded the Pachs' first Long Branch studio on the grounds of the United States Hotel.

WE Have A WINNER

2009-05-04T13:24:00.004-04:00

Hi Followers and fans,

I put all of the names in Random.org and we have a winner of the autographed set of my three shore books.

The lucky winner is Mark Shusterman.

Mark please email me so we can make contact.

emil_salvini@post.harvard.edu

If you did not win fear not..I will be announcing a new contest for a fun NJ gift in the next day or so. Please sign up as a follower on the blog so you can get in the next raffle. Followers only :)

Cheers,
Emil

The Great 1917 Asbury Park Fire

2009-05-04T09:33:00.005-04:00

Fire was the scourge of wooden resorts built along the sea. A spark, candle, faulty gas light or sometimes arson would be quickly assisted by brisk sea breezes and in a short time... ashes.

In April 5, 1917 a nasty conflagration destroyed four blocks of the old Asbury Park boardwalk including the famous Natatorium.

Asbury Park was so popular at the time that by 1924 the boardwalk was rebuilt and the Natatorium ( pictured in the right of this image ) was rebuilt.

Contest

2009-05-04T09:12:00.004-04:00

The raffle is over ( last night midnight ) for an autographed set of my 3 shore books for registered Followers of the blog.

Today I will remove relatives from the list ( just a few :) ) and have Random.org choose the winner.

Keep an eye out for the winner

If you do not win sign up as a Follower as there will be more contests to follow. We have had over 1000 unique visits (that is 1000 individual IP addresses ) and 6000 page hits to the blog in a short time but only 120 registered followers -thanks followers.

Have a great day

Emil

Cape May - Turn up the volume

2009-05-03T12:30:00.006-04:00

Cape May 2008 with sound.

Enjoy..more videos and slide shows to follow.

Thanks to Jay Ungar for the beautiful music.

All photos by Emil Salvini

Cheers

Emil

A 1904 Visit to Asbury Park

2009-05-03T00:32:00.004-04:00

Not everyone who visited Asbury Park took the train. While James Bradley forbade trains to stop at his resort on the Sabbath there were other ways to get there.

Pictured here are a group of passengers landing from the schooner; Emma B., in the summer of 1904

Shoot out on the Asbury Park -Ocean Grove Boardwalk :)

2009-05-01T16:29:00.002-04:00

Only kidding but for those of you who are new to my blog and FaceBook fan site I thought I would post the story of the Jersey Shore and old Pawnee Bill again. ( f you did see it in FB you can enjoy again it in high-res this time)
It was a bright, summer day in the late 19th century when an interesting event took place on the Jersey Shore.
Gordon "Pawnee Bill" Lille, the founder of Pawnee's Wild West Show, brought his troupe to Asbury Park for a series of performances.
Bill and his motley crew arrived early on a Sunday and having promised to show everyone the Atlantic Ocean, he assembled his crew of cowboys. horses, and Native Americans for a festive march along the sea.
Unaware of the blue laws in adjoining Ocean Grove, Pawnee and his colorful band came face to face with good old Methodist morality as they crossed from Asbury's boardwalk and paraded south onto the Ocean Grove wooden walkway.
The local constable ordered them to STOP, for they were crossing into the Methodist camp resort, where not much of anything with the exception of praying took place on Sundays..no driving, no amusement, no sea bathing and no Wild West parades :)
Ever the showman, Pawnee Bill reached for his trusty six-shooter ( loaded with blanks ) and scared the hell out of the shocked policeman. In the ensuing minutes cooler heads prevailed, and Bill placated his troupe by taking them for a ride on the Asbury Park Electric Trolley. Pictured here on the right is Gordon " Pawnee Bill " Lillie next to his fellow showman, Buckskin Jim.
Now you know :)
Emil

Belmar NJ Tsunami - 1938

2009-05-01T09:30:00.004-04:00

In 1938 a horrific hurricane chewed up the coast of Long Island and New England. It was the worst storm to ravage our coastal friends to the north since a monster hurricane paid them a visit in 1821.

The New Jersey resort towns received only a glancing blow but as can be seen by these images of Belmar -that glancing blow and a series of tidal waves or tsunamis tore up the boardwalk like a pile of kindling.

The1904 Floral Parade - Atlantic City Boardwalk with a twist-turn up the volume.

2009-04-30T16:54:00.004-04:00

Fans...Let me know if you like this version with SOUND
Turn up the volume.
Thanks to Thomas Edison and Weezer.

Emil

The Asbury Park - Ocean Grove Train Station

2009-04-29T20:31:00.010-04:00

Many Jersey Shore fans do not realize that for decades Asbury Park, and Ocean Grove, were ruled by the stern hand of the "founder" James Bradley, a former Manhattan brush salesman.

He was a very religious man and had no problem imposing his concept of morality on the two resorts. Interestingly, the nearby resort of Bradley Beach - named after him - broke free from his rule before the other two. I suppose they learned by observing what Asbury and Ocean Grove were going through such as trains not being permitted to service the resorts on Sundays. Some rules made sense, and well others, including his bizarre disdain for hot dogs and his insistence that they not be sold in "his" beloved Asbury Park, well .... :)

The first thing the Asbury Park government did when it wrestled control from Bradley was to permit the trains to service the bustling resort on Sundays. Pictured here is the beautiful train station.

Atlantic City over a century ago...in motion.

2009-04-29T16:27:00.007-04:00

Here is a rare treat for you fans taken by the Wizard himself ... Thomas A. Edison.

The occasion ? The Floral Parade on the Atlantic City boardwalk in 1904...yup, 1904.

I watched it a few times to see the amazing detail. One of the floats says "Young's Pier." Look at the children and the old school policemen.

Emil

Goodbye to an era..

2009-04-29T15:48:00.002-04:00

The Atlantic City beachfront had been one of the most famous in the world for more than half of a century. As poverty, decay and crime grew in the latter half of the twentieth century Atlantic City was no longer the place to be seen.
In 1979 Louis Malle's film Atlantic City featured dramatic aerial footage of the magnificent Traymore hotel being demolished to make way for new hotels and signal an end of the era of pre-casino AC.
Malle used artistic license in his film, for the actual demolition - a Guinness world record holder at the time for the largest controlled demolition - actually took place in April 1972, six years before gambling was legalized in America's Playground.
Emil

Enter if you Dare

2009-04-29T08:42:00.003-04:00

George Tilyou, of Coney Island fame, was serious about fun and his Atlantic City Steeplechase Pier.

Here is the boardwalk entrance.

#1 Atlantic Ocean

2009-04-28T16:35:00.005-04:00

Guys-

Here are two incredible interior images I just located of the inside of Captain Young's mansion on his pier in Atlantic City... very rare.
As I wrote earlier he only bought the finest furniture.

Enjoy
Emil

Birth of Tillie

2009-04-28T15:59:00.004-04:00

Many of you Asbury Park fans know that Tillie of Palace Amusements fame, has been featured on my FaceBook fan page.
Few folks know that the demonic clown image of Tillie was morphed from the trademark that George Tilyou used on his Steeplechase Parks and Piers.
Some say he patterned the image after a photo of his brother but as you can see in this very cool photo of Atlantic City it was prominently displayed on his Steeplechase Pier.

I'm working on a post about the fellow who created Tille for the Palace Amusements and will publish it soon
For the time being click on this fun image and check out a very crowded boardwalk on a long ago Easter Day.
Emil

Number One, Atlantic Ocean.

2009-04-28T13:04:00.011-04:00

This was one of my most popular posts on the FaceBook fan page where we are about to hit 1800 fans..great.

I thought I would post this again along with a new image that you have to see to believe.
Here is the back story.
Atlantic City promoter, Captain John Lake Young, built his second and most famous amusement pier in 1906 and called it Young's Million Dollar Pier.
Ever the showman, the Captain ( no one has any idea where he got the rank from ) built an Italian-style villa at the end of his amusement pier and called it Number One, Atlantic Ocean. That was the actual address where he received his mail.
The villa had formal gardens, a lush grass lawn and marble statuary. The view from the bell tower must have been breathtaking. Young imported the finest furnishings from Europe, and the mansion more than paid for itself in the publicity it provided for his amusement business. The "Captain" played host to presidents, celebrities and industrialists ( pictured here is President William Taft dining in the villa which was located hundreds of feet over the Atlantic.) Each evening the mansion could be seen from miles away because of the thousands of miniature white ligghtbulbs that were designed and installed by Young's fishing buddy Thomas Edison.

Steel Pier- What a shot

2009-04-28T11:55:00.003-04:00

I posted this on FaceBook once before but with the ability of our new blog to enlarge in high-res I decided to re-post.

Please click on it to enlarge..It is fabulous

Emil

Spring Lake- More 1953 storm

2009-04-28T11:10:00.007-04:00

Spring Lake like many other NJ Shore towns suffered damage from time to time along their boardwalk and seafront.
In 1953 a November hurricane tossed the wooden walkway and buildings across the town as if they were tinker toys.
Today much of the walkway is made of artificial material.

The Atlantic City beach and Steeplechase Pier

2009-04-27T17:06:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorite images.
Click on it to see some amazing detail of the AC beach and George Tilyou's Steeplechase Pier around 1910.

Cheers,
Emil

Large and in Charge :):)

2009-04-27T09:14:00.002-04:00

For those of you new to my blog feel free to click on the images.

The photo will fill your page and it's fun to study the detail

Check it out on the last old photo I posted on Lucy the Elephant near the beach

Cheers,

Emil

Carousel

2009-04-27T08:53:00.002-04:00

Fans,

I added a new feature this weekend at the bottom of the page.

You can view my books and a few others.

Cheers,

Emil

Lucy when she was a hotel

2009-04-27T08:41:00.003-04:00

Lucy was originally located at Cedar Grove Avenue and the Beach in Margate. She was used as a real estate gimmick to develop the "southern beaches " of Atlantic City and she was instrumental in Margate becoming a resort.

The ocean continued to encroach and she was eventually ( pictured in my last post ) moved to her new home in 1970

Pay her a visit. It is worth it

Emil

Are You Seeing Elephants :) :)

2009-04-26T21:44:00.003-04:00

In June of 1970 the residents of Margate, NJ got quite a treat as they saw Lucy the Elephant being moved slowly down the street to her new home.
Thanks to a loyal band of preservationists she was saved from the wrecking ball and is now a National Historic Landmark.
She is worth a visit.

The Twin Cities - Asbury Park/Ocean Grove

2009-04-26T10:13:00.009-04:00

Just found a 1904 brochure on the "Twin Cities"
I left the original captions so you can enjoy.
Feel free to enlarge them.
Cheers
Emil

Signing in

2009-04-25T14:31:00.003-04:00

Some of you fans have noted that you have to sign in as anonymous when you leave a comment on the blog. You should be able to use your name if you registered as a follower on the blog.

If that still does not work no problem ..just sign on as "Anonymous", sign your name and we will all know it is you

Thanks for your interest

Emil

Your blog host's NJ Shore Books

2009-04-25T12:13:00.004-04:00

Hi All,

Some fans have asked what my books look like. As you may know Jersey Girl "CJ" won an autographed set on the FaceBook contest and they will ship next week.

The new mini-raffle will take place the end of next week and will only include registered followers of the new blog as contestants. To enter just select the "follower" icon above the followers box on the left of the page and provide your email address. The winner will be randomly selected.

For those of you who do not know here is a brief description of each book.

The Summer City bu the Sea, An Illustrated History of Cape May, NJ ( Rutgers University Press ) covers the history of our oldest resort from colonial days to the present.

Boardwalk Memories, Tales of the Jersey Shore ( Globe Pequot Press ) covers each boardwalk town on the Jersey Shore

Jersey Shore, Vintage Images of Bygone Day ( Globe Pequot Press ) covers various subject on the shore including architecture, parades, storms , personalities, etc.

Good luck and if you do not win there is always Amazon or Barnes and Noble :)

Emil

Marilyn and the Parade

2009-04-25T10:56:00.004-04:00

Some of you may have seen this on my FaceBook fan page but I am committed to revisiting some great images in high quality on my new blog that you can click on to enjoy more detail. .
Pictured here is legend Marilyn Monroe.

The back story?
In 1952 Marilyn was visiting Atlantic City to promote a new film. When the Grand Marshall of the Miss America Parade became ill and could not attend the event the organizers asked the beautiful star to fill in. She obliged and caused quite a stir. The public loved her but based on the plunging neckline :) she was never asked back by the conservative pageant committee. Try to explain that to that sailor with the camera.
What a memory.

The Asbury Park Casino Carousel

2009-04-25T10:26:00.006-04:00

Hi guys,

With our new blog high-res format I thought I would re-post this memorable image of the old Casino Carousel in Asbury Park. What makes this so interesting is that besides the fact that it only now exists in our memories is that you can see in the window reflection the Palace Amusements Ferris Wheel. During the decline of the Duchess of the North Shore, as Asbury was known in its heyday, both the Casino Carousel and Palace Casino/Ferris Wheel/Amusements disappeared due to neglect and greedy collectors. In 1988 the Palace closed, and the hand-carved figures were sold off to the highest bidders. In 1990 the Casino Carousel figures were sold and replaced with fiberglass animals and today the building is empty.

There is a lot of history in the image.
Do not forget to click on the image to see all of the fine detail.
Thanks to my friend Peter Lucia - who owns the copyright on this image - for this photo.

Please pass on the blog to your friends and don't forget to register as a follower to enter the raffle for my books

Enjoy this beautiful weekend.

Emil

Golf Anyone ???

2009-04-24T16:15:00.004-04:00

While the resolution is not what I wish I had to post this FABULOUS image of the coolest miniature golf course I have ever seen. I keep clicking on it for more detail :)
Located along the Long Branch boardwalk it evokes many memories. Can anyone date this?

Cheers,
Emil

The Boss

2009-04-24T09:31:00.003-04:00

When I wrote Jersey Shore, Vintage Images of Bygone Days, I asked now deceased famous rock photographer Joel Bernstein if I could use a few of his early Bruce Springtseen images.

He shared a several with me including this beauty that was used on a cover for one of the Boss's singles at one time.

I have posted this before but am revisiting a few images since so many new people are viewing the blog ( 3200) as of today. I also want to share it in high-res which I could not do on face Book.

Enjoy guys

Emil

Don't forget to register as a blog Follower and enter the raffle for my 3 books

Old Long Branch from the air

2009-04-23T16:03:00.007-04:00

For you Long Branch fans here are two very cool, detailed images of the resort before the pier and boardwalk fires.
Enjoy and click on them for greater detail.

PS If you want to join the mini-raffle for an autographed set of my books just register on the blog as a follower. Emil

A cool clear Sping Lake day :)

2009-04-23T11:38:00.007-04:00

Fans,

For those of you who are not convinced yet I thought I would re-post this wonderful image of Spring Lake back in the day. Please click on it to enlarge and I think you will agree the blog resolution brings another dimension to my posts.

The date is 1947 and the boardwalk was still wood at the time. The famous Essex and Sussex Hotel which appeared in the 1981 motion picture Ragtime, is on the top left and guests of the hotel could use the very toney private beach across from it.

Emil

Tales of the New Jersey Shore and its Environs

Our Pilot is Complete

Following and entering the raffle

Young's Pier - Atlantic City

The Blog and Facebook

Mini Jerusalem - Ocean Grove

Hydrangeas in Atlantic City

Riding on the Beach

Bradley Beach Tennis

Wildwood back in the day

Monopoly and the Jersey Shore

Ocean City -NJ The good and the bad.

A NYC Food Guy with deep Jersey Shore roots

Monopoly Game Raffle

The Original Convention Hall Atlantic City

Asbury Park - the Carousel Casino and Palace Ferris Wheel

Test Comment

Some high quality Cape May images

EXCITING CONTEST

Wesley Lake - Asbury Park - Ocean Grove

The High Quality Photos of the Blog

The George Allen House

My First Post After Facebook

Follow Me on this Blog

The story behind the author

Emil's Italy Trip 2010

The Railroad Comes to Cape May

Previous posts

The Hotel Cape May

The Jersey Shore Perpetual Calendar

A Beautiful Cape May day - 1918

Peter Paul Boynton - The Pearl Diver

The Last Days of Pompeii - Coney Island Style

The Summer Station - Cape May, NJ

United States Life-Saving Service

Spring Lake, NJ - old school

Mt Vernon Beach and Hotel - Cape May NJ

The Stockton Hotel = Cape May NJ

Another July 4th

THe Cake Walk - AC Style

The Freeman Pier Fire- 1955- Seaside

Young's Pier Fire - 1912

Another Sand Artist

Number One Atlantic Ocean

Sand Artist Early 1900's

Move We Must- Wildwood Ocean Pier

Ye Old Mill, Jack Rabbit and Carousel, Wildwood NJ

Bob Hope and AC

Cape May Point - 1919 Amazing View

Morro Castle - Asbury Park

The Light of Asia - Cape May

The Annual Ritual - very cool

Asbury 1944

The Point Pleasant Beach Train

Picnic with Lucy

Asbury in amazing detail -1919

Come On, Rise Up - crank up the volume

"Dreamland" Coney Island NY

Two Views of the Asbury Park Casino

Lots more Asbury Park " Come on, Rise up."

Asbury then and now

Ocean City NJ 1944

Arson? Cape May,NJ Style- 1878

The Sindia - Ocean City NJ - treasure ?

The Abbey- Cape May

Hindenburg Disaster-72 years ago today

Seaside - Fun Town - 1967

The Restless Boardwalk - Wildwood

The Hotel Train..."Really..."

The United States Hotel - Long Branch

WE Have A WINNER

The Great 1917 Asbury Park Fire

Contest

Cape May - Turn up the volume

A 1904 Visit to Asbury Park

Shoot out on the Asbury Park -Ocean Grove Boardwalk :)

Belmar NJ Tsunami - 1938

The1904 Floral Parade - Atlantic City Boardwalk with a twist-turn up the volume.

The Asbury Park - Ocean Grove Train Station

Atlantic City over a century ago...in motion.