Hydrangeas in Atlantic City

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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