Historic Images of Atlantic City

Postcard (1908) (Courtesy of tuckdb.org)

In the late 19th and early 20th Century, Atlantic City N.J. became a popular and bustling seaside destination on the Jersey Shore. The city was incorporated in 1854, and by the 1870s and 1880s, it had become a major resort, noted for its famous boardwalk, beautiful beach and elegant hotels, with over 500,000 visitors arriving yearly by rail from Philadelphia and its suburbs. The famous "Saltwater Taffy" was invented in 1883 in Atlantic City.

In the Surf Atlantic City--Stereograph Image (1890) (Courtesy of NYPL)

From the 1900s-1920's many new hotels were built and tourism flourished. People flocked to the beaches and pleasure piers, most notably Steel Pier, and Young's Million Dollar Pier. 

Steel Pier At Night- Postcard (1910s) (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

The Miss America Pageant began there in 1921, and in the 1930's the city inspired the layout of the board for the famous Monopoly game. Atlantic City was billed as a family resort, but there was also a dark side. During the Prohibition Era (1919-1933) there was an increased organized crime presence, and illegal liquor, gambling and prostitution thrived in the city then known as "The World's Playground." 

Travel Poster (Circa 1920s-1930)

After WW2, Atlantic City experienced significant economic decline. The era of legalized gambling began in 1978, and the first casinos were constructed along the boardwalk in the next few years. Many of the famous old hotels were torn down, although a few such as The Chalfonte-Haddon Hall, were incorporated into the new casino complexes that were built. 

Haddon Hall (1902) (Courtesy of NYPL)

  

In the 1990s and 2000s, casino gaming began to expand to other nearby states, including Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Many people who once flocked to Atlantic City on bus trips or week long vacations now had the option to gamble closer to home, and Atlantic City began to suffer. Many casinos have now closed, and Atlantic City again faces many challenges, but still survives and hopefully will continue to find new ways to bring in visitors in the 21st century. 

Atlantic City Boardwalk (2006) (Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

The following photographs and postcard images celebrate the Golden Age of this beloved city by the sea.

Life Saving Lookout Atlantic City (Circa 1900-1920) (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

A Merry Bunch- Stereograph Image (1895) (Courtesy of NYPL)

Entrance to Young's Ocean Pier (1903) (Courtesy of NYPL)

Love At the Seaside Atlantic City- Stereograph Image (1902) (Courtesy of NYPL)

 

The Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel (Circa 1900-1910) (Courtesy of NYPL)

Young's Million Dollar Pier (circa 1910) (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Menu from Opening Dinner for Young's Million Dollar Pier (1906) (Courtesy of NYPL)

Morning Ride Atlantic City N.J "Where Three Is Not A Crowd" (Featuring Rolling Chairs) (Circa 1910) (Courtesy of New York Public Library)

New York Beauties at Atlantic City Carnival (1922) (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

 

The Pier At the Inlet (1903--Postally Used 1905) (Courtesy of NYPL)

The Sandman (Sand Sculptures) (1900) (Courtesy of NYPL)

The Traymore Hotel (Circa 1900-1910) (Courtesy of NYPL)

 Steel Pier and Boardwalk (Circa 1900-1910) (Courtesy of tuckdb.org)

The Beach (Circa 1900-1910) (Courtesy of tuckdb.org)

The Boardwalk at Night (1902) (Courtesy of tuckdb.org)

Images of 1930s New York

Waterfront, South Street, Manhattan

These amazing photographs of New York in the 1930s are part of the Changing New York Collection from the New York Public Library. These featured photos were taken in 1935 by Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) and sponsored by the Federal Art Project, New York N.Y.

56th Street and First Avenue, Billie's Bar, Manhattan

Broome Street, Nos. 504-506, Manhattan

Automat, 977 Eighth Avenue, Manhattan

Blossom Restaurant, 103 Bowery, Manhattan

 

Broadway Near Broome Street, Manhattan

Country Store: Interior, Ewen Avenue, Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx

Hot Dog Stand, West St. and North Moore, Manhattan

Jay Street, No. 115, Brooklyn

Jefferson Market Court, Southwest Corner of Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street, Looking North from Southwest Corner of Sixth Avenue and West 9th Street, Manhattan

Murray Hill Hotel, from Park Avenue and 40th Street, Manhattan

News Stand, 32nd Street and Third Avenue, Manhattan

Oak and New Chambers Streets, Manhattan

Radio Row, Cortlandt Street, Manhattan

Traveling Tin Shop, Brooklyn

Tri-boro Barber School, 264 Bowery, Manhattan

Brooklyn Bridge, Water and Dock Streets, looking southwest, Brooklyn

Up

source

IF YOU will but engrave upon the tablet of your heart this little word — up — and let it lead you, you will never know how to fail.
 

Everything grows up — beautiful fragrant flowers, trees, cities, babies, nations, the world!
 

What you are in this big life is revealed in the way you interpret your up. It's so easy to fall down. Anyone can do that, over and over again. But it's how you get up that counts.
It takes real courage to get up, and stay up.
 

Long ago, that wonderful old patriarch, Edward Everett Hale, said: "Look up — not down." It is the watchword of every passing night, indicative of a sun-strewn dawn, this up of yours!
 

The vision of this onward world is — up. No man ever fell so low but he desired to get up. It is the one great aspiration that the great God plants in our souls.
 

But it isn't enough to get up yourself. You must always remember that —
 

"He climbs highest who helps another up!"

From Up, By George Matthew Adams (1920)

Romantic Dance Couples

To celebrate Valentine's Day, I'm featuring some of my favorite images of romantic dance couples. Couples interact in the dance in a way that mirrors the "dance" of relationships, and in watching dancers we can share in the beauty and heightened emotions that are conveyed. The following images illustrate various dances, including the waltz, the tango, and the mambo, and feature dancers from the early 19th Century to the 1950s. 

Couple In Regency Era Dress-Birthday Card (1905) (source)

  

Mid 19th Century Sheet Music

Dance In the City by Renoir (1883) (source)

Valentine's Day Card by Ellen Clapsaddle (Circa 1900-1910)

The Ballroom-The Waltz- Stereograph Card (1902) (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

A Dance At the Hyde Park Hotel, London (1907) (source)

"Her Step Was as Light as the Marble Fawn, Dancing the Marble Waltz"- Couple Kisses While Dancing- Stereograph Card (1907) (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Sheet Music Image (1908) (Courtesy of New York Public Library)

Sheet Music Image (1910)

Sheet Music Image (1911)

Sheet Music Image (1912)

Postcard L. Usabal (1910's) (source)

Postcard L. Usabal (1910's) (source)

Postcard L. Usabal (1910's) (source)

Postcard L. Usabal (1910's) (source)

Postcard L. Usabal (1910's) (source)

Postcard 1910's

 

Postcard 1910s

Dancing Couples, No. 2 By Anne Harriet Fish (1890-1964) (Image Appeared on Cover of Vanity Fair, March 1921) (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Dance Floor With Couples (1934) (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Dancing the Mambo (1953)