Boardwalks East and West

 

The world's first seaside boardwalk was built in Atlantic City, New Jersey along its sandy shoreline. Built in 1870, originally as a temporary wooden structure for the spring/summer season, the Atlantic City Boardwalk is now permanent and is the world's longest and busiest resort esplanade at 5 1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) long. It defines the ocean front for hundreds of hotels and links several amusement piers with countless arcades and novelty shops.

In its early years, hundreds of thousands of tourists came every summer to see the ocean and march stroll along the promenade. Some used little pedicabs rather than walk as seen in this colorized postcard captioned:

Boardwalk, Brighton Casino and Marborough-Blenheim, Atlantic City, N. J.

The card was sent on 15 August 1910 to Mrs. H. P. Boone of Washington, Pennsylvania.

 

                            Aunt Jenny
                                We are all
                                well and having
                                a good time
                                Willard is being
                                so very good
                                             Maude
                                    Bouviere Hotel
                                    150 S. Tennessee Ave
                                    Atlantic City
                                                N. J.

 * * *

 

 

 

Jutting out from the boardwalk into the ocean are several piers. The oldest is the Steel Pier on the north end which opened in 1898. This structure built on iron pilings with a deck made of concrete on steel girders supported a concert hall, ballrooms, amusement rides, and other attractions became one of the most popular venues in the United States promoted as "The Showplace of the Nation."  At its peak the Steel Pier measured 2,298 feet (700 m) long, but because of storm damage repairs and other remodeling it is now only half that length. 

Many of the professional bands in my photo collection performed at the Steel Pier. I featured it in my story from May 2018, Oreste Vessella's Italian Band, and in a three part series An Atlantic City Love Story. This photo postcard shows a huge throng of people parading past its main entrance. The caption reads:

The Boardwalk and Steel Pier, Easter Sunday, Atlantic City, N. J.

The card's postmark is from Atlantic City, 14 August 1907 to a Miss Alice --snell (?) of La Jaunta, Colorado. 

 

Dear Alice.    Just
over for the day.
Have received all
your mail.  Write
  to me often.         

            Lovingly
              Alda

 

 

 

 

 

  * * *

 

 

 

 

 

Over 2,800 miles west from the Jersey Shore is another boardwalk along California's coastline near Los Angeles. This colorized postcard shows the band stand and plaza at Venice, California where a 2 mile boardwalk was built in 1905. The audience's hats and overcoats suggest this could be a cool place for a concert. 

This postcard was sent from Los Angeles on 28 June 1915 to Miss Sophia Barta of Ottawa, Kansas, a place about as far removed from both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans as can be.

 

 

                                        Los Angeles, Cal.
                                                Jun 28 – 1915

                Dear Sophia;
                            I wonder how you
                    are getting along.  I
                    am having a fine time
                    The mountains are so
                    beautiful and picturesque
                    and I like to go to the ocean
                    to watch the waves come in
                    I was at San Diego last week
                    and took a boat ride to
                    Coronado Island.  I have the
                    school pictures printed for you
                    I'll send them when I get home
                        Have a good celebration
                            With best wishes as ever, Mary Baker

 * * *

 

 

About 30 miles south of Venice Beach is another amusement park at Long Beach, California. The mild weather of this region meant a longer season for entertainments. The people and families in this colorful postcard are dressed more for a stroll along a city high street rather than a sandy beach. They probably just came from a show at the large pavilion behind them. The caption reads:

 Daily Band Concerts the year round, Long Beach California

 

I featured the concert hall and pier in my July 2015 story, Music on the Beach. The Long Beach boardwalk is called The Pike and was a stretch of amusement arcades and rides that developed near a  recreational bathing beach. A large pier and auditorium was built to extend over the water and it was a popular venue for concerts. 

On Saturday May 24, 1913, thousands of people had gathered in Long Beach for Empire Day, an event celebrating the many nations of the British Empire. The center piece was an event at the Long Beach auditorium and pier. As more and more people moved onto the pier the weight became too great for the upper deck which suddenly collapsed. That extra stress then caused the stage floor to collapse to the sandy shore below the building. Over 35 people perished and hundreds were injured in the calamity. Most of the fatalities were women, and because of the nature of the observance almost everyone was from England, Scotland, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.

This postcard resembles an old linen color style print but I'm not sure it is a genuine antique. The postmark is dated 30 July 1973 and is addressed to "The Girls in the Back Room Personnel of the Charleston, South Carolina School District. 

 

 

 

Having a grand time
writing,  " Having a
grand time. Wish
you were here. "
And wish you
were.
            GHO (?)

 

 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where the promenade
along the seashore
is just grand.