Postcards of the Past
Some articles about Atlantic
City, New Jersey
Atlantic City- the Crown Jewel of the Jersey Shore
Author: Frank Dalotto

Atlantic City is better than ever!
This fun filled destination, famous for gambling and ritzy casinos, offers great entertainment,
good restaurants, shopping, relaxing on the beach, and more. While casino gambling remains
its major attraction, the city is intent on becoming a destination that offers fun and excitement
for the entire family. With over 37 million visitors a year, this New Jersey beachfront resort now
rivals other major tourist destinations like Las Vegas and Disney world.
It certainly lives up to its motto “Always Turned On!”
We want you - we want your articles, comments, old postcards - in fact anything interesting about
Atlantic City and the New Jersey shore. Send them to us at gregoryolney@aol.com and we'll publish
them here - with an appropriate acknowledgement of course. So now's your chance to get into print !
Link to this site.
Just email us a url and we will happily put in a link to
your site. Tell us which page you would like it to appear
on - and please put a reciprocal link (to
www.oldstratforduponavon.com) on your site. This way,
we all benefit !
Atlantic City has a long and fascinating history.
Dr. Jonathon Pitney originally developed the city as a seaside health resort for the wealthy
residents of Philadelphia. Development as a major resort for the not so wealthy took off
significantly after 1854 when Philadelphia investors created a rail line linking Atlantic City with
Camden, just across the river from Philadelphia.
It is the real-life model for the board game Monopoly, the nation's first Boardwalk, the world's
first big Ferris wheel, the first color postcards, and the home of the first Miss America Beauty
Pageant.
During prohibition and the depression, Atlantic City was a center for bootlegging, smuggling,
speakeasies and illegal gambling. The mafia found Atlantic City to be a good place for
profitable business operations and vacationing. The nearby Pine Barrens were convenient and
well suited for the mafia's activities. Because of its seclusion and forest cover, and close
proximity to Atlantic City (as well as New York and Philadelphia where many mafia resided), the
Pine Barrens proved to be ideal for distilling, bootlegging, and body disposal. In was in Atlantic
City where the Mafia established itself as a national organization. Fearing the end of
prohibition and the loss of profitable bootlegging operations, Mafia leaders from the Midwest
and East Coast, --- Al Capone Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, and Lucky Luciano --- held their
first national conference in 1929 at the President Hotel. It was here that they were able to
develop a system of arbitration and solidify networks made through bootlegging to become a
national organization.
With airline travel flourishing and the Caribbean and Florida becoming a magnet for east coast
tourists, Atlantic City experienced a decline during the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. This phenomenon
prompted visionary city officials to seek an alternative draw as they campaigned to get the
state to open the city to gambling in the hopes of revitalizing the city and restoring it to its
former glory days. With the passage of the Casino Gambling Referendum in 1976, and with the
opening of the first casino at Resorts International in 1978, Atlantic City began its resurgence
as a major destination for fun and entertainment.

Since then, the City has experienced continued development of hotels, casinos, nite clubs,
entertainment, and other fun attractions offering more than casino gambling.

When is the best time to visit?
While there is year round activity, with the summer being the peak season, the more budget
minded visitors might consider coming in the winter from January – April, when almost all hotel
casinos offer outstanding deals and the facilities are less crowded.

What can families who do not gamble do?
Atlantic City provides lots of entertainment beyond the casinos. Stroll the famous Boardwalk,
six miles long and 60 feet wide, paralleling the ocean, it is the largest of New Jersey’s
boardwalks. It’s free! Hop on a historic rolling wicker chair and ride in style. The Boardwalk is
the place to see and be seen. Forget the calories and indulge in a juicy hot dog with all the
trimmings, chewy saltwater taffy and filmy cotton candy.

In the mood for some shopping? Try the Atlantic City Outlets - The Walk. It’s an outlet mecca
offering very good shopping from children's clothing to home decor and jewelry, to quality
clothing including Coach, Banana Republic, and Brooks Brothers. Enjoy the many restaurants
and clubs located within this complex.

Try the Quarter at the Tropicana, where the streets of Havana come alive, with many unique
shops and restaurants, from a burger with the kids to fine dining.

This city boasts the best concentration of first class restaurants in the state, as well as
outstanding Philly cheese steak sandwiches, pizza, and family restaurants.

Enjoy a day at the beaches or on the water with a dolphin/whale-watching cruise, parasailing,
or a fishing expedition. This destination also offers great ocean fishing and depending on the
time of the year, you might catch Marlin, Shark or Tuna.

Check out the Atlantic City Aquarium located in the Historic Gardner's Basin. It offers a fun and
educational look into more than 100 varieties of fish and marine animals.

For golf enthusiasts, there are several championship golf courses nearby, including Blue Heron
Pines East and West, The Links at Brigantine Beach, Harbor Pines, Mays Landing Golf and
Country Club, Sand Barrens Golf Club, Shore Gate Golf Club and Twisted Dune Golf Club.

If you'd like to learn more about the city in its glory days, visit the Atlantic City Historical
Museum and Cultural Center.

The Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum offers many attractions including the world's only wood-
carved medieval castle, a roulette wheel made entirely of jellybeans, and a gallery dedicated to
disasters and human survival stories.

The Absecon Lighthouse, built in 1857 at 171 feet, is the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey. You
can climb 228 steps for an unbeatable view of the casinos, boardwalk and shoreline.

Atlantic City is better than ever!
World's First Board Walk - Atlantic City
Author: David Kaleky

Atlantic City is called city of firsts, in that record the world’s first Board walk got its place in the year 1890. The Boardwalk is
named after Alexander Boardman, a key person behind the work of the Boardwalk, and it happened to be a coincidence that it's
made out of boards. The attractions in board walk are legendary with various modern entertainments, so it is even called the
heart, soul and backbone of Atlantic City.

It is interesting to know that the "main street" of Atlantic City was firstly put down to keep the sand off of the hotel carpets.
Boardwalk was only temporary in 1870; in 1890 it was built with permanent structure of about 24 feet wide, 10 feet high and
about 4 miles long-and with railings on both sides. Shortly it got damaged by its weather and sand and so now the structure is
replaced with a seat of concrete and steel pilings and constructed of thousands of two-by-fours. Despite the fact that Atlantic
City is hot with a salty air. In the summer, they get vanished with most exhilarating entertainments and hotels are available along
with the boardwalk. The Boardwalk seems to be getting better by the day.

The stylish century old transport on the boardwalk is rolling chairs which debuted in 1881. In the beginning they were imported
from Philadelphia Centennial and rented for the physically challenged, and soon it was admired and everyone wanted a ride,
shortly rolling chair in boardwalk was a pull for the visitors. Another vehicle that is seen in large number on boardwalk is bicycle.
During summer, particularly in morning hours bicycle rides are found in plenty in spite of its restricted hour 6am to 10 am.

An incredible experience in the boardwalk brings people with mixture of taste. Approximately 2-mile-long boardwalk begins at the
north end of New Jersey and goes along with the Atlantic Ocean, 12 gambling casinos, luxury hotels and restaurants, luscious
saltwater taffy and fudge, and sandy beaches giving a wonderful experience from the start till the end. This is even called a
board walking tour sometimes. The special features that includes in this tour are the Showboat Casino and the House of Blues,
trolley tours, an air show, casinos, resort suite and lot more of enjoyment for the walkers. Fully guided site seeing Trolley tour is
provided with most enjoyable spots of boardwalk like Absecon lighthouse, Atlantic City Aquarium, the Historic Towne of
Smithville, Cape May and more. Personalized tours are available as well. The most ultimate and vibrant place in board walk is
Beach bar and beach resort where delicious foods and cocktails can be enjoyed over night with great fun.

Atlantic air show is another captivating spot of the broad walk. Military and civilian pilots make the show more vibrant by flying
over the beach, doing aerobatic maneuvers, formation flying, parachute jumping and other aerial stunts. Quite a lot of lavish
suites and hotels are available with reasonably priced package. Staying in these suites is a perfect place where luxury and peace
come hand in hand to give the lives best under one roof. Much of Atlantic City's economy supports and thrives on its convention
trade, which annually brings nearly 5,000 shows to the city's famous convention complex and casino/hotels. Waterfront tower,
Trump Taj Mahal are the AC spots with 1800 rooms of Accommodation along with the luxury amenities like star restaurants,
casinos, spa, golf court, gaming, shopping and so on. Up-and-coming new Luxury hotels are also found in the city to make the
stay more extra-ordinary.
We'd be delighted if you would sign our Guest
Book ! We welcome suggestions, corrections
and constructive criticism - or just say "Hello !"
and tell us where you come from.
Custom Search
Search the internet to discover more about
Atlantic City - and to find a hotel !