Some folks collect stamps. Others collect rare coins, vintage musical instruments, Barbie dolls, VHS videos or celebrity autographs. And yes, some people collect all kinds of Atlantic City memorabilia.
While the market for Atlantic City collectibles is not as large as the market for stamps or coins, it is nonetheless quite impressive. These vintage Atlantic City collectibles include matchbook covers, restaurant menus, show programs, ashtrays, photographs, old books about the shore, postcards, posters, jewelry, ticket stubs, plates and cutlery from long-gone hotels, newspapers, magazines, and unauthorized video and audio recordings of live Atlantic City concerts.
A clearinghouse for many of these items is Bob Ruffolo’s Princeton Antiques Book Shop, profiled in these pages recently, as well as Ruffolo’s in-the-works website, atlanticcitymemorbilia.com. There are also several area antiques markets including Days of Olde Antiques and Collectibles on Route 9 in Galloway Township.
But the undisputed, go-to stop for “all things vintage Atlantic City” is eBay, where the selection and sheer number of available items is astounding in scope and size.
Those new to the world of collecting vintage Atlantic City memorabilia ask pretty much the same question: Is any of this stuff worth anything? It depends on the type of item, the condition, the age, the scarcity and demand, and a number of other variables.
Ebay has more than 14,000 Atlantic City-focused postcards described as “vintage” up for bid or sale. The highest minimum bid price for postcards is currently $199.99 for a lot of 98 vintage cards. For a single card, bids begin at $124.95 for an 1890 card that features a photo of a long-forgotten pharmacy called Deakyne’s.
What’s fascinating about matchbooks is that many of them come from places we never knew existed, and each one represents a small piece of history.
A matchbook from the city’s long-gone Blue Hawaii Restaurant has a starting bid of $150, likely because of its rarity. This Polynesian restaurant was actually located within the President Towers and Apartments building, on Albany Avenue and the Boardwalk, during the 1968 to 1978 period when the historic President Hotel, which was imploded in 1979, was an apartment building. Then there’s the matchbook from Michael J. Fiore’s Famous Riptide Room, located in The Hotel Penn-Atlantic at South Carolina and Atlantic avenues. Bidding starts at $45.
Interestingly, Fiore became one of the managers of the famed Hackney’s seafood restaurant, and later joined the management team at the Shelburne and Dennis hotels. All this history, just from a little book of matches.
Ashtrays generally get a higher asking price than other collectibles, presumably because of their scarcity, weight and permanence as a collectible. A starting bid of $225 will get the auction bids rolling for an ashtray from the Flamingo Motel.
In 2010, the Flamingo, still located at 3101 Pacific Ave., got a $2 million makeover, which included elimination of the somewhat infamous cocktail lounge. The infamy occurred in February of 1978 when Judge Edwin Helfant was shot five times by Nicholas Virgilio, a convicted mobster and associate of crime boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo. It was said that Judge Helfant accepted a bribe to fix Virgilio’s impending court sentencing, but the judge failed to make the promised arrangements. In organized crime circles, that’s generally a no-no.
Another popular, collectible ashtray comes from Alfred’s Villa, a once-popular Italian restaurant located at 3413 Pacific Ave., just down the block from another well-remembered Italian eatery called Lido Village, at 3006 Atlantic Ave. Not a lot is known about Alfred’s except that it had seven dining rooms, that it billed itself as “One of America’s Most Picturesque Restaurants,” and that it was likely in existence from the early 1950s until the mid-1960s.
Vintage photographs command some of the highest starting bids on eBay, especially those listed with the “panoramic photo” description.
A photo described as a “1943 Miss America Pageant Steel Pier 40.5-inch Panoramic Photo” has a starting bid of $699.99, while a panoramic photo, taken on the Boardwalk of what is said to be “IBM’s first sales office,” commands $6,000 as a starting bid. On the more reasonable side at $5,000 is a negative, said to be from a late 1920s Atlantic City air show, that shows Curtiss B-2 Condor military bi-planes over the city. It looks real enough, but there is, of course, no way of authenticating it.
The old adage, “let the buyer beware,” should specifically apply to those interested in the Atlantic City vintage poster market, as there are a lot of fakes out there.
For example, a Steel Pier poster advertising Frank Sinatra, featured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra from 1942, is an obvious fake as Mr. S., in those days, never got top billing over his employer, Tommy Dorsey. Likewise, a poster advertising The Rat Pack at the 500 Club in 1962, is also clearly a fake as Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin were never publicly billed as “The Rat Pack” or “The Pack.”
A Steel Pier poster advertising Gene Krupa’s 1967 appearance, is also clearly bogus, in that it reads, “One Night Only! Sunday, August 6th” Krupa’s Steel Pier appearances from 1939 through 1967 were never for one night. Krupa always played for one week.
Other, ultra-expensive Atlantic City collectibles include Beatles concert ticket stubs, which list in the $1,000 to $2,000 range, and various items from hotel/casinos no longer with us, including the Playboy, Sands, Trump Plaza and Taj Mahal.
The winner in terms of the highest starting bid for any item is $8,965 for a Patek Philippe 18K watch, said to be from the 1940s or 1950s, and “in beautiful original condition,” according to the description.
What makes this so valuable, according to the seller, is that the watch is engraved to Elwood Kirkman, a wealthy Atlantic City banker who was closely associated with legendary state Senator and Republican political boss Frank “Hap” Farley. Lest you think there is no market for such an expensive item, note that, as of this writing, 14 people from around the world are thinking about placing a bid.
Those thinking about taking up collecting Atlantic City memorabilia as a hobby need to be careful, as “certificates of authentication” are frequently not worth more than the paper they’re printed on. And if anyone tries to sell you a ticket stub to Elvis Presley’s appearance at the Steel Pier in 1958, pass it by. Elvis never appeared in Atlantic City.
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
