Charles P. Eberson
A Senior’s Observations,
Opinions and Rantings
Atlantic City, “The World’s Famous Playground” as it was known holds great memories for me growing up. We have seen photos of the Atlantic City boardwalk of the 30’s and 40’s packed with people decked out in their finest clothing, but my years were more in the 50’s and 60’s. My parents would dress my brother and I up in monogrammed blazers sewn by my grandfather, a tailor in London. Our outfits would be topped off with brimmed hats. My father wore a long overcoat also sewn by my grandfather (which I still have) and his brimmed hat. My mother wore an outfit that she made herself also topped off with a tasteful hat. We walked the boards, went on rides, and fed the pigeons with peanuts purchased at Planters Peanuts. In the summers, my father would take me up to Captain Starns and we would go on a half day fishing trip. Whether we caught fish or not, it was always exciting to see Atlantic City slip over the horizon and be out of sight of any land. Sometimes our family would take a sightseeing boat out of Captain Starns or ride the Miss Atlantic City speedboat just off the coast. As I got older, my friends and I would hop a jitney for ten cents and ride up to Atlantic City with just a few dollars in our pockets. Sometimes we would catch a movie at the Embassy or Beach theaters sitting in the balcony if available and occasionally pitched a few kernels of popcorn over the railing. With the Central Pier, Million Dollar Pier and Steeplechase Pier, there was never a shortage of things to do. Sometimes we would just spend a day at the Steel Pier beginning with the General Motors exhibit where the latest cars were on display and open to sit inside. I always gravitated to the high-performance cars with the “4 on the floor” stick shifts. After stomping the clutch and ripping through the gears numerous times, I often wondered if transmissions had to be replaced after the exhibits were over. On the pier were numerous exhibits, movies, games and water shows including high divers, the world famous diving horse and the diving bell which was a favorite. We never saw anything except murky water but the rapid rise to the surface was the attraction for us. We always had a full day in Atlantic City often finishing it off with a Taylor Pork Roll sandwich. Of course, with no cell phones and even with pay phones, there was never the need to call home and assure our parents that we were okay aside from the mischief we would often got into. Like the time in our mid-teens that our parents were summoned to the St. Charles Hotel at 1 a.m. in the morning. Some girls waved to us from their rooms and that was all it took for the group of us to run past the front desk ignore the yelling from the manager and take to the stairs with him in close pursuit. He caught the one closest to him and our friend screamed like he had his foot caught in a snare which propelled us even further up the staircase. He folded like a cheap suit, gave up our names and parents’ phone numbers who were waiting for us in the lobby. I didn’t see my friends for a week. Atlantic City has changed and it is my hope that young people can still go uptown, walk the boardwalk, go on the piers and make memories of their own in the World’s Greatest Playground.
