Ad for historic pier... Promoting Atlantic City as a summer vacation spot...
Item # 724595* The "Missing Link" of Amusement History
* "Golden Age" of New Jersey's ocean resort
This was a seasonal newspaper to promote the attributes of Atlantic City as a summer vacation spot. Page 2 notes that it was: "...distributed FREE on all express trains on the Camden & Atlantic and West Jersey Railroads...". Included is an ad for "Young & McShea's Ocean Pier", which was the recreation of the famous Applegate's Pier and the testing ground of the Million Dollar Pier. It was located on the only spot in Atlantic City which continues to have a pier to this day (Central Pier Arcade).
Background: The publication of the July 17, 1894, issue of The Season represents a critical milestone in the transformation of Atlantic City from a modest seaside retreat into the "World’s Playplace." Strategically distributed for free on the Camden & Atlantic and West Jersey Railroads, this seasonal newspaper served as an early masterclass in destination marketing, capturing a moment when the city’s identity was being forged through the "Railroad Wars" and rapid industrial expansion. Central to its historical value is the advertisement for Young & McShea’s Ocean Pier, a short-lived but vital link in the evolution of American amusement architecture; it repurposed the site of the city’s first pier (Applegate’s) and functioned as the conceptual testing ground for the legendary Million Dollar Pier. By documenting the transition of the Tennessee Avenue site—the only location in the city to maintain a pier presence into the 21st century—and featuring illustrated ads for the grand, wooden Victorian hotels of the era, the issue provides a primary-source snapshot of the birth of the modern American boardwalk culture and the commercial synergy between mass transit and mass entertainment.
Category: Post-Civil War
















