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Ad for historic pier... Promoting Atlantic City as a summer vacation spot...
Ad for historic pier... Promoting Atlantic City as a summer vacation spot...
Item # 724595
July 17, 1894
THE SEASON - ATLANTIC CITY, For the week ending July 17, 1894 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).
The issue has a great wealth of additional ads for the various hotels in the vicinity, many illustrated.
Four pages, various discrete archival mends inside at the folds & margins, nice condition.
Background (Young & McShea's Ocean Pier):
Young & McShea’s Ocean Pier opened in 1891 near Tennessee Avenue on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, was a groundbreaking entertainment venture led by showman "Captain" John L. Young and partner Stewart McShea. What began as a modest wooden structure quickly grew into a 2,000-foot-long pier extending far into the ocean, featuring a novel narrow-gauge electric trolley to transport visitors to its distant end.
Young & McShea’s Ocean Pier opened in 1891 near Tennessee Avenue on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, was a groundbreaking entertainment venture led by showman "Captain" John L. Young and partner Stewart McShea. What began as a modest wooden structure quickly grew into a 2,000-foot-long pier extending far into the ocean, featuring a novel narrow-gauge electric trolley to transport visitors to its distant end.
The pier combined thrills and education: it housed the Flip-Flap Railway, an early loop-the-loop roller coaster that relied on centrifugal force (later closed due to intense G-forces), and the famous "Daily Net Haul," where Captain Young dramatically raised massive fishing nets to reveal sea creatures, delivering theatrical lectures on marine life to captivated crowds.
In 1906, Young shifted focus to his even grander Million Dollar Pier, and the original site was later renamed Central Pier. A 1912 fire destroyed much of the wooden structure, but it was rebuilt and endures today as an arcade and speedway, symbolizing Atlantic City’s golden era as the "World’s Playground."
Category: Post-Civil War
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