Atlantic City New Jersey

Looking for a little old-fashioned American history with your vacation? Billed as America's Favorite Playground, Atlantic City for the past few decades has flourished as a gaming destination, building on the mystique of its glorious past. The famed Atlantic City Boardwalk, the world's first boardwalk, by the way, debuted in 1870, mainly to keep sand out of the shoes of its aristocratic visitors as well as off the floors of its hotels, restaurants, and passenger cars. Over the next few years, new, wider boardwalks were constructed until the fifth and final forty-foot-wide, four-mile-long set of wooden slats was finished in 1896.

Businesses multiplied and prospered along the Boardwalk, with tenants including music stores, theaters, eateries, and even a Persian rug shop. In 1898, the famed Steel Pier opened as a world-class amusement center. Steel Pier became a haven for top-notch musicians and comedians, hosting the likes of Glenn Miller, Nat King Cole, Abbot and Costello, and the Three Stooges. It also brought to the masses such sideshow-style acts as boxing midgets, boxing cats, high-diving horses, and performing chimpanzees. Steel Pier today is still an amusement center in summertime, though it's much smaller than it used to be.

Million Dollar Pier, which opened in 1906, drew thousands upon thousands of people for its grand events such as Harry Houdini's disappearing acts and presidential candidate Teddy Roosevelt's speeches. In 1929, Charles Darrow used the city's streets to create his Monopoly board game, making Boardwalk and Pennsylvania Avenue household names. But after the Army occupied Atlantic City for seven years during World War Two, the carefree decadence was never quite the same. Still, the tourists and stars strolled the Boardwalk or rode along it in the renowned "rolling chairs", three-wheeled carts that remain an attraction today.

One of Atlantic City's main claims to fame, begun in the early 1920s, continues to this day: the Miss America Pageant. The pageant, held in the Boardwalk Convention Hall, suffered a few blows by feminists in the 1960s, but for the most part has remained nearly the same for more than seventy years. Today, displays of Miss America gowns, crowns, and video footage can be found at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel, the national headquarters of the Miss America Organization. Miss America shoes line the hotel's aptly named Shoe Bar.

With past and present attractions like these, you can easily get a feel for twentieth century America history and trends while enjoying a day at the beach, New Jersey style. Something for everyone!