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Although
not actually in
our little town,
easy access to the beach and the boardwalk was among the many benefits we
enjoyed because we grew up where we did. We could get there by bus or train, by bicycle or by
hitchhiking, and once we were 16, many of us went there in our own cars (WOW!).
Admission to the boardwalk, with its array of games, arcades and food, was free, and the beach (if you couldn't sneak in) was only a
quarter.
And on
the way home from the beach (day or night), it was always
Roadside Rest
in
our little town,
of course, for the "hot dogs and french fries
they
sell."
What could be cooler on a
hot, summer day or night?
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Click here to take a look at
our video slideshow
of the Long Beach boardwalk made for our
55-year
reunion in September 2015 by the beautiful sea.
Please
note that
the video is a big file and may take some time to download. So be patient.
If the video frame does not open, you may have to unblock pop-ups
on this site,
set up Windows Media Player (or an alternative) or
download a QuickTime plug-in,
for
example, if you are using
a Firefox browser.
Also, you may
prefer to view the video
in "full
screen" mode by clicking on
the icon in the lower right corner of the pop-up
video frame.
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* * * * *
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Here's Howie |
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In the wonderful book based on his hit, 2005 TonyÒ
award-winning, one-man, Broadway production, 700 Sundays (featured
in 2014 as an HBO TV movie), Billy Crystal (Long Beach High School,'65)
reminisces about the Long Beach
boardwalk in the late 1950s and its "games of chance
[he later mentions SkeeBall and Fascination, specifically], and a batting
cage, a soft ice cream shop, a knish place (Izzy's) [all of which are pictured
in the video], and a large municipal swimming pool."
As you probably know, our our beloved Long Beach boardwalk was
destroyed beyond repair by Superstorm Sandy
in late 2012 after 105 years of providing pleasure to residents
of, and visitors to, Long Beach.
(Click
here
to see how Sandy affected
our little town.)
For those who have not seen
it firsthand, the extent of the devastation of the boardwalk
─
and the rest of the city ─ in
contrast to the way Long Beach was immediately before the storm,
might best be appreciated by viewing this
online video.
This video is at the same time
heartbreaking while it is also
heart-warming as
the rebounding spirit of the Long Beach residents is quite palpable.
Our beloved Long Beach boardwalk
has since been rebuilt ─ but it is doubtful it will
ever give anyone as much joy and lingering fond memories as it gave
us during the "happy days: when we grew up.
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Photo
taken June 8, 2014 |
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* * * * * |
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Legend held that P.T.
Barnum's* famous elephant, Jumbo, was used to haul and lay the
timbers to build the Long Beach boardwalk, but
according to reliable sources, it was built in 1907, Jumbo was
already dead, and primarily for publicity, as shown in the two rare
photos below, other Barnum and Bailey circus elephants
named Roger and Alice (then housed at Dreamland in Coney Island) were used. |
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_____________
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There is no evidence that P.T. Barnum had anything to do with the
early development of Long Beach, or consistent with popular belief,
or that he was the
Barnum who was the namesake of Barnum Island (the original name for
Island Park); it is a case of mistaken identity. |
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For
an incredible online collection of photos of Long Beach over the last 125+ years,
assembled by
Chuck Jacobi (LBHS, '73),
who might best be described as Long Beach's
pre-eminent online historian,
go
to
http://www.ilovelbny.com,
where many of the photos in our
video slideshow also appear. These photos are used
on this site with permission provided courtesy of
their original source,
Joe Behar, LBHS,
'60. |
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Copyright
© 2000-2015 by Howard B. Levy and
1960 Sailors
Association
Inc. All rights reserved.
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