The Lennon Sisters & Joni James "On The Boardwalk" (In Atlantic City)

(Voice Heard) - Mono The Lawrence Welk Show
(First Song) - Mono The Lennon Sisters
(Last Song) - Stereo Joni James

Atlantic City History:

Added by BchwoodAtlantic City is a city on Absecond Island on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey. It is the central location of the Boardwalk Empire book and the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, and is occassionally alluded to in the series as The Emerald City.

HistoryEditThe original inhabitants were the Lenni-Lenape Indians. They would travel for 5 miles over marshland on the Old Indian Trail (where Florida Ave. is today) from the Mainland to spend their summer months hunting and fishing on the island.

The first recorded owner of Absecond Island from the late 1670's was an Englishman by the name of Thomas Budd. He was given the island against a claim he had against the holders of the royal grant. His beach front land was valued at a mere $0.04 an acre. That same property today would be worth millions of dollars per acre. For the next one hundred years, the island would be visited by hunters and white settlers.

The first white man to build a permanent structure on the island was Jeremiah Leeds in 1785 (at what is now Arctic and Arkansas Ave). He and his family grew corn and rye and raised cattle on the Leeds Plantation. After his death in 1838, Leeds second wife got a license to operate a tavern called Aunt Millie's Boarding House. Atlantic City's first business was born.

Added by BchwoodIn 1850 a prominent physician on the island, Dr. Jonathan Pitney, had the idea of turning the island into a health retreat. He recruited the services of a civil engineer named Richard Osborne to help him bring the railroad to the island. Osborne is credited with naming the city, while Dr. Pitney thought of the names and placement for the city streets (streets running parallel to the ocean would be named after the great ocean bodies of the world and streets which ran east to west would be named after the States).
On July 5th, 1854, the first train arrived from Camden after an arduous 21/2 hour journey. The invasion of tourists to the island began. It didn't take long for real estate developers to recognize the island's potential as a resort destination. Lavish hotels and fancy restaurants sprang up, many of them featured in the show, such as Babette's Supper Club. Within twenty years there were nearly 500,000 passengers a year arriving by rail. And all these people were tracking mounds and mounds of sand into the hotel and restaurant lobbies. Something had to be done about it.

Alexander Boardman, a conductor for the Atlantic City-Camden Railroad, proposed building a boardwalk. City Hall accepted the proposal in 1870 and using half the cities annual tax revenue, built an 8 foot wide wood structure from the beach to the town. It was not only functional- it was totally unique and the tourists loved it. The boardwalk was so popular it reached a length of 7 miles long (before the 1944 hurricane) and it fueled the cities explosive growth, with the cities first road from the mainland finishing construction in 1870 and two additional rail lines being added in 1878. Atlantic City was formally opened on Wednesday, June 16th, 1880.

Added by BchwoodTourism reached it's zenith in the 1920's, and many historians consider this period the city's golden age. Despite Prohibition, liquor flowed freely and gambling regularly took place in nightclubs and back rooms...

Category:

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[Tennessee3501]

Magnificent song, magnificent memories and a magnificent video! The song is playing as Burt Lancaster strolls down the boardwalk at the end of the movie "Atlantic City", one of my all time favorites,

[TheBacmaster]

@Tennessee3501 So, you have seen the movie "Atlantic City"! You are the only one to post where you remember this from. I have that complete movie available. If you'd like it uploaded let me know

Joe

[Fiftiesflashback]

Fantastic photo collage, especially from the turn of the century. Horses, photographers and ladies with parasols on the beach. The TAMING OF HELEN was a 1903 Broadway Play, the old Chalfonte is there c.1903, but the newer Haddon Hall (Resorts) was not built yet. KODAK put photography within reach. Women still wore fur stoles, hats and high heels on the Boardwalk into the 1960s.The phonograph, motion pictures, electric lights, telephones & automobiles were still new. No radio until the 1920s.

[Guitarz1970]

Eeeewww.......casinos!

Love the old photos....thanks for posting! Are you from AC as I am?

[Fegen]

Thank you for this posting. Great recording by Joni James. I first met Joni in person

in the early 1950s when she was appearing on the Steel Pier. Have been an ardent

fan of her's for many years having seen her in performances many times the last

being in Town Hall New York City in 2006. Joni will be 81 years old on Sept 22nd .

[mariltn4]

Thanks for sharing that wonderful song!!! Is that really Joni James singing with the Lennon Sisters? I remember her in the fifties, but never saw her on Lawrence Welk. She has a great voice.

[MrWill1985]

How long has the Atlantic City Boardwalk had those carriages that someone pushed from behind down the boardwalk? I saw them while I was there Thursday but I never rode one.

[MichaelKazmar]

At 3:34 I find it so interesting to find a sign that says "FOOD will win the war"

This is before radio. Fascinating.

[Tennessee3501]

Joe, thank you, but I am not a "computer whiz" and "Atlantic City" is available on DirecTV's "On Demand." which I can see at any time. I actually remember the song from the golden age of television where it was often played, such as Lawrence Welk! In September of 1991, I spent an entire week in Atlantic City. My son's fiancee was "Miss New York State" and was competing in the "Miss America Pagent." She was first runner up. What an exciting week. They never married, but we are all close!

[JBC814]

I watched Lawrence Welk quite a lot in the 60's, some great talent, and accordion polkas.