Saturday, June 2, 2012

Saturday's postcards: 1950s motels in Florida and New Jersey

Up for review today are a pair of colorful postcards from the 1950s. I picked these up during a recent return trip to Hoke-E-Geez in Bedford, Pennsylvania.


This is a linen postcard for the Horne Ocean Motel in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. The front of the card indicates that the motel:
The reverse side of the postcard has a postmark from February 4, 1955, in Jacksonville, Florida.1 It was mailed to an address in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. Some additional details about the motel are also printed on the reverse side:2
  • "Overlooking the World's Finest Ocean Beach"
  • "Wonderful Surf bathing, fishing, golf"
  • "A new Motel, Luxurious Rooms and 10 Efficiencies"


And this vibrant postcard showcases the building, carport, lobby and swimming pool at the Sea Breeze Motel in Pleasantville, New Jersey. Importantly, it's actually the New Sea Breeze Motel, as indicated on the back of the card. And this motel is still around, offering a "weekly rent special" of $185.

Here's the printed text from the back of the card:
  • NEW SEA BREEZE MOTEL
  • Albany Avenue Boulevard - Route 40
  • West Atlantic City, P.O. Box 42, Pleasantville, N.J.
  • 5 minutes from The World's Playground3
  • Featuring luxury living at logical rates.
  • 80 ultra modern units and efficiencies.
  • Largest swimming pool on the Blvd.
  • Air Conditioned -- Television -- Open year round -- Hot Water heat. All private baths. Ownership - management.
  • Phone Pleasantville 171.
This postcard was published by Jack Freeman of Longport, New Jersey, and is Genuine Natural Color Made by DEXTER PRESS of West Nyack, N.Y.

It is postmarked July 24, 1957, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. I wonder if this is one of those cases in which vacationers forgot to mail their postcards while they were away and then mailed them when they returned home. The written message states:
Staying at this place, having a good time.
Emily & Frank Urban
Footnotes
1. The written message on the postcard is so boring (and punctuation free) that it's truly worth only a footnote. It is: "Hello here we are nice place hope to see you when we come home Love [unreadable] Byron."
2. Also, this postcard is part of the "Tichnor Quality Views" series produced by Tichnor Bros. of Boston.
3. According to this Press of Atlantic City article, Atlantic City was known as "the world's famous playground" from 1884 to 2004, when the slogan was changed to "Always Turned On." Then, this past January, the slogan was changed back to "the world's famous playground." An excerpt from that article:
[Councilman George] Tibbitt said HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” series has increased interest in — and the value of — marketing the resort’s history along with newer offerings. Generations of tourists and residents also knew the resort as the “world’s famous playground”.

“It’s a part of Atlantic City’s heritage,” he said. “The new slogan, it just never fit and never worked.”

1 comment:

  1. Is there a record of the owners of the Sea Breeze motel from the late 1940's to the 1960;s

    ReplyDelete