Maxwell Did It!: Photographing the Atlantic City Boardwalk, 1920s-1950s

Bromo-Seltzer and Van Raalte

Rolling Chairs
A distinctive feature of the Boardwalk was the rolling chairs that ferried vacationers up and down the shore. The presence of the chairs on the Boardwalk dates from the 1880s. Originally intended for convalescents who had come to the resort for its therapeutic value, they gained popularity among vacationers who enjoyed what novelist Robert Kotlowitz called the "wicker affluence" of being pushed along the Boardwalk. Local ordinances made the rolling chairs the only mode of transportation allowed on the Boardwalk. Beginning in the 1940s, the chairs were gradually replaced by self-propelled carts, which in turn gave way to multi-passenger trams in the 1960s.

Boardwalk Crowd

Squibb's Dental Cream and Venida spectaculars

Lucky Strike and Colgate spectaculars

Construction of the Chesterfield spectacular

General Electric spectacular

Cutex and El Producto Cigar Billboards

Rolling Chairs
A distinctive feature of the Boardwalk was the rolling chairs that ferried vacationers up and down the shore. The presence of the chairs on the Boardwalk dates from the 1880s. Originally intended for convalescents who had come to the resort for its therapeutic value, they gained popularity among vacationers who enjoyed what novelist Robert Kotlowitz called the "wicker affluence" of being pushed along the Boardwalk. Local ordinances made the rolling chairs the only mode of transportation allowed on the Boardwalk. Beginning in the 1940s, the chairs were gradually replaced by self-propelled carts, which in turn gave way to multi-passenger trams in the 1960s.

Lorraine Hair Net Spectacular