How Can I Contribute?

I have much to share about Seaside Heights,some that are clear and some that have not come back to me but I know they will.For instance I noticed Agnes Polhemus from a picture that was displayed on the official website. I did not know she was on the city council, I remember her from operating the food concession inside the arcade when the casino pool was still there.It was run by her and her husband Bill if I am not mistaken.I knew her son Bill we went to school together where Hugh Boyd was Principle in the early 60's. I sadly found out much later that he had some incident that left him paralyzed leaving him wheelchair bound.That was tragically sad. On a lighter note my first paying job when I was about 9 or ten was at the bozo drop which was located just inside the casino arcade to the right as you entered the arcade from the pool. My job was to retrieve the balls that were thrown and place them back in the trench at the counter for the next
baseball afficiondos. Well thats it for now I much to share if you care to listen and possible share some of your own memories. Have a great evening David. Unfortunately I do not have any photographs.

The Seaside Railroad

Uncle Joe's House

The whole object seemed to be to keep my eyesight. Uncle Joe and his brothers owned a four room bungalow at Ortley, New Jersey. This was just North of Seaside Heights. Starting last year, we came down here to enjoy the shore surroundings. I don't know if they rented out the house or not, but I didn't care. They also owned a piece of property toward the bay, next to the house. To the east side of the house was a sandy road, and the railroad.

The only way to get to the main road was to go south two blocks to the railroad crossing. Crossing over the tracks then enabled anyone driving to go one block to route 35, a concrete two-lane road, and the only through road on the island. Then one could go south to Seaside Heights, Seaside Park or cross over Barnegat Bay on the wooden bridge. Going north would bring one to Point Pleasant. The Mantoloking bridge could be taken if it were desirable to drive on the chicken roads. They were called this because of the many chicken farms along them.

I was told that during the depression, Uncle Joe had bought eggs from them, then sold or traded them in the city. I know he always brought us some stale rolls so we would have some bread during the war years. I think this was just an extension of the depression experiences. Now those rolls would be called "hard rolls." I am sure someone is distorting the true characteristic of things. I think Uncle Joe probably came upon the property on one of these trips.

Walking distance to the ocean was two blocks; over the tracks, and then up the row of rental houses that lined the narrow street ending in the sand dunes. On the southeastern corner of Route 35 and this street was the Chick House. A restaurant that Aunt Jewel often bought our dinners from after a hot day at the beach. Five hundred feet to the south was the Surf Club.

The bay was only about four hundred feet west of the house. But the vegetation was impassable. My brother and cousins tried to go through once, but little progress was made. They gave up on the effort.

Two blocks to the south, just over the tracks was Esposito's market. It had a large sign on the building that pointed to it. It was along the main road. Esposito's had groceries and milk. It also had quite a bit of beach related things. I liked to go in there whenever anyone else was going.

The One-A-Week

Well, that's what my father called it. I think it came by on Friday. It appeared at about 1:00 O'Clock in the afternoon, and returned about two hours later. It was steam powered, and had three or four cars and a caboose. That's where I got my idea of what a train should consist of. I felt anything over five cars was too much. I never found out what type of engine it was. That's because mother always had my brother cover my eyes when it got close. She didn't want me to be blinded by hot cinders. My brother had to obey her, because even if my eyes got even a speck of dust in them, he would have had to hear about it for the rest of his life. I was 10 years old, and he was seven years older than.

I pleaded with mother every time. When the train was going toward Seaside, it was basically coasting. No steam or smoke was being emitted. Surely I could watch then! But no, she would not permit it even then. As I watched it in the distance, I noticed that the smoke tended to fall quickly to the ground. I think it may have been due to the air motions and density this close to the seashore. I told mother that I could either get on the roof of the house, or climb a pole on the windward side of the track. This way I could get a better view of the train, and not have to worry about cinders. I also would have preferred this, as I learned from looking at trains throughout northern New Jersey that the most pleasing and informative views are had from as high above the tracks as possible.

Mother was horrified at this prospect! She said that I would fall and break my head. Didn't I remember how clumsy I was when I fell off the porch rail in Linden? Well, all I ever got to experience was the sounds and smells of that wonderful train. The smell of hot ashes and steam mixed with oil is something I will never forget. When I was supposedly old enough, the house had been sold, and the train ran no more.

We did have fun though. We walked to Seaside every evening on the rails!

Walking to The Boardwalk

In the evening, it was time to visit the boardwalk. When Aunt Jewel and my mother did not drive us all there, we would walk. We walked the railroad on the way in. This enabled us to avoid traffic, and stay clean on the way. We would all attempt to walk the rails as far as we could. Since I was closer to the ground, and had smaller feet, the railhead was for all purposes wider, and I carried less weight above it. I could usually stay on the longest. It was only when I started laughing at the antics of the others did I fall off, and have to start over.

The total distance to the salt water pool and merry-go-round on Blair Street was about two miles. Going in was the best part of the travelling, as we had so much fun. The railroad ended at a large warehouse, where coal, oil and other items were unloaded. Here the tracks were pretty even with the pavement. We then crossed over the highway, and then went to the northern end of the boardwalk. It was only a couple hundred feet before the amusement area began.

Mother usually gave me two dollars at least once a week. We always went to Henry's Playland. This was great! I could play 20 games of Skee-Ball or Pokerino, and still have enough left to play a few rounds of miniature golf. I don't know what led her to be so extravagant. Maybe it was because I wasn't allowed to see the train. Whatever the cause, I took full advantage. Skee-Ball was interesting, but too fast. Besides the rewards were bigger for Pokerino. I usually played five games of Skee-Ball and then would lollygag finishing the rest of the first dollar rolling the soft rubber balls of Pokerino. When I put the nickel in the machine and pushed the slide in, all the balls would be released from their holes, and bounce in the box below, rolling to the player. Before I rolled the first ball, I waited for all the balls to come to rest in the box. This would sometimes take a minute or more. Then I slowly rolled them on the gaming table. The minimum prize was 15 points for any type of poker hand, three of a kind, two pair, and so on. A royal flush was 500 points. I never even thought of that. I seldom failed to get the fifteen point minimum. An attendant would come over when the red indicator lit, and give the proper number of points, depending on the hand, press the button on the kneehole of the game showing that the points had been awarded, and resume watching the rest of the games. The 15 point coupons were yellow with black printing, and a red number 15 across their face. The Skee-Ball ones were pale red 2 pointers. The maximum for this game was 360 points for a score of 450. This was hard to get.

I would always play one other game. This was a baseball game that used a large ball bearing for the ball. The playing field was in the shape of a baseball stadium. The ball came out of the umpires stomach into a scoop the pitcher had on his arm. The pitcher would then throw the ball toward the plate, and the batter would either swing or let it go. If the ball were hit, it would go foul or fair. If foul, it was a strike, letting it go could result in either a ball or a strike. Hitting it fair led to some interesting situations. The players in the field could pick it up, in which case it would be an out. If the ball rolled past them, there were holes in the stadium wall that were marked, single, double, triple, home run or out. The score was recorded on a mechanical counter. The players were all-stars from the twenties. Since it only was two cents to play the game, I usually played several.

We always would play at least one game of miniature golf. I really enjoyed this. The best course was on the pier on the northern end of the boardwalk. I liked the eighteenth hole the best. It had an elevated platform that had to be hit up to, with three ways to get to the hole. The best approach was the ramp that extended out around the platform and down to the level that the hole was on. Hitting it this way often rolled the ball in the hole. Besides that, the ball could be watched the entire way. The hardest hole was the 10th. It had a flat tilted board with many holes in it. It was really hard to even get the ball through these holes to the other side. It also was right on the edge of the pier. Hitting the ball too hard would send it into the ocean. That happened to either my brother or Donald once. They laughed about it, and went back to explain what happened, and got another ball. A fence was put up this year to keep the balls out of the water.

Night Walk Back

After we were done, we headed back. We always walked along the beach. Walking through the soft sand at the north end of the boardwalk was difficult. We took off our shoes, and walked near the water where the sand was compacted by the water. The crash and hiss of water as the waves broke and slid up the sand was a delight to the ear. The wind usually blew off the land, as the sea was warmer than the land at night. Once in a while the moon rose over the ocean, making the place seem isolated. At these times I felt as if the whole world was ours.

One night we came upon some horse shoe crabs that had washed up on the shore. I was afraid of them, as they looked like black two-foot blobs with a tail. I thought this huge claw would reach out and cut my foot off. My brother and cousins kicked at it, as they knew it was dead, and even if it were not, there was no danger.

The whole experience would have been complete if I could have just seen the train.

July 7, 1952

Copyright © 1952, 1999 Ray Chuvala, Reflection Recollection Collection

Does anyone remember the dance at the Casino Pier? My friend & I use to go every night when we were down at Seaside in the early '60's.

My very favorite memories of 1970's Seaside Heights are of the two fun houses, on opposite piers. One had a slanted room, with floors that rose and fell in spots. That one was hilarious to go through. The other fun house seemed bigger to me and more adult in nature. It had a big slide at the end of it that you had to go down in order to exit. Also, for some odd reason, there was a toilet (as part of the fun house exhibit) with a crone's head in it that both fascinated and frightened me. I was absolutely transfixed with that exhibit and used to wonder how it got there, why it was there and what it meant. I loved it although I also rather feared it. Good horror stuff!

I know that my sister and I went back several years later and both fun houses were gone, which left me heartbroken!

Does anyone else remember them? If so, can you add to my scanty memories of them?

Also, does anyone remember Good Time Charlies and the boater hats they gave to patrons?

And is the talking gypsy fortune teller still there?

I remember Good Time Charlies because I tended bar there during the summers of 1969, 1970 and 1971. I don't remember the boater hats, though. I remember people 4 deep at the bar, peanut shells on the floor, wooden pallets on the floor behind the bar so that we wouldn't fall on shells or liquids. I remember Tuesday nights were Irish Wake nights with Joey Connors, the one man band, and someone would get chosen to be put in the casket outside the door and was carried in by the bouncers, while Joey played. Then the casket would be opened and out came whoever was in it. Good Times, for sure!! Other nights we had wonderful bands playing. One band was called The Motifs. I remember Jimmy (OD) O'Donnell as my boss and owner of Good Time Charlies. Wonderful man for sure!! Does anyone know if he still is with us and still in Seaside? We used to go on his old Firetruck sometimes, and visit the other bars in the area. That would be on the slower days. There was a parade, too. I can't remember when it was, but I have a picture up in PA (I'm in FL right now) that has all of the bartenders on that firetruck dressed up for Halloween. I had a wonderful time working there, memories I won't ever forget, although I am sure I have forgotten some.

My family owned the food stand Jo-Jo's World Famous French Fries 50-60's era. Does anyone have pictures or memories of the stand?

Does anyone remember a small hotel that was ocean front called the Holiday Motel or Holiday Hotel? I have a friend who stayed there years ago and was wondering what the actual name of the hotel is and what is standing there today.