Down the ocean : postcards from Maryland and Delaware beaches / Bert Smith ; with a foreword by Jacques Kelly.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Bert, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Postcards.

Ocean City (Md.)--History--Pictorial works.

Ocean City (Md.).

Seaside resorts--Delaware--History--Pictorial works.

Seaside resorts.

Delaware.

History.

Maryland--Ocean City.

Postcards--Maryland--Ocean City.

Postcards--Delaware.

Genre:

Pictorial works.

Physical Description:

x, 86 pages : color illustrations ; 23 x29 cm

Other Title:

Postcards from Maryland and Delaware beaches

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

Summary:

In this companion to his book Greetings from Baltimore, Bert Smith takes us on a tour of summers past in Ocean City, Maryland, and the nearby Delaware beaches, where vacationers have been going for more than a century to find sun, surf, and souvenirs. Down the Ocean offers a wonderful selection of charming postcard scenes of the early days of these resort towns, when visitors held tight to safety lines and bravely entered the water dressed in heavy woolen bathing suits. It also takes us through the decades that followed, when automobiles and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge made jaunts to the ocean more convenient and brought changes that transformed the mid-Atlantic coast.

Accompanied by Bert Smith's engaging account of local history and lore, the images assembled here document not just the appearance of beach towns but also the feel of beach life from years gone by. Some postcards from the first half of the twentieth century were individually hand colored, and many display photographic tricks, illustrated embellishments, humorous cartoons, or unique design elements -- making them far more evocative than mere snapshots.

These postcards capture views of Ocean City's grand hotels of the past, such as the Atlantic, the Plimhimmon, the Stephen Decatur, and the Commander, as well as smaller cottages, motels, and boardwalk businesses. Many of these structures have been destroyed by fires, storms, or the ravages of time; others have been altered beyond recognition or replaced by condominiums. Whether you seek saltwater taffy, a carousel ride, a moonlight stroll on the boardwalk, or a quiet view of a historic lighthouse, you'll find it all, then as now, "down the ocean."

Contents:

Goin' Down the Ocean 3

The Atlantic 11

The Plimhimmon 14

The Stephen Decatur 15

The Commander 16

The Seaside and the Avondale 17

Other Boardwalk Hotels 19

Proper Bathing Attire 22

Polite Bathing Rituals 23

Cottages and Apartments 25

Motels and Cabin Hideaways 28

Hittin' the Beach 30

Doin' the Boardwalk 33

Vacation Humor 38

Looking Down Baltimore Avenue 40

Looking up Baltimore Avenue 41

Saltwater Taffy and More 42

Amusements 44

The Pier 46

A Day of Rough Surf 48

Boy and Boardwalk in the Sun 49

People and Postcards 50

The Life Saving Station 52

Boating 55

Fishing 56

Frontier Town 62

North Ocean City 64

Fenwick Island 67

Bethany Beach 69

Rehoboth Beach 70

Boating at Dewey Beach 82

Cape Henlopen Light 83

About the Postcards 84.

Notes:

"A Robert G. Merrick edition."

ISBN:

0801861918

OCLC:

41207841