Atlantic City was in its heyday from the 1920s to the 1960s, popular as a summer beach escape and for strolling the Boardwalk lined with salt-water taffy shops and eateries. The arcades of the historic Steel Pier and Central Pier pulsed with games and go-carts. The city was home to the Miss America Pageant and night clubs attracting the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. “There were lots of clubs—it was a great place to be in the ‘60s,” says Robert Ruffolo, local historian and owner of Princeton Antiques & Books and a co-author of the coffee table book, Atlantic City: America’s Playground. “There were beautiful and high-class businesses from New York and Philadelphia along the Boardwalk. They actually opened satellite stores here to keep their customers because a lot of them would come to Atlantic City and stay for a week, a month, or the entire season in high class hotels.”
Atlantic City Boardwalk during yesteryear
The city rebranded itself starting in 1978 with its first casino, followed by a string of others. The industry declined in the 2010s, but a resurgence is in the making with casino reinvestments, new infrastructure projects, and convention business. Nine casino hotel towers marking the city skyline—Caesars, Harrah’s and Bally’s to name a few—have new shows and celebrity-chef restaurants attracting East Coast travelers looking for a convenient weekend getaway. “But the beach and the Boardwalk are still the greatest jewels that Atlantic City has and will always have,” notes Ruffolo. “There will be another growth making Atlantic City shine as bright as it did in the ‘50s,” he predicts. Growing up in New York City, my family would often visit Atlantic City during the summer, today bringing back memories of tasty pork roll or Taylor Ham in sandwiches or served for breakfast. It’s a home- grown New Jersey specialty—a tangy, salami-like luncheon meat served crispy after grilling—that also became popular in eastern Pennsylvania with so many Philadelphians flocking to the Jersey Shore. “Restaurants cooked it with the exhaust coming out on the Boardwalk where you smelled the aroma, and your nose took over your mind,” recalls Ruffolo. “That was the allure of it.” Ruffolo shows me a postcard of the John Taylor Colonial Inn pork roll restaurant at 1607 Boardwalk that I frequented as a kid. Today, there remains a restaurant at the site, Bill’s Gyro and Souvlaki. “We always had pork roll on the menu. Local people always told me this used to the famous Taylor Ham pork roll place,” says restaurant owner Sargis Ghalechyan. “People who come to Atlantic City from other states have no idea what a pork roll is. We tell them it’s a Jersey ham and when they try it, they love it.”
The restaurant at 1607 Boardwalk that used to be the famous pork roll restaurant
EXPLORING THE SOUTH JERSEY SHORE
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