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America's Boardwalks: From Coney Island to California
America's Boardwalks From Coney Island to California Author:James Lilliefors Gaudy, intoxicating, bright, loud, and altogether American: they are our nation¡¦s boardwalks. The boardwalk was first invented so that beach-goers could stroll along the shore in their evening wear without tracking sand into train cars or hotel lobbies. But it wasn't long before the imagination of a country just becoming acquainted with the con... more »cept of leisure time transformed the boardwalk into something more. In America¡¦s Boardwalks, James Lilliefors takes us on a journey along the edges of the country to twelve of its most famous beach towns. Starting in the Northeast with Coney Island, Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Wildwood, and Cape May, we continue south to Rehoboth Beach; Ocean City, Maryland; Virginia Beach; Myrtle Beach; and Daytona Beach. In California, we explore the exotic scenes at Venice Beach and Santa Cruz. Lilliefors traces each town¡¦s history and shows how the boardwalk has been essential to the area¡¦s economic growth, status, and appeal. This richly documented and illustrated book, however, tells more than the story of the birth and development of boardwalks. Weaving together observations and conversations with business owners, planners, and those who ¡§walk the boards,¡¨ Lilliefors reveals the vitality of the boardwalk as an idea, rather than just as a place. And he introduces us to some of the people who have kept the boardwalk an American institution for more than a hundred and thirty years. Born at a time when the country was busy reinventing itself as an industrial and economic power, the boardwalk seemed to herald a new way of life¡V¡Vone of relaxation, recreation, and middle-class prosperity. On the nation¡¦s first boardwalk in Atlantic City, you could find everything from a ¡§home of the future¡¨ to diving horses, kangaroo boxing, and the world¡¦s largest typewriter. With no admission fees, boardwalks were also a thoroughly democratic idea, inviting visitors from all social and economic groups to join the same parade. Even today, these glittering coastal hubs, with their unique blends of people, sea spray, shops, food, and oddities remain a testament to the power of individuality in an increasingly homogenized world.« less