In Another Time > Daredevils took flight from Wildwood

Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Monday, December 12, 2011 03:36 pm

People were getting high during the early part of the 20th century. Some were thrilled by it. Others were not.

It was the era of what some called the flying machine or when applicable the flying boat. Today we call it simply the airplane which covers a multitude of purposes. The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, of course, were the catalysts when they started it all with their first flight at Kitty Hawk. But the Wildwoods, being seashore resort that entices the innovative to entertain the guests, played roles in the maturation of the airplane until the 1940s, when far from the imagination of the Wrights their invention dropped the biggest devastation on human beings in the history of mankind.

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In Another Time > Some stars were happy with local fame

Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Wednesday, December 07, 2011 01:06 pm

When those who were there and done that talk about the heydays of entertainment in Wildwood back in the 1950s and ’60s, the names they mostly remember belong to such stars of that era as Tony Bennett, Jerry Lewis and Esther Williams, all of whom with many others headlined in what some observers called “The Last Vegas of the East.”

Overlooked, however, with the passage of time are the names of other entertainers who were very talented but never quite made it to national stardom because of circumstances or because the chemistry was not right.

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In Another Time > Looking back 70 years after date which will live in infamy

Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Thursday, December 01, 2011 07:07 pm

Wildwood, of course, did not suffer the tragic consequences of the biggest war in the history of mankind as did places like Pearl Harbor and London and the worst of all Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

But hidden in history with the passage of times are forgotten stories about how the war came to the Wildwoods peripherally and how Wildwood people went to the war heroically. The stories are especially appropriate now as the anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor approaches.

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In Another Time > What building has stood the longest in the Wildwoods?

Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Tuesday, November 22, 2011 05:24 pm

A long time architectural issue at the seashore has focused often on the subject of whether to destroy or preserve its vintage buildings. William Shakespeare had it right when he wrote, “To be or not to be, that is the question.”

It has never been more evident than here in the southern section of Cape May County where in its long history preservationists and modernists have clashed over what kind of accommodations, the old or the new, should be provided the tourists, and for the year round residents, too, for that matter. Some years ago Cape May successfully converted its vintage houses into bed and breakfast establishments. More recently some modern condominiums, an obscene word in the minds of some traditionalists, have replaced what once were the tried and the true and the economically profitable.

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In Another Time > Changing attitudes on guards, bodies and beauty

Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Tuesday, November 15, 2011 04:04 pm

Since Adam and Eve supposedly used fig leaves to protect their modesties, the human body has been the center of controversy on the subject of whether its architectural beauty should be recognized or even be compared to its functional purpose.

The seashore and its lifeguards may have been the place where the conflict about the seen and the unseen started and where attitudes changed, although not dramatically, throughout the years. After all, it is on the beach where people barely wear street clothes or in some cases, at one time in this area’s Higbee Beach, no clothes at all.

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In Another Time > Indian connections, ancient and modern, to the Wildwoods

Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Wednesday, November 09, 2011 03:56 pm

The Indians who came to the Wildwoods brought with them colorful names and stories, some of which were historical, some legendary and others a combination of the above.

Among those whose names appear in local history are King Nummy, his sister, Snow Flower, Chief Two Moons, Larry Snake, and Lone Bear.

The most famous, at least in Cape May County, was King Nummy after whom the King Nummy Trail Campground in Middle Township is named, along with Nummy Island in Hereford Inlet. He reportedly sold some land to the Dutch governor of New Amsterdam at a bargain price to his own regret and the rest of his tribe.

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In Another Time > Chief welcomed to Wildwood convention

Last Updated on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 04:54 pm Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Wednesday, November 02, 2011 11:50 am

This image of Chief Two Moons was provided by the Wildwood Historical Society.

Chief Two Moons was a huge favorite among the thousands of tourists and residents when he came to Wildwood in the summer of 1914.

The occasion was the annual convention of the New Jersey Red Men, a society that claimed to trace back to the patriots who dressed as Indians for a famous Tea Party in Boston. The society formed in 1813, and took the name the Improved Order of Red Men in 1834. At its height, the group had hundreds of thousands of members, and continues to exist as a non-profit and patriotic group. There are four “tribes” or chapters in New Jersey, including the “Half Moon Tribe” in Northvale.

Close to a century ago, the society was thriving, and held its convention in Wildwood.

Chief Two Moons, said to be a survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand, was the convention’s big attraction including an appearance in its parade that included 1,500 members of the fraternal organization. Dressed in colorful headwear, Two Moons was followed around the resort by enchanted kids and he signed autographs for the older people. There also was a re-creation of history on the Wildwood beach where a mock battle between colonists and Indians was staged.

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In Another Time > Prohibition came to the boardwalk, several times

Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Tuesday, October 18, 2011 09:50 am

When Wildwood was founded in the late 19th century, it was obviously surrounded by water, and, as the old saying is paraphrased, without a sip to drink.

No problem.

There were no saloons in Wildwood early on but that didn’t seem to matter, because in a preview of the Prohibition era people sold and drank alcohol illegally. After all, what else can a person do when he’s thirsty and there’s nothing but salt water to drink?

In 1798, a century or so before things were starting to happen in the Wildwoods, the state of New Jersey was clamping down on the sale of liquor on Sundays, encouraged by temperance organizations. It turned out to be a cat and mouse game as some bars of the future ostensibly closed while conducting business surreptitiously.

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