Old Post Card Wednesday--Breakers Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ

From acweekly.com:

When Atlantic City was considered the Queen of Resorts, the Breakers Hotel was one of her gleaming palaces. The mere mention of the hotel’s name caused heads to turn with visions of opulence and thoughts of the hotel’s luxurious rooftop garden lounge. Designed by noted architect Vivian Smith, The Breakers, located at New Jersey Avenue and the Boardwalk across from the Garden Pier, was a vacationer’s dream during the early to mid-20th century. In 1974, at the peak of Atlantic City’s downslide, the hotel fell victim to the wrecker’s ball.

This is one of the prettiest postcards preserved by my grandmother, Nellie. My mother, Margaret, was born in Berkeley in 1915 but the family moved soon afterward to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where they lived during her toddler years. If my grandmother purchased her Atlantic City postcards during the time they lived there, this dates to around 1916-1920. After they left, one grown daughter (from my grandfather's first marriage) remained in Atlantic City with her husband and daughter. She may have sent it to Nellie a few years later, but I doubt this because the back wasn't used. In any case, it's an old card. So old that Cuba is specified in the text inside the stamp square as a possible addressee site (click on the card to enlarge).

In keeping with some days of posts with a garden theme begun yesterday -- and I know you have wondered about this nickname all your life -- click here to read a fact sheet about "The Garden State" and Other New Jersey Nicknames.

With love and reverence for my mother and her family of origin, but also with a healthy dose of humor and awe for the headgear I'm posting a photo of her on the boardwalk at Atlantic City, and a family shot (my mom is the little one) also there on the boardwalk.