I remember the real Atlantic City, before the casinos arrived. My Mom’s aunt lived there, near the bend of the Boardwalk, and we would visit her for a week or so almost every summer. In addition to going to the beach by day, I would go to the Boardwalk in the afternoons and early evenings to waste what little money was in my pre-adolescent pockets at the arcades by playing Pokereno, Skee-Ball, or Fascination. I accumulated enough coupon tickets to redeem for various tzatzkes, always including “Magic Snakes” fireworks pellets.

But Atlantic City had already begun a decline from its heyday.  Following the return of military veterans following World War II, who had furthered their educations and skills as a result of the so-called “GI Bill,” the American middle class had grown increasingly affluent. More households became automobile owners; their newly-gained mobility enabled many of them to drive their own cars to Atlantic City for day trips or a single overnight stay instead of arriving by train or bus for an extended vacation, thereby cutting down on the hospitality business, not only in the established hotels, but also for the many individual homeowners (including my Mom’s aforementioned aunt) who took in vacationer guests as a side income.

Although the race riots that swept the United States during the 1960’s did no considerable damage in Atlantic City, there nonetheless was palpable racial tension to be felt there, which discouraged many people from vacationing in Atlantic City and choosing instead other seashore resorts where racial tensions were markedly less.  Moreover, Atlantic City, then as now, was susceptible to the storm damage during the hurricane season.  A storm in March 1962, although never reaching hurricane status wind speed, inflicted much damage from the wind and the tidal surges.

Amidst all the economic uncertainty, the banks were reluctant to extend loans, and so, many damaged properties were never repaired.  When my wife and I visited Atlantic City in 1988, I saw that a land parcel near my aunt’s house, vacant for as long as I could remember from my pre-adolescent days, had remained undeveloped.

After years of economic decline and infrastructure deterioration, the most important election in the history of the State of Nevada was held in 1976, in which the New Jersey electorate voted in a referendum election to allow casinos in Atlantic City.  The vote was approximately 57 percent in favor to 43 percent opposed.  Prior to that, games of chance were prohibited in New Jersey; the Skill Pastime arcade on the Boardwalk where I played Pokereno had earlier, in 1951, been compelled by the court to discontinue its Bingo games because Bingo was found to be a game........

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