Posts Tagged ‘Atlantic City’
“I can understand that a man might go to the gambling table – when he sees that all that lies between himself and death is his last crown”*…
Wheel of Fortune, Las Vegas, 1988
Thirty years ago, gambling in the US was limited to three destinations: Reno, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City. Jay Wolke photographed the ordinary people who played, lived and worked in the rapidly expanding cities. Wolke was fascinated by the intersections of people, artifice, architecture and landscape in the US’s three gambling cities…
Girl in car, Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, 1989
Fortune Hunter, Las Vegas, 1988
See more at “Same dream another time: under the skin of 80s Vegas – in pictures” and at Wolke’s site.
* Honoré de Balzac, The Wild Ass’s Skin
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As we consider the odds, we might recall that it was on this date in 2000 that Cynthia Jay-Brennan won $34,959,458.56 on a Megabucks slot machine at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, the world’s largest payout; it was a one in 7 million chance. A cocktail waitress at another casino, she had been a Desert Inn regular; on this occasion, she had “invested” $27 in the machine that paid off so handsomely.
Sadly. Jay-Brennan has become synonymous with the “Jackpot Jinx”: a few weeks after her huge haul, she and her sister were driving to a casino out of town when they were hit by a drunk driver, paralyzing her and killing her sister.
Those lazy hazy crazy days of summer…
Ladies and gentlemen, meet the talented Mr. Grant Snider, more of whose wonderful work can be found at Incidental Comics (and copies of whose nifty drawing can be had here).
As we allow ourselves a little more ambition in crafting our vacation plans, we might recall that it was on this date in 1870 that the first section of the Atlantic City Boardwalk opened along the New Jersey beach. An extension of a development begun in the 1850s by Dr. Jonathan Pitney and civil engineer Richard Osborne, the Boardwalk became the marque feature of Atlantic City– which, with its beautiful beaches, fresh sea air, luxurious hotels, fine restaurants, alluring shops, and a connecting railroad line from Camden, New Jersey, became a summer resort and winter health spa that drew visitors from all over the world.
Rolling Chairs on the Boardwalk (source: Library of Congress)
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