Years later, former Steel Pier employees still share stories, memories

I have fond memories of the Steel Pier and the Atlantic City Boardwalk. As a wedding present, we were given a week's stay on Long Beach Island.

My godmother owned a small resort there and since my husband, James, had just returned from Vietnam, it was a welcomed honeymoon stay for us - our funds were limited.

We walked the Boardwalk and enjoyed the Steel Pier. It hardly seems like it was so long ago, but we are now married for 44 years.

We are both from North Jersey and never thought we would one day be living in south Jersey permanently. But after owning a townhome here and being weekend commuters for years, we did decide to move here permanently eight years ago.

Atlantic City and Steel Pier put the "sand in our shoes," and we are very happy!

For our anniversary each year we always return and celebrate by walking the Boardwalk and seeing all the changes and improvements. I remember taking our two sons there to see the shows and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of Steel Pier.

Now, as senior citizens, we really enjoy our trips to Atlantic City. We love the shows, food, and all the resorts have to offer. We look forward to the opening of the new casinos and thoroughly enjoy our trips there, whether just for dinner or overnight to meet friends.

All I can say is, "Thank you, Steel Pier." - Bonnie Egyud, North Wildwood

My favorite memories of Steel Pier took place on every Sunday afternoon during the summer of 1958, when I was 13 years old. My sister, Barbara, who was 17, and I would ride the bus from Cape May to the Atlantic City Boardwalk to attend the dance held at Steel Pier, hosted by Grady and Hurst. It was a very memorable time in my life, as dancing was my favorite pastime. Mr. Grady and Mr. Hurst did a fabulous job hosting these dances.

I especially want to thank my sister Barbara for accompanying me to Steel Pier, as our parents would never have let me go alone - nor would I have gone alone.

This was a very exciting time in my life and Barbara also enjoyed herself - we danced, danced and danced some more! Back then, there weren't many things for children to do, so this was a big deal for us!

The other memorable event was the "High Diving Horse." The horse was real and a live person was on it when it dove from The Pier into the water. In today's time, this would be considered cruelty to animals, but it seemed harmless at the time.. - Karen L. Douglass, Cape May

I remember my mother would select a day and call a taxi, to drive Mother, my three sisters and me to the trolley stop in Pleasantville around 9 a.m.. We would board the trolley and ride all the way to the end of Virginia Avenue and the Boardwalk, with our picnic sandwiches. This was around 1939 to 1943.

We would pay to get on the Steel Pier and check the schedule of events that was posted all around the pier areas to see which show or event was going to start at that time. We would climb up to the second deck of the pier to the picnic deck and pick a spot, leave our lunches on a table and then proceed to follow the schedule.

Normally it was a movie, then the water circus and in between the animal cages with monkeys, birds, rabbits or squirrels. We would then eat our lunch.

Next it was time to see the second movie, and by the end of the movie, it was time to catch the trolley back to Smiths Landing, in Pleasantville, where Dad would meet us after his all day at work.

Living on a farm in Egg Harbor Township in those days, it was a big treat to get to go to the Steel Pier.

In 1948 and 1949, I was an usher at the pier, starting out at Tony Grant's Stars of Tomorrow for a few weeks and then I was assigned to the Music Hall, where the vaudeville and movies took place. Many great acts appeared at the Music Hall, including Frank Sinatra and Henny Youngman, and many circus acrobats performed.

I was too young to drive, so I rode my bike to a friend's house in Pleasantville and took the trolley to Atlantic City. I was paid 50 cents per hour, and I liked it when I could work 10 or 12 hours per day. I would buy a milkshake and a hamburger at Fralinger's soda fountain across from the Steel Pier for lunch. If it rained, I would catch a taxi in Pleasantville for 50 cents to our home on Old Egg Harbor Road.

I remember the large crowds waiting in line for all the vaudeville shows. I still have my Steel Pier ID, with picture. - Richard E. Squires, Egg Harbor Township

I have many memories of the pier. For about 50 cents, you could pack a lunch and enter The Pier for the first show. My dad had a large market and supplied lemons for Ms. Ratte's interviews of celebrities appearing on The Pier - Ms. Ratte was the hostess who conducted them while serving tea and cookies. You might call her a Barbara Walters type, in the 1930s. I would deliver the lemons, walking from the store on Atlantic Avenue to the entrance to The Pier. The guard would admit me to deliver the fruit to Ms. Ratte's studio, located on the top of the Casino Theater. I then just forgot to leave, and would stay to view all of the movies - there were three theaters. I remember the Abbott and Costello shows, the minstrel show, Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby's brother's band. They had a World War I museum with a replica of the Red Baron's tri-plane, and many other artifacts from that war. - Dr. Earl Kanter, Margate

From the time I was released from the hospital after my birth, I went straight to Atlantic City for the summer, from Philadelphia. I spent every summer from June until September until I was 18 at the shore.

It was a given that when it rained, we either went to the movies or to Steel Pier. I remember my mother packing a lunch and off we went. It was a fun-filled day.

My favorite was the high-diving horse and I never got tired of seeing it jump off the ramp. Loved the talent show and movies. I remember seeing the Three Stooges one summer.

Also, danced on the Grady and Hurst Show. And the Diving Bell was always very interesting.

It sure was an inexpensive day of fun, and it felt safe being there all day without adult supervision. - Renee Rudolf Scribner, Vineland

Born and raised in Pitney Village in Atlantic City, I have fond memories of the Steel Pier. At 13, I worked on The Pier as a stock boy and at a popcorn stand. When I finished work, I would hang around and watch Carl Fontaine perform a magic show focused on card tricks and other sleight of hand. I was there so often that he eventually asked me if I would like to learn his tricks. I was elated, and soon I began working for him as well. I gave a 20-minute presentation, which included a variety of tricks with what appeared to be an ordinary deck of cards, but if I flipped the cards one way, they were all different and if I flipped them the other, they were the same. While doing the card tricks, I would continually pour water into a bowl that always appeared empty. Between tricks I would stick my finger under a miniature guillotine and slam it down, which didn't cut my finger but did cut through a piece of wood underneath. Each of these products - the cards, the bowl and the guillotine - we sold for $1 When I wasn't demonstrating, I would be in the audience as a shill and pretend to stumble through a trick to start the first sale. When I finished work, I remember going to the Marine Ballroom to listen to my father, Angie Marrandino, who performed with the Alex Bartha Band. Steel Pier was the place to go for fun, entertainment and to procure a job. - Paul "Dino" Marrandino, Absecon

Itinerary of a 10-year-old on Steel pier in the mid-'30s to '40s, forever indelibly etched in happy memories:

1: Get to admission booth before 11 a.m. This entitled you to a free boat ride.

2: You and about 25 other kids would head immediately downstairs to the haunted castle and fun houses. All this while you were carrying your brown paper bag with lunch in it.

3: Go to the picnic deck and get rid of that lunch bag - no one wants to carry it around. Everybody's lunch, and I mean everybody, consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwich, banana or orange or apple, gulped down.

4: Check out the Daddy Dave group. Several local school kids were performers, one of whom I had heart throbs over.

5: Off to the three theaters including the magnificient vaudeville presentations of leading headliners - Abbott and Costello, Red Skelton, Olsen and Johnson, etc. - and live music. This sometimes required a return visit, after the other two movies were viewed.

6: Finally off to the water sports and circus at the end of the pier. To be thrilled by the wonderful Olga Petroff and her ascent up the towering pole balancing atop the 18-inch ball, swaying back and forth - could it break? The high divers, water skiing, (with a dog), Diving Horse - audience being warned to stay absolutely silent in order for horse to dive - the hilarious Steel Pier carpenters and more.

7. A notable increase of adults properly attired, heading for the ballroom and the bands, to enjoy dancing to Alex Bartha, followed by the famous stars - the Dorseys, Glenn Miller and Gene Krupa to name a few. This was a sign for kids to start heading for home.

Wow ! what a long blissful day, and to think this was accomplished by the total grand sum of 25 cents - without tax.

You exited on to the Boardwalk amidst a sea of people desssed in Panama hats, Palm Beach suits, ladies in evening gowns. And everybody seemed to wear a hat. You walked home in absolute safety - there were police officers, called the beauty patrol, every third block.

You went to bed that night with great memories of The Pier with one haunting concern: How long would it take to collect enough deposit bottles to raise another quarter to repeat this great adventure? - Adam "Jim" Thomas, Atlantic City

From adolescence to my teens, the Steel Pier provided lots of fun for me and my friends. One admission price bought a full day spent enjoying the Dancing Waters (fountains with lights), and movies. Tony Grant's Stars of Tomorrow was my favorite. Most memorable was the Jackson Five and little Michael Jackson be-bopping and singing. We held our breath as the Diving Horse plunged from a high platform into the huge pool outside, and we crowded into the Diving Bell to see the ocean below The Pier. The many arcades attracted our attention as we tossed balls into a target, hoping to win the big stuffed-animal prizes, but we never won. We thrilled at seeing the big names onstage - we clapped and jumped up and down with the other teens, shouting and swooning as the stars crooned their tunes. Following the acts, we raced to wait outside the dressing rooms to see them exit - Fabian, Ricky Nelson, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Rydell, Paul Anka, Lesley Gore. Once my step-sister, Marylou, tried climbing on the roof to see Fabian. We watched, hearts pounding, screaming, "Fabian! Oh Fabian!" Just one glimpse would make our day! - Marguerite Heaton-Colella, Egg Harbor Township

Growing up in Atlantic City was like being on vacation every day, and the Steel Pier was the focus of my life. I was in my teens during the 1940s and Atlantic City was in its heyday with its many bars and famous restaurants and big crowds on the Boardwalk, especially Easter Sunday.

But the Steel Pier was like home to us with its three theaters, vaudeville shows, Haunted House, Water Circus and Diving Bell. The picnic deck overlooking the beaches was one of my fondest memories as I took a break from going from one movie house to another. My mother always packed a lunch ... and I loved sitting on the bench at the picnic tables and watching the bathers in the ocean. ... Those were among the best days of my life.

The love of my life was dancing and the Ballroom at the end of the Pier was the answer to a prayer with all the big bands of the day playing there. My girlfriends and I had our corner by the bandstand and we jitterbugged and straight-danced to the music of Glenn Miller, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Louis Prima, Harry James and Claude Thornhill. On Easter Sundays the ballroom was so jammed with people there was little room to dance but we stomped and slow-danced anyway, and my uncle - who was an engineer - said you could see the ballroom swaying from the boardwalk. Many of the boys I danced with were from other cities like Philadelphia, New York and Washington. After dancing all night in my 3-inch heels, I had the long walk back to the Boardwalk and then home. ... My feet were sore for days, but that was quickly forgotten the next time I went dancing on The Pier with my girlfriends.

I will never forget those days and nights on The Pier and the feeling that I was on a vacation every single day and night.

But besides recreation the Steel Pier also gave me the opportunity to meet the Man of My Life. One night a handsome soldier asked me to dance, and it was love at first sight. Mike Salerno, who was from Providence, R.I., was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and was sent to England General Hospital (Resorts Casino) for treatment and therapy. Mike was also a musician and vocalist and was a guest singer with Harry James and Louis Prima and many of the USO's in town. We were married in l947 and were blessed with five beautiful children, fifteen gorgeous grandchildren, and seven sweetheart great-grandchildren.

So I will be forever grateful to the Steel Pier for all it has given me. - Rita Daley Salerno, Margate

I was born on Virginia Avenue in Atlantic City in 1935 and raised in the Inlet section. My very first memory of The Pier was walking, holding on to a baby coach that my mother or grandmother would push along with one of my younger brothers aboard - I had five brothers - and I can still see the towers with the flags waving on top. Growing up in those days, we would try to earn the ticket price by gathering papers and take them to Snyder's Junkyard on Maryland Avenue. We never got enough and would have to try to raise the rest from my parents or older brothers. If you got to The Pier early enough, the price was a nickel cheaper - I think about 18 cents. We always brought our lunch in a paper bag and we would go to the lockers near the Sun Deck and put the bag in an open one. Thinking back, I never remember anything ever being moved or touched, no matter how long it was in the locker. Next step was going down to plan our day. All the movie and show times were always clearly marked on the walls throughout the pier and we didn't want to miss anything - the water sports and circus at the end were always a must. I can remember seeing Henny Youngman, the Ritz Brothers, the Mills Brothers and my very favorite, Abbott and Costello. Once when I was about 9 or 10, I was standing next to Bud Abbott at one of the refreshment stands, and he said, "Hello, young man" - I know I told all my friends about that. ... The war years were very different and exciting to a young boy, and there was an exhibit at the entrance with pieces of shot-down German planes and other war pieces, including a part from a U-boat. There were also wax figures of Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo, along with John Dillinger and other notorious figures from the 1930s.

When I was a teeenager, The Pier was the place to go, especially on Easter Sunday. If you had a girlfriend, you just had to take her to The Pier. We saw great shows then - I can recall Johnny Ray, Al Martino, Tony Bennett and Frankie Laine among many others. At that time, we became more interested in the bands in the Marine Ballroom; we would spend many hours standing in front of the stage just to listen.

We would swim out and watch the Water Circus, by floating and treading water. Then when we would swim back, we would stop at the boat dock, (where) the Tango sightseeing boat docked. We would go up the ramp and sit on the benches in our bathting suits, and when the pier guards came after us, we would dive off and wait for them to leave - then do the same thing again. I was also on the Atlantic City Beach Patrol, and part of our training was learning to go under the pier, time the (waves) coming in, stay away from the pilings and keep our eye on a bather who strayed under the pier and needed help. ... I was in the Navy in the Korean War and it seemed that we all talked about our hometowns, and how great they were. I don't remember anyone who could ever talk about anything like the Steel Pier. When I would describe all that was on The Pier for one low price, I even had trouble convincing many guys that it was true.

Please note that when locals talk about Steel Pier, they just say "The Pier." Although there were and are other piers in Atlantic City, there is just one that's The Pier - Steel Pier. - Joseph Walls, Linwood

As a child, I can remember my mom and aunts taking us to the Steel Pier to go on the rides. It was always a fun place to go to in the summer, and it always brings back the great memories of when we were kids. I can remember the little jail cell where you could get your picture taken - and my sister, brother, uncle, aunt, mom and me all getting our picture taken there. I was 5 or 6 years old, in 1966 or 1967. - Lawrence Strickland Sr., Galloway Township

As a child, I would enter the pier sometimes for free, as father was (an Atlantic City police officer).

Decades later, I had the opportunity to speak to some of the stars who performed there - Bobby Vinton, Connie Francis, Frankie Avolon and Atlantic City's own Lucille Russo.

My father had a few minutes in a movie that filmed at Steel Pier. My father said he received 10 bucks for his part as a cop arresting someone and that it cost him that much to clean his uniform.

Marion Hackney one of the (riders) on the diving horse was later my swim instructor at Haddon Hall hotel. - Daniel Fedeli, Margate

I'm 76 now, but I can remember our summers at the shore. We lived in South Philadelphia. During the hot summer months we needed to get where it was cool.

No air-conditioning in those days, it was the shore or nothing. We stayed at the Inlet with the rest of the working class. The Steel Pier was a short walk from our rooms.

The pier was the greatest attraction on the Boardwalk. One entrance fee got you in.

The entertainment was all day long. Movies, live shows with famous singers, the diving bell, diving horse and all kinds of exhibits were free to see.

The best time to go was on a rainy day. The beach was out, and for a few bucks our parents could be free of us for the entire day. Packing a lunch was a common practice.

We saw the latest movies and famous Hollywood and New York stars up close.

The pier also had the General Motors Car Exhibit. It was free to all. A great place for young kids to dream about cars.

The pier was the attraction on the Boardwalk. There is nothing like it today anywhere. - Richard Sorokin, Margate

We used to love to go to the Steel Pier. Our dear friend, Red Ritson, would get us discount tickets. We used to pay $1.25 to get on the pier. What a bargain it was! I would go with my girlfriends to see all of the entertainer's - Ricky Nelson, Leslie Gore, Fabin, Bobby Rydell, Neil Sedaka, the Lennon Sister's - the list could go on and on. Then, of course, we would see the diving horse. And then there was the diving bell .. too scary for me to go down in it!

Sure wish we could have it all back again. What a great moment in time! - JoAnn Sutton, Absecon

My memories of the steel pier are many, but a few that come to mind are going to see Davy Jones in the auditorium with my Grandmother in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I was absolutely positive that is would not be just Davy Jones, but all the Monkees. I walked my Grandmother up to the stage, before the event and pointed out all the instruments the other Monkees would play. The best part was my cousin was also there and he put me on his shoulders to see better. I remember "The Steel Pier Show," which no one mentions anymore. I used to work on the Steel Pier for one summer in 1978. My cousin was my boss and I worked many of the games in the front. It was a great time. - Debbie Alper, Egg Harbor Township