O IS FOR OCEAN CITY. It really is a bona fide "City" in the Garden State. The place certainly is not a major "City" by population count, but because its' municipal status it is of "major" importance to me. It is number 18 in my collection of NJ City Badges.
Let me tell you something about this place on the Jersey Shore. The Community became a City, before my birth, on March 25 , 1897. It is situated in Cape May County on the Atlantic Ocean.
It has a great beach. It is consistently in the top ten of New Jersey's Best Beaches. Because of this fact the Summer population reaches well over 100,000. It is also known as a great family community and boasts the title of "America's Greatest Family Resort."
In its early days it was known as Pecks Beach. It was a Whaling Center and, because of the great beach attracted many locals looking for a nice dip in the Ocean. The whales are gone, but the Beach still is great. There are just under 20,000 permanent residents.
When the summer gang arrives the population jumps to over 100,00. That's a large number of people. Most of them can be found on the Boardwalk or cooling off in the Ocean. You won't find many cooling off at "Miller Time" as the sale of alcohol has been prohibited since 1879.
As a probation officer I got to attend an official conference here a number of years ago. Since I am retired I can be excused if I don't recall what this conference was about. I do recall that after the meetings there was "no problem" having a cold Budweiser. It was at this meeting that I was given a contact who had an interest in collecting badges and patches.
A fine New Jersey Probation Officer secured this badge for me at a local show. It is an old style and no longer in use. The age is estimated to be fifty, or more, years. It is in very nice shape showing some wear around the edges. It has a State Seal, of the type used way back then, featuring a blue ring on the outer circle.
Although I am not a collector of patches I do have one from this fine City. It was given to me by a Retired Jersey Police Officer who visited my area of sunny Florida to see my collection. We had a great visit, had a couple of beers, and shared some great memories.
No comments:
Post a Comment