In the 1960s, brothers Sidney, Bill, and George each bought ¼ share in concessions in Asbury Park. Who had the other ¼? It appears that it was probably Irving B. Kirsch, their first cousin.
Irving was the son of Morris Kirsch, who was the brother of Isadore Kirsch. Isadore was the father of Sidney, Bill, and George. Irving’s family moved to the Jersey Shore area as early as 1930. [1] At that time, he was living with his parents and 2 other siblings in Deal, Monmouth, New Jersey. He was working as a clerk in his mother’s cigar store. By 1940, he was married and working as a mechanic [2] . By 1945, he was listed in the Asbury Park City Directory as the secretary-treasurer of King Amusement Device Co., Inc. [3]
Since the brothers were in the oil business together, and since the oil business was slow in the summer, they probably decided this would be a good venture to get into, especially since it was recommended by a cousin.
[4]
Stan, a nephew to the brothers, only remembers going there once or twice. Back then, it was quite a ride from Hackensack. However, Alan, Sidney’s son, worked there for 2 summers for $1 an hour. Sandy, George’s son, ran the Skee-Ball concession. Sandy also remembers that it was referred to as “5th Avenue Amusements”.
[5]
From Sandy:
“The year I remember the most was the summer of 1963. Me and my friend from high school took a 2nd story room in a place on 4th Ave. It was a block away from the boardwalk and one block over to the 5th Avenue amusements. It was located adjacent to the convention center and pavilion. My friend and I worked there in the daytime. I was not old enough to work in the evening hours. I was assigned to the skee ball machines, maybe 12-14 of them. I gave out the number of tickets from the score and made the change for the nickel play. There were times when all the machines were being played but I kept them all busy. But when nobody was playing or at a slow time of day, I would play skee ball. I had a nickel slot tool so I could play as many times as I wanted. That summer I scored 3 perfect scores of 450 (9 balls at 50 points each).
My friend was assigned the game Paint in a Barrel. It was the first of its kind on the boardwalk. There were Wheels of Chance, maybe 2 or 3. Also, a ball toss that you could win prizes and I think cigarettes. There was the usual pinball machines which we played one in particular. We got pretty good at high scores.
Cousin Alan worked in the office. I just recall him counting the money from the day’s take. I had to give back the bankroll I was given for change made that day. More times than not I was a nickel or two short. I was warned it would be taken out of my pay! I would walk the boards with friends at times in the evening hours and see the crowds at 5th Ave amusements, 3-4 persons deep at the games. The summer of ‘63 in Asbury was one of the most memorable times of my life.”
[6]
In 1963, fires destroyed two areas of the boardwalk. I wonder how that affected the Kirsch Brothers’ investment. [7]
Sources
- [1] 1930 Federal Census for Irving B. Kirsch – Year: 1930; Census Place: Deal, Monmouth, New Jersey; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 0033; FHL microfilm: 2341105 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.
- [2] 1940 Federal Census for Irving B. Kirsch – Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Deal, Monmouth, New Jersey; Roll: m-t0627-02365; Page: 63A; Enumeration District: 13-31 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.
- [3] 1945 Asbury Park City Directory – Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
- [4] Asbury Park Postcard – can be purchased on E-bay.com
- [5] Skee Ball Picture posted on Flickr.com
- [6] 5th Avenue Funland Ticket Picture – posted on WorthPoint.com
- [7] 1963 Asbury Park Boardwalk Fire – ap-museum.org, Asbury Park Year by Year