1957-1986

Kingsley Street facade in the early 1980s. Photo copyrighted by Peter Szikura. view larger image

By the 1960s, Asbury Park's traditional summer season was a thing of the past. Most visitors came now for the day, instead of the week or month. No more did the New York Times announce Asbury dances or report on the comings and goings of summer folk. Nonetheless, the number of annual visitors still topped a million, and at one time or another, many found their way to the amusements at the Palace and the Casino and rode the Swan Boats on Wesley Lake.

To Edward Lange, changing with the times at the Palace was both a normal circumstance and his operational philosophy. "We paid great attention to adding different gadgets. New things used to come out so we would always try to upgrade everything.

Infa-red photo of the Lake Avenue expansion. Photo copyrighted by Joe Paduano. view larger image

Trying to improve. Every year you had to improve. You had to find something new. We sold rides. We bought rides. We changed rides. We added machines every year. Bought new equipment. Arcade machines. They came out with more sophisticated machines every year. The arcade machines. You had to constantly upgrade." Lange told "The Carousel Keeper" author Carrie Papa. "You never could stand still." (For more of Edward Lange, in his own words, click here.)

Not a corner of the Palace stayed the same in the decades following the expansion. Even the hours changed, from seasonal operations to being open year around (but during the winter, only on weekends when huge kerosene blowers added to the hum and warmth of activity.)

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