Death of Doo Wop:
South Jersey Shore's Mid-century Motels

It was known as "Little Las Vegas" in the 1950s and 1960s. Chubby Checker first did "the twist" at the local Rainbow club in 1960, and Dick Clarke's American Bandstand was first aired from the Starlight Room in 1957. In a postwar society where cash was flowing and leisure time was attainable, American families jumped in their automobiles and cruised the coast. The "doo wop" style of architecture that was celebrated during this time period, comprised kitchy, brash, colorful, space age, tropical, angular, and neon. Welcome to the Wildwoods....

"The people who built the nearly 300 motels along this five-mile section of the JerseyShore in the 1950s and '60s could not have foreseen that their properties would one day warrant architectural tours, however tongue-in-cheek the spiel. The garish establishments crowd three shore towns known as the Wildwoods (North Wildwood, Wildwood proper and Wildwood Crest), occupying a stretch of barrier beach south of Atlantic City and just north of the restored Victorian resort town, Cape May. Most of the buildings sprang up when the Wildwoods were in their glory days as a beach resort. With so much competition, the motels here had to scream for attention—it was survival of the loudest." Smithsonian.com

Doo Wop Links:

www.doowopusa.org
Doo Wop Preservation League

www.preservationnj.org
Preservation New Jersey's 10 Most Endangered

www.smithsonianmagazine.com
Smithsonian Magazine's Doo Wop by the Sea

www.nationaltrust.org
National Trust's Online Preservation

www.architectureweek.com
Architecture Week's Preserving Doo Wop

www.baltimoresun.com
Baltimore Sun's The Wildwoods