The Boardwalk was the heart of Atlantic City life. A stroll or a ride on the "boards" brought you past a mind-boggling array of diversions - everything Atlantic City had to offer!!! It was the scenic link between the great hotels and the theatres, between the bath houses and the amusement piers, and the landside of the "walk" was lined with myriad shops offering refreshments, treats, photographic portraits, and the ubiquitous Atlantic City souvenir.

Souvenirs (from the French, "to remember") have been an essential element for the Atlantic City vacation from earliest times. Scores of photographers set up shop on the Boardwalk and posed visitors on sets or behind painted flats. No other American resort was better represented in souvenir postcards. Indeed the first use of the postcard in America is credited to Atlantic City. Trinkets emblazoned with the words "Atlantic City" ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime, but always served to rekindle some cherished memory of the "Queen of Resorts."

Vehicles were prohibited on the Boardwalk which city council officially declared a street in 1896. The exception was Atlantic City's famous rolling chairs. An enterprising hardware store owner named William Hayday started renting wheelchairs for invalids in the 1880's. The practice grew and the chairs were redesigned to accommodate two. After a time sections of Boardwalk planking were laid lengthwise to provide a smoother ride for the rolling chairs.