Down the Ocean

In this companion to his book, "Greetings from Baltimore", Bert Smith takes the reader on a tour of summers past in Ocean City, Maryland, and the nearby Delaware beaches, where vacationers have been going for more than a century, to find sun, surf and souvenirs. This book offers a selection of postcard scenes from the early days of these resort towns, when visitors held tight to safety lines and bravely encountered the water dressed in heavy woollen bathing suits. It also takes us through the decades that followed, when automobiles and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge made jaunts to the ocean more convenient and brought changes that transformed the mid-Atlantic coast. Accompanied by Bert Smith's account of local history and lore, the images assembled in this volume seek to document not just the appearance of beach towns but also the feel of beach life from years gone by. Some postcards from the first half of the 20th century were individually hand-coloured, and many display photographic tricks, illustrated embellishments, humorous cartoons, or unique design elements.
They capture views of Ocean City's grand hotels of the past, such as the Atlantic, the Plimhimmon, the Stephen Decatur, and the Commander, as well as smaller cottages, motels, and boardwalk businesses. Many of these structures have now been destroyed by fires, storms or the ravages of time, others have been altered beyond recognition or replaced by condominiums.