First Ladies
The Stockton Hotel was the big issue in 1963. After the Board of Adjustment's decision to grant the variance was struck down in the courts on a process issue, it came back to the Board of Adjustments.
They voted again in executive session to approve the variances. Mayor Doyle, who was up for re-election, supported the move. His position was that Frank Palmieri had the right to develop his property, and the current hotel was no longer in a condition to attract wealthy patrons. A new building would allow for higher room rates, a better ratable for the borough, and an attractive community asset. Palmieri had owned the hotel for six years at this point.
John G. Rogers was put up by the Real Estate Owners Association. The sole issue seemed to be the Hotel. Rogers challenged the 30-year mayor at the Republican primary and defeated Doyle by 70 votes.
When the Board of Adjustment vote was rejected again at Superior Court for not voting in a public session, the entire board resigned. Richard O. ‘Dick’ Venino, who served on the board, and was also a special attorney for the town, suggested they could not vote again on the same issue without bringing their prior votes into the decision. A new board, selected by the outgoing Borough Council, approved the variances. Palmieri now needed to submit actual plans.
After the November election, The Real Estate Owners group knew they had a majority of the Council seats They wanted more information. They continued to grill Palmieri on the size, scope, parking, etc. Building in time for 1964’s season was gone. 1965 was looking dim, and Palmieri was losing his patience.
Gus Steck had a fan club. Frank Palmieri did not
In the competitive market, Palmieri lost business with his aging property. He made repairs after the 1962 fire, but that only got him open. The Real Estate Owners Group, who were leaders in other community groups, moved many of their events out of the Stockton to Gus Steck’s Tremont, or Val Ernie’s Sea Girt Inn.
Gus hired a young piano player named Jimmy Byrne. Jimmy’s father was a renown bandleader and Irish Tenor in Jersey City, and his brother Bobby sang show tunes. Gus still had a large following and was very popular in the Sea Girt community, while Palmieri, who had a house in Spring Lake, was viewed by many as an interloper.
New Jersey’s 300th birthday was celebrated with a flower show at the old Governor’s Mansion. The house, empty since World War II, came alive with the Holly Club members in First Ladies costumes and talks about the history of the house.
Fred Duggan of Spring Lake displayed his Packard, which drove FDR to the camp in 1937. The porches and many of the 36 rooms of the house were filled with floral displays and artifacts. The epaulettes and sword of Governor Joel Parker of Parker House fame were included, as was a pair of slippers made for Grover Cleveland out of discontinued dollar bills.
Members of the Holly Club at the Governors mansion for he flower show in 1963 (Diane Raver)
Men and women from Garden Clubs from all over the state attended, and the Holly Club proudly came away with several first-place ribbons. Floral arrangements represented periods of American History, with a Washington Monument, Ocean Grove Camp Meeting, Molly Pitcher’s well, and Stars and Stripes winning awards. The Governor did not show.
The recent ex-governor’s wife was the guest of honor at a production of the Drama division of the Community Club. They had developed their First Ladies play under the direction of Mrs. Donald Levy over the past four years.
Betty Ford visiting a display of first lady’s dresses in the 1970s at the Smithsonian
They performed at Women’s Clubs around the state in ‘63 and invited Mrs. Helen Meyner, wife of Robert Meyner, NJ Governor from 1953-1962 to a fundraiser for Alliare Village. They drew over 250 people. The narrated fashion show was of 14 First Ladies’ costumes from Martha Washington to Jackqueline Kennedy. Most of them were vintage dresses, some from as early as the 1860s, which were pulled from trunks and recut to match the Smithsonian’s display of the specific first lady. A shop in Newark donated a copied version of Jackie Kennedy’s dress. The young mother was adored by women for her beauty, grace and forward fashion sense.
The cast was as follows: Matha Washington: Mrs Bordenweiser, Jackie Kennedy: Mrs. Dougherty, Dolly Madison: Mrs. Bunt, Maimie Eisenhower: Mrs Burke, Hannah Van Buren: Mrs Twyman, Sarah Polk, Andrew Johnson’s niece and official hostess: Mrs Edwards, Mary Todd Lincoln, Mrs Mcquire, Hariett Johnson: Mrs Hyde, Eliza Johnson Mrs. Black, Julia Grant: Mrs. deLuca, Frances Cleveland: Mrs. Miller, Edith Wilson: Kitty Berg, Grace Coolidge: Alex Hawes, Bess Truman: Mrs. McManus. Mrs. Taylor was the narrator for the show.
The fashion play told a little about the background of the women and the evolution of the dresses over the decades. Notably missing from the collection was Eleanor Roosevelt, who spent more time as first lady than any other woman.
The actual Martha Washington dress at the Smithsonian today
The assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963 , with his wife at his side, was shocking to the American public. The First Lady’s fashion show was put away. A number of the delicate older dresses were donated to museums.