Product Description

The three New Jersey beach resorts known collectively as The Wildwoods have recently been the subject of widespread notice for their unique concentration of mid-century commercial architecture. Known in The Wildwoods as Doo Wop, the style is mostly represented in the resorts' surviving motels, built between 1955 and 1970, and comes in a variety of forms, such as Modern with jet-age glass walls, Vroom! with thrusting pointed features, and Polynesian Pop with thatched roofs and tiki torches. This fun, colourful book recounts the stories of the motels, describes their special features - from the ubiquitous plastic palm trees to the glorious neon signs that identify them - and covers the recent Neo-Doo Wop buildings that have arisen in the wake of Doo Wop preservation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #95515 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 122 pages

Review
"You don't have to be from Wildwood to love Doo Wop Motels, a brilliant and poignant treatise on a unique beach resort's commercial architecture from the 1950s and 1960s. The perfect summer read under a plastic palm!" -- Carolyn Travis

About the Author
Kirk Hastings lives in Somers Point, New Jersey, where he works as a graphic designer and freelance writer. He grew up in Wildwood Crest, near the large Doo Wop motel district, and is the president of the Wildwood Crest Historical Society and an associate board member of the Doo Wop Preservation League.

Customer Reviews

Wild About This Book
You don't have to know Wildwood to love this book, but when you finish it
you'll want to go. Hastings does more than write about the history and
architecture of this unique place, he brings its heart and soul alive. This
wonderfully kitschy resort has a fanatically loyal following - people come back
year after year for decades, staying in places built in the 50's and 60's
with names like the Astronaut,the Kona Kai,the Bonanza, the Ebb Tide,
the Singapore or the Tahiti. Just driving down the street was a lesson in
pop culture. DOO WOP MOTELS is fun, informative and obviously written
by someone who loves Wildwood. Unfortunately it's also one of the only
places to see these architectual treasures, since many have been
torn down in recent years in the name of "progress." The photographs of the
motels are beautiful...you'll feel like you're there sipping a drink
under a plastic palm, the "official" tree of the Wildwoods.

Wildwood Crest Memories
If you were a kid in the 50's and 60's and spent your summer vacations in Wildwood Crest, NJ, you will love this book. It is chock full of pictures and stories of all the motels that lit up the summer nights with their creative and thematic neon signs. So, put on some Beach Boys or Four Tops music, and sit down with this delightful look back at one of the most colorful memories of your childhood or teen years. Thanks to Kirk Hastings for putting it together.

Perfect!
Great book, yes indeed you want to go to the Wildwoods after reading this...we're planning a trip as well :) Great quality of pictures, background information...wish it was longer!