Turn To Clear At The Shore

Image taken looking out from the Ocean City Nj Music Pier, Ocean City New Jersey looking at the board walk and the Ferris Wheel at Jillian's, The... more

by Tom Gari Gallery-Three-Photography

Title

Turn To Clear At The Shore

Artist

Tom Gari Gallery-Three-Photography

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Image taken looking out from the Ocean City Nj Music Pier, Ocean City New Jersey looking at the board walk and the Ferris Wheel at Jillian's, The coin
operated, binoculars, located on the music pier on 9th St in Ocean City NJ. These have been a staple at the shore for decades and if they could talk the history that has been seen thru them. Grandfathers, Fathers and Sons a circle of generations each passing down stories and reminiscing of vacations gone by.
Coin operated binoculars. Popular at beaches, and vacation spots for tourists. This one looks like it is made by Tower Optical Company, Inc. is a small, Norwalk, Connecticut-based company which has manufactured a binocular tower viewer used at major tourist sites in the United States and Canada since 1932. The company's large, silver-colored devices are used at Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building and other locations. Only about 35 of the viewers are manufactured each year, but several thousand are maintained by the company. Tower Optical has various arrangements with owners of the sites where the devices are located. Where the viewers are free, they are leased; at other locations, revenue is shared between the company and the site owner. Each machine can hold up to 2,000 quarters. The binocular machine has essentially kept its distinctive, tubby shape since it was first manufactured, a deliberate strategy "to preserve its identity", according to Bonnie Rising, the third-generation owner of the family business.] When coin-operated, the machines can be timed for roughly 1.5 to 2.5 minutes. A foundry in Pennsylvania manufactures the parts used for Tower's viewers, about 35 of which are assembled each year in its two-story building in East Norwalk. The company maintains several thousand of the devices, sometimes removing some in the fall, rebuilding them and returning them in the spring. A typical viewer is housed in a chrome-plated, bronze-cast shell mounted on a cast iron yoke and pedestal. The inside of the machine is bronze and stainless steel. The binoculars can be raised 45 degrees up, 22 degrees down and swung entirely left or right by 360 degrees. The device and its pedestal typically stand 63 inches high and weigh 300 pounds

Uploaded

July 24th, 2014