Wildwood, New Jersey - a 1950's Motel Wonderland

Too many buildings from the 50's continue to be torn down across the country by people who don't understand that what goes out of style for a while eventually becomes well loved again, and often even appreciated to the point that it becomes historic. Retropolis salutes the people of Wildwood, NJ for thinking ahead and realizing that not only do many people appreciate these buildings now, but MANY more will appreciate them in the future.

While too many buildings in Wildwood were unfortunately already destroyed to make room for new condos, luckily Wildwood has the Doo Wop Preservation League which has been getting the word out about how important these buildings are to Wildwood's future.

Wildwood has the LARGEST collection of these types of buildings in the world. The architectural style is called "Doo Wop" in Wildwood, though the style of architecture is also called googie or populuxe elsewhere. It's the fun and wacky version of mid-century modern. Some may simply call it retro. Some may call it art deco. But, that's just wrong. In fact, many times at auctions I have seen auctioneers call anything that looks "wacky" from the 50's or 60's "art deco". I see this in antique malls too. It makes me cringe, but at the same time it's kind of cute because I can just see what they are thinking. "This is WEIRD looking. It MUST be art deco!" 

If you want to see art deco hotels and motels, you'll go to Miami. If you want to see DOO WOP, you'll go to Wildwood. That is, if Wildwood will decide not to take down anymore of the 1950's to 60's buildings to put in new condos. New condos can be found anywhere. Doo-wop buildings are special. These futuristic buildings of the past REALLY ARE Wildwood's future.

Thank you to NJNPublicTelevision for this informative video on youtube.