No Gas & No Clothes: 50 Years Ago, the Energy Crisis and Streaking Were the Big Issues
Actual sign in front of Phillips Exxon in Avalon, May 1974.
“Don’t worry about it,” the State of New Jersey is on the case. That thought was about as comforting in the spring of 1974 as it would be today. Yes, believe it or not, even back in the “good old days” – you know, the times that so many long for, or in this case, a half-century ago, there were growing concerns in the county and in our towns, specifically. The grass apparently wasn’t always greener.
Comforting words were offered by then-commissioner Joseph Hoffman of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Industry to a meeting of mayors from resort towns gathered in April of 1974. He assured them that his department was doing “considerable research” into bus service from population centers into shore communities like Avalon, Stone Harbor, and Sea Isle City. Forget about the lines of cars backed up on the Garden State Parkway – the state was going to arrange for everyone to get here on buses!
Comforting words were necessary that spring because the United State was impacted by a first-ever energy crisis. Gasoline was being rationed throughout the country and there was widespread concern how this crisis might impact shore communities that loved to boast that they were “less than a tankful of gasoline away.”
The summer of 1974 was shaping up to be a worrisome one for the barrier island communities. The shore communities were also having issues with the younger generation that same spring. Sound familiar? Maybe, but this was different.
The problems were so concerning that both Avalon and Sea Isle City felt the need to pass specific ordinances to deal with the issue. So, assuming that those ordinances were never repealed, it’s probably still illegal to streak on the beaches of Avalon or Sea Isle City. Stone Harbor? We’re not so sure about. The legislation obviously worked. When was the last time you saw a streaker on the beach? Fifty years and counting. Pretty impressive record.
The energy crisis and streaking were just two of the issues that literally dominated local media outlets in the spring of 1974. The energy crisis was a real concern. Odd and even (based on your license-plate numbers) rationing was a way of life at the time. Although some optimists predicted that the crisis might even work to the advantage of shore communities – predicting that more folks would want to vacation closer to home – the reality was that gasoline was scarce. And that rightfully scared beach communities.
Sea Isle City was concerned it may not have sufficient fuel supplies to make it to Memorial Day weekend. Then-Mayor Dominick Raffa went to Trenton to secure more reserves for his community. The first benefactor of Raffa’s efforts was the Atlantic Richfield station in Townsend’s Inlet, which received an additional 7,000 gallons in May. Obviously, that’s less of an issue in 2024 when there’s only one service station on barrier islands from Strathmere south all of the way to North Wildwood.
Service stations, which were plentiful in 1974, were forced to keep operating hours to a minimum. “We limited the hours that we were open to sell gasoline,” said Dee Phillips, who along with husband George operated Phillips Exxon in Avalon. They limited hours on weekdays and closed their pumps at times on weekends to preserve their fuel allotment. “For a time, we stationed someone at each driveway to check your fuel gauge,” Phillips remembered. “If you had more than a half tank, we didn’t even let you up to the pumps.” It was that bad.
“It was crazy, that’s for sure,” says Bob McClure, of the former McClure’s Exxon station at 94th and Third Avenue – now the site of Wawa in Stone Harbor. “There was one guy from Delaware who had an extra set of license plates so that he could purchase gas on both odd and even days.” McClure remembers one particular day when the line started at the pumps at 94th and Third, and then “went down 94th Street to Second Avenue and then north on Second Avenue to about 80th Street.” People were willing to wait to fill their tanks.
The concern that the crisis might influence the tourism industry and local businesses was real in 1974. The first casualty, as you might expect, was the service station industry. There were once as many as eight service stations open year-round on the Seven Mile Beach. Today there is only one on the island and none in Sea Isle City.
The energy crisis spelled the beginning of the end for some establishments. “It was brutal at the time,” recalls Elmer Borger. His father owned Elmer’s Motor Service, a Sinclair station at 94th and Second Avenue – some folks may remember that location as the site of the first Wawa in Stone Harbor. “Good customers got very angry with us,” he adds. “There were severe fines if you were caught violating the odd/even rationing. “But people still had to operate their businesses and get to work. It didn’t matter.” It was a mess.
Borger notes that as customers stopped coming in for fuel, they stopped coming in for service as well. “It drove us out of business eventually,” he says. “We finally went out of business in October of 1974. The energy crisis was the end of our business.”
Realizing that something needed to be done, the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders, in conjunction with the County Department of Emergency Management and tourism officials, created and staffed a hotline that potential travelers could call in advance to find out how fuel supplies were on the Jersey Cape. The hotline was staffed seven days a week from mid -May until Labor Day and was referred to “The Gasoline Answering Service.” Staffed by volunteers, it was intended to calm the fears of worried travelers.
The county also produced and distributed a special travel brochure, “Energy Saving Tips for Travel to Cape May County, New Jersey.” The eight-paneled brochure detailed ferry, airline (yes there was nonstop air service that ran 10 times daily between PHL and Wildwood, and three times daily from Newark in 1974), New York bus, Scranton bus, Philadelphia bus, and Canadian bus and even railroad service to the county at the time. This handy brochure detailed every way to get to our shore resorts except by automobile.
The state arranged for special fuel allocations for the party-boat industry, which was robust throughout the county in 1974, but marina owners were concerned they’d be overlooked. How would the boating industry be affected? So, marinas too lobbied for greater allocations.
The energy crisis affected everyone and everything in the county. At a county meeting of religious leaders, the group expressed concern on how local houses of worship might be affected. They unanimously spoke out of their opposition to President Nixon’s call for all service stations to close on Sunday. “Just another excuse to not attend church on Sunday,” one leader fumed. On the bright side, a local newspaper editorial pointed out how the mandatory lowering of temperatures in all buildings, including churches, might help to keep parishioners awake during long sermons.
Overall, early indicators were relatively positive. Jack Fitzpatrick, president of the Stone Harbor Chamber of Commerce and an associate at Diller Fisher, reported that while home sales were down, rentals were on par with 1973 going into Memorial Day weekend. Reports were about the same in Avalon and Sea Isle City. David Kerr of Avalon Real Estate said that rentals were about even with 1973 and Avalon, like Stone Harbor, saw home sales down “dramatically,” Kerr said. “Although I expect that people will be willing to once again commit to purchases once the gas crisis has subsided.”
Vince Lamana Sr. said that he reported rental deposits up about 5% in Sea Isle City. But Sandy Sofroney echoed the concerns about lack of sales in the City. He pointed out, “There’s no lack of mortgage money. Just a lack of interest in purchasing right now.”
Who could blame consumers for wanting to rent? For the record, rentals in Avalon, Stone Harbor and Sea Isle City in 1974 averaged $150 to $400 a week while a full summer could set you back as much as $1,500.
Although buyers weren’t streaking to purchase new vacation homes, apparently the national streaking craze hit Cape May County. It hit hard enough that both Avalon and Sea Isle City enacted local ordinances against it, if for no other reason than violators could then be more easily prosecuted in municipal court.
According to news reports at the time, there was great concern locally that families might avoid public spaces where nudity, specifically streaking, might take place. Especially on the beaches where a streaker was arrested in Avalon on a very chilly March afternoon.
Seriously, this was an issue in the spring of 1974. Enough so that borough councils in two towns found it necessary to not only address it but legislate against it. In Avalon, the ordinance passed on first reading with no comment or objection from the public. Two weeks later, Sea Isle City took almost identical action. There was one notable exception in Sea Isle City. While the ordinances banned public nudity or nudity in automobiles, in Sea Isle City the ordinance “shall not apply to actors in a bona fide theatrical show or a dramatic presentation.”
That exclusion apparently did not pertain to a 23-year-old Sea Isle resident arrested in early April after he took off his clothes in the LaCosta Lounge, circled the property multiple times, collected his clothing, and headed home. The municipal court judge scolded those in the courtroom who found humor in the case. “To you this might seem funny,” she said. “To me it may even seem a little amusing, but to many people it isn’t. This is serious.”
Although it’s easy to chuckle today about the problems that existed in 1974, it’s also a good reminder that no matter how good the good old days appear in our memories, the reality is that there have always been problems and issues in our towns. No, the grass apparently wasn’t always greener. Despite our issues, we’ve always found ways to evolve, learn from our problems, and reinvent ourselves for each new generation of visitors. We just never had social media channels to complain about them.
By the way, all the worrying apparently paid off because it was reported that Memorial Day weekend in 1974 broke records here in terms of crowds and dollars spent.