Grand Illumination Night at the Camp Meeting Ground, Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard. c. 1990. Photo by Paul Goldfinger, silver gelatin print. Click to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor, Blogfinger.net. Re-post October 3, 2026.
Deb Cuddhy, the manager of The Hub bookstore at Auditorium Square Park, found out about Illumination Nights last summer when some guests from Martha’s Vineyard visited the shop. She is initiating a revival of Illumination Night in Ocean Grove on August 7, 2014.
In Oak Bluffs on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, a camp meeting community was formed in 1835, complete with tents and an open Tabernacle. The Campground was founded by Methodists, and later the tents gave way to cottages of the “Carpenter’s Gothic” style, built on leased lots. Sound familiar?
Oak Bluffs cottages at the Campground. This photo is from their CMA website.
One of the customs that developed there was an event called Grand Illumination Night which occurred every August before the start of the Camp Meeting week. All the cottages were decorated with Chinese lanterns, and there were community sings in the Tabernacle along with concerts.
That community still exists along with 300 of those small houses, and Grand Illumination Night still occurs and is very popular with tourists. Eileen and I stumbled on the event while spending a weekend in Oak Bluffs.
In Ocean Grove, around 1870, they had the first Lake Carnival which was a “grand illlumination.” Unlike the MV event which was land based, this was held along the banks of Wesley Lake. In 1885 The Ocean Grove Record* reported that every house and hotel was decorated, there were fireworks, lanterns, pageantry, and “immense crowds” estimated at 40,000 people. (Imagine finding a place to park your horse!) That custom disappeared from OG in the mid-20th century.
19th century Ocean Grove** Note the Japanese lanterns hanging from the porch. Bicycles also (Look Ma—-no locks) click to enlarge
For the Aug. 7, 2014 event, Deb wants to start a new tradition and is encouraging tenters and others in town to place lanterns (the flameless kind) on their porches and shrubs. If you stop by the Hub, they will have live music starting at 7:30 pm and light refreshments for sale–there will be picnic tables provided. Come out and see the lights in the park, tents and elsewhere.
BLOSSOM DEARIE: From Oklahoma by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
* Holy Leisure by Troy Messenger, 1999, Univ of Minnesota Press
** Photo from Ted Bell’s book “Images of America: Ocean Grove” 2000: Arcadia Publishing. With permission.
The Hub is selling lanterns and will have a “paint your own lantern” event at the Hub on Tuesday, Aug 5, from 6-7 pm. OG artist Sue Gioulis will be present to assist. This event is free, and water paints are provided. Please RSVP to Deb if you want to attend.
Dotzie is an 8 year old German Shorthaired Pointer who lives in the Pennsylvania mountains and is always in the mood to go bird hunting with our friend Big John from Scotrun. Here she wears her “good doggie” hat and poses holding her “thing” while hanging out with her other good friend Jean. Dotzie is a lucky dog living in a place surrounded with woods and fields. Paul Goldfinger photo October, 2016.
Ocean Grove New Jersey. Many homeowners in OG have done remarkable restoration work on their homes. This finial and gingerbread work is on Mt. Hermon Way.
In a letter to Blogfinger on April 11, J. Cortese vented regarding what he sees as a deterioration in our town’s efforts to maintain historical preservation, and he sees the situation worsening over the last 10 years .
Blogfinger’s writers and commenters agree with J., as do others in town, but is he correct to fear the eventual fatal decline of Ocean Grove as a very special historic place?
We agree that our election to the Federal and State Historic Registers would be endangered if the deterioration that J. describes continues, consider this:
When we moved to Ocean Grove in 1998, the town was still in a pretty raggedy condition. Most streets had historic houses that were in serious states of decline. But you could see signs of life—indications that homeowners coming into town wanted to help bring these properties back to life.
We saw tremendous progress after that. Homeowners were putting up large sums of money to resurrect those irreplaceable Victorian buildings. This effort showed results over the next 10 years where every street had multiple examples where beautiful and accurate historic work had been done.
Derelict houses, while still existing, were no longer the main theme of our town’s architecture. Instead, most of our streets were uniquely lovely.
This investment and commitment by homeowners is the main reason Ocean Grove looks so wonderful today as a Victorian-style community. And Blogfinger and its supporters are correct in criticizing Township officials, the CMA, and developers who are willing to exploit the town for financial reasons and to play fast and loose with zoning and land use regulations.
This network of exploiters produces results that yield less parking, less historic beauty, and more congestion. They are a force pushing us in a different direction. To add to the problem we have a Homeowners Association which has lost its way and a Historical Society which is barely visible in terms of preservation. The HPC is currently hiding in the shadows, and the Chamber of Commerce has no interest in the issue. If all that continues, the town will, as J. predicts, lose what makes it so special as an authentic historic community.
We have interviewed many newcomers, and they all say, “We fell in love with this town,” and for good reason.
I don’t have to tell you about the lifestyle of Ocean Grove now, an element that is apart from the architectual. It is the organic component which adds a thrilling dimension to living here. We have many children, young families, Wiffle ball games in the park, beautiful beaches, a vibrant porch culture, artistic events, etc. We are a walking and talking town with smart, friendly citizens, and much of that stems from historic preservation.
However, not everyone in town agrees with the vision of people like J. Cortese, Kevin Chambers, Jack Bredin, Ted Bell, Blogfinger, HPC and others. And if those forces, including citizens, elected officials, and organizations, which should be supportive, continue to turn away, the town will become something other than a Historic District.
As J. points out, many residents are just looking for a wonderful shore town to enjoy and to share with friends and family, and this one is very special and thus very popular. And our proximity to the new Asbury Park will contribute to the popularity of OG.
Judging from the newcomers that I have met, they all want our town to continue being a place to love, but there are those who are not interested in our 19th century Victorian theme. So, although some of them will concern themselves with historic preservation, we don’t currently know how many will actually care.
We believe that most Grovers would hate to see the historic vision decline further, and hopefully most of us will stay involved and help to hammer out an aggressive plan for Ocean Grove’s Victorian survival . But will the dream be too much for too many?
REV. GARY DAVIS from the album Harlem Street Singer
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Kaufmann residence in 1935 for a family from Philadelphia. It is a marvelous place to visit. Located in a woodsy area in Mill Run, southwest Pennsylvania, it has recently undergone restoration. Read about it. See link below.
When we went there, there were many photographers. It is considered one of the most important works of American architecture. We learned that Wright designed all the furniture inside and he even wanted to design the clothes for the lady of the house. Wikipedia on Falling Water
July 1951. It wasn’t “cheesecake” if it appeared in U.S. Camera
By Paul Goldfinger, photography editor @Blogfinger. 2012 post.
Recently Charles Layton wrote an article for Blogfinger about an archaic term “cheesecake” as it refers to “girlie photos.” He posted a picture of Betty Grable in a bathing suit–an example of a World War II “pinup.” Of course, now we have tiny bikinis on display at beaches—more daring in some places than others, but basically very acceptable and admirable today. A photograph of a woman dressed in such attire would not be shocking today.
But what is the background of such photography and when did it become acceptable? And what about nude photography of women (and men) ? It is said that when photography was invented in England in the 19th century, many of the first images obtained were female nudes.
In 1951, when this U.S. Camera cover of a girl in a bikini was published, there was an ongoing debate going on regarding the nudes in Playboy.
However, in the fine art world, nudes had been acceptable in museums, galleries and publications such as U.S. Camera for many years, so the choice of this 1951 cover was mild by this magazine’s standards. In fact , this July 1951 edition of U.S. Camera contained a nude by Edward Weston.
From U.S. Camera, 1951.
U.S. Camera began publication in 1938, a time of great excitement in the field of photography. Edward Steichen was an advisor to the magazine, and nudes by the greatest photographers were shown in their pages back to the 1930’s. The publisher /editor of the magazine, Tom Maloney, was arguing for a more liberal attitude towards “figure photography.”
In 1952, one year after this issue of U.S. Camera was published, he produced an entire special edition of nudes by many of the great pioneers of art photography such as Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and others.
Harry Callahan’s wife Eleanor; his only nude model.
Tom Maloney could get away with that because he was an important figure in the world of fine art photography, but back then, you would never see a nude in your local newspaper, in Life Magazine, or at “the movies.” The venue was all important as to the acceptability of nude photographs.
The magazine ceased publication in 1969. The era of glossy photo-driven magazines such as Life and Look was over. But today you can go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and see an exhibit called, “Naked Before the Camera.” You can also turn on TV or a movie to see that “figure photography” is alive and well in our culture—just one advantage of living in a free society. (This article is a re-post)
KURT ELLING: Do you have 8 minutes for this tribute to the music of Coltrane and Hartman. It is a live performance called “Dedicated to You” by Kurt Elling who is a 51 year old jazz singer from Chicago.
Ocean Grove. Paul Goldfinger photograph. Yellow warning flag is flying.
OG. Comedy Tonight. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click once.
This article was posted in January, 2020, but it references events in 2019: Re-posted now 2024 because it needs to be… now.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net
Modern Ocean Grove History: 2019
“Something familiar,
Something peculiar,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
“New complications,
Nothing portentous or polite;
Tragedy tomorrow,
Comedy tonight!”
*Stephen Sondheim: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Raise the curtain at the Neptune Theater of the Absurd. The stage is set for a tragedy:
Jack Bredin attended the Township Comedy’s meeting last night (August 2019,) and his conclusion is, “Ocean Grove is being sold down the river.”
After hearing OG’s Carol Rizzo, the 2019 Neptune Township Mayor, effusively praise the “new” North End Plan, Jack sank down in his chair—He says that all hope seems to be lost as this show unfolds with its final acts waiting in the wings.
This drama about the historic town of Ocean Grove is now positioned to move forward in a direction that will be accepted by all the power players, leaving the residents of the Grove hung out to dry.
Once the contractors’ trucks begin to stir up the dust and clog our respiratory tracts, while creating a nightmare of congestion and a cacophony of noise, we will wind up with a large scale version of the Greek Temple on Main Avenue—a variation on a theme as the promise of historic small town OG may forever be lost.
And along with it will be the hopes for a pristine Wesley Lake, now known by all concerned as a “retention/detention basin.”
Let’s consider the players in this Greek tragedy known as “The North End Revelopment Plan.” We have the main actors at the Neptune Township Comedy along with the Greek Chorus consisting of the Home Groaners, the Camp Meeting, the Chamber of Commercials, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Planning Board, and The Wesley Lake Commission.
And providing the backdrop and script for this scandalous performance, there is the main villain of the piece—secretive developers lurking off stage while pulling on the puppet strings.
Here is the cast of characters:
a. The Neptune Township Committee: Mayor Rizzo of Ocean Grove, who has swallowed the Kool Aid, will lead those Neptuner sheep to unanimously approve the new plan. She has appointed Committeeman Michael Brantley to take her place as the “Class one” member of the Planning Board.
She has abdicated her key role as the protector of the people at the PB. Brantley is a Neptuner through and through and he will order the PB to approve the new plan unanimously.
Once upon a time there was a Committeewoman who favored single family zoning at the North End. Mary Beth Jahn stuck her neck out for the best interests of the people and the town, and she was beheaded by the Monmouth County and Neptune Democrat Party.
The Neptune Comedy is indifferent to the people of Ocean Grove, and one-party rule prevents any chance of changing the ending of this tragedy.
b. The Rule of Law: Normal procedures regarding land use law have been routinely violated in Neptune, but that crowd, along with their OG allies, does whatever it pleases. And they are aided and abetted by favoritism offered by key unelected bureaucrats at Town Hall.
c. OG Home Owners Ass. We don’t know their motives, but this group of turncoats continues to back the developers and Neptuners regarding the North End. The late Ken Buckley who was on the HOA Board and the HPC told Jack that the HOA is “backing the Plan.”
d. Developers: (OGNED) Some of these people are connected to OG, but despite that, they conspire, whenever possible, to exploit the people of OG for profit. They are favored at the Mother Ship with zoning manipulations including those that increase congestion and ugliness in town: condos, Greek Temple, Mary’s Place, parking torture, etc.
e. Camp Meeting Association. They have removed themselves as redevelopers, but that is just cosmetic. The President of the the CMA told us publicly that his organization has been involved in negotiations to move the NERP forward. They have control as the land owners, so they are focused on making money. They seem to have little interest in the OG residents community or the historical designations of the town.
f. Chamber of Commerce: In many US towns the CC is community minded. But this crew only cares about two things: profits and tourists. They never get involved with community issues such as the North End. For them, the commercialized North End Plan will increase their membership as they continue to close Main Avenue for mindless tourist events and crowds.
g. Historic Preservation Commission: When they are not hiding under their beds they have stood by while the Neptuners seek to take over their guidelines on behalf of developers and contractors.
And they refuse to be transparent with BF or the public. The Chairwoman won’t even speak to us regarding their situation.
h. Wesley Lake Commission, representing both sides, has stopped trying to clean the Lake and instead they support the Retention/Detention re-naming in order to allow the Lake to be used to receive increasing amounts of filthy ground water from the future North End, thus saving the developers a huge amount of money to fix the ecology of the former “Wesley Lake.”
i. The Residents of OG-–Those who envision our historic town as a lovely place with its Victorian architecture, parks, clean lakes, parking for those who live here, reduction in tourist glut, solving the Asburian invasion, keeping our streets open, nurturing of the secular community with its kids, families, retirees, diversification, etc. will be the big losers in the North End project.
“Representative government” has failed here, and apathy reigns. Only a major law suit in Superior Court or an investigation by the NJ Attorney General could close this show down.
Once the curtain closes on all this, the corruption in OG/Neptune will continue. Blogfinger will keep reporting the news, but we don’t see an alternative ending to this drama. Jack says, “Ocean Grove is a door mat; we’re sunk.”
By Jack Bredin and Paul Goldfinger: Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
ZERO MOSTEL from the original Broadway cast album of Stephen Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Paul Goldfinger photograph. Captiva Island. Florida. Pirates once roamed here. Click on image to enlarge. Tri-X Collection.
“All the Things You Are.” Live with Ken Peplowski (clarinet) and Friends, honoring Benny Goodman (clarinetist and orchestra leader.). Jerome Kern wrote the music, and the words are by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Jazz musicians love this classic. Charlie Parker said that this song had his favorite lyrics. He used to call it “YATAG” which is an acronym for the lines “you are the angel glow” in the “B” part of the tune.
“You are the promised kiss of springtime That makes the lonely winter seem long. You are the breathless hush of evening That trembles on the brink of a lovely song. You are the angel glow that lights the star, The dearest things I know are what you are. Someday my happy arms will hold you, And someday I’ll know that moment divine When all the things you are, are mine.”
Witches in the Grove. Have any of them become Grovers? Paul Goldfinger obtains a candid shot among those magic shape-shifters on Heck Avenue.
17th century witch trials in Salem. But in OG we have good witches
In OG we have the most beautiful witches. Paul Goldfinger portrait. She brought her boyfriend, and she cast a spell on him, so he let her bite his neck. She also can say some sooth. She flew here on a broom, so she doesn’t need a parking permit.
Editor’s note: The coven will not be meeting in the Grove this year. They will be going to France lured by the fois gras PG
Corner of Main Ave. right and Delaware. Ave. left All Blogfinger photos by Stephen Goldfinger. 10/1/26. Paul Goldfinger Editor, Blogfinger.net
Delaware Ave. to the right; Heck Ave left has garages. 2 car garage probably was allowed because of pre-existing garages. It’s a convenient space to locate a hearse or two.
Facing Delaware Ave. Turret faces Main Avenue. Side of garages to the left.
This garage side is facing Heck Avenue—Delaware Ave is to the right.
With Halloween approaching, can we call this construction “witchcraft?” After all, this site is only one block away from the annual Witches’ Coven on Heck where Blogfinger is the official photographer.
