By Carol Freas
“Mom! He asked me out! I need…”
Echoing through the ages these words provide insight and a history of romance even here on our small eighteen miles of sand. “What shall I wear!” is usually the next question. Today this can be easily remedied by visiting any one of LBI’s unique retail shops.
Jane Lathbury Smith, 1966
However, it was not so in the late 1800s when visitors, predominately sportsmen from Philadelphia brought what they needed for gunning and fishing in trunks by boat from Tuckerton across Barnegat Bay. There were no retail shops to handle wardrobe dilemmas for women. By the early 1900s, train service for the small towns north and south on the mainland increased opportunities for all types of businesses leading to an eastern rail spur in Manahawkin, crossing the bay on a low trestle train bridge which often was flooded. In June of 1914, an automobile causeway bridge across the bay opened. The first high expansive four lane bridge opened in 1957. During those early years, shopping on LBI was limited to small seasonal stores and Gerber’s, a year-round, cover-every-need type of store in Beach Haven.
Georgine, Jane, and Wayne Smith, 1964
In the early 1940s, two industrious women in Beach Haven, Esther Sheck and Jane Lathbury, saw a need and the opportunity to become early female entrepreneurs. Esther and her husband, Frank “Pop” Sheck, already owned a large laundry business on Pearl Street where Jane, a close friend, was employed. Together they often enjoyed evening meals and entertainment at the nearby Baldwin Hotel. While at that summer hot spot the close friends noticed the need for high quality women’s evening wear. Making business contacts to purchase wholesale goods in Atlantic City, the women opened a clothing shop inside the Baldwin Hotel: Esther Jane.
At two o’clock in the afternoon on a beautiful summer day on August 27, 1947, a guest tossed his cigar out of a second story window of the Baldwin Hotel. Landing on a porch roof below, it slowly smoldered and eventually ignited the dry cedar shingles. Hotel staff sounded the alarm to evacuate the building and the volunteer fire brigade arrived. Fortunately, upon hearing the sirens, Pop Sheck ran quickly up the street to Esther Jane to remove their expensive clothing from the burning hotel to safety. In a twist of fate, in 1960 the Baldwin Hotel would be lost to fire.
Ester and Frank Sheck
As the years passed the entire Island experienced a building boom of cottages, restaurants, and stores. The Baldwin was still a nightly hot spot but changing times and clientele led the savvy women to move their seasonal business to Ship Bottom in 1952 — making it more accessible for families north to Barnegat Light. In the early 1960s they expanded their inventory to include moderately priced all-season clothing, eventually offering men’s and boy’s wear. After twenty-five years, Jane and Esther were ready to retire. This hard-working team answered that proverbial question, “Yo Mom! I need…!” Today, the building on the corner of 19th Street still maintains parts of the old façade of the Esther Jane.
