RED BANK REGISTER, AUGUST 7, 1929 Page Seven
BATHERS MUST HAVE TAGS
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If You Haven’t Got a Tag You Can’t Bathe at Bradley Beach
Beachfront restrictions were invoked at Bradley Beach last week when more than 10,000 tags were issued to summer residents, property owners and hotel proprietors for the accommodation of their guests.
The tags will admit people to the various fenced in beaches at the resort.
This method has been taken to eliminate overcrowding of the beaches by residents of other municipalities.
Well I’ll consider myself duly warned regarding the tags, and I’ll make sure next summer’s warning specifies a bathing suit requirement, too.
In the summer of 1929, Bradley Beach was the first town in New Jersey and in the entire United States to issue beach badges. They were metal and had the year engraved on each one. The badges were issued free to residents and guests of the hotels. Others, wanting to use the public beaches, were charged a fee for a bath house. That was the only way outsiders were allowed on the beach. Today, everyone pays to get on the beach.
*From: A BRIEF HISTORY OF BRADLEY BEACH
By Shirley Ayres, Borough Historian
http://bradleybeachnj.org/history.asp