A new ’46 Pontiac apparently is acting as referee for the thrilling contest taking place at the Willow Beach Camps’ shuffleboard court. An ancient game originally played on tables, court shuffleboard reached its peak of popularity in 1950s America. Florida, then viewed as an exotic land, was the sport’s epicenter, and no newsreel or magazine was complete without the obligatory photo of a game of deck shuffleboard. So notes writer W.H. Bunting in a caption for this 1946 photo that appeared in Maine on Glass, a publication from the Penobscot Marine Museum. Willow Beach Camps had 21 cabins. In addition to shuffleboard, the camp offered a pitch-and-putt golf course and excellent fishing. It operated on the American Plan, with three daily meals served in the central dining room. Cabins featured electricity, bathrooms, and fireplaces. Owner and manager Nelson W. Bailey was the longtime principal of Lincoln Academy in Newcastle, and many of the school’s students found summer employment at Willow Beach. Bailey was also a founder of Unity College.
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“Shuffleboard Courts—Willow Beach Camps,” LB2010.9.117914, Maine On Glass, by W.H. Bunting, Kevin Johnson, and Earle G. Shettleworth Jr.
