- December 24, 2025
- Carlee Migliorisi
As a longtime student archivist at the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch and a lifelong Jersey Shore local, I constantly see the toothy smile of Tillie in my travels. Whether it be a bumper sticker, a passerby’s t-shirt, or the replica Tillie at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, it seems he’s almost always in eyesight here at the shore. My favorite is during the summer when tourists from all over the world are buying their Asbury souvenirs and somewhere in their collection is the smiling face of Tillie.
But the original Tillie has been hidden away for far too long.
When Palace Amusements closed in 1988, the mural of Tillie that adorned its walls – and served as the iconic unofficial symbol of Asbury Park – was at risk of disappearing forever. A campaign to “Save Tillie,” named after Coney Island developer George C. Tilyou, began, and in 2000, Palace Amusements was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Before the Palace building was demolished in 2004, Tillie was successfully saved, along with other artifacts that once were a part of Palace Amusements.
Some you can still find in Asbury Park: the original Palace photo booth, an original Palace Amusements sign depicting a roller coaster, and the LED letter “L” from the outdoor light up Palace Amusements sign, all can be found in the Silverball Retro Arcade on the Asbury Park Boardwalk.
As for the rest of the artifacts, they were put in storage, per the 52- page permit from March of 2004 between the developers who purchased the lot and the Department of Environmental Protection. The permit specifically includes a provision requiring that the artifacts not only be preserved, but also restored, and displayed again. The permit states that this display would be featured in the “new hotel development or retail development at this location as part of the lobby wall.” No construction has begun since the demolishing of Palace Amusements, however, and the permit features no timeline. And so Tillie has sat.
Tillie and the Palace bumper cars murals were initially stored in the wastewater treatment plant, but in 2021 were moved to sheds near Convention Hall. Recent investigations have shown that the mural has lost significant paint, to the point of losing visual integrity.
In 2024, Preservation New Jersey considered the artifacts among the Ten Most Endangered historic treasures in the state.
Spokesman Vincent Grassi stated:
“The DEP in July reminded Asbury Partners of [their] requirement and this week (Dec. 11) requested an update on efforts to fulfill the permit requirements. Once a hotel or retail development is constructed at the former site of Palace Amusements, the preserved artifacts are required to be incorporated into the new building.”
Bob Crane, founder of the Save Tillie group, has reached out to Gov. Murphy to set a deadline to bring back the artifacts before he leaves office Jan. 20, specifically citing the importance of Tillie in relation to Bruce Springsteen. But Tillie is not simply an artifact of Bruce Springsteen history. Like much of Asbury Park, Tillie is an artifact of New Jersey history. Tillie has been a New Jersey icon for almost 70, years since the murals were painted in 1956.
Tillie is part of a small group of iconography that has survived the ups and downs of Asbury Park. Tillie, along with Convention Hall, the Casino, and the Stone Pony, deserves to be preserved for future generations to see that history is still alive in Asbury Park and not everything can be purchased to generate revenue.
Author, Carlee Migliorisi is a student at Monmouth University and a student archivist at the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music
