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Tillie (murals) facts for kids

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This article is about Tillie (disambiguation)|Tillie. For other uses, see Tillie (murals) (disambiguation).
Tillie (right side)
Tillie as painted on the Palace Amusements building

Tillie is the fun nickname for a famous smiling face painted on a building. It was on the side of the old Palace Amusements building in Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States. This "fun face" was painted in the winter of 1955 and 1956. The name Tillie probably came from George C. Tilyou. He owned Steeplechase Park in Coney Island, New York, which had a similar big smiling face.

Saving the Tillie Mural

Like many other boardwalk areas, Asbury Park faced tough times. The Palace Amusements building was built in 1888. It closed in 1988 and started to fall apart. When plans were made to tear down the Palace building, people wanted to save Tillie.

Many residents of Asbury Park, along with fans of Tillie and Bruce Springsteen, worked together. They formed a group to save the mural. They asked the state government to stop the demolition. Or, at least, to remove the mural before the building was torn down.

Their efforts worked partly. The Tillie mural on the left side of the building was saved. Other murals, like the "bumper girl" ones, were also removed. Sadly, the Tillie mural on the right side was destroyed. From June 8 to June 11, 2004, volunteers carefully took the saved murals off the Palace building. The building itself was torn down in July 2004. The plan was to put Tillie and other murals into a new building. The two parts of the Tillie mural are now stored in Asbury Park. The Tillie you see on the Wonder Bar today is a copy.

Tillie's Journey After Rescue

After being saved from demolition, Tillie was put into a shed. This shed was at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The mural stayed there for a long time while people decided what to do with it. The shed was old and exposed to bad weather. This caused some of the paint on the mural to flake off.

On September 28, 2021, Tillie was brought out of storage. It was the first time in 17 years that the mural had been seen. It sat outside the Paramount Theatre for a short time. Then, it was moved to another location for safekeeping.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Tillie para niños

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