Below is the article, published in the January 2024 issue of Stroll Spring Lake, about the vintage STROLLER magazine. Enjoy!

By Katie Schrader - Editor

This past summer, one of our readers, Stephen Breen, emailed us. In it, Stephen sent a photo of an old magazine called THE STROLLER. The picture stirred Ronnie’s memory- he had seen the magazine before. In fact, he was sure we had an issue.

Dump Day
The Other Holiday in every good marriage – one spouse hoards things, and the other cherishes Dump Day. Therefore, it is no surprise that as soon as Ronnie recalled having a copy of this very old magazine, he accused me of throwing it away. I scanned my brain and knew it was possible I could have chucked it during one of my panic attacks in our garage of chaos. So, I denied it completely.

Not What It Seems
A lightning bolt of remembrance struck Ronnie. He rushed to the garage attic with a flashlight and emerged with two framed pictures he had purchased at an estate sale years ago. I immediately recognized one – a young child with the word “STROLLER” written along the top. I definitely meant to throw that out. I specifically remember wondering why he bought a vintage advertisement for Strollers. At the time, we probably had five or six real strollers in our garage. The old photograph seemed unnecessary.

Then, I noticed the second framed photograph, which I didn’t recall. It looked similar to the cover of the magazine our reader had sent us and was definitely not a parenting advert. Could it be? Were these framed magazines? As I wondered if we should cut open the frames, Ronnie was already handing me a knife.

What were the chances that years before we even considered Stroll Spring Lake, Ronnie randomly bought two vintage “photos” that were actually magazine covers with a strikingly similar title? Could the whole publication actually be inside? It was like a treasure chest.

STROLLER Magazine 
As I cut into the back of the frame and peeled back the cardboard, there inside was an almost perfectly preserved 90-year-old magazine – STROLLER Magazine. Inside were sponsors and articles celebrating the people and places of our wonderful community just like Stroll, but with a twist of societal norms we have only ever heard or read about.

Announcements of families’ arrivals for the social season and what hotel or “cottage” they would be staying in during their visit were standard. Advertisements with 4-digit telephone numbers and photos of the summer social circuit ran throughout.

Stroll Magazine

While we have found other examples of STROLLER , information about its history has been scarce. The oldest issue we found was in 1928, and it seems to have been a seasonal publication. As you can tell from our “Around Town” event schedule, even 100 years later, this town does get sleepy in the winter. Fortunately, today we have plenty of stories to tell through all four seasons.

We are so thankful to Stephen for the tip to check out THE STROLLER – it was a fun and meaningful surprise gift to unveil.