Happy 90th Birthday to Wilma Brown
Wilma Brown (Maherg) grew up near the Navy base in North Charleston, but summers and weekends were spent on Folly Beach. In this portrait from May 1946, Wilma (right) and Jeannie Vargo sit on the beach near the pier with Jeannie’s boyfriend, a Navy sailor named Mac. Folly’s post-WWII boom was just beginning. Big bands played on the pier at night, while dancers jitterbugged away their worries.
On July 8 of this year, Wilma celebrated her 90th birthday. The three other portraits show Wilma at various locales around Folly during this era. Her daughter, Greta, lives on Folly Beach.
(Image courtesy of Greta Anderson). Images like these are included in Stratton Lawrence’s book, Images of America: Folly Beach. To purchase your own personalized signed copies or to share a photo and story for next month’s Folly Flashback column, email Stratton Lawrence at
strattonlawrence@gmail.com.
