Talisman Fire Island Est.1960-65
East of the Fire Island Pines was a community known as “Talisman.” This area housed the most exclusive and chic of the Fire Island resorts and was known for a social scene that had a resounding impact on culture at the time.
This posh club resort consisted of a clubhouse, four houses, a motel with 8 separate guest facilities, and several luxurious cabanas designed in a Neo-Japanese style. The space could only accommodate 50 individuals and despite being right on the ocean, the property specifically built out swimming pools for the guests as swimming in the ocean was considered gauche.
The majority of the staff were French and the most of Talisman’s clientele hailed from international backgrounds. To foster a sense of belonging, management would often display the national flags of their guests on the boat dock.
Members commuted by private water taxi or seaplane as there was no public ferry. To paint a more vivid picture, imagine bikini-clad women lounging around while chatting on plugged in telephones with friends in London, Paris, or Rome.
In the late 50’s and early 60’s, this resort boasted exquisite food and many leisure activities like water skiing, with state-of-the-art high speed motor boats pulling guests over a course of 3 jump ramps set up in the Great South Bay.
Founding of Talisman On Fire Island
Talisman was founded by Michael Butler and Ahmet Ertegun. Butler was a millionaire whose family owned Butler Aviation and who later became best known as the owner and producer of the musical “Hair.” His business partner, Ertegun, was the record company executive who signed the Rolling Stones and countless other artists. Together, they were able to pull enough funding to bring this vision of an exclusive resort getaway to life.
One thing that set Talisman apart from all the other resorts on Fire Island, was its Neo-Japanese design:
“When I first conceived of Talisman and the design of its houses, I wanted to create a club resort which was international in feeling, relaxed yet restrained. By following a design distinctly influenced by the Japanese rules, we were able to lay ground rules for a community which seemed to have been in existence for some time. I wanted a feeling of normal, gradual growth, not the impermanent immediacy of so much of today’s design. Houses built by club members on the Talisman site followed the previous style of the central clubhouse and cabanas. However, this simple oriental design was pure enough to allow considerable freedom and imagination to the owners creating their own private atmosphere.” - Michael Butler in a 1960s interview
The Talisman Experience
When asked about his time on Fire Island in a 1990 magazine interview, renowned writer, Michael Gross said:
“In summer, Ertegun was often found on New York’s Fire Island, an automobile-free barrier beach where he and the empresario Michael Butler founded a club called Talisman. Each of them had a house, they put two more up for rent, and their exclusive group met and partied in a communal clubhouse. “Those were very fun, marvelous days,” he says. “I was a bachelor, loose on the town. I really started to go out with a lot of girls. I didn’t have very much home life. Talisman was the hot `in’ place to go. All the members remember it with great affection.” The attraction? “We had great volleyball games.” That’s all? “We had a party every night.” And? “A lot of beautiful young girls. All the models and everything.” - michaelgross.com
Another ex-Talisman resident once recalled,
“I guess you could just sum up the whole atmosphere as ‘Pucci simple’.” I mean someone once said all you needed for a weekend at Talisman was a Pucci in a Gucci and a Benzedrine in your purse. Everything was divinely unorganized. Most of the time we’d just slosh a couple of peaches in some champagne and invite a few friends over.”
Talisman’s Cultural Significance
Talisman (and the rest of Fire Island, for that matter), had a longstanding impact on our cultural history. It was the kind of place where, on any given summer evening, Samba music emanated from hidden loudspeakers all over the club grounds and an endless Conga-cum-bongo drum line wove its way across the clubhouse and into the pool.
This mix of international influence, high-class socialites, alcohol, and an opulent setting, led to some iconic developments. An example of which is The Twist!
The Twist was introduced to the United States at one memorable Talisman affair during the summer of 1961.
“Somebody hired Carl Holmes and his Commanders to play for dancing,” a Talisman jet setter said. “Anyway, this girl who was there had just returned from Paris and at about two in the morning, she started doing this absolutely weird dance. My dear, do you know that it was the first time the Twist had ever been done in America? Nobody slept that night until we all learned the awful thing.” Naturally, she continued to our rapt correspondent, “there were absolutely divine parties devoted to the theme. You know, such as Tahitian or Calypso? Everybody was always imaginative about what they wore or didn’t wear. I remember getting dressed in one of those costume things, I wore a fishnet and I believe I carried a tambourine for effect.”
Talisman’s End And Conversion Into Barrett Beach
In 1964, President Johnson signed The Fire Island National Seashore legislation which seized the land that Talisman was built on and closed the resort. Talisman was acquired by the National Park Service, renamed to Barrett Beach, and subsequently passed back and forth between FINS and Islip Town for a few years. Despite this change in status, the area was still a popular vacation spot and jet-setters continued to visit by boat through the 1970s.
Talisman Today
Today, Talisman consists of a small complex of well kept buildings, a new marina, and a gift shop/snack bar. The buildings where iconic parties were held now sit empty, neglected, and ravaged by time, but if you listen closely, you can hear the faint sound of samba and of laughter from a time long gone.
Our Work On This Topic
We recently donated photos and details to Modern Magazine for a research article on Talisman.
Fire Pines Pines Historical Preservation Society continues to do its best to spread awareness of Fire Island’s cultural significance and archive impactful stories of the past. Learn more about what we do by visiting our about page.
