Real Old Local Color.
This for peeps who lived in Newark, or in its immediate environs, as they say, “back in the day.†I was born in Newark (“Down Neckâ€) and grew up in a town that was a walk or bike ride away. It was often the center of family activities, as my grandmother (“Grannyâ€), grandfather, aunts, uncles and several cousins (including Cousin Jack) continued to live “Down Neck.â€
It was lifted (with a tweak or two) from the “Newark Memories†website, specifically from a piece called “You might be from Newark, if you …†by Barbara Vitale Bihus, which was sent to me by my pal, PITA. There is a treasure trove of information and memories at “Newark Memories,†including an excellent remembrance of the 1967 Newark riots, written by Cousin Jack.
Anyway, on with the show. My comments are in parentheses.
You might be from Newark, if you …
1. Have eaten at Jimmy Buff’s and loved it. (We were partial to the Italian hot dogs from a place on Ferry Street, near Jackson Street, a place with perpetually greasy windows.)
2. Shopped at Bamberger’s, Klein’s, Orbach’s, Kresge’s and Hahne’s. (Yep)
3. Went “down the shore” on your summer vacation. (Everyone did.)
4. Went “up the lake” on Sunday afternoons. (Yep, with several coolers and lots of charcoal.)
5. Have to the “feast” at least once in your childhood. (No, but do trips to the Polish Falcons Polanka count?)
6. Know where Olympic Park was. (For a time, it was my most favorite place on earth.)
7. Went to Rye Beach, or Palisades Park or Bear Mountain on your grammar school class trip. (Rye Beach and Palisades, yes, but not on class trips. I recall having been dragged to the United Nations building and herded to the Newark Museum for class trips.)
8. Wanted to be a Rockette (if you’re a girl). (My legs are too short, and, anyway, I would not have passed the physical.)
9. Wanted to be an outfielder for the New York Yankees (if you’re a boy). (Absolutely, Mickey Mantle, unless you were a Giants or *gasp* a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, in which case you wanted to be Willie Mays or Duke Snider, respectively.)
10. Knew at least one person who knew Connie Francis. (Yep. Mrs. Parkway’s uncle used to bounce Connie on his knee when she was a wee one.)
11. Knew at least one person who knew one member of the Four Seasons. (Yep)
12. Knew at least one person who knew Frank Sinatra. (No, but I know legions of peeps who worship him.)
13. Knew at least one person that didn’t know Jerry Lewis. (I don’t know anyone who knew him.)
14. Thought South Orange was in the mountains. (Yep, until I saw the Rockies and the Alps.)
15. Know what a “Ting-A-Ling” hot dog was. (Ya got me with that one.)
16. Never went through a summer without real lemon ice. (Absolutely. Adams Street, Down Neck – the real item.)
17. Were never allowed to go to the City Pools because you might get polio. (I remember it well. My friend two houses away contracted polio.)
18. Always went shopping downtown. (Yes, unless you lived Down Neck, in which case you went “uptown.â€)
19. Knew where to find fresh mozzarella and home-made raviolis and sausage. (Yep)
20. Think Branch Brook Park and Sacred Heart Cathedral are the eighth and ninth Wonders of the World. (Sacred Heart – home of the mondo carillon.)
21. Realize that it takes good water to make great beer. (There were lots of breweries; most gone now.)
22. Consider anything east of Route 1; south of the airport; north of Bloomfield Avenue and west of the Parkway are not really in New Jersey. (Yep)
23. Remember the Ragman, the Iceman, The Bleachman, The Tripeman, the Beerman and the Good Humor Man. (I remember the Ragman, the Iceman and the Good Humor Man, and I know people who speak of the Bleachman. Never heard of the Tripeman, but if he was hawking tripe, I probably didn’t pay much attention.)
24. Still wish you could shop in the dime store on Springfield Avenue. (Ha! Nothing costs a dime now, and a flak jacket is recommended shopping on Springfield Avenue.)
25. Know that Breyer’s made the best ice-cream. (My mother worked there for a while. She actually hand-dunked the vanilla ice cream on a stick to make “chocolate-covereds.â€)
26. Know that Ballantine made the best beer. (The best ale, for sure.)
27. Know that Tastee made the best bread. (For peanut butter and jelly, anyway.)
28. Know that Hoffman made the best soda. (Cream was my favorite.)
29. Know that Prudential made the best insurance. (Provided lots of jobs for peeps I knew.)
30. Know that the Italians lived in the North Ward; if you were Jewish, you lived in the Weequahic section; the Polish lived “down neck” and the Irish lived in Vailsburg. (Yep)
31. Can remember the finest hotels in the world were on Broad Street; the Robert Treat and the Military Park Hotel. (Yep. Park Records and the Dingleman – greatest donuts ever – were near the Military Park Hotel.)
32. Know that the poor people lived in Stephen Crane Village. (We knew those kinds of places as “The Projects.â€)
33. Knew that only people on welfare went to City Hospital; everyone else went to Saint Michael’s; Saint Barnabus, and Presbyterian. (Born in St. Michael’s)
34. Are aware that there was a reservoir on South Orange Avenue. (Yep, and some peeps called it the “REZ-ah-voy.â€)
35. Know what a “stoop” is. (Absolutely, and we also knew what “stoop ball†is.)
36. Think that the Adams Theater on Branford Place is bigger and better than Radio City Music Hall. (I saw the “Rolling Stones†live in, I believe, 1963 at the Adams.)
37. Think The Newark News was the world’s greatest newspaper. (We were always Newark Star Ledger peeps.)
38. Remember the Thanksgiving Day rivalries between Irvington and West Side, and Barringer And East Orange. (By the time I was old enough to pay attention to football, it was Kearny vs. Nutley – Kearny usually lost.)
39. Know that the building with Abe Lincoln sitting outside is really the Hall of Records. (Yep, not the courthouse.)
40. Don’t think of citrus when people mention “the Oranges”. (Yep, and they included the plain as well as the East, West and South variaties.)
41. Ordered a hard roll with butter for breakfast. (Still do.)
42. Remember that the “Two Guys” were from Harrison. (Yep. My mother knew one of them. His name was “Herb.†They started out in a trailer outside of the RCA plant in Harrison. My mother always called “Two Guys†“Herb’s†even when they wound up having gigantic department stores.)
43. Know what a jug handle is. (Absolutely – Get in the right lane if one is coming up.)
44. Know that ours is the only “New” State that doesn’t require the “New” (like try…Mexico, York, Hampshire; it doesn’t work.) (Yep)
45. Consider a corned beef sandwich with lettuce and mayo a sacrilege. (Or eaten on anything other than kickass rye should be a crime.)
46. Eaten a boardwalk cheese steak with vinegar fries. (Yep, and I’d include a “sausage, pepper and onion†[sandwich] as well.)
47. Never pumped your own gas. (New Jersey’s one undeniably good thing.)
48. Know where “Down Neck” is. (Born there.)
49. Know where the Bath House on Clifton Ave. is. (No, but I know where the Wilson Ave. Bath House used to be.)
AND FINALLY
50. Can actually remember when Newark was….GREAT!!!
Ahhhh, Olympic Park and Jimmy Buffs!! My wife’s family is from Newark (some still live there) and I’ve been privy to many discussions about the “Old days” when Newark was at it’s zenith. A trip to Bambergers at Christmas was a must, even for us peeps from the Perth Amboy area. I worked in Newark, near the University and Dentistry Hospital for 14 years (at a tv station), and was constantly reminded by some of the “old timers” of how nice the city once was.
Comment by Jerry K — November 18, 2007 @ 1:11 pm
WHY can you not pump your own gas???
Comment by Jean — November 18, 2007 @ 8:22 pm
WHY can you not pump your own gas???
‘Cause we don’t WANT to! 🙂 That’s why they’re called “service” stations. We can sit nice and comfortable during rain, snow or sleet in our car and let someone else do it. You guys who can pump your own gas still pay higher prices than we do. Soooo, what’s the point? 😉
Comment by Jerry K — November 18, 2007 @ 8:55 pm
well, geez… do they check your oil, air up your tires and clean the windshield too?
It’s been more than 30 years since an ‘attendant’ pumped gas for me. But…in Florida, we don’t worry too much about sleet and snow, so there’s that. heh. 😉
Comment by Jean — November 18, 2007 @ 9:09 pm
Back when cars burned more oil than they do today a gas station attendant usually was instructed by the owner to get under the hood of each car and check the oil. The owner wanted lots of oil sales and the drivers benefitted, because they always were sure they had enough oil in the crankcase. There were, however, some shitballs, who would “short stick” the driver (i.e. not put the dipstick in all the way) and demonstrate that the car was “down a quart,” and he would pretend to add oil. This was done rarely and most often to women, sorry to say. Reputable dealers didn’t do that.
Years ago, they also cleaned the windshield of every car. That seems to have fallen by the wayside.
Jimbo
Comment by Jim — November 18, 2007 @ 9:15 pm
My in-laws were from the North Ward. They even gave me a book on it, to keep with my geneaology stuff. Its the complete history of the North Ward and their families are in it. I had no idea that Newark was broken down based on ethnicity.
I need to have my husband read this… he probably knows all of it having grown up in that area as well, although they did move to Morristown.
Comment by Bou — November 18, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
Remember the Egg Lady?
Comment by Cousin Jack — November 19, 2007 @ 12:57 am
Jack,
I remember Granny dealing with the Egg Lady. I also remember the Fruit and Vegetable Guys, the Knife Sharpener (and umbrella fixit) Guys and, of course the Milkman.
Jimbo
Comment by Jim — November 19, 2007 @ 2:45 am
Even though I’m from the other side of the river, there’re lots of good memories in this post.
Breyer’s ice cream! Hoffman soda!
As for the gasoline pumping business, the oil lobby (strong in NJ) managed to keep self-serve out of NJ…and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sure, it costs more to have an attendant pump gas, but most people really don’t know how dangerous it is to pump gas. NJ simply says that handling an explosively flammable liquid fuel is not a job for amateurs.
Comment by Elisson — November 19, 2007 @ 6:04 am
“As for the gasoline pumping business, the oil lobby (strong in NJ) managed to keep self-serve out of NJ…and that’s not necessarily a bad thing”.
Actually MOST “native born” Jersey peeps don’t want it. What’s the advantage? Smelling like gas? Are people THAT much in a hurry? I’ve always gotten out of my car anyway, but I really don’t see any advantage. If anything, the “oil lobby” would LOVE to get rid of the attendant. More money in their pockets. See, THAT’S how it works. You make more money with LESS people on staff, not MORE. 😉 As I asked before, what excactly IS the advantage of pumping your own gas? With the exception of saving, oh, maybe 45 seconds by doing it yourself, I see no advantage and neither can most other New Jerseyans. Did the price of your gas go down when the attendants were eliminated? Like “self service” in the supermarkets. Not only do they have YOU doing the work of the check out person, but they still charge you the same amount for the merchandise. Sounds like a “win-win” situation for them.
Now, back on topic 😉 Olympic Park was my favorite place to go with my mom and dad when I was a kid. The Rocket was the first coaster I rode! My dad took me on it when I was around 9 and it scared the hell out of me……enough to make me want to go on again, and again! The little boats and the wonderful “merry-go-round” are just a few of the memories of what was once a nice place to go on a Sunday afternoon. A wonderful time to have grown up in. Wouldn’t want to trade those days for today’s world for any amount of money. 🙂
Comment by Jerry K — November 19, 2007 @ 9:03 am
Learned a lot more about Mr. Parkway than I did before! FYI – Ting-A-Ling is a North Ward Italian hotdog place. We found a good one down in “old folks land” i.e., Route 37 West, Toms River. “Real Italian Ice” – Jackie’s in Belleville. Went to Belleville H.S. w/Connie Francis also briefly Joe Pesci (he moved out of “the Lake” at some point). Ah yes – stoop ball and a lot of great games played in the streets that kids today are missing out on with their electronics. Our boss once tried to pump his own gas at the co. pump and spilled it all over his suit. Then went to the credit union and almost started a riot when some woman cried out that she smelled gas. Ended up going home to change when he discovered the odor would not go away if he closed himself up in his office! Three cheers for the good old days – we had no money but were never poor.
Comment by PITA — November 19, 2007 @ 3:47 pm
… I dont get the “new” reference…. I know that there is an old “Jersey”…… just as there is an old York, Mexico, and Hampshire….
Comment by Eric — November 19, 2007 @ 8:17 pm
That was great, Jimbo. There’s one of those lists for Indiana, but it’s pretty random. I truly didn’t understand half of that list. Guess I might not be from Newark.
Comment by Jerry — November 19, 2007 @ 10:55 pm
Yeah, I receive dozens of varieties of that e-mail too from my eager aunts & uncles who are just getting used to this thing called the “Inter-Net.”
The Good Old Days(TM) were certainly better than the present, no matter where you hailed from. Must be those meddling kids 😉
Comment by The Contrarian — November 20, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
Still long for another Dingleman doughnut. The shop was on the ground floor of the Public Service building back in 1967. I recall a day that they had no doughnuts, and I asked why. They told me that the Dingleman was sick.
I am sorry I did not try to get his recipe when he returned as right then I knew that when he was gone, his secrets would be lost.
I now must make my own because (like so many other things) you can’t get a good doughnut in the U. S. (at least not in New Jersey).
Comment by Jack — June 28, 2011 @ 10:43 am