Post by LARRY on Jan 24, 2014 10:05:43 GMT -5
If you were a part of the Bronx in any way, this should be fun.
1. The subway and bus were only a thin dime to ride. (But who paid?)
2. Schools were the showcase for the whole country. (Not Bronx Vocational)
3. There were no drugs (almost none).
4. There was very little pornography. (except French Cards)
5. There were no divorces, (No one could afford them) few one parent families, and 'out-of-wedlock' events were kept quiet. (You married her or you left the state.)
6. There was respect for teachers and older people in general. (In general)
7. There was almost no violence.
8. The theme of the music of the times, even when it became rock and roll, was love not anger.
9. People made a living and rich or poor, all knew how to have a good time no matter their status.
10. A great day was going to Orchard Beach, Tibbett's Brook or City Island. (My great day was Claremont Pool. We called it the ink well.)
11. Hanging out on Fordham Rd., Pelham Pkwy, Allerton Ave., Mosholu Parkway or Claremont Park. (Or the Ice Cream parlor on Third Avenue)
12. There was Shorehaven and Freedomland, for awhile anyway. And Cascades Pool on Jerome Avenue . (Meramar Pool just over the 207 Street Bridge. I never met anyone who heard of Shorehaven much less went there)
13. There was no better Hamburger than at Gormans on Fordham and Valentine Ave.
14. The games: King/Queen, curb & stoop ball, stickball and punchball played with 'Spaldings' and Pennsy Pinkies.
15. The fruit man, the tool sharpener "knives and scissors!", the junk man "I cash clothes!", the Knish man, hot jellied marshmallow man, Bungalow Bar, Good Humor, and the fruit man with his horse and wagon. (Sweet Potatoes too!)
16. Only place for pizza was Arthur Ave, and every neighborhood had the best egg creams. But if you were lucky,you went to Krum's, or the Wedge Inn.
17. There were many local theaters, where every Saturday afternoon you could see many cartoons, a newsreel and a double-feature film show for 15-20 cents! Later, 25 cents! And don't forget the Lowe's Paradise,Valentine, RKO Fordham, Globe, Devon, Ascot, Lido, Pelham, Allerton and many, many more! (What about the Savoy and the Metro)
18. City Island had the best seafood restaurants and fishing all the time. (Who could afford restaurants back then)
19. Big eating and coffee hangouts: Tee Pee diner, Baychester Diner, Chock Full O' Nuts, the 167th St. & 161st St.Cafeterias, the Red Apple Rest, the Adventurer's Inn with foot long franks for a quarter with as much mustard and sauerkraut as you could pile on, Carrol's and many, many more!! (Bickford's at Fordham and Webster was more my speed)
20. Everybody knew all of the high schools in The Bronx .
21. Fordham Road stores all had their own ornate glitz as far as style goes. And so did those on 170th St, 161 St, 167th Streets, Tremont, Burnside, the Grand Concourse and all of the rest!!
22. There were many delicatessens in the 50's, but very few today. The best? Everyone had their own!! Mine were: MOSKOVS ON MT EDED AVE, The Walton Deli, 170th Street, Beletz Bros.on Tremont, Epstein's on Jerome and Gun Hill and Schweller's on Jerome and Mosholu. Their food was from Heaven!
23. Tuxedo and Zaro's were the great bakeries...I loved the chocolate butter cream with the almonds on the side. And the Black and Whites, Charlotte Russes!!?? Did you forget about Butter flake, Snow Flake, The Garden, Winters,and ALL of the other LOCAL BAKERIES!!? Where are they all now? (They couldn't touch the bakeries on 187 Street)
24. There were no fast food restaurants in the 50's and a hamburger tasted like a hamburger. Sorry, forgot White Castle (13 cents each!), Caroll's in Yonker, (how did that sneak in there...this is about the Bronx!!!) and Wetsons. (White Castle were 12 cents)
25. There were the dances at the Bronxhouse and Mosholu Center, Mt. Eden Jewish Center, Concourse Y, Poe Park on Wednesday evenings, Wintergarden and the Concourse Plaza.(What about the Church dances at OLM, and Our Savior)
26. Big night clubs in The Bronx were Dominicos, Jokers Wild and the Tender Trap; and a couple of dumps on Jerome Avenue, where you could listen to "blue" singer Belle Barth "A Trip Around the World" It was NOT a Cruise".(We knew what a trip around the world was, but what the hell was a night club)
27. How could anyone forget all the pool halls: Penquin Lounge, Cue Lounge, Nat's on Burnside and so many more on Allerton and Lydig Aves. and all the major streets in your neighborhood!
28. Knishes were great at B & G's on Allerton or at Schweller's on Jerome and Mosholu. Or at ANY corner deli you went into, anywhere, at any time!!
29. People in The Bronx took pride in owning a Chevy in the 50's; there was nothing better than General Motors then. The cars would run and run and run, no problems. Well, perhaps a few!! Don't forget Ford, Chrysler, Plymouth,Buick, Hudson, Nash, Studebaker and those other guys, like the Edsel!!( All I had was a used Schwin.)
30. You bought sour pickles right out of the barrel for a nickel, and they were delicious. By the 1960's they cost a whole quarter. Anyone remember Moishe's, or Jack's Appetizing, on Allerton, 170th, and Jerome Ave & Mosholu!(Not Me)
31. The New York Yankees of course, were and still are, considered the best in baseball. And remember the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field?
32. You come from the Bronx but don't realize you had an "accent." (I didn't)
33. You played a lot of games as kids. Depending on whether you were a boy or a girl, you could play: Ringoleveo,Johnny on the Pony, Hide and Seek, Red light, Green light, Simon Sez, kick the can, war, hit the penny,jump rope, double-dutch, A-My Name Is, box ball, box baseball, dodge ball, catch a fly, cans up, running bases, iron tag, skelly, tops, hand ball, stoop ball, slap ball, whiffle ball, relay races, softball, baseball, punchball, stick ball, basketball, horse, around the world, foul shooting, knockout, arm wrestling, Indian wrestling fire escape basketball. And then there were card games like canasta, casino, hearts, pinochle, war and the unhappy game of 52-card pickup.
34. You hung out on people's stoops, or at the different parks and parkways, the local pizza parlor, hamburger joint(Express), your own courtyard, etc.
35. You learned how to dance at some girl's backyard or house.
36. You roller skated at Fordham skating rink in skates with wooden wheels. You had roller skates at home with metal wheels for use on the sidewalks, and you needed a skate key to tighten them around your shoes. Those metal wheels on concrete were deafening!
37. The big sneaker brands were PF Flyers, U.S. Keds and Converse.
38. The guys wore Chino pants with a little strap & buckle in the rear, and the girls wore long wide dresses. Remember gray wool skirts with pink felt poodles on them? The poodles had rhinestone eyes. And men's & guy's 3-button collars had that third button there in the back!
39. In the 50's rock and roll started big teen styles for the first time.
40. Everyone went to a Bar Mitzvah even if you weren't Jewish.
41. Everyone took their date to Orchard Beach for swimming or the submarine races, or the NYU Bronx Campus overlooking the river.
42. There were 3 main nationalities in The Bronx in the 50's: Italians, Irish and Jewish. Then there was a sprinkling of everyone else.
43. It was the only borough that wasn't an island and everything was downtown, even Manhattan .
44. In The Bronx, a fire hydrant is a "johnny pump."
45. Rides on a truck came to your neighborhood to give little kids a ride for a dime. The best one was "The Whip," which spun you around a track. You got a little prize when you got off, sometimes a folding paper fan,sometimes a straw tube that you inserted two fingers into, that tightened as you tried to pull your fingers out again.
46. As a kid, you hit people with water balloons from atop a building, you shot linoleum projectiles from a carpet gun,you shot dried peas from pea shooters, and you shot paperclips at people with a rubber band. Today,you'd probably get arrested for that on weapons possession.
47. You shopped at E.J. Korvettes, Robert Hall, Woolworth's, Alexander's, A&S. Barney's was Barney's Boys Town back then,and not a luxury store. You bought your shoes at National, Miles, A S Beck, Thom McAnn, Florsheim,London,Coward,Chandlers who had beautiful matching handbags.( We shopped at Johns Bargain Stores, Alexanders and Sears Roebuck. Sears was the only store that would give us merchandise on credit)
49. Everybody lived near, and shopped at, a local candy store and a local grocery store. They added up your bill on a brown paper bag, with a pencil, and put it down in a book, to be paid later. (The supermarket was Safeway, A&P)
50. No malls here, only the local places. Who needed malls with all that we had.
51. Bagel stores start popping up everywhere in the 60's.(Not in my neighborhood)
52. Went to Jahn's Ice Cream Parlor with a big group and had the Kitchen Sink. If it was your birthday (you had to bring your birth certificate), you could get a sundae free. Don't forget Krums.
53. Someone always knew of somebody who was a "connected guy."
54. We used the word "swell" that is passe today. (I never said "swell" in my life and if anyone that I knew used that word he'd probably get his ass kicked)
55. In the summer, we all waited for the Good Humor, Bungalow Bar, Mister Softee or Freezer Fresh man to come into our neighborhood to buy ice cream. In the early to mid 50's,the Good Humor man pushed a cart instead of driving a truck. Remember the bells? A pop was 10-15 cents. A large cup was 15 cents, a small cup was a dime. And a sundae -- remember licking the chocolate off the back of the cardboard top? -- was a quarter. (I preferred Carvel on Webster Avenue near Boyertown)
56. Many of us would sneak cigarettes and hide them when we got home. (They sold loosies to us 3 for 10 cents.They were always Ralieghs the store owner kept the coupons)
57. "The city" was just "Downtown". (We were the city)
58. The Mets in the 60's became our substitute for the Dodgers and Giants if you were a National League person.
59. In the 60's we were ready to drive and hit the night life scene. With the car came the girls. (I started a little earlier.)
60. We are all in a select club because we have roots in The Bronx .
1. The subway and bus were only a thin dime to ride. (But who paid?)
2. Schools were the showcase for the whole country. (Not Bronx Vocational)
3. There were no drugs (almost none).
4. There was very little pornography. (except French Cards)
5. There were no divorces, (No one could afford them) few one parent families, and 'out-of-wedlock' events were kept quiet. (You married her or you left the state.)
6. There was respect for teachers and older people in general. (In general)
7. There was almost no violence.
8. The theme of the music of the times, even when it became rock and roll, was love not anger.
9. People made a living and rich or poor, all knew how to have a good time no matter their status.
10. A great day was going to Orchard Beach, Tibbett's Brook or City Island. (My great day was Claremont Pool. We called it the ink well.)
11. Hanging out on Fordham Rd., Pelham Pkwy, Allerton Ave., Mosholu Parkway or Claremont Park. (Or the Ice Cream parlor on Third Avenue)
12. There was Shorehaven and Freedomland, for awhile anyway. And Cascades Pool on Jerome Avenue . (Meramar Pool just over the 207 Street Bridge. I never met anyone who heard of Shorehaven much less went there)
13. There was no better Hamburger than at Gormans on Fordham and Valentine Ave.
14. The games: King/Queen, curb & stoop ball, stickball and punchball played with 'Spaldings' and Pennsy Pinkies.
15. The fruit man, the tool sharpener "knives and scissors!", the junk man "I cash clothes!", the Knish man, hot jellied marshmallow man, Bungalow Bar, Good Humor, and the fruit man with his horse and wagon. (Sweet Potatoes too!)
16. Only place for pizza was Arthur Ave, and every neighborhood had the best egg creams. But if you were lucky,you went to Krum's, or the Wedge Inn.
17. There were many local theaters, where every Saturday afternoon you could see many cartoons, a newsreel and a double-feature film show for 15-20 cents! Later, 25 cents! And don't forget the Lowe's Paradise,Valentine, RKO Fordham, Globe, Devon, Ascot, Lido, Pelham, Allerton and many, many more! (What about the Savoy and the Metro)
18. City Island had the best seafood restaurants and fishing all the time. (Who could afford restaurants back then)
19. Big eating and coffee hangouts: Tee Pee diner, Baychester Diner, Chock Full O' Nuts, the 167th St. & 161st St.Cafeterias, the Red Apple Rest, the Adventurer's Inn with foot long franks for a quarter with as much mustard and sauerkraut as you could pile on, Carrol's and many, many more!! (Bickford's at Fordham and Webster was more my speed)
20. Everybody knew all of the high schools in The Bronx .
21. Fordham Road stores all had their own ornate glitz as far as style goes. And so did those on 170th St, 161 St, 167th Streets, Tremont, Burnside, the Grand Concourse and all of the rest!!
22. There were many delicatessens in the 50's, but very few today. The best? Everyone had their own!! Mine were: MOSKOVS ON MT EDED AVE, The Walton Deli, 170th Street, Beletz Bros.on Tremont, Epstein's on Jerome and Gun Hill and Schweller's on Jerome and Mosholu. Their food was from Heaven!
23. Tuxedo and Zaro's were the great bakeries...I loved the chocolate butter cream with the almonds on the side. And the Black and Whites, Charlotte Russes!!?? Did you forget about Butter flake, Snow Flake, The Garden, Winters,and ALL of the other LOCAL BAKERIES!!? Where are they all now? (They couldn't touch the bakeries on 187 Street)
24. There were no fast food restaurants in the 50's and a hamburger tasted like a hamburger. Sorry, forgot White Castle (13 cents each!), Caroll's in Yonker, (how did that sneak in there...this is about the Bronx!!!) and Wetsons. (White Castle were 12 cents)
25. There were the dances at the Bronxhouse and Mosholu Center, Mt. Eden Jewish Center, Concourse Y, Poe Park on Wednesday evenings, Wintergarden and the Concourse Plaza.(What about the Church dances at OLM, and Our Savior)
26. Big night clubs in The Bronx were Dominicos, Jokers Wild and the Tender Trap; and a couple of dumps on Jerome Avenue, where you could listen to "blue" singer Belle Barth "A Trip Around the World" It was NOT a Cruise".(We knew what a trip around the world was, but what the hell was a night club)
27. How could anyone forget all the pool halls: Penquin Lounge, Cue Lounge, Nat's on Burnside and so many more on Allerton and Lydig Aves. and all the major streets in your neighborhood!
28. Knishes were great at B & G's on Allerton or at Schweller's on Jerome and Mosholu. Or at ANY corner deli you went into, anywhere, at any time!!
29. People in The Bronx took pride in owning a Chevy in the 50's; there was nothing better than General Motors then. The cars would run and run and run, no problems. Well, perhaps a few!! Don't forget Ford, Chrysler, Plymouth,Buick, Hudson, Nash, Studebaker and those other guys, like the Edsel!!( All I had was a used Schwin.)
30. You bought sour pickles right out of the barrel for a nickel, and they were delicious. By the 1960's they cost a whole quarter. Anyone remember Moishe's, or Jack's Appetizing, on Allerton, 170th, and Jerome Ave & Mosholu!(Not Me)
31. The New York Yankees of course, were and still are, considered the best in baseball. And remember the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field?
32. You come from the Bronx but don't realize you had an "accent." (I didn't)
33. You played a lot of games as kids. Depending on whether you were a boy or a girl, you could play: Ringoleveo,Johnny on the Pony, Hide and Seek, Red light, Green light, Simon Sez, kick the can, war, hit the penny,jump rope, double-dutch, A-My Name Is, box ball, box baseball, dodge ball, catch a fly, cans up, running bases, iron tag, skelly, tops, hand ball, stoop ball, slap ball, whiffle ball, relay races, softball, baseball, punchball, stick ball, basketball, horse, around the world, foul shooting, knockout, arm wrestling, Indian wrestling fire escape basketball. And then there were card games like canasta, casino, hearts, pinochle, war and the unhappy game of 52-card pickup.
34. You hung out on people's stoops, or at the different parks and parkways, the local pizza parlor, hamburger joint(Express), your own courtyard, etc.
35. You learned how to dance at some girl's backyard or house.
36. You roller skated at Fordham skating rink in skates with wooden wheels. You had roller skates at home with metal wheels for use on the sidewalks, and you needed a skate key to tighten them around your shoes. Those metal wheels on concrete were deafening!
37. The big sneaker brands were PF Flyers, U.S. Keds and Converse.
38. The guys wore Chino pants with a little strap & buckle in the rear, and the girls wore long wide dresses. Remember gray wool skirts with pink felt poodles on them? The poodles had rhinestone eyes. And men's & guy's 3-button collars had that third button there in the back!
39. In the 50's rock and roll started big teen styles for the first time.
40. Everyone went to a Bar Mitzvah even if you weren't Jewish.
41. Everyone took their date to Orchard Beach for swimming or the submarine races, or the NYU Bronx Campus overlooking the river.
42. There were 3 main nationalities in The Bronx in the 50's: Italians, Irish and Jewish. Then there was a sprinkling of everyone else.
43. It was the only borough that wasn't an island and everything was downtown, even Manhattan .
44. In The Bronx, a fire hydrant is a "johnny pump."
45. Rides on a truck came to your neighborhood to give little kids a ride for a dime. The best one was "The Whip," which spun you around a track. You got a little prize when you got off, sometimes a folding paper fan,sometimes a straw tube that you inserted two fingers into, that tightened as you tried to pull your fingers out again.
46. As a kid, you hit people with water balloons from atop a building, you shot linoleum projectiles from a carpet gun,you shot dried peas from pea shooters, and you shot paperclips at people with a rubber band. Today,you'd probably get arrested for that on weapons possession.
47. You shopped at E.J. Korvettes, Robert Hall, Woolworth's, Alexander's, A&S. Barney's was Barney's Boys Town back then,and not a luxury store. You bought your shoes at National, Miles, A S Beck, Thom McAnn, Florsheim,London,Coward,Chandlers who had beautiful matching handbags.( We shopped at Johns Bargain Stores, Alexanders and Sears Roebuck. Sears was the only store that would give us merchandise on credit)
49. Everybody lived near, and shopped at, a local candy store and a local grocery store. They added up your bill on a brown paper bag, with a pencil, and put it down in a book, to be paid later. (The supermarket was Safeway, A&P)
50. No malls here, only the local places. Who needed malls with all that we had.
51. Bagel stores start popping up everywhere in the 60's.(Not in my neighborhood)
52. Went to Jahn's Ice Cream Parlor with a big group and had the Kitchen Sink. If it was your birthday (you had to bring your birth certificate), you could get a sundae free. Don't forget Krums.
53. Someone always knew of somebody who was a "connected guy."
54. We used the word "swell" that is passe today. (I never said "swell" in my life and if anyone that I knew used that word he'd probably get his ass kicked)
55. In the summer, we all waited for the Good Humor, Bungalow Bar, Mister Softee or Freezer Fresh man to come into our neighborhood to buy ice cream. In the early to mid 50's,the Good Humor man pushed a cart instead of driving a truck. Remember the bells? A pop was 10-15 cents. A large cup was 15 cents, a small cup was a dime. And a sundae -- remember licking the chocolate off the back of the cardboard top? -- was a quarter. (I preferred Carvel on Webster Avenue near Boyertown)
56. Many of us would sneak cigarettes and hide them when we got home. (They sold loosies to us 3 for 10 cents.They were always Ralieghs the store owner kept the coupons)
57. "The city" was just "Downtown". (We were the city)
58. The Mets in the 60's became our substitute for the Dodgers and Giants if you were a National League person.
59. In the 60's we were ready to drive and hit the night life scene. With the car came the girls. (I started a little earlier.)
60. We are all in a select club because we have roots in The Bronx .
