I Remember Greenpoint - Page 4
This is a continuation of "To the Point!'s" "I Remember Greenpoint" section. Here resident and non-residing Greenpointer's share their memories of living in a very special place located in Brooklyn, New York.
Arthur (Artie) Zalenski You can email Artie: zalenskis@netzero.net
Greenpoint To Me........
It's where I was born and raised by two great parents, Ted and Ann Zalenski. By the way, my name is Arthur (Artie) Zalenski, in those days. I'm now 53 and live in the Tampa, Florida area.
Partly by choice and partly out of necessity. I won't get into it too deep, but, I'm disabled from a disease called spondylosis/spondylothesis. It is a slow but sure disintegration of the spine. And, that's all I'll say about it.
It's really unbelievable when I think that 34 years have past since I moved out of Greenpoint. We, and I mean, my Mom, my Dad (Ted), my little bit older Sister (Valerie), my little bit older Brother (Ted, Teddy or Buddy), I guess he liked being called different things, and the preponderance of them were GOOD. I'm heartbroken to say, Buddy, (As I called him), pasted away 2 years ago this past May.
Boy, do I remember going out to Manhattan Avenue, Nassau Avenue, etc., to go shopping. My sister looked after me quite a bit and I loved it. We would stop at Freerick's Ice Cream Parlor on Nassau Ave., usually on our way back home from doing some kind of shopping.
Freericks was where I fell in LOVE......with nice, cold, chocolate malts, and always asked for extra malt,,,,ummmmm.
Going to school at P.S. 34 was fun, an easy walk, being we lived on Norman Avenue in those apartments off the corners of Jewel Street and Moultry and Humboldt streets.
P.S. 34, soon became going to J.H.S. 126, (John Erickson), Junior H.S.
That's where the world started to become "grown-up", in many ways.
I went to High School in Williamsburg, to Eastern District H.S. It was a fun three years attending E.D. when I did. (Attendance was not one of their priorities to keep an eye on.) It was a tough school in a tough neighborhood. Now I'll switch to "we". We, myself, John, Mario and a few others took the "GG" subway 3 stops to Marcy Ave. and walked a few blocks to the school.
It was really what they refer to as a "melting pot" kind of neighborhood. There was Blacks, Whites, Puerto Rican's and a predominance of Hasidic Jews, who ran most of the stores in the area. I hope I gave the word Hasidic justice. Anyway, why I said "fun" earlier was because this was 1965 through June of ' 68. Yeah, the "Sixties Man". My homeroom attendance taker was Adriana Walla and my first real girlfriend. She was great, we had a lot of fun together, going to the Village, (Greenwich Village), to have dinner and just walk around.
THEN, there was the New York WORLD's FAIR out in Flushing, Queens. I can honestly say that a lot of us got half of our H.S. Diploma's by going to the FAIR half our H.S. days. I took Adriana there quite a bit, as I can recall.
I still lived with Mom and Dad after H.S. and went to Queensboro Comm. College for a whole year, WOW. got sick of it quick, think it was the courses I picked, oh well. It wasn't long before I was on a bus heading to the airport and flying to Chicago, all courtesy of the U.S. Navy.
I've been back to Greenpoint several times over the years, even lived there for about a year after the Navy. The last time (we) visited Greenpoint was in March of 1998. I took the family, Sharon my wife, and my two daughters Jennifer and Laura. My daughters were 13 and 17, and all I could do was thank the heaven's they weren't like I was at those ages, living in Greenpoint. At the time we lived in Virginia and drove up for a short vacation and a "show and tell" of MY neighborhood. Their impressions were, uhhhhh, "different", when they got to see the real thing, not just hear the stories.
We now all live in Florida, in the Tampa area. My daughters are finding their way in life now, like we all had to do.
EXCEPT, they're not doing it in Greenpoint, like the lucky devils we were.....................................................
PS: I sent this to you again, I'm NOT sure if I did it right the 1st time, I just switched ISP's from Verizon to NetZero Hi-Speed, wanted to make sure you got it......Thx
John McCulloch You can email John at: John & Meredith McCulloch [mcculloch3@gmail.com]
I hesitate to add to this web site on Greenpoint being one of those flaming liberal who thinks giving up freedom for security is a weakening of this nation's values but as a liberal I recognize that our host is entitled to his opinion.
I was born and raised in Greenpoint at 729 Manhattan Avenue in 1935, two doors down from the Meserole Theater over the optometrist and the baby cloths store. Across the street was the Lustigs (sp) fruit and vegetable store, where you could select what you wanted to buy. It wasn't prepackaged. I attended the Methodist Church on Meserole avenue just off Manhattan Ave. Someone mentioned the Synagogue on Manhattan Ave. That at one time was one of the Methodist Churches which was sold to the Jewish community I remember the mortgage burning when we paid off our mortgage and the Synagogue paid off theirs. I was a member of the PYF which stands for the Protestant Youth Fellowship which had people from the Baptist Church on Noble Street, the Dutch Reformed Church and the German Lutheran Church on Milton Street. They were just about across the street from one another and people from the Polish Lutheran Church but unfortunately I do not remember where it was located. We also had some friends from the Methodist Church in Long Island City who came to the PYF.
I remember skating in McCaren Park in the fall and opening our coats to make a sail and letting the wind push us along. I went to John Erickson Jr High school from kindergarten until ninth grade, and then went to Peter Stuyvesant H.S in Manhattan. Getting out of the subway we would stop at the candy store just past the subway entrance and have a pretzel and an egg cream before heading home.
I remember during WWII the burning of the French liner the Normandie which capsized, and a store at the end of Milton Street selling items from it. I graduated from PS 126 in 1949 and Stuyvesant in 1952. I left Greenpoint in 1955, to go to college in W. Va. And then up to Boston in 1959 for graduate school.
I made some trips back to visit my parents up until the late sixties when my father retired and moved to Patchogue L.I.. which was our summer house I have not been back since the late sixties.
I remember the A&P and a small store which was Ralston's Market on Manhattan Ave. Just down on the other side of the street there was a German Deli (he served in the US navy but they still had problems being German) and a Kosher deli (corned beef sandwiches were great) on the Avenue and a small candy store on the other side of Nassau Ave. If you got a malt to go and it didn't fit into the container they would give you the rest in a glass to drink before you left. On the other side of Meserole Ave. on Manhattan toward the RKO theater (heading toward LI City) on the left side was the Hole in the Wall which was a small ice cream shop where we went for sundaes. You always got wet walnuts on it. I remember going to the library on Nassau Ave. which was a Carnegie Library. I remember the Sunday school parade when the little kids would march in a roped area so we didn't wander off. I remember going to the Meserole Theater on my first date and by the time I got home my Mother knew about it. It a was neighborhood. I remember coming from the RKO and my Mother asking if they had stopped the movie, which they hadn't. It was the day FDR died. I remember VE day and hanging out the windows a USA Flag and the Union Jack to celebrate. These are my memories of Greenpoint.
John McCulloch
Jeanine Wild Vieweg You can email Jeanine at: cviehweg@pipeline.com
I lived in Greenpoint from 1955-65. I remember learning the
ABC by walking the streets from Java down to Ashe to see my
Great Grandma Toumey who lived on Dupont Street. My brother,
George and I attended St. Alphonsus school on Java and the church
was on Kent Street.We lived in a brownstone tenement railroad apartment on the top
floor on Java Street a block from the Astral and one block from the
East River. My playground was the street in front of our apartment
where 8 families lived 2 of which were my grandparents. Was I a lucky
kid or what? There was always a place to catch a meal and lots of love.I learned to skate with metal skates with a key tied around my neck on
a shoelace not like today's roller blades. By brother and I shared a
small bike we'd keep in the back of the first floor hall along with all
the baby carriages, and shopping carts of the tenets who lived above. I
remember those three long flights of stairs to carry groceries from the
A&P on the Avenue we'd bring home with a small shopping hand pulled
cart. We also played skelllzzies with bottle tops, hopscotch, jump
rope, Chinese jump rope from rubber bands, red light green light, giant
steps, Simon says, Ace, king, queen on the side of a building (handball)
with a pink Spalding, hide n seek, ring o 'larrio, or stick ball. We
would dart in between cars and trucks parked on the street as we played
I remember once a ship came to the docks with animals for the zoo and
we got to see giraffe, and chimps right in the street. People always
sat on t he stoop, playing cards, talking, having their coffee reading
the paper and watching the kids play.There were neighbors of all descents, Irish, German, Polish, Scottish,
Russian, English, and later Dominican, and Puerto Rican. I was blessed
with many friends and learned words in many languages as I wanted to
play. For a nickel which we got after collecting the dock workers
bottles from their lunch and returning them my brother and I would buy
an Ice, 2 stick and split it or a three pack of Yankee doodles for a
Penny, candy Mary Janes, Dots , paper candy red chewy 1cent gummy candy
that almost pulled your fillings out. I loved going to the soda
fountain store Betty's on Franklin for a real cream soda while my dad
preferred a malted milkshake. I remember reaching into a soda machine
with my arms in cold icy water hunting through glass bottles for just
the right drink to quench my thirst on a hot summer's night. or getting
a small Italian ice in a cup. For a quarter I could get a 16oz Pepsi
and a bag of pretzel nuggets. I thought that was the best. I went to
the store at 7 and brought home the bread, a quart of milk, cold cuts-
bologna and a few items all by myself. My mom would throw the list and
money out the window while I was playing and ask me to run around the
corner to the store for her.We walked everywhere school, church, shopping. Rarely did we take a bus
or subway. We loved to play at Milton Street Park especially in the
summer when the sprinklers were going. We loved to go to the library
which was a long walk from Java and then carrying the books home.
Luckily my aunt lived on Meserole Ave and we got to stop there and
visit before heading back down the Avenue. I remember going to
Greenpoint Avenue with my mom to get a chicken for dinner I almost
felt it was a pet store when I was younger I never realized till later
what was really going on. We shopped at the fish store across from the
park for fishcakes and flounder on Fridays. On special days we would go
to the Chinese Restaurant on Meserole or sometimes the 3 Decker. We
went to the butcher to get meat, Tony's on Franklin street who had
sawdust on the floor and he wore a big dirty white coat like a doctor
with streaks of blood on it. We went to the Bakery for buns and bagels.
Not like the Super STOP and SHOP stores of today where everything is
housed in one building.I remember trips over the stinky bridge on Greenpoint Avenue when my
brother and I would hold our noses. My grandpa worked in Van Idestein's
I hated that smell and my other grandpa worked as a guard at
Levitton's. I still can smell the pickle factory the other side of the
bridge. I loved stopping for REAL pizza on the Avenue or if we were
really in luck dad took us to Long Island City near the bridge to eat
Italian food...And how could I almost forget sitting on the fire escape
on a hot summer's night watching fireworks over the East River while
dad pointed out all the lighted buildings in the New York skyline,
telling us their names and things about them. We loved to watch the
boats and barges on the East River.Thanks for the memories....Greenpoint was great......at 10 years old we
moved to Long Island.
Theresa Baranoff (formerly Wisniewolski)
You can email Terry at: tbaranoff@warburgpincus.com
My name is Theresa Baranoff (formerly Wisniewolski). I was born on Feb. 5, 1956 at St. Catherine's Maternity Hospital on Meeker Avenue. My sister, Rosanne, and I grew up at 98 Eckford Street between Nassau and Driggs Avenue in a 4 room railroad-room apartment. My best friend when I was in grammar school was Patricia Mullahy, who lived at 105 Eckford Street with her mother and great aunt. I used to go to Patricia's apartment and we did homework together. Sometimes Aunt Anna used to make us tapioca pudding from scratch with those big pearl tapiocas that you used to have to cook for hours. My mother, Frances, used to hang clothing to dry on the clothesline that ran from the kitchen window to the clothes line pole. When I was very young, the line of attached private houses had not yet been built on McGuinness Blvd. (it was then called Oakland Street) and you could see all the way across to the back of the houses on Newell Street. We could see the steeple of St. Stanislaus Kostka church from the kitchen window. My sister and I walked to St. Stan's grammar school every day and came home for lunch. Once it became McGuinness Blvd. there was a crossing guard named Tillie who helped us get across safely. Sometimes on the way home from school, we would stop at Paulsen's Deli (corner of Graham & Driggs Avenues) and bring home a loaf of Silvercup bread (25 cents) and a quart of milk (25 cents).
Across from Paulsen's was Joe's candy store (where Daddy used to buy us girls Walnettos and a bar of Halvah) and also New Rochelle Furniture. (Years later, the Greenpoint branch of the Brooklyn Public Library used NRF abandoned storefront as a temporary location until the new library was built in the early 70s.) I remember going to the old Greenpoint library on Norman Avenue to get books for book reports and take out copies of Seventeen magazine when I was 11-12 years old. God, why did they ever tear down that beautiful old building. The photocopy machine in those days gave you copies with white letters on black background, came out wet and smelling like vinegar.
My father is now 82 years old and living in St. Petersburg Florida with my mother. She has Alzheimer's and is becoming very hard for him to look after her by himself. When I go to McCarren Park (near the entrance at Lorimer St. and Driggs Ave.) I still see the iron railing where my Dad used to sit with us girls on summer nights and look toward Manhattan -- waiting for the search light to swing around again toward us from the Empire State Bldg.
There are tears in my eyes now, so I will share more good memories at another time. Glad I found your site.
A big hug for Greenpoint from me. Those days are with me forever. Terry Baranoff
Mary McAuley Olsen You can email Mary at: MaryRay46@aol.com
Hi I am Mary McAuley Olsen. I was born and raised in Greenpoint. I went to St.
Anthony's school with Margaret Melia. I married Ray Olsen in 1946. His brother
is Gene Olsen, better known as Yutch, from the Lexington Council on Lorimer St.
across from the police station. My sister Anne married Dan Melia and sister
Kate married John Ziemblicki from Russell St. My brother Jackie married a girl
from Nebraska and later joined the police force in Nassau we now live in
Bethpage. Does anyone remember Bill from Russell or Dan Mahan from Nassau Ave. we were great friends but lost track. Margaret Melia married Bill Hall from
Leonard St. Please get in touch with me if you remember us. E- mail us.
Thanks. Mary T. McAuley Olsen
Tom Jaworski You can email Tom at: GridSq@aol.com
I remember Greenpoint ...
Boy do I .. and it brings back some very fond memories of growing up and doing
things that if done today would land you in jail !!
I grew up at the corner of Franklin and Java Streets .. above the grocery
store ( top floor ) The store was owned by "Gus" Walters and everyone in the
neighborhood went to that store ... Across the street was Matties Candy
Store.. and then on the other corner was the Astral Apartments.
In the 1950's .. the docks were in full operation.. as ships from all over the
world would unload their cargo.. I remember the bannana boats and we all would
get bananas from the dock workers...
I went to school at SS. Cyril and Methodius on Dupont Street ... and the
memories of that Church and school are still very vivid. The Pastor was
Msgr. Mrozinski.. and he ruled the place with an "iron hand" .. SS. Cyril's'
Church was located in the basement of the school.. this before the present church was
built on Eagle Street... Before that there; stood another church called St.
Collumkills ( spelling ) and that was torn down to make way for the new St.
Cyril's Church ..
And the Polish culture was everywhere .. If you didn't speak polish you were
lost. Even the nuns ( who were built like tanks ) spoke polish. They were
from the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Boy, some of those nuns were
a force to deal with. You didn't mess around with them..
I remember the "Parish Picnic" at St. Cyril's .. The Catholic Sea Cadets
( which was also done at St. Stan's ) .. The Corpus-Christi Church Procession
thru the streets .. and the Polka Bands ..The Connecticut Twins; Bernie Witkowski;
Ray Henry.. they all played at various church dances and at the Polish Home on Driggs Avenue.
The "Avenue" .. The Trolley-Busses ( B-62 Graham Avenue Bus ) ..
and the old trolley barn on Manhattan Avenue near Box Street that burned in a
nine alarm fire on day... and the heavy trolley's that went over the
Manhattan Avenue wood draw bridge over the Newtown Creek to
Long-Island-City.. That bridge creaked and groaned every time one of those
trolleys would go over it. .. This before the Pulaski Bridge was built on Oakland Street ..
The day that the Pulaski Bridge was opened.. there were bands and some
political big-shot showed up to cut the ribbon and be the first to ride over
the new bridge.
The American Theater between Kent Street and Greenpoint Avenue.. and then
the Midway Theater between Freeman and Eagle Streets .. Two movies, 25
cartoons on a Saturday for 15-cents ...The Eberhard-Faber Pencil Factory .. That was
located on an entire block between Greenpoint Ave. and Kent Street from Franklin St.
to West St. They also had buildings on West Street over to Java Street... We would live our
lives by the 4:30 whistle from that factory ... and then on Greenpoint
Avenue there was the Leviton Manufacturing. They made electrical products.
Then along West Street .. there were the lumber yards ..
As kids we would sneak into the yards and climb on to the piles of
lumber and build forts in the lumber piles .. This would be fine
until the watchman caught us and we would scramble out of the yards
and run home.. Memories ..
I went to Eastern District High School ( now closed ) and was in the
class of '59 .. after graduating I went to work for the Bank of
America on Wall Street.. working as a teletype operator on the
midnight shift..
But I also remember Franklin Street .. Next door was a butcher shop
run by "Tony" .. then a few doors down was the Budzeko Packing Company
and on Friday mornings they would smoke the kielbasa and stink up the
neighborhood with that heavenly smell of kielbasa in the smoker... and
in those days you could not eat meat on Fridays..
On the "Avenue" .. I remember Lakins Houseware store at the corner of
Java Street .. Then there was a Synagogue between Java and India
Streets .. There was a furniture store on the Java Street corner ..
and women would all do their shopping for clothing at the FairWear
shop.. Then there was Honigs .. and the bakeries next to Greenpoint
Avenue. I can still smell the "crumb-buns" ..
How about the small A+P near India Street ??
Baby Annas Pizza Parlor on the corner of Huron Street ..
Ernie's Ice Cream Parlor .. Joseph's Furniture .. Mizgalski Funeral Home (
Java Street ) .. Trunz .. Lofts candy Store on the corner of Milton Street ..
The Shoe-Maker ..
Games we played ...Potsey -- "I Declare War" .. "Punchball" .. "Stoopball" .. "Klelzie" ..
"Slapball" ..
I could go on and on .. but Greenpoint was the place to grow up.
One of these days ( in the not to distant future ) I'll hop a train to
New York .. then get on the olde "GG" train to Greenpoint Avenue to
pay a visit... Just to buy the kielbasa at a real Polish Butcher.
Thanks for reading my memories ...There are many more ..
Tom Jaworski
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
---> By the way ... My Mother taught kindergarten at St. Cyrils'
school for years .. Many of you may remember "Miss Vicki" ..
Lillian (Gill) Montee You can email Lillian at: lillie@eticomm.net
I enjoy reading I remember Greenpoint. I was born in 1932 on Driggs Ave.
off of Morgan Ave. Greenpoint is engraved in my memory. My parents moved
many times from one apartment to another. Back then apartments were easy to
get. The landlord would even paint the rooms for you. One of our
apartments was on the corner of Nassau and Kingsland Aves. We lived on the
top floor, on the ground floor there was a grocery store. What I remember
most about the grocery store is the package of Yankee doodles for a nickel.
Three large cup cakes wrapped in wax paper. The loaves of bread was also
wrapped in wax paper, and smelled great. You could squeeze the loaf and it
would retain its shape. We then moved to Humboldt St. between Driggs and
Nassau. I was attending P.S.110 by Winthrop Park. I would leave school on
Wednesday afternoon and go to St. Cecilia's for instructions for first holy
communion. Living on Humboldt St. was a joy. On flag day June 14th every
apartment would have a flag hanging by the window. The owners of the
grocery store across the street had a box of chocolate creams on the
counter. We called it picks, because you would pick one out for a penny and
if you picked one with a pink center you won a five cent bag of candy. I
won once, I don't remember how many pennies I had to spend to win, but it
was great. In the summer I loved waking to the sound of the milk bottles as
the milk man left the bottle of milk at the apartment door. I didn't like
milk, but did like taking the cap off and licking the cream off the cap.
The sound of the rag man with his horse drawn wagon calling out for old rags
and newspapers. The produce man calling out potatoes, tomatoes. On a hot
evening a chocolate malt ice cream pop from the Bungalow Bar Truck. The man
with his white uniform and his barrel on wheels, a broom and shovel to
clean the gutter. The streets and buildings were so clean. Of course the
ice man was welcomed by all of us on a hot day. He would take his ice pick
and chop some chips of ice for us to have. The grocery store on the corner
of Guernsey and Meserole Ave. sold a sandwich tomato, lettuce and mayo. on
roll for a nickel. Seems like everything was a nickel in those days. A
phone call, candy bar, pack of gum, and a bottle of Pepsi. The jingle for
Pepsi cola on the radio was Pepsi Cola hits the spot twelve full ounces that's
a lot. Twice as much for your nickel too. Pepsi Cola is the drink for you.
Going to the pool at McCarren Park. The truck pulling up on the corner full
of water melons which sold for one dollar. The Paradise pie factory on the
corner of Dobbin and Norman. Twenty five cents for a pie, if the pie was
cracked you bought it for fifteen cents. Going into a ice cream parlor when
you entered it was so cool. The awning out front was down to keep the sun
off the front of the store and they had large ceiling fans. The smell of
the ice cream and walnuts also made you feel cool. A sundae for fifteen
cents and a banana split for a quarter. A malted in a tall glass and there
was still some left in the metal container. The brothers who owned the hot
dog store on Manhattan Ave. off of Nassau. You got a free root beer with
your hot dog. Greenpoint had a lot to offer, there were many movie houses.
The Winthrop by the park, the Nassau on Nassau Ave.. the Meserole on
Manhattan Ave., a couple of blocks away the RKO Greenpoint, the American on
Manhattan off of Greenpoint Ave., the Midway on Manhattan Ave. down near
Dupont St. At Christmas when the trees were put out by the curb, the boys
would light them with a match, and the flame would go as high as our third
floor apartment. The fire would light up the cold dark night, and there
would be the scent of evergreen in the air. During WW2 McCarren park had
dancing every wed. night. Watching the teenagers dancing the Lindy made me
wish I knew how to dance. Which I finally learned how to do when I was 16.
The block parties after the war. Going to Coney Island, Brighten Beach,
Prospect Park, Rockaway beach. So many places to go to and have clean good
fun. The saloon where a man could have a beer and also a free lunch. Of
course there are unhappy memories I guess there always is. My Uncle having
a heart attack and dying at the age of 24. He was laid out in our front
room which was also called the parlor. The undertaker put a wreath on the
downstairs front door with my uncles name on it. There was different color
ribbons for different ages. White for a young person and purple for a old
person. People dressed in black when someone died. The women wore black
dresses, hats with a veil, stockings, shoes, purses, even their handkerchief
was black. Then there was the time a horse pulling a wagon got its hoof
caught in the trolley track. He fell over and broke his leg, a policeman
came and shot the horse. We lived in cold water flats, so we had to heat
water on the wood stove for even our bath. It cost a quarter for a bag of
wood, which we didn't always have. I always wondered what happened to my
broken toys. Toys were made of wood in those days. Our toilet was in the
hall between the two apartments and you had to share with your neighbor.
The only light at night was from the hall. The ice box was a problem too.
There was a pan under the ice box to catch the water from the melted ice.
You had to remember to empty the pan otherwise the water went all over the
floor. Sometimes you would find a mouse that drowned in the water. I am
glad that most of my memories are happy ones. Being 18 and going to the
dance every Saturday night at National Hall on Driggs Ave. We would polka
the night away. The cost was a dollar for admission. The boat rides that
the sons of Italy ran. Which brings to mind the food. The polish foods,
the Italian foods the Jewish deli with the pastrami on rye and there celery
soda. I missed the foods the most when we moved here to south jersey in
1965. We would make trips back home to visit out parents and would come
home with food from the Franklin Pork store on Franklin St. I called them
care packages. Thank you St. Cecilia's, Holy Family Slovak church, for the
good nuns and priest that helped me along in my life. St. Catherine's
Maternity hospital for the nuns and nurses who were there for me at the
delivery of my five babies. All the neighbors who were kind and cared for
their neighbor. I have been told I live in the past. Why not when I was
born and brought up in Greenpoint.
Leonard Suligowski You can email Leonard at: len218a@mindspring.com
Hello Frank...
Here are a few more memories for your website..
Close your eyes.....and go...back....back....back....
Before the internet or the Big Mack...before semi automatics
before SEGA or Superindendo...WAY BAAAACCK.....
I'm talkin about, hide & seek, sittin on the porch, hot bread
and butter....the Good Humor man... Red light , Green light...
Chocolate milk, lunch tickets, penny candy in a brown paper
bag....playin' pinball in the corner store, Hopscotch, butterscotch
doubledutch...jacks...kickball...dodgeball...stickball (wid a spaldeen)
Mother, may I?...Daddy, May I ??, Red rover and rolly polly..stoop ball,
hula hoops and sunflower seeds...Jolly Ranchers, Banana splits..
wax lips and moustaches...running through the sprinkler....the smell
of the sun and lickin' salty lips....wait...dere's more.....Radio heroes...
The Lone Ranger, Capt. Midnight, Little Orphan Annie, Sky King
decoder badges, Ovaltine, Silvercup bread, Bond Bread, Superman
Mr. Keen tracer of lost whatever...I love a mystery...The Inner Sanctum...
Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar,.....when around the corner, seemed far
away...Goin' downtown seemed like goin' somewhere...Bedtime..
climin' trees...an Ice Cream cone on a warm summer night...Ice cream
parlors with a juke box playin' Glen Miller, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey..
A lemon coke or cherry coke from that fountain....a million 'skeeter bites
and sticky fingers....cops & robbers...cowboys and indians... Sittin on the
curb, makin boats out of pop sickle sticks and floatin' em in the water of
the street cleaning water truck....pillow fights...runnin. till yer out of
breath laughing so had that your stomach hurt...bein' tired from palyin'....I ain't
finished yet.....When there were two types of sneakers...Keds and PF...
and the only time your wore em' was for "Gym"...When it took at least
fiver minutes for the TV to warm up (even if you had one)..When nearly
everyone's Mom was at home why you got there...When nobody owned a
"pure bred dog"...when a quarter was as descent allowance, and another
quarter...was a "miracle"...when you reached into a muddy gutter, for a
penny...when girls neither dated or kissed until late high school, if then...when
your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces...when all your male teachers wore
neckties and the female ones had their hair done, everyday...when you got your
windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, and you didn't pay for
air. And...you got trading stamps to boot...when you got free glasses and dish
towels inside the soap box, when you got free dishes in the movies , playing the
movie game "Screen-0"...When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or
use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of
it....When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real
restaurant with your parents...When being sent to the principal's office
was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student, at home!...
Goin' to the movies on a Saturday, with a Movie pass and a dime, to see, the
movie, a cartoon, the news, coming attractions, and "The Serial", and come
out 3 hours later.....dressing up like your favorite movie hero, out of
whatever you could find......Making the Most out of the Least.... There's nothing
like the good old days! They were good, then...and, they're good now, when we think
about em' So....share these thoughts with a friend who can relate, and
share it with someone that missed out on em'...... Leonard Suligowski "The masked avenger"
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