Continuing on with my pre-adolescent childhood remembrances from the late 50’s, early 60’s, I will continue this series of posts with three more pleasurable memories from that time period.
1953 – 1965 Childhood Remembrances
The Woods
- The Creek — Many times I would enter the woods via the back yard of the Fox family, regularly playing with two of their sons, Niles and Earl. There was a steep decline which leveled out at a small creek. Once you jumped over the creek, you had entered “The Woods”. There were different trails leading to different areas of the woods. One area lead to a swampy area. Another lead to a large hill called “Suicide Hill”. Another led to some back yards while yet another led to an area we called “The Indian Ruins”. Sometimes you would catch frogs and salamanders from the creek and then let them go again. Occasionally there was a turtle or two.
- Suicide Hill — At the far edge of the woods, next to the City Dump and the Jersey Turnpike was a very steep hill called “Suicide Hill”. There were two stories of how it got that name. The first was that at one time there was a part of the hill that was more like a cliff and someone jumped to their death off the cliff. The second story was that the hill was so steep and rutted that if you tried sledding down it, it was tantamount to committing suicide. In any case, it was one steep hill and I never did try sledding down it. From the top of the hill, you had an unparalleled panoramic view of the entire surrounding towns including the skyline of Philadeplhia.
- City Dump — Just what it sounds like. It was a great big pile of trash where the city trash collectors dumped their loads. No garbage though. That was picked up on a separate collection where the garbage collector sold it to local pig farms for feed. Sometimes I would nose around the dump and see if I could find any “neat stuff”. I brought home a broken lamp one time. When I told Mom where it came from, she threw it away and told me not to go back there anymore because a rat might bite me. That was enough for me to hear. I stayed away from the dump after that.
- Toy Gun Wars — We had some great “wars” with toy guns back in the woods. Two or three to a side and once you were “killed” you had to join the other army. No projectiles of any sort, just make shooting sounds with your mouth. There was the inevitable “I got you” and the just as inevitable, “No, you didn’t, you missed”. So the only way you could ever claim that you killed an opposing army soldier was if you snuck up on him and were so close when you “shot your weapon” that he couldn’t possibly deny it. Sometimes guys would lie under a pile of leaves for almost an hour before they would jump out at you as you walked by. It could shock the shit out of you. Sometimes guys carried the metal tops of trash cans which they would claim were bullet proof vests so you had to get them from behind. Once the war started, you couldn’t leave the woods for any reason unless you “surrendered” first.
- Swamp Area and Reeds — There was an area of the woods down by the turnpike that was lowlands and very “marshy”. Some cattails grew there and we used to cut them and dry them out and use them as “punks” to keep the mosquitoes away at twilight time in our back yard. Came home with some cattails one time with my shoes totally caked in mucky mud. “Hey Mom, look what I got” as I stepped into the kitchen. She took one look at my shoes and said, “I don’t care what you have. Go right back outside and get those shoes off”. Kids don’t have much sense sometimes.
- Arrowheads — There was one area that we called the “Indian Ruins”. It had a couple of posts that nobody ever figured out what they were doing there but the reason we called it the “Indian Ruins” was sometimes we were able to find authentic Lenni Lenape arrowheads in the area.
One Time Events
- Chief Halftown — We were at a company picnic at Riverside Park (an amusement park) and appearing there was a local television celebrity named Chief Halftown. Chief Halftown was a Native American who had a longrunning childrens show on tv and was well known to all kids. He was giving out a limited number of colorful beaded necklaces that day and I was lucky enough to get one. I immediately put it around my neck and wore it proudly for the rest of the day. I was going to wear it to bed but Mom said I might choke on it. Yeah kids don’t have much sense sometimes. I wore that beaded necklace off and on for weeks until the string broke and it could not be repaired.
- Connie Mack Stadium — I was to Connie Mack Stadium (aka Shibe Park) once to see the Phillies play the Milwaukee Braves. My brother had won some tickets in a Philadelphia Bulletin newsboy promotion. This was still in the days of black-and-white television. I had never seen an actual Major League Baseball field in person. When we walked down the corridor to get to our seats, for the first time I saw that magical field of emerald green grass, with the brown infield, bright white foul lines, colors of the Phillies and Braves uniforms, and (to me at least) giant scoreboard. It was almost like entering another world.
- NY Worlds Fair — In 1964, Mom took me, my brother and a neighborhood friend on a bus trip up to Queens, New York City to spend a day at the New York Worlds Fair. At the main entrance to the fair was the Unisphere, a huge 12-story globe structure, made of stainless steel. There were pavillions from different corporations as well as different states. I definitely remember the New York State Pavillion because of its observation tower. Other pavillions we visited was the one from Disney with the mechanical animated characters singing the song “It’s a Small World After All”, the General Electric “Future-ama” where you would sit in moving chairs and pass by scenes of “what the future would be like” (all with General Electric appliances) and the Ford Motor Compnany pavillion where you sat in actual cars (I think Mustangs) and rode past scenes with dinosaurs and cavemen. I think my favorite was the 7-UP pavillion that had different sandwiches from around the world and a soda fountain where you could drink as much 7-Up as you wanted. Of course, this was well before the ubiquitous soda fountains of today where endless refills are always available.
- Frontier Village — This was a short-lived park about 10 miles from our house that was surrounded by a wooden palisade fence resembling an army fort from the old west. Inside the fence was a western street resembling the typical western street you would see in a western movie or tv show. Some of the buildings were just facade but some of them were real (the sheriffs office and jail, the saloon, the general store, the stable, the one room schoolhouse). They had guys walking around in cowboy getups, horsemanship and “quick-draw” demonstrations, a stage coach and of course a shoot-out between the bank robbers and the sheriff and the sheriff taking one of the captured bank robbers to the jail (Your’re goin’ to the lockup, you varmint”) to the delight of us kids in the crowd..
- Kool Aid Show — This was a big show that was put on in the back yard of a neighbor. There were at least 15 or 20 kids there. It was supposed to be a show where everyone did some type of act while the kids not performing manned their wagons or tv trays or whatever they had to hawk Kool Aid or Lemonade or cookies and make some money. One kid was trying to sell pre-made peanut butter sandwiches (made special by having the crunchy type peanut butter instead of the creamy style). My brother had a real money-maker, he was selling root beer Kool Aid. Another kid put so much sugar in his fruit punch that kids were spitting it out and he had to run home and make another batch. It devolved into just a big food court type of thing until the father of the kids whose yard we were using came out eating a plum and said to the kids, “OK enough with this other bullshit, let’s get this show started”. They had the outer wooden shell of an old style console tv that you could get inside to do your act. Or you could stand on top of the console (it was really sturdy wood). Or you could just stand in front of the tv. A few kids did some type of puppet thing. Some told jokes. Some sang some type of song (“John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt”) As I remember, most of the “acts” were pretty bad and some were booed off the “stage”. My brother sold out of his “root beer” that day and made a nice profit on the deal. He sang some type of Cub Scout song. I didn’t have to do anything because I wasn’t selling anything plus I was too young.
- JFK — On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. It was a kind of farewell to the innocence of the era, The funeral was being broadcast on television, and I remember my Mom crying as she was watching it. I hated seeing my Mom cry. I scraped up five pennies from my junk drawer in my bureau and went down the street and bought Mom five cents worth of her favorite candy, orange turkish paste. I gave her the candy to try and make her feel better. She gave me a big hug and a kiss. I will always remember that day.
Recurring Treats
- The Merry Go Round Truck — There was a man who would come by about once a month in the summertime who drove a truck that had a small merry-go-round installed on the back of the truck. He would come by and park on my block and play music over a loudspeaker so as to announce his arrival in the neighborhood. I think it accomodated about six kids. When he got a bunch of kids on board, he would start it up and we would ride the merry go round. He gave each kid a taffy as the carousel went around. I think it cost a dime to ride. Then after the ride and we got off, and he would then move on to another neighborhood that had small kids.
- Cowtail Bar — Maybe two or three times a year we would get to go to Cowtail Dairy Bar on the premises of Holly Ravine Farm. A Real Treat! It was a sit-down place where you could get all manner of ice cream treats…dishes of ice cream, sundaes, banana splits, milk shakes, etc. As it was a dairy farm, the ice cream product was always fresh. You got a free complimentary small basket of pretzel sticks at your table. It was a cheerful place and you were always happy being there. I always ate my ice cream real slow so we could stay there as long as possible. You could go out to a barn and actually visit with the cows. Later in the mid sixties, they added a small petting zoo with sheep and horses along with the cows.
- The Jersey Seashore — Once a year we would go to the Jersey Seashore, usually Atlantic City because it was the closest. This was before all the casinos came in during the 70’s. I remember the smell of the salt water as we got close. We wore our bathing suits under our clothes so when we found a spot to park, we would just take our clothes off and wrap them inside a towel that we brought to the beach. A blanket was spread out when we found a spot. Mom put suntan lotion on us so we wouldn’t get burned. We had fun with the waves. .After about three or four hours, we would pack everything up and head back to the parked car. Before leaving the beach, they had an outside shower where you could get a lot of the sand off of you. Back at the car we put our clothes on over our bathing suit and walked the boardwalk for three or four hours, usually getting some salt water taffy and/or fudge then getting something to eat at one of the many places on the boardwalk until nightime when we would head home.
- Lunch with Mom and My Brother — Once every couple months Mom would pick us up at school and treat us at lunchtime to lunch at either a local luncheonette or when they came into the area, at a McDonalds. If we were a little late getting back to school by 1:00, Mom would give us a note so we would not be marked “tardy”.
- Clementon Lake Park — This was an old fashioned amusement park about 7 or 8 miles away from our house. It was built in 1907 and featured “The Jack Rabbit” wooden roller coaster, as well as a bunch of other rides including “The Whip”, “The Salt and Pepper Shaker”, and “Collision Alley” (bumper cars), a fun house, an arcade, a dance hall where events were held, a picnic area, a shooting gallery and some other games, food concession stands , and a small train that traversed the perimeter of the park. It was similiar to Knobels Grove in that parking was free and there was no admission fee to get into the park. For any rides, you bought tickets that were available at a booth in the park. Every two or three years, we would visit the park. When we were older, my brother and I would ride there on our bikes.
- Mister Softee — Not too often, but occasionally was able to have some spare change to get a custard from the Mister Softee truck with its continuous Mister Softee jingle playing as it rode down the street. A few kids would congregate on the side of the road and the truck would pull up and dispense its treats. Before Mister Softee made its rounds, there was also a white “Good Humor” truck that would sell ice cream novelties, announcing its presence in the area by ringing a bell. No more Good Humor truck but even today the Mister Softee truck still makes its rounds.
- To Be Continued Next Week With Part Three