I found your wonderful site quite by accident.
I was attempting to find the whereabouts of an old friend. We were
classmates at Alexander Street School. I was surprised to find out
that the old school was still in operation.
I was born April 11, 1938 in Montclair and my family moved to
Munn Avenue at the beginning of the US involvement in WWII, probably
1941. My father (Zelic "Ray" Caro, deceased) went off
to war and my mother (Hannah Marx Caro, deceased) went to work in
a defense plant, Hyatt Bearings in Kearny. That is how we were able
to get an apartment on Munn Avenue. After the war she worked at
Bamberger's Department Store in Newark.
My entire elementary school education was at Alexander Street
School. I graduated in the Spring of 1952. Here is what I remember:
Principal, Genevieve Yelton (Great Lady).
Great teachers, Sachs, Moreland, Wells and Fannon. (teachers did
not have first names in the 40's)
The school building was in two parts, Front (Alexander Street)
was the old half.
Behind the school an old woman set up a candy store in her basement.
He establishment was known as "Nancy's." Whether you had
just a penny or on the rare occasion when one of us had a nickel,
at the end of the day, Nancy had it all.
I visited the bicycle repair shop, which you identify as the first
school in Vailsburg near Boylan Street Pool often, for parts and
when a special tool, such as a spoke wrench was needed. The shop
owner kept a monkey. It was, as I remember, a very tiny building.
Just to be sure we are at the same location, the build that I refer
to was on the south side of South Orange Avenue. There was a more
formal bike shop nearby on a corner that was located on the north
side of South Orange Avenue
Trivia:
During the war, Vailsburg Park had a anti-aircraft gun battery
housed on the north end of the park.
We grew, as did many of our neighbors, a Victory Garden within the
area know as Joseph P. Bradley Court.
Meadowbrook Bowl was an outdoor boxing arena located on South Orange
Avenue across from Vailsburg Park. Wrestling matches were televised
from that location on Channel 13 every Friday night. It was replaced
by a supermarket. Pizza was sold there as an ethnic food. It was
Tomato Pie.
I belonged to scout troop 106
Students could get discount bus tickets to ride the "31"
at the terminal located at the corner of Dover Street and South
Orange Avenue.
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