My parents were married in Vailsburg at Sacred Heart in 1947. They moved to Newark and lived in a cold water flat on So. 17th Street. I was born at Beth Israel Hospital late 1948 and lived there till I was about 6.
My earliest memories are of wonderful things ...brick or cobblestone
streets and how they sounded when you drove over them, alleys between
the houses and walking a block or two with a crowd of other kids
to kindergarten. A time when my mother could send me down the street
alone at the age of 5 to buy bologna from the local German butcher
and I would arrive home safe and sound (with a piece of bologna
for me, to boot!) There was a wooden Indian in front of the store..
We had a small apartment and I remember that there was a coal bin
in the basement. We enjoyed watching the coal man come and put the
chute through the window and watch the coal pour into the cellar.
My mother says she doesn't remember shoveling the coal and stoking
the furnace with fond memories!
Later, after we moved away to the "suburbs", I would visit my grandmother
and she would take us downtown by bus. My grandfather worked for
Public Service and we'd meet him and go to Bamberger's or Woolworth's
(?) for lunch and sit at the counter and have banana splits and
hot dogs. I remember the wooden escalators and the wooden floors
and all the things you could buy for a dime! We'd come home with
paper dolls, jacks and numerous other treasures!
My family has lived in Newark since the 1850's so I go back occasionally to do some family research. (I live in North Carolina now) I still find Newark a very interesting city and have many fond memories of the place.
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