I have already posted a couple of memories
on this great site. But one of my best memories is of Downtown Newark.
When we lived on Madison Avenue we used to take the number 13 or
14 bus on Clinton Avenue, if I remember correctly. My father did
not drive and if he did we could not afford a car, so we used mass
transportation, always. I used to love going Downtown with my mother.
We always went to the 5 & 10 cent stores (where have they all gone?).
There was Grant's on Market Street that had the most delicious hot
dogs. Then we would go to Woolworth's on Broad & Market to buy some
loose candy or cookies by the pound. They also had a great counter
where you could have a really inexpensive lunch. My mother would
buy little bottles of cheap cologne etc. at the cosmetics counter.
Then we would trek down to the last 5 & 10, McCrory's on Broad Street,
closer to S Klein on the square. They had the best pizza for 15
cents a slice if I remember correctly.
A lot of my memories revolve around food as you can see. Downstairs
in McCrory's you could even buy a canary or a parakeet, if you wanted
one. S Klein always had great sales and if we had not eaten anything
yet we would go to either Bam's basement for a hot dog and one of
their chocolate malt ice creams soft serve. Or it was on to Nedicks
on the corner of Broad & Market for a hot dog (we ate a lot of hot
dogs) and a delicious orange soda.
When we moved to Orange Street & Norfolk Street my friends and
I (I was older by now) would walk Downtown to the movies (there
were the Adam's, the Branford & the Paramount that I can remember).
We would also go to the great Newark Library & the Newark Museum.
We had Hahne's. Kresge's, S Klein on the Square, Ohrbach's & Bamberger's
to shop in along with Lerner's, Bond's etc. We were so lucky & we
did not even know it. We also went to Chock Full O'Nuts for their
delicious donuts & the Nut House for nuts.
We were not confined to a mall the way you are today. Downtown
was the best around Christmas time going in and out of the stores
especially great when there was snow on the ground. Sometimes my
friends and I would walk High Street (now Martin Luther King Blvd)
to go to the Newark Slip Company that sort of catered to lower income
people such as my family & the families of my friends. But lower
income or not I would trade my childhood in Newark for a childhood
full of money or in a more exclusive area. We were able to walk
the streets without our parents worrying about us getting killed.
Boy, have times changed everywhere!!!
Those were the days my friends!
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