It’s about three weeks or so before
Christmas, and my mother and I take the bus to Newark, on our way
downtown. We want to visit the big department stores in the heart
of Newark. Beautiful Kresges, with it’s explosion of holiday
enticements, a kaleidoscope of color and brilliance; Bamberger’s,
full of the romance of the season as well; and Orbachs, a department
store that was in effect a neat little cache of clothing, gift items
and such. There was also the gentle, if oftentimes garish, cornucopia
of bargains to be purchased at Klein’s on the Square. The
last stop before catching the No. 13 bus home to Irvington were
always McCrory’s and Woolworth’s 5 and 10 cent stores.
Upon entering McCrory’s from the rear, you found yourself
in its basement wherein the smell of chicken’s roasting and
turning on spits inside a glass enclosure hit you squarely. Some
people liked that aroma, I didn’t. After that, we went to
Woolworth’s and always, always, my mother bought me the little
heart-shaped bottle of Blue Waltz perfume. I remember once, when
she was feeling particularly generous, she bought me the larger
bottle. It was an unprecedented event I still remember.
But before pursuing the greater purchases to be made downtown,
Mom and I stopped off at Rosenfeld’s Import Store on Springfield
Avenue. Upon entering one was overwhelmed by the wonderful aromas
of spices, teas and other produce from faraway countries. My mother
baked the traditional Hungarian Kalacs, which was a golden aromatic
yeast bread, and a yeast bread, rolled flat, jelly roll fashion,
and filled with ground walnuts combined with sugar and raisins,
poppy seeds and honey, and lekvar, the prune jam, well beloved by
the true ethnic purists of Hungarian cuisine. All of these ingredients
could be bought here. And there were the containers of dried mushrooms,
which exuded an exotic musty aroma. We bought a pound or so of these,
which my mother made into a savory soup, traditionally served on
New Years Eve. There were also the crunchy Austrian bonbons. Small
oblong pieces of hard candy filled with fruit flavored jams, and
wrapped in blue and white paper, twisted at each end like a party
popper. We mustn't forget paprika, sweet (rozsa, or rose), or the
hot (csipos), which was also sold by the pound and scooped into
paper bags.
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