When I was two years old, my parents moved
from East Orange to Norwood St, on top of the Norwood Inn (bar.)
I have many fond memories of this time including the ice man across
the street who sold HUGE blocks of ice for people to use in their
ice boxes. He also sold a bleach item that he called "washing
fluid" and would parade the streets calling in his broken English,
"Washa flu! Washa flu!"
There was also a truck that came around with a carnival ride on
it called The Whip that we could ride for a dime. And I can't forget
the "rag man" who would come around in his horse-drawn
wagon collecting "rags." He, too, would call out "Rags!
Rags!"
In the winter my father would pull my brother and me on a sled
to Vailsburg Park (where I also hung out later on as a teen-ager.)
I attended Lincoln School. When I was eight years old, we moved
to Alexander Street and I attended Alexander Street School. Eileen
and Carol were my best friends.
These were my "formative" years and I will never forget
them. We would hang out at Harry's Candy Store on the corner of
18th Ave and, later on at Nat's Candy Store a block away. There
we would dance to the juke box and play pinball. In the summer I
hung out at Boylan Street Pool. Boy, that lemon-ice on the corner
was the best! Sometimes we would go to Olympic Park either to go
in the huge pool or to go on rides.
My friends and I would also go to matinees at The Stanley and Mayfair
Theaters and, I believe, we paid 35 cents to get in. When in ninth
grade at Ivy Junior High School (I won't forget the Friday night
dances and all the fun we had) my family moved out of Newark to
Cliffwood Beach (near Keyport.)
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