2011: REMEMBERING THE KUSERS

Below: Fred Kuser, Tom Glover, Edna Kuser, Don Slabicki; all very sad that the Kusers could no longer manage the lovely kuser homestead and the surrounding area. Edna is holding a sketch I drew of the house which was in possession of the Kusers since it was built in 1896.

Below: My brother "Bud" began working for Fred and Edna Kuser back in 1940 doing odd jobs around the sprawling Kuser Farm. He became very proficient in operating Fred Kuser's 35 millimeter movie projectors and spent many summers with the Kusers up in Jackson, New Hampshire. When Bud entered the service in 1945, I and my best friend Don Slabicki took his place and we worked for the Kusers until the 1950's when we went into the service. My "little brother" Donnie and his best friend Ken Slabicki took over after we left. I have very pleasant memories of my time with the Kusers. Many of the readers of my hundreds of columns over the past 30 years will recall the many articles written about my years there. I have also presented numerous "on screen" multi media presentations in the Kuser dining room an projected them on Fritz's Cinemascope screen. When Fritz and Edna were leaving their beloved home, I presented them with a booklet I wrote entitled, "KUSER FARM; A JOY FOREVER." I still have the note I received from them expressing their gratitude. The above graphics are from my "KUSER FARM" AND "KUSER FAMILY" folders. I will be posting more in future posts. We made numerous visits to the Howe home in Pennington, and fondly recall how Fritz always referred to Edna Kuser's father as "Mayor," which he was for a number of years.

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM...I OFTEN WONDERED HOW MANY HOMES WERE LOCATED ON KUSER'S FARM. MY WIFE'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE LIST HER ADDRESS AT BIRTH AS "SOMEWHERE ON KUSER'S FARM". I RECALL THE FARM AS TAKING UP A LARGE PORTION OF THE TOWNSHIP BUT WERE THERE STREETS THROUGHOUT THE FARM. THE KUSERS SURE WERE VERY ACTIVE IN THE NEWS DURING MY CHILDHOOD. REGARDS.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Mack said...

It had become Kuser Park in my day and I saw the Mahoney Brothers Beatles shows there as the 80s decade began:)

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

1884: STRANGE BUT TRUE: DESTROYING HISTORY

Reading over the millions of pages of past newspaper articles dealing with the incredibly interesting past of the city of Trenton and its Revolutionary War involvement, I am completely dumbfounded that the dunderhead town fathers of the past 150 years gave such little reverence to the countless historic sites that once dotted the most historic Revolutionary War city in the whole northeast. What in the world ever possessed them to destroy these historic structures just to satisfy their quest for "progress?" Incredibly short sighted and stupid. It is a fact that there are an unfortunate few in high places whose interest in preserving these treasures are not impressed by our historic sites. The recent attempt to bury the old mill behind the State House is a prime example.

1909: THE "JERSEY DEVIL FILES: QUITE APPROPRIATE FOR HALLOWEEN

Above is a group of graphics relating to "The Jersey Devil," as the legendary creature is referred to in Jersey folklore. The two articles above are contemporary 1909 stories relating to reported appearances of the creature over 100 years ago. My "The Way We Were" column was a tongue in cheek retelling of an experience I had on a crisp fall evening at Kuser Park. Ms. Sharon Tondreau, a very talented artist, drew her impression of the "Devil" as described in my research on the beast. I regret to tell you that the article is truncated; the continuation page 16 is lost to the ages; the dog didn't eat it, the Devil did!

One of the more interesting paranormal stories that revolve around central and southern New Jersey is the legend of the Leeds Devil, more commonly known as the Jersey Devil. I have been compiling files on this interesting phenomenon for well over 25 years. The spirit world has always been a fascinating subject for me, (and I might add, many others). I received an email recently from a lady who was at Kuser Park with her daughter. The daughter said that while they in the gazebo area. The daughter saw a woman seated in the gazebo with a shawl around her upper body. The young lady's mother was nearby, and she told her mother to look at the lady, but when the mother looked, the lady was not there. An apparition? I told the lady who sent the email that I had no explanation, but I did tell her that there were countless occasions where I saw Edna Kuser with a shawl, sitting in her kitchen.

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM....THE JERSEY DEVIL EVIDENTLY IS STILL THOUGHT OF THESE DAYS. THE JERSEY ICE HOCKEY TEAM IS NICK NAMED "THE JERSEY DEVILS". BEST REGARDS.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

1910 (CA 1910) THE READING STATION AT WEST TRENTON

Why did we not preserve all these lovely, old, and beautiful area structures? The charming Tudor styling on the old Reading Train station is from an old post card which I estimate is from the 1910-1912 era. What a splendid graphic!

1869: THE HISTORIC TRENTON ARSENAL

This building still stands proudly on the grounds of the New Jersey State Prison. It was a very important part of Trenton during the Civil War, and has been well preserved over the years. It is the residence of the prison warden. As one reads the incredible details of the historic relics kept in the historic old edifice, one wonders how many are still in possession of the state. Many of the flags described are preserved in the N.J. State Library with special lighting and environmental conditions.

1903: JEWISH MASSACRE AT KISHINEFF, RUSSIA

From the "JEWISH" folder in the Hamilton Township Public Library's Local History Collection, these graphics detailing the little known Kishineff massacre that took place back in the spring of 1903. Like the victims of the Holocaust during World War II, these victims' only crime was being born Jewish. Antisemitism has been with us throughout history and unfortunately will always be a part of life.

1915: THE BROOKLYN "TROLLEY DODGERS"

Brooklyn New York, like all boroughs in New York City was alive with overhead wires and trolley tracks back in the late 19th and early 20th century. I imagine that one had to be very careful with all the trolleys moving to and fro as they moved about their daily routes. What better name for a baseball club than "Trolley Dodgers?" Of course, that great old team morphed into the "Brooklyn Dodgers," then moved all the way across the country where they became the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have fond memories of watching the very early telecasts of Brooklyn Dodger games once telecast on WOR-TV channel 9 with Red Barber calling the games. I seem to recall that Schaefer Beer was one of the sponsors. Remember Duke Snyder, Carl Furillo, George "Pee Wee" Reese, Ralph Branca, Sal "The Barber" Maglie, Leo Durocher? Those were the days.....the days of "dem bums!"

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM...YOU'RE RIGHT! THOSE WERE THE DAYS. WHEN LITTLE GUYS LIKE "PEE WEE" REESE AND PHIL RIZZUTO WERE AMONG THE GREAT BALL PLAYERS. WHEN I WAS A KID, I ALWAYS FELT I HAD A CHANCE EVEN THOUGH I WAS ONLY 5 FT 7. TODAY, IT SEEMS LIKE ONLY THE BIG GUYS GET THE SCOUTS ATTENTION. THE BROOKLYN DODGERS HAD MANY OUTSTANDING PLAYERS AND EBBETS FIELD WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED. REGARDS.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Lee Belardino said...

Tommy,I used to watch the dodgers too but not too fondly as I was,am a Phillies fan:but mostly I remember that young red headed Irish guy named Vince Scully who was just breaking in. Vinnie is in 80's now,looks 50 and still has the greatest baseball voice ever and is one of Americas finest citizens

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Tom Glover said...

HI LEE: I ALSO REMEMBER WHEN VINCE SCULLY WAS A ROOKIE BROADCASTER. MY TEAM HAS BEEN THE YANKEES. MEL ALLEN AND CURT GOWDY WERE THE PLAY BY PLAY GUYS AND WHITE OWL CIGARS THE SPONSOR FOR THE ENTIRE GAME.

TOM

Thursday, October 27, 2011

2011: REMEMBERING OUR WWII PATRIOTS

I am now, and always will be grateful to our military veterans. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It also marks a period of time where memories of World War II are quickly fading from the public view. An historian's obligation is to keep those memories alive so that younger citizens are informed of the many sacrifices our veterans from all wars have made for our country.

THE ABOVE GRAPHIC IS SCANNED FROM A BROADSIDE I AM POSTING AT KUSER MANSION AND THE HAMILTON TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY ANNOUNCING A VERY SPECIAL VETERANS' DAY PRESENTATION. I HOPE TO SEE MANY OF MY LOCAL VISITORS TO THIS WEBSITE AT THE PROGRAM.

Sally Logan Gilman said...

Hi Tom: I hope you have a great turn out for such a worthy program. I'll be there in spirit. Regards

1936: IMMACULATE CONCEPTION HIGH SCHOOL PRESENTS...

Immaculate Conception High School presented "The Seal of Confession" with the cast shown in the graphics above. My favorite 8th grade Kuser School teacher, Margaret Gaydos is in the back row, upper photo, under the letters "MA." I looked in vain for former Trenton mayor, and my favorite mayor Art Holland, and the closest I could come to a younger Art was the young man in the upper photo, first row, third from left.

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM....1936 IS THE YEAR I PLAYED WITH THE SCHROTH'S. I MENTION THAT BECAUSE ART (CHIRP) HOLLAND, MY FRIEND AND TEAMMATE LATTER TOLD ME THE ONE REGRET HE HAD WAS NOT BEING PICKED TO PLAY WITH THE SCHROTH'S. I SEE PETE MARCELLA AND JOE FEDORCHAK, TWO GOOD BALL PLAYERS, AMONG THE GROUP ABOVE. THAT PHOTO YOU MENTION MAY VERY WELL BE ART HOLLAND. BEST REGARDS.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

1932: J.B. VAN SCIVER BRINGS "A SENSE OF CLASS"TRENTON

The engraving above was rendered by Mr. Lloyd Van Sciver as an architectural drawing of the Van Sciver building on South Broad Street in Trenton. The feature article accompanying this post tells of the Van Scivers and their huge Camden furniture establishment. If you had furniture from J.B. Van Sciver, you were in possession of QUALITY!
As a young boy passing that that grand old structure on the "L-Liberty Street" Trenton Transit bus, a young Tom Glover had visions of knights in shining armor residing in that huge, castle-like structure.

THE ARTICLE ABOVE IS A LARGE FILE. TO ENLARGE IT SO YOU CAN READ IT, RIGHT CLICK THE IMAGE AND CHOOSE OPEN LINK IN NEW WINDOW.

omad said...

I still have a gorgeous cherry drop leaf dining room table my parents bought from Van Sciver in the early 40's. It's in excellent condition and I keep the leaves down and only a runner on the top. It's often a conversation piece when I entertain because of its natural beauty and the way it has held up. The building was always a fascination as I bussed own from my grandparents' house on Second St.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

1922: HAMILTON-NORWAY AVENUE AREA DEVELOPS

I am always on the lookout for articles, real estate ads and photos relating to neighborhood development. The "NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" folder has early information on areas from Cadwalader Heights, Hiltonia, Millham, Deutzville, Broad Street Park, and numerous other historic graphics. Above is a graphic which is "close to home," as it is the Kuser School area where I grew up and of course, of special personal interest. The black and white article is an extract I borrowed from one of my old "MERCER MESSENGER" columns.

1873: TRENTON'S GOODWILL VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY

Many years ago, I paid a visit to Meredith "Med" Havens home in the Cadwalader section of Trenton to purchase a stack of his duplicate "Trenton" magazines. Med had a collection of fire memorabilia that at the time I remember saying was museum quality. Med said they would ultimately be in a museum. Much of Med's collection is in the Trenton Fire Museum on Perry Street in downtown Trenton.

trentonfiremuseum.com

1934: TRENTON HOSE NO. 1 HAND DRAWN FIRE APPARATUS

How I love sepia views! In fact, I am going to convert some future posts from "gray scale" to sepia. The above Trenton Public Library photo from the March 11, 1934 Trenton Times has been "de-screened," enhanced and turned into sepia, giving a beautiful example of a typical early 19th century hand drawn fire vehicle.

Anonymous said...

They took sport with those old horse drawn pumpers in the cartoons and the Little Rascals serial. The only horse drawn holdout I remember was Jake the rag man and his call for "rags and bones". Regarding the State House fire, I remember seeing a portion of the old roof in the space over the current governors "inner" office. They did not fully demolish it but just built around it.

Ed Millerick

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

NOTE FROM TOM: "LAKESIDE GIRL" AND OTHERS WHO CAN'T READ ARTICLES SUCH AS THE ONE BELOW

TO ENLARGE OVERSIZED ARTICLES, RIGHT CLICK ON THE GRAPHIC AND CHOOSE "OPEN LINK IN A NEW WINDOW;" CLICK ON THE MAGNIFYING GLASS AND THE ARTICLE IS FULLY LEGIBLE.

(ON SOME GRAPHICS, THIS OPTION MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE.)

Well thank you for refreshing the index; that is really appreciated! However now you have sparked the longing for a bowl, a large bowl of snapper soup with a wee bit of sherry. "Shorty" Skwara ran a tavern on Brunswick and Spruce and he caught his own turtles. Friday was a special of flounder along with a bowl of snapper. For a tiny place it was standing room only and if you didn't get there early you might go hungry. One day I spied an old cedar canoe in poor condition in his yard and when I asked his intentions regarding the boat he said that my Dad would occasionally help him with his turtle trapping in that canoe. I tracked the numbers etched in the inner keel and found that it is an Old Town that was built in 1939. They have the records on each and every canoe or skiff ever built and can send you a part if you furnish that number. My restoration certainly did not do it justice but I still have it. Now, to find a place to get an honest bowl of snapper? I believe Dad said the pond at Walker Gordon Dairy was the best source of snappers in the area.

Ed Millerick

YOU ARE VERY WELCOME, ED. GLAD TO BE OF SERVICE. FOR ABOUT 12 YEARS IN THE 1940'S ONE OF OUR HARTLEY AVENUE NEIGHBORS WAS FRANK SKWARA. FRANK HAD A DAUGHTER DOLORES WHO HUNG AROUND WITH MY SISTER, AND A SON FRANK JR. WHO WAS A LICENSED PILOT. HE USE TO FLY LOW OVER THE NEIGHBORHOOD IN HIS PLANE AND "WOBBLE" HIS WINGS. I'LL BET THEY ARE RELATED. I KNOW RELATIVES WERE OVER IN THE PENNSYLVANIA-OHIO AVENUE AREA OF NORTH TRENTON.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Tom. I learn something new about my computer just about every day!
Lakeside Girl

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

2011: ANOTHER WAY TO SEARCH THIS WEB SITE

As I approach over 8,000 individual posts, it becomes quite evident that searching for relevant posts is an intimidating venture. On my home page directly under the home page graphic is a "SEARCH" option. Unfortunately, this seems to be a "sometime" thing. There are days when the search is requested and no results are maintained. On the other hand (as at the present time) there is an immediate listing as you arrow DOWN to the listing. Above is another easy way to find a specific subject. Go to Google, type in your key word (the above example used the key word CHAMBERSBURG.) All Tom Glover Chambersburg posts will be listed in multi pages.

Anonymous said...

Honestly Tom, I miss that old index on the side. Many a rainy afternoon I would browse the topics and they were a wonderful guide. Is there still an index? Thank you for all of the work you are doing.

Ed Millerick

PS, in addition to John Cleary I was told that I was also a great nephew of Ed O'Brien who wrote for the Saturday Evening Post. Clearly, all genes were not passed along.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Sally Logan Gilman said...

Hi Tom: I know manning this site is a daunting task, and you deserve tons of credit for doing so. But, I too, enjoyed browsing the topics on the right side of your page. I meandered from subject to subject, opening, reading, closing and moving on. I will be OK but I just don't like change -- but I will adjust. Regards

Friday, October 21, 2011

OK, I HAVE RESURRECTED THE "LABELS"
WHICH IS THE NAME GOOGLE USES TO REPLACE "INDEX."
ENJOY!

1915 AND 1924: A MILL HILL'S "GREEN-MAR" SHOPPING CENTER

In 1915, years before the city of Trenton engaged in "Urban Renewal,"merchants in the area of Mill Hill along South Broad and Market Streets embarked on a publicity program to bring shoppers from center city to their thriving businesses. To we "old timers" there are many very familiar old merchant names in the vignette above.

1908: TRENTON'S C.O. JOHNSON BOTTLING COMPANY

Thanks to my friend Alan Wildblood for these rare photos of the C.O. Johnson Bottling Company, which was located at 140 Perry Street in Trenton. Alan notes that the spelling of "Mehylo" is an educated guess. This set of photos has been digitized and added to the "BUSINESSES AND FACTORIES-TRENTON" folder in the Local History Collection.

1938: TRENTON HIGH GIRLS MAKING GOWNS

Trenton High School has a magnificent historic heritage. The photo grouping above shows just one of the many such articles and photos that are being digitally preserved in the Hamilton Library's Local History Collection under database folder, "TRENTON CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL." I have yet to meet anyone locally who doesn't share my view that this beautiful edifice should be restored and preserved as a viable high school and at the same time preserved as the historic local treasure that it is. On the "other side" are those who prefer a glass-encrusted ultra modern structure which will in no way improve the performance of the students.

Sally Logan Gilman said...
Tom: I graduated from THS in 1955 and on one trip back to Trenton, I took some photos around the outside. I'm so glad I did. It was a beautiful building and I cannot imagine not taking care of it and treasuring it. Also, I love the new background on your website. It is so polished and colorful. Regards
Thursday, October 20, 2011

1951 - 2011: 60 YEARS!! WHERE DID THE TIME GO?

Apologies to those visitors to my Kuser and Hamilton High West websites who left comments that have gone unanswered. I discontinued posting on those sites due to my inability to keep all three sites going simultaneously. That was a mistake, and I am hereby resuming posting. To those of you who didn't receive a response to comments left on the site, please know that it was unintentional. A bit of simple math, 2011 minus 1951 equals 60 years, and at the golden age of 78, I admit that I let up a bit on the accelerator. However, I have decided to resume posting on these websites. As to the goals of this endeavor and even though I have a very soft spot in my heart for my HHS '51 classmates, you will see that www.hhs51.blogspot.com and www.kuser-school.blogspot.com are really a chronological histories of of the schools which in my biased opinion is the best in the state of New Jersey.

I would like to make a suggestion to those visitors who are familiar with tweaking your computer. This site is much more legible if you reset your monitor display to 800 x 600 (from 1024 x 768).

(Go to START. CLICK ON CONTROL PANEL, CLICK ON DISPLAY, CLICK ON SETTINGS, SLIDE OVER TO TO 800 X 600 AND CLICK APPLY.)

800 x 600 is much more comfortable for those of us whose advancing age has resulted in our being "optically challenged."

1951: WE MADE SUCH BEAUTIFUL MUSIC TOGETHER

Those were such wonderful years! As I pile on the years, memories of those years of singing with the gentlemen above will remain until we prayerfully meet again in the great beyond to resume our vocal talents. The photo was taken while we were in stage makeup as you can see by the lipstick and the flesh-colored make up we wore as we performed for the public. (don't miss our lily white necks where the makeup begins!) Each of us had a specific talent. Our "anchor," Bill Baggott along with Lee Belardino handled the tenor section. Keith Kauffman and Bob Thompson handled the deep, deep, "bass II" and George Mozer and I took over the baritone ("bass I") section. I will never forget the beautiful, indeed ethereal harmony we made together as we sang those great old "barbershop" songs; "When You Wore a Tulip," "Drifting and Dreaming," "In the Evening By the Moonlight," "Shine on Harvest Moon," and countless others.

Lee Belardino said...

Tommy that is without a doubt the best looking guys in the 51 class. We could also sing. I keep telling all my freinds out here that the 50's were the best with greatest collection of singers ever including us. You never changed and are still the gtreatest.

Lee

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

1898: A FLEETING GLIMPSE OF LIFE IN TRENTON'S 4TH WARD

I find a certain fascination in reading the community news from that long gone era when Trenton was on the rise. The South Trenton area is of particular interest. Urban redevelopment which occurred in the mid 20th century changed the South Trenton area forever. It is refreshing to read of the persons, places and things that once were.

From Mike Kuzma:
You hit a nerve with this post. This is where I grew up in the early 1930's to our move to the 1300 block of So. Broad in the 1956. Fair street was renamed "Bloomsbury St." 531 So. Warren St. was the block in which Dr. Drezner who delivered me, and his son the famous surgeon Dr. Malcolm Drezner lived, and grew up, just a few doors from Herb Speigel Famed professor, and former Furniture maven grew up. The mention of the shirt factory on Union St., was the site of Jesse Goss's gym where the world's Champion (when Titles meant somthing) Ike Williams trained. The repaving of Fall St was the block just west of my house where I was born. Mill and Fair Streets, is where Princeton Worsted Mills grew.

Thanks for refreshing my memories.
Mike Kuzma

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

NO MIKE, THANKS TO YOU FOR YOUR INTERESTING REMINISCENCES AND INSIGHTS!

TOM

1958: TRENTON CHANGES FOREVER

It was called "Urban Re-Development." It changed the city of Trenton and the South Trenton area from a middle size town with run-down and aging "ghetto" attributes into a town with glass-encrusted high rise state office buildings. Old streets in South Trenton such as Cooper, Fall, South Warren and many others were either truncated (Greenwood Avenue) or completely eliminated.

Stephen Doyle said...

What is interesting is that the article mentions the concerns of one legislator who noted that while the City and State would sink a lot of money into the project, they would get nothing back. Looks like everyone ignored him and said the classic "it will stimulate private development" line- which is a myth. Thanks for posting- its very interesting to see how this was presented at the time! -sd

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Michael Kuzma said...

Tom:

This was not only my old neighborhood, but just a year after this article, I went to work for the City of Trenton and watched the debacle up close.
Our family had moved out of the area two years prior to this published article. Having seen the fiasco the city created in the "Redevelopment" of Coalport, this project should never been undertaken. The Holland Administration came into power in 1960 during the "Development phase" His Director of Relocation, was typically out of the office sleeping it off. As a result, records were fudged, and hundreds of residents were never relocated
Like Coalport, there was not one iota of private development in the area. thousands were uprooted, business's were lost to the suburbs,and the State despite using our Police to respond to car break ins and robberies, and our Fire Department resources strained by the demands of those thousands of State workers that needed someone to put the fires out, paid a fair contribution to the city.

Like Coalport, Center City South, The Fitch Way didn't provide a return on our investment.

I must say that the only successful project undertaken in the 50's and 60's was one I was personally involved in; Mercer Jackson Rehabilitation Project, now known as Mill Hill. Seems like things have not changed much in all these years; All promises, no production.

Regards

Mike Kuzma

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Thanks Steve and Mike. These first hand observations and comments go a long way to enlightening those who were not around when Trenton morphed into the glass encrusted high rises we have in the city today.

1946: CWV SOFTBALL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

From the WWII folder in the Hamilton Library Local History Collection, this enhanced photo-article on the WWII veterans who were on the 1946 championship team. It would be my guess that Ralph Lucarella and other older local sports fans will recognize many in the photo. I do recall Stewart H. O'Donnell and Joe Connolly.