1985: ART HOLLAND: ALL THAT A MAYOR SHOULD BE

Art and Betty Holland, Carmen and Hope Armenti: Except for the civil rioting and looting of the 1960's that changed the face of old Trenton forever, many of us still miss you!

1941 (Ca 1941) SOUTH OLDEN AVENUE AND THE GAIETY THEATER

Very delightful photo from the R.C. Maxwell-Duke University Library showing the marquee of the good old Gaiety Theater on South Olden Avenue. What memories this photo brings! Tuesday summer time matinees with a cartoon carnival for all of us kids. As I recall admission was 11 cents, but that's open for question. Across the street was the Townsend Bakery where we often shopped (along with the Rowley Bakery) down on South Olden and Hobart Avenues. Marucca's had their tomato pie location in the row on the left, and there was a small Acme Supermarket to the right and out of the picture. I have a "long shot" of this are in my "TRENTON VIEWS" folder.

NOTE: DUE TO A GLOVER SENIOR MOMENT, THIS WAS ORIGINALLY LABELED AS NORTH OLDEN AVENUE AND OF COURSE IT WAS SOUTH OLDEN AVENUE, THE DIVISION BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH BEING STATE STREET. THANKS TO MIKE KUZMA AND A FACEBOOK VISITOR WHERE IT HAS ALSO BEEN POSTED, I STAND CORRECTED. 

1914: DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUCLID-TIOGA STREET AREA

One of the target areas of this history website is in the "REAL ESTATE" and "LAND ASSOCIATIONS" folders at the Hamilton Library Local History digital collection. It is an important area of local history to learn how various neighborhoods developed. Quite coincidentally, my Uncle Charles Gaudette and family lived on Euclid Avenue back in the mid 20th century. At the time it was an affluent neighborhood. Many will recall the "Food Fair" market the was in Chambers Street in the Euclid-Tioga area of Trenton.

1914: HISTORIC PLAQUE ON THE HISTORIC TRENTON BELL TELEPHONE BUILDING

That great old Bell Telephone building is a very familiar site to those of us who recall the buildings in the city of Trenton of the mid 20th century and before. Today, the cityscape is completely different as large, glass encrusted office building replace many of the old Trenton landmarks. The Bell building has survived.

1869: TRENTON MORPHING FROM A VILLAGE TO A CITY

This is a true historic treasure. As state in the article on the expansion of the city in the only direction possible, and that was to the east and southeast via the Crosswicks and Trenton Turnpike (today's Broad Street.) The wealthy Trentonians began to build luxurious mansions along Greenwood Avenue which at the time was considered to be in the country. Fascinating read for those of us who are into "hard core" Trenton history.

1858: TEACHER'S LEDGER FROM FARMINGDALE SCHOOL

Farmingdale School is believed to be among the oldest if not the oldest in Hamilton Township. Of course this would not include the very oldest school which was in today's South Trenton when it was part of Nottingham township.

1985: LIZZIE MCCABE'S DIARY

This is one of the columns I wrote relating to the old Hooper-Chamberlin-McCabe general store in Hamilton Square. In order to make history more palatable for those who find it boring, I access community news items from the millions of pages in my 100 plus year collection of old Trenton newspapers, assign a fictional name and produce a diary. The only thing fictional is the diary writer who in this case happens to be Lizzie McCabe. There will be many future diaries in my "Sentimental Journey" coilumn in the the Trenton Times.

2013: I HOPE TO SEE AND MEET SOME OF MY MANY VISITORS NEXT SUNDAY!

I HOPE TO SEE SOME MUSIC LOVERS WHO LOVE TO HEAR MUSIC FROM AND ERA
"WHEN MUSIC WAS MUSIC." Bring a chair or blanket and come out for a nostalgic hour and a half of sing along music on the beautiful lawn of the Hamilton Township Public Library! Very ample parking, a completely free volunteer event.

1989: MY VERY SPECIAL HISTORIC TREASURE

The 1980's: Personal computers were only beginning to achieve the ability to produce high quality digital reproductions. Many libraries didn't have space to accommodate these huge volumes. Along came what the libraries thought was the perfect answer: MICROFORMS AND MICROFILM. Paper recycling folks were delighted to turn these historic newspapers into new recycled paper and many libraries were equally delighted to gain the space and replace it with a microfilm reader, never realizing that constant speeding of the film through the reader resulted in vertical scratches, and poor reproduction. Fortunately, these treasures escaped the recycle bin and repose in the Hamilton Township Public Library where articles and photos in the millions of pages can be digitized, dated, sourced, and best of all, many times computer technology can improve on the quality of the original.

1940: CALHOUN STREET AT SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH

A very familiar location to those of us who drove this road down to the Calhoun Street Bridge, passing the very exclusive Glen Cairn Arms Apartments. Part of the front of Shiloh can be seen in the left of the photo. In fact, if you enlarge it, you may see the name on the front arch.
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/rcmaxwellco_XXH0429/

1950: SOUTH BROAD FROM SECOND STREET

Once again, the detail on this R.C. Maxwell photo is pristine and very detailed. Closer inspection will show the old and very familiar Gould's Auto Parts, along with one of those very familiar Trenton Transit "Fageol" Twin Coach buses.

WHEN U.S. ROUTE 130 WAS ROUTE 25

What memories surround the Old Hights Inn! We dined there many times back in the 1950s. Only oldtimers remember Route 25. It was notorious for the very heavy truck traffic that chose it as an artery from North Brunswick to points in South Jersey. Indeed, we called it the Deadman's Highway due to all the auto fatalities on that highway. One of our Hamilton High class of 1951 reunions were held at the Old Hights.

1947: LANDWEHR'S RESTAURANT: IN THE BEGINNING

My wife Judy and I were well acquainted with Hazel Landwehr back in the early 1950's when we first met her on one of her many visits to our Hamilton High School music teacher, Louise Baird's Hamilton Avenue apartment. Back then, we all dined at not only Landwehr's but also at the Heidelberg, the Old Hights Inn, and the Cranbury Inn. Hazel Landwehr and her husband Oscar had a beautiful upscale dining facility with an incredibly beautiful view of the wooded area surrounding the back of the restaurant. Our HHS class of 1951 held one of our reunions at Landwehr's back in the 1950's. Gracious dining and unbelievably good food thanks to the culinary ability of Oscar Landwehr, and later his son, Eugene. Back in 1958 when I was discharged from the U.S. Army, Hazel hired me as a bus boy with the idea that I would train to become a waiter. In a month or so, I was a waiter and did very well in my short time there. Bill Caffrey was a trusted employee at Landwehr's. Judy and I graduated from Hamilton High with his sister, Olive. 

2013: REMEMBERING "THE IRON MIKE"

Those of us who knew him, loved him. He was the epitome of a saintly Priest in the Roman Catholic faith. I wrote this eulogy at his passing in December, 1990. His legacy should be preserved and I invite comments from any visitors who recall this holy man of God. 

1904 AND 1914: THE ROMANCE OF THE RIVER

 

 

What a wonderful trip to follow Mark Twain's Mississippi River adventures! Paddle wheelers, showboats, "rafters" and the romance of the river are all part of the history of river transportation and entertainment in years past. The one hundred year old graphic ad above for with the schedule of arrivals and departures for the steamship "Columbia" revives the aforesaid adventures and brings them to our own Delaware River. Trips to Burlington Island, Bristol, and Philadelphia were all part of river travel in years gone by. Unfortunately, as can be seen tin the news article below accidents were an integral part of river travel. Boilers were also known to have exploded and took the lives of many river riders. In August, 1901, a few years earlier than the Columbia, the steamer "Trenton" burned to the water line, and more than 20 people died and countless were injured. The good and the bad all fall under the category of the "romance of the river." Another fascinating river era was the rafts that once plied the Delaware. The Delaware Inn, which still stands on the shores of the Delaware off Lamberton Street and in the process of preservation,  sure contains delightful stories of the rugged canal boat operators who were an integral part of Trenton river history. 

1947: "THEY DO SELL NICE THINGS AT YARDS"

This and other State and Broad photos from the Duke University-R.C. Maxwell collection of photos is close to my heart. Back in 1950, I began dating the girl of my dreams and high school classmate, Judy Britton. Judy worked in "Infants Wear" at Yards, and often as a model for the Yard's Teen shop. Each Thursday night at 8:50 or 8:55 P.M., I would find a curb spot behind that Trenton Transit bus, or in some cases 3 or four lined up at the intersection, and wait for the stores to close. My favorite Trenton Police Officer at the time, Chet Hughes, got to know my car and my mission and he knew that it would only be there there for perhaps 5 minutes. I like to think he looked the other way when he saw that blue 1940 DeSoto, because I was never told to "move on;" which was a common warning to those of us who were "cruising" on a Thursday evening in bustling downtown Trenton.

1931: GREAT DEPRESSION? LET'S GO SHOPPING

I see Max Introlligator's "Specials" in this full page ad from the Trenton Times, as well as Kinney Shoes  advertizing a real good deal on sneakers. (From "PF's" to "Addidas to Nike;" what a huge giant step in price and functionality!

Circa 1930's: GROCERS AND "CORNER STORES" IN TRENTON AREA

Unfortunately this graphic is much too large even for this website. I posted it on Facebook and it is completely illegible. The original is in color. However, color takes up a huge amount of space so it has been converted to "gray scale" which, even though it is still a large graphic, allows for legibility. It is an interesting log of the countless small "mom and pop" stores that proliferated in the area before the present day "convenience stores" took up nearly every intersection in the area.

1937: CONSTRUCTING THE TERNSTEDT DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS

When I began working in the bearing industry in 1952, it was still known as the Ternstedt Division of General Motors, It began as Ternstedt, changed to Eastern Aircraft during WWII, then back to Ternstedt, then Fisher Body. It was a sad example of American industry being upstaged by cheaper imports and unreasonable operating costs.

1930: THE 300 BLOCK OF SO. WARREN STREET

Here's a cut and paste of a small segment of South Warren Street as it looked in 1930. Tex's Cafe can be clearly seen on the right. South Warren Street was a busy thorofare before re-development detoured it over to South Broad Street. I recall going to the Penn Jersey Store back in my early teens for parts and accessories.

1930: NORTH BROAD AND HANOVER STREET

I received the following comment from Mr. Bob Chianese regarding the posts on this website:
Tom:

I comment occasionally on your fine document- and photo-posts, but can I say they are not "history" until some one contextualizes them, places them in a narrative with a thesis to propound? Your posts are the raw materials out of which any history could be crafted--more like retrieved artifacts from a rich storehouse or vault that are fascinating in themselves but which need an overarching "story," ie. history, to tell us the meaning of it all.

I sense that there is an underlying thesis to many of the posted artifacts and comments -- the decline of Trenton from former community, social and economic glory. This is pretty general and any historian would want to sharpen it. For example, can we explain the decline of Trenton as a shift in global economic reality--away from industry to something that has yet to replace it in Trenton as an economic engine? (My dad worked at GM all his life and that topic is a big one for me.) Is the state government there no longer a source of employment for high school grads that enables them to join the middle class? Has immigrant life become a source of friction rather than ethnic pride and diversity? As an Italian-American this topic interests me, with a cousin still living in the much transformed "Burg."

Many of your posts speak to a revived though changed Trenton area, and that may reflect your own underlying historical thesis, which I would like to hear more about from you in explicit comments.

Final point-- many of your readers are probably like me, retired and 65+ and love to reflect on our childhoods in the Trenton area. That means materials from the 40's and 50's are the most relevant to our experience and then from the 10's and 20's and 30's to our parents' era. There are fine histories of those eras in our American experience that can be glosses on your posts. However, I mainly access your posts as valued reminiscences and leave the more heady and contentious issues of history for a different time and place.

An active and appreciative reader of your blog,
Bob Chianese

My reply:

I vehemently disagree with Bob is in his first paragraph wherein he opines that the posts herein are not history until the subject is expanded upon, or as Bob says, "contextualized." Personally, I would love to take the time to research and add context to each and every one of the 7,000+ pages in this site which contains HISTORIC photos and articles, but alas, at age 80, time does not permit. However, I have found  that many visitors have indeed added context on certain subjects for their genealogical projects, or for use in a community presentation, or other endeavor. As a personal example, my recent on screen presentations on "White City," "The Interstate Fair," along with at least 10 other presentations which I will be doing for the Historical Society of Hamilton Township in 2014,; all use material gleaned from this site. When I started this site back in 2005, it was my goal to bring history as chronicled by the local press and bring it into the light of the 21st century. Any historian will tell you that one of the best sources of local history is to be found in the daily newspaper. I agree. I have a 100 year collection of Trenton newspapers dating from the late 1860's through the early 1940's and believe me, history abounds in almost every one of the millions of pages. Granted, a few articles on a given subject does not a complete history make, but it certainly does give the person researching a specific subject a golden opportunity to "contextualize" or expand on the raw material which is indeed "history." As to the more recent "history," I provide for that with the slogan of this website, "Local History With A Personal Touch." Bottom line: www.glover320.blogspot.com is a history site.

Tom

1937: A USED CAR LOT IN THE 1930's: CLASSICS TODAY!

Wouldn't you like to meander over to that lot an pick up one of those beauties sitting along East State Street next to the DeLuxe Diner and across the street from the U.S. Post Office? This photo beautifully captures the essence of life in the 1930's. Not the Army guy wearing the uniform much the same if not the very same as was worn a decade earlier in World War I.

1960's: "THE BROKEN DRUM"

I received the top engraving from Mr. Bill Klek who had been searching for info on that popular eatery. I was only there once back when I worked for the bearing company. I took a leisurely drive via Google Earth from North Olden Avenue to Prospect Street, hung a left on Prospect Street and made the virtual drive to 1400 Prospect Street, and the photo above which I assume is the location of the original "Drum."

1789: LAMBERTON-BLOOMSBURY AND SOUTH TRENTON

This fascinating map was published a little more than a decade after the 1776 Declaration of Independence. It shows a far different Mill Hill-South Trenton area when compared to the many homes that line all the streets in the area.  As can be seen in the map, plots are already laid out with residences, Closer examination will show the location of the William Trent House, the Mill Hill area, including "Mill Pond" along the Assanpink Creek. I have labeled in red the old original streets of the area, and speculate as to the streets shown in the top right of the map.

1914: 99 YEAR OLD CHAMBERSBURG NEWS

Based on numerous comments I have received over the years relating to these full page scans, I have found that many visitors love to go through these interesting pages from many years ago; in this case 99 years ago. Over the years, I have been digitizing notable news clippings and including them in the Hamilton Library Local History database. A full page graphic such as that above is borderline as to legibility. At 80 years of age, my eyes aren't what they used to be. I can read the text in the above article with my 19 inch monitor. Those with larger monitors will see a much more legible graphic.  However, I am secure in the knowledge that as time evolves, still larger monitors will offor comfortable reading. Even Google has a size limit, but manages to allow a reader to read the print on a huge full page graphic; a feat that would be impossible with Facebook where a graphic of this size would be illegible.

2013: RECENT DEARTH OF "NO COMMENTS" ON THIS WEBSITE

i

 

Below and highlighted in green is a comment left on this website by loyal visitor Ralph Lucarella along with my response. It has been a very hot and steamy summer of 2013 up to this point in mid July. Visitors to this website have naturally fallen off from the normal 350 plus visitors per day to 220 and sometimes less. Couple that with the fact that many visitors are only interested in pictures and not what I call "hard core history," any you have an explanation as to why there are few or no comments on recent posts. This website is intended to be a scholarly endeavor as well as nostalgia, and will stay with that concept with my view to bringing future generations articles, photos and stories that give a comprehensive look at the splendid historical heritage of Trenton, Hamilton Ewing, Pennington and ideed, all of Mercer County.

  

RALPH LUCARELLA said...

HI TOM....WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE COMMENTS? I LOOKED FORWARD TO LEARN HOW ALL THESE OLD TRENTONIONS FEEL ABOUT THE CITY THEY SPENT A GREAT DEALOF THEIR LIFE IN. HAVING WORKED AS A LETTER CARRIER FOR 14 YEARS AND PLAYING WITH THE SCHROTHS IN 1936 AND WITH MY BROTHER LOU BUILDING THE HAMILTON BOWLING LANEWS ON ROUTE 33 IN 1954, I'LL ALWAYS RECALL MANY EVENTS THAT OCCURED IN THE EARLY YEARS. YOUR EFFORTS ON THIS SITE BRING BACK MANY FOND MEMORIES. THANK YOU AND BEST WISHES.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Tom Glover said...

HI RALPH:

There are relatively few who are interested in many of the historically significant posts that appear on this website. However IT IS A HISTORY site, and the lack of comments reflects a statement I made a few weeks ago. Many visitors are not interested in "hard core history: as I am inclined to call it. Their interest is mostly centered on the many photos like the R.C. Maxwell photos which I am posting. This site will continue to publish historical articles and photos that are being posted for future generations to read and absorb. Be assured that I am fully aware that the R.C. Maxwell posts I have been enhancing and enlarging are extremely popular with many visitors. However, there is other historically pertinent material that will always be a hallmark of this site. For those who choose "hard core nostalgia' I suggest Facebook where they have 2 Trenton related categories, where viewers can comment on their personal experiences. As for this site, I will continue to post articles that can be read, and photos that are not limited in size.
Tom Glover

Tuesday, July 16, 2013
1 – 2 of 2

Omad said...

Good Morning Tom and Ralph. You are right, have not been posting much lately, but am reading everything first thing most mornings. Dealing with some health issues that are taking precedent. Been away from the Trenton/Hamilton area a long time but feel in touch with what you post. Ralph, I especially enjoy your comments.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Anonymous said...

Tom:

As verbose as I am, I am only 79 years, and 7 months old. That being the case, am not familiar with articles of the mid to late 1800's. Hence no comment from the kid from South Trenton.
This is not meant to be critical, but responsive to your question.
Sweltering in the pool, but send my best wishes.
Mike Kuzma

Tom Responds:
Thanks Mike. As I have stated countless times over the years, your comments are always welcome. I hope you didn't misinterpret my comments. They were meant to reaffirm the goals and aims of this website, to post "hard core" historical articles and photos to those who are interested in the mid to late 19th century and earlier, along with more contemporary material from my (and your) era. In no way did I intend to place less emphasis on more recent news and photos relating to South Trenton, Chambersburg, Ewing and other areas of the county. views on more recent 20th century material. Be assured that you will see many more posts from that segment. As I have stated numerous times, your insight, knowledge, and memories of your experiences in Trenton in general have added immensely to the viability of this site.
I recently posted a photo and article on a Trenton Civil War veteran whose story was told in the Trenton Times. Below is a copy of an email I received from a Kuser School Classmate of mine, "Alice," who unknown to me is directly related to the Civil War hero. Ergo, the reason I delve deeply into the past and will continue to do so. Indeed, that is what this website is all about; "hard core" history and more contemporary history and nostalgia.
Tom

"ALICE WROTE:

I have to tell you how happy you've made my children.  It takes a lot to excite my 56 year old son, but his wife said that when he got the article that you published........he was so happy that he hurried up to show it to his wife and son.
       My daughter, Tracy, was so happy to show her kids and to read the article that she asked me if it was okay if she posted it on her Facebook page.   My mother was so dear to my kids.  They all adored her, and to see her grandfather's photo and to read what he had to say about the Civil War was very overwhelming to them..........just as it is to me.
       I know that you didn't know that he was my great-grandfather.........but I'm so glad that you did publish it on your website.  It just goes to show that you never know how many people you touch on your blog.  My family amounts to 19 people who were very much delighted to read the article.
 

 Alice

 

From Mr. Bob Chianese:

I comment occasionally on your fine document- and photo-posts, but can I say they are not "history" until some one contextualizes them, places them in a narrative with a thesis to propound? Your posts are the raw materials out of which any history could be crafted--more like retrieved artifacts from a rich storehouse or vault that are fascinating in themselves but which need an overarching "story," ie. history, to tell us the meaning of it all.

I sense that there is an underlying thesis to many of the posted artifacts and comments -- the decline of Trenton from former community, social and economic glory. This is pretty general and any historian would want to sharpen it. For example, can we explain the decline of Trenton as a shift in global economic reality--away from industry to something that has yet to replace it in Trenton as an economic engine? (My dad worked at GM all his life and that topic is a big one for me.) Is the state government there no longer a source of employment for high school grads that enables them to join the middle class? Has immigrant life become a source of friction rather than ethnic pride and diversity? As an Italian-American this topic interests me, with a cousin still living in the much transformed "Burg."

Many of your posts speak to a revived though changed Trenton area, and that may reflect your own underlying historical thesis, which I would like to hear more about from you in explicit comments.

Final point-- many of your readers are probably like me, retired and 65+ and love to reflect on our childhoods in the Trenton area. That means materials from the 40's and 50's are the most relevant to our experience and then from the 10's and 20's and 30's to our parents' era. There are fine histories of those eras in our American experience that can be glosses on your posts. However, I mainly access your posts as valued reminiscences and leave the more heady and contentious issues of history for a different time and place.

An active and appreciative reader of your blog,
Bob Chianese

My reply:

I vehemently disagree with Bob is in his first paragraph wherein he opines that the posts herein are not history until the subject is expanded upon, or as Bob says, "contextualized." Personally, I would love to take the time to research and add context to each and every one of the 7,000+ pages in this site which contains HISTORIC photos and articles, but alas, at age 80, time does not permit. However, I have found  that many visitors have indeed added context on certain subjects for their genealogical projects, or for use in a community presentation, or other endeavor. As a personal example, my recent on screen presentations on "White City," "The Interstate Fair," along with at least 10 other presentations which I will be doing for the Historical Society of Hamilton Township in 2014,; all use material gleaned from this site. When I started this site back in 2005, it was my goal to bring history as chronicled by the local press and bring it into the light of the 21st century. Any historian will tell you that one of the best sources of local history is to be found in the daily newspaper. I agree. I have a 100 year collection of Trenton newspapers dating from the late 1860's through the early 1940's and believe me, history abounds in almost every one of the millions of pages. Granted, a few articles on a given subject does not a complete history make, but it certainly does give the person researching a specific subject a golden opportunity to "contextualize" or expand on the raw material which is indeed "history." As to the more recent "history," I provide for that with the slogan of this website, "Local History With A Personal Touch." Bottom line: www.glover320.blogspot.com is a history site.

Tom
Posted by Tom Glover at 11:22 PM

1914: OUR LOCAL BOY SCOUTS

 

The above article and photo were digitized from a Trenton Times "For and About Boys" feature that was published on a regular basis back in the early part of the 20th century. The remarkable thing as I read the articles on the page and looked at the photo of Troop 14, was the fact that little has changed over the years for this wonderful organization of men and boys. 

 

It was my privilege to sit in on an Eagle Scout award ceremony a week or so ago here at the Hamilton Township Public Library as young Eagle Scout Ben Mundt was awarded still another award in his 11 year career as a Boy Scout. The wheels started turning, I have long bemoaned the fact that one seldom hears words and phrases like "wholesome," "courteous," "good taste," "discipline," "self control," and other socially personal attributes that are ever rapidly being replaced by the sheer bad taste of much of today's societal ventures. 

Through all these years, the Boy Scouts of America have clung to the belief that young boys need wholesome role models who show them how to be productive and valuable assets not only to their family, but to the community in which they live. Thus it was with young Ben Mundt. For his Eagle Scout project, Ben recruited a number of his friends, his dad and grandfather, and set about building the gazebo which now reposes on the lovely lawn at the Hamilton Township Public Library. From my window in the Hamilton Library Local History workshop, I had a great view of the construction of the project. Through the steaming heat of the summer of 2012, Ben and his crew diligently crafted a true masterpiece. Below is a photo I took just after it was completed.

Not a day goes by that a mom or dad with one of their young children stop in and rest in the Eagle Scout project so beautifully constructed by Ben Mundt and his hard working crew.

1913: NEW JERSEY STATE FAIR POLICE OFFICERS

This fall I will be presenting an on-screen presentation featuring the N.J. State Fair and the Bromley area of Hamilton. Above is a recent acquisition to the Hamilton Library's Digital Local History Collection. I have also included a set of passes to the fair from the 19th century.

FROM THE "POLICE-TRENTON" FOLDER

 

 

 

 This selection of digitized articles from the very large Hamilton Library digital database goes way back to the 1860's and gives a fair idea of the situation of law enforcement back in the day. Wayward boys were caught i the act, and the punishment meted out was immediate and severe; no "plea bargaining" back then. The last article tells the story of "The Black Hand," where members of that criminal society preyed on innocent Italian immigrants; bringing to mind that scene in the movie, the "Godfather."