1936 AND 1938: VILLA PARK SCHOOL

I have been posting numerous photos, articles, and nostalgic ephemera on Facebook, but find that there are apparently spammers, hackers, or other n'er do wells who have caused the founder of that wonderful site to close down. Unfortunately, there is a problem with an "open" website where comments can be posted that are hurtful and offensive. Fortunately, Blogger allows me as Webmaster to remove any spam, junk, foul language, or off color and offensive comments. I am "back home" on this blog and will stay here and concentrate on posting quality historic, nostalgic and very interesting material on Hamilton, Trenton, Ewing, and indeed Mercer County.

2014: THE PHOTO IN TODAY'S "SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY" TRENTON TIMES COLUMN

Unfortunately, space is at a premium in newspapers today. My sentimental journey to St.Anthony's church column today had this photo of my singing group, "Wings of Song" as we sang for the prayer group at Our Lady of Sorrows back in the 90's. Our music was really Biblical scripture put to music, and we really made beautifully spiritual and uplifting musical moments. The photo was too small to include the identity of those wonderful singers.  

2014: IF IT'S THE LENTEN SEASON, CAN SPRING BE FAR BEHIND?

Here's an interesting article detailing the 1869 Lenten season. A number of years ago, Father Mick Lambeth held a Tenabrae service as Sacred Heart Church here in Trenton. As a convert to the Faith, I had never known there was such an interesting service. One of the more fascinating aspects of the Faith lies in the incredible historic traditions that have survived the centuries. 

1814: TRENTON'S SACRED HEART PARISH TO CELEBRATE 200th ANNIVERSARY

Trenton's Sacred Heart Parish will celebrate a 200th year anniversary in this year of 2014. The oldest Roman Catholic parish in New Jersey was founded way back in 2014 and has an incredibly interesting history. There are well over 200 digital files relating to St. John's/Sacred Heart, and the folder is added to as new material is found. 

1909: YOUR GREAT GRANDFATHER'S CHAMBERSBURG

When Chambersburg was "peach and apple orchards, wheat and corn fields."

Above is a fascinating and historical view of very early Chambersburg. As told by

John Schimmel, a Chambersburg pioneer.

This is a fascinating photo showing a house mover's progress in moving a structure from Elmer Street as seen from So. Clinton Avenue. The colored photo to the right is what I believe to be the same view as seen via a Google Earth, which I modified somewhat to bring the photo into the area I believe was the subject of the 1909 photo. Note that in 1909, offset newspaper photos were very primitive and lacking the fine detail found in today's news media. 

This article tells of the growing unemployment problem among the Italian immigrants to this area. 

1910: A MERCER TAXI FOR THE "TRENTON TAXICAB CO."

I drew this in pen and ink way back in 1989 for one of my columns. If you go to the Trenton State Gazette of July 7, 1910 you will see a very poor offset photo of this unusual Mercer Automobile Company vehicle. The art of newspaper offset printed graphics was in its infancy and the original photo is very poorly reproduced. My interest in the Kuser family was the inspiration for this drawing. It pains me to know that Fritz and Edna Kuser passed away before they could read and view some of the wonderful material I have on the Kuser family that is being preserved in the Hamilton Township Public Library Local History Collection. 

1982: EVEN AFTER 32 YEARS, KUSER FARM IS STILL HOME

Those who have been following my writings over the past 30 plus years will recall that I have COUNTLESS memories of growing up with the Kusers from the age of 12 right up to the sad day when Edna and Fritz Kuser could no longer handle the responsibilities of managing that wonderful old homestead. My family's encounter with the Kusers began way back in 1938 when my older brother Bud began working for the Kusers as a young boy doing chores such as raking leaves, cleaning up fallen branches, and as he matured, painting, repairing, and ultimately becoming an operator of Fritz Kuser's "Simplex-Acme" portable 35 millimeter motion picture projectors. I followed in my brother's footsteps when Bud entered the Navy in World War II. After all these  years, Fritz and Edna Kuser's "Kuser Farm" is now known as Hamilton Township's "Kuser Farm Park." For me it has become a spiritual  getaway for me where every nook and cranny holds a memory. I will be ever grateful to my dear friend, the late Maurice "Maury" Perilli for counseling fellow Democrat Edna Kuser as to the best way to leave their beloved home to the area citizens as a park, and to former Mayor John "Jack" Rafferty for making it happen. Psychologically, I would assume that my devotion to this place is why I have been bringing my nostalgic music program to Kuser Park Gazebo each summer for the past 8 or 9 years. These musical presentations certainly do not draw standing room only crowds; no high profile local celebrities, no high profile politicians, just common folks such as I who are devotees of music from an era when music was music. At age 80 approaching 81, I don't know how much longer I will be able to maintain my singing voice, but I will go on until my vocal chords are no longer at my command.  

2014: REMEMBER ME? CABIN FEVER!

I had a TON of catching up to do during this prolonged snowy holiday weekend! Indeed, I spent HOURS between shoveling snow and doing SERIOUS maintenance on this computer. With over 500,000 files and the LONG time it takes to scan for viruses, duplicates, etc., I had little time to go on line here or on Facebook. But I'm back and ready to go. In the meantime, here's a memory of my wonderful years working for Fritz and Edna Kuser. Enjoy!

1937: LAWRENCE ROAD AND RICHMOND AVENUE

Any Lawrenceville visitors out there who can locate this photo's location in Lawrence? A Google Earth search failed to find a Richmond Avenue.

1948 - 1949: TRACY'S - HAMILTON FOOD MARKET AND JIM STANTON'S HARDWARE

This fascinating collection of Villa Park legends has a treasured place in the Hamilton Library Local History's "BUSINESSES-TRENTON" folder. I spent quite a long time computer coloring the top photo but it was worth the effort. Stanton's Hardware was a regular stop for folks in our Colonial Gardens neighborhood as was Groh's Hardware just up the street.

1942: TRACY'S "FIVE AND TEN;" A VANISHING PIECE OF AMERICANA

Tracy's was the "in" place for nearly all your household needs. Here's a World War II photo of that great old five and ten cent store so familiar to those of us who are old enough to recall Woolworth's and Kresge's. I have another copy of this photo which I hand colored and calling attention to that familiar red background with the gold TRACY's in bold relief. Tracy's also had stores in Morrisville and Hightstown.

1940's: CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH

 

 

February 4th was the birthday if my "big brother" Bud who went to be with the Lord in the year 2012. He and I and his family were very close. Like me, Bud was a convert to the Faith; he to the Baptist, and I to the Roman Catholic. I received an email from Bill Zulker who was a member of Central Baptist back in earlier years. I graduated from and was a Hamilton High 1951 classmate of Ginny Zulker who was a fellow member of Louise Baird's legendary Hamilton High School choir. This was back in the years when we were allowed to sing religions hymns glorifying our Lord and indeed we sang some hymns that literally moved us to tears. Brother Bud's entry into the Faith came as a result his meeting and marrying his wife of 59 years, Florence Adam, whose Central Baptist family roots go way back into the 1930's.Below is an email I received from Bill Zulker who was one of the very zealous members of that legendary Baptist church in Trenton, and now Ewing Township. One of the wonderful things about this computer age lies in our ability to re-kindle old acquaintances; here's an example:

BILL ZULKER WROTE:
Hi Tom,
My aged 87-year-old brother Chuck keeps reminding me of your writing.
Yesterday, I was looking at your blogs and want you to know that you "jogged" my memory about two things.

First, The Contemporary Club on West State Street was the location where we held Youth For Christ meetings each week - Friday nights or Saturday nights in 1947.
After my return from serving in the Army - 1945-1947, I founded and directed this youth movement in Trenton. During my service in Europe, I had become the President and Director of Frankfurt, Germany Youth For Christ which was primarily a "soldier's" ministry at the time. When I returned home I was encouraged to start it there, and obtained a charter from the national organization to do so. The idea was to keep it independent from any specific church or denomination, and thus we rented the auditorium at the Contemporary Club. What memories. You can read more about this ministry on my web-page - www.williamzulker.com

The second memory came about when I saw your blog of Jan 19, 2014 showing South Broad and Front Streets. In 1948 as a part of TYFC we rented the third floor of that corner building for a Youth Center. We wanted to provide Christian young people with a setting to meet others after school, in the evenings and on weekends in a suitable environment of Christian fellowship. Mayor Connolly cut the ribbon on Memorial Day right there at street level at the door pictured to the far left.
Unfortunately, things didn't develop as planned when in September I un-expectedly decided it was time to start college just shortly before my 22nd birthday, and left for South Carolina. The vision was not caught by anyone else!

Seeing this photo of "1949", I don't recall the large Pale Dry Billboard and don't think it was there in the Summer of 1948. We had several windows like the one that looks open at the front.

And just up the street was The Eton Shop where I worked from the summer of 1943 until I went in the Army in June 1945 during my Junior and Senior years at Hamilton High, and again when I returned in 1947 til I went to college in 1948.

Soooo, I just thought I would tell you how much I enjoy reading your reflections.

By the way, when we moved from the Philadelphia suburbs here to Lebanon County, PA a few years ago, I was very interested in knowing more about this seemingly remote area that was so different. The upshot was that I ended up writing a column for the Lebanon Daily News each month entitled "The Way It Was" in Lebanon County in ???? year. After two and a half years I gave it up, but you can read those columns in my web-site as well.

Keep going, and have a great year.

In admiration,

I will be presenting "Music for Lovers Only;" an on-screen musical valentine presentation at the Kuser Mansion. Mayor Kelly A.Yaede and Kuser Mansion Program Coordinator Ms. Patti Hill extend an invitation to this free hour and a half of lovely ballads we all know and love. 

The fire code limits seating to 50 in the Kuser Farm Theater. RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED.

CALL 890-3630 NOW TO BE SURE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT OR SEATS!

A list of those who reserve will be checked at the door.

1935: WHAT'S HAPPENING IN DEPRESSION TRENTON

This is a copy of a previous post that I am re-posting for the benefit of Facebook patrons who will not be able to read it on their facebook page due to Facebook's size limits for graphics. It is a fascinating look at the Trenton area and the ads are absolutely riveting.