1944: HERE COMES TELEVISION!

I remember it well; that a network connection of TV stations from Schenectady, to Philadelphia, to Washington D.C. It was the true beginning of  television coverage along the northeast coast. Channel 3, WPTZ, Channel 6, WFIL the Philadelphia Inquirer station, and channel 10, WCAU. Aluminum and primitive aerials began to appear on rooftops all over the area. It would be 3 or 4 years before the Glover family journeyed over to Bond's Electric on Hamilton Avenue and purchased a 10 inch Admiral "Consolette," thanks to my brother Bud's Navy mustering out pay. What a thrill it was! Every afternoon WPTZ ran old "B" westerns on their 1 hour "Frontier Playhouse" program. Saturday nights were set aside for Sid Caeser and Imogene Coca and "Your Show of Shows." Sunday afternoons in the Glover house included a then popular program called "Super Circus." In those very early years of commercial television, programming began around mid day and went off the air before midnight. The non broadcast hours were filled with what we all found was called a "test pattern" which television technicians used to adjust focus, clarity and the complete definition of the many horizontal and vertical lines that were part of the design.

1884: THE MASONIC TEMPLE: AN ARCHITECTURAL MASTERPIECE

 

It must have been the age. There is no way I can understand why that majestic structure that once stood on the Northwest Corner of North Warren and West State Street ever became a victim of the dreaded demolition of one of Trenton's true historic architectural treasures. These two articles, gleaned from my "MASONS-MASONIC" folder tell of the beginning of that beautiful building.  As I recall, Mr. Rider's school took up the 3rd floor of that building. 
Thanks to my regular visitor Joe Battiste for correcting my. I located the building on the corner of No. Warren and E. State instead of W. State. Street.

Fellow Hamilton Hornets will spend a very pleasant Saturday afternoon at the beautiful Stone Terrace on Kuser Road. (The site of the former Italian-American Sportsmen Club.) The 1950's was a special time to be a high school student. Drugs were relatively unheard of except for prescriptions and in some drug stores, a soda fountain. Our legendary Saturday night canteens had no fights, no police, and no smoking those funny cigarettes. Indeed, a kinder and relatively innocent generation led by a caring faculty.  

Mark your calendars members of HHS class of '54!

Mark your calendars members of HHS class of '54!

2014: AUGUST 26 LAKESIDE REUNION!

Ms. Nancy Johnes Fell and Ms. Eleanor Goldy Guear, presenters of this historic community reunion event even had the presence of mind to consider we seniors who do not like to drive at night! As you can see by the press release in the graphic, the folks who are or were Lakeside Park residents and friends, will be flocking to the huge room on the lower level of the Hamilton Township Public Library to meet, greet, and remember their life experiences in this lovely suburban community that was established way back in the early part of the 20th century. I have posted an article from 1944 with the names of many of the more prominent citizens and pioneer families of Lakeside Park. It will be very interesting to see how many on that lengthy list will be there or have relatives of those listed. I hope to see you there! 

MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW AND NOTE THAT

RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED! 

1903: TRENTON WARD AND PRECINCT BOUNDARIES

Future generations just might find this article of interest. I know I did. As you can see the 14 city of Trenton Wards' boundaries are defined, along with the associated precinct numbers. An article well worth preserving.

1897: TRENTON NEARLY BECAME THE CAPITOL OF THE U.S.

It was a very early battle of the north versus the south. Many northerners wanted Trenton on the Delaware to be the nation's capitol city. The southerners wanted the location to be on the Potomac on the Delaware. As you can see in the article above, the site on the Potomac was chosen in December, 1801. One can only imagine what Trenton would have become had it indeed become the political center of not only the U.S. but the entire world!

VINTAGE ADS FOR VINTAGE VISITORS

My Mom used "Chipso;" also "Duz" (Duz does everything), "LUX,"  "RINSO" and before we got an electric washer, "OCTAGON" brown soap and that old reliable corrugated wash board to get out those really deep dirt stains on our clothes. There are many memories in that graphic from my "NOSTALGIA" folder; from "Cuticura" soap to Knickers to battery operated auto fans with the rubber fan blades that was aimed at the windshield of our 1930's automobiles.

1989: MEMORIES OF AN 80 YEAR OLD "COUNTRY BOY"

Do you remember how much fun it was to plunk down a penny and punch out a disk on one of those long forgotten "punch boards?" Indeed, do you remember punch boards? Do you remember going to your local "corner store" and standing at the penny candy counter and pondering just what tasty delights you would find in that little brown paper bag that held the aforementioned penny candy? If you were a country kid as I was, do you remember getting your foot impaled on one or two of those prickly cream colored "stickers" that grew wild along the pathway to your store? (we didn't have sidewalks in our neighborhood.) Read my old THE WAY WE WERE column and return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear....from out of the past come the thundering hoof beats of the great horse, "Silver;" the Lone Ranger rides again!"

1944: PREPARED HAM OR PORK ROLL

They were very sure we of the older generation were wrong when we sat down to a breakfast or dinner of prepared ham and eggs. In the early years, that famous Trenton delicacy was indeed known as "prepared ham," "prepared pork," and the MORE RECENT designation, "PORK ROLL" from Cloverdell, Taylor and of course, Case. Here's an ad in the Trenton Times, 1944: "PREPARED PORK" known for years as "PREPARED HAM."

1944: FROM MY "NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" FOLDER

How great it is to be able to meld yesterday events and directly connect them to current situations and locations! Here's a 1944 real estate ad from Brundbook Builders offering 8 modern brick homes. I am speculation has it that the Google view above from the 200 block of today's Oliver Avenue in Ewing are the very same homes offered in the ad 60 years ago and quietly reside in my "EWING" and "NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" folders.

1944: THE FINKLE BOYS "BACKING THE ATTACK" IN WWII

When I started this website back in 2005, I coined the slogan, "Local History With A Personal Touch."
As I page through the millions of pages in my personal collection of Trenton newspapers from the past 145 years, I often find notable and historic articles, ads and photos relating to folks with whom I am familiar. Such is the case here when I hand-scanned this article on the Finkle brothers of Jackson Street. These Finkle boys may or may not be related to my friend and fellow historian Art Finkle whose Trenton Jewish Historical Society website provides a fascinating view of Jewish life in Trenton.
(http://trentonjewishhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com). Recalling how my mom worried with two of her sons involved in WWII, I imagine Mr. and Mrs. Finkle had a triple WWII worry with two sons serving honorably in the military during the war.

1944: LET'S NOT FORGET THE WOMEN OF WWII

So much attention is given to the male heroes of World War II that we sometimes overlook the incredibly historic and courageous service provided by the women of the "Greatest Generation." The WACS, WAVES, SPARS along with the military combat nurses and even "Rosy the Riveter" gals who replace many of the male factory work during World War II. It took me a bit of tweaking and repairing the graphic above to remove scratches and other imperfections, but it is well worthwhile to remember these female heroes of WWII.

1944: ADOLPH HITLER GIVES HERMAN GOERING DICTATORIAL POWERS

July, 1944: The writing was on the wall. As the allied military of American, French, and British troops moved ever closer to Berlin from the west, the Russians were moving toward Berlin from the east. This graphic was re-formatted to fit the computer screen.

2014: FOR "THE GREATEST GENERATION"

Actually, "FOR THE GREATEST GENERATION" as the title of this post would also apply to those of us who are now in our 70's and 80's, but most of the golden memories listed above came from my childhood as an  80 going on 81 senior citizen in this year of 2014. So, to you younger folks who were not around as you read these vestiges of a time which I describe as a "simpler and more less complicated time in America, come back with me to that aforementioned "simple and less complicated era.!"

1991: HAMILTON GROWING OUT OF ITS RURAL CHARACTER

This very interesting article published 23 years ago shed interesting light on the town that has grown by epic proportions since nearly a quarter of a century ago. Imagine if today's Hamilton were indeed annexed to the city of Trenton. It was a very scary scenario considering the fact that in the ensuing years, Hamilton has grown and prospered and Trenton has fallen on very hard times.

1991: TOM GLOVER REMEMBERS HARVEY HESSER

Harvey Hesser was the epitome of the man who walked softly but carried a big stick. Soft spoken, dignified, intelligent, strict, and compassionate, are all adjectives that describes this Principal of Hamilton High School (West) during my years as a student there. It was my privilege to meet with him numerous times after I left Hamilton High school. He and his lovely wife Dorothy were frequent visitors to Louise Baird's apartment on Hamilton Avenue where Judy and I spent many years after we graduated.

1951: REMEMBERING "IF" FOR BOYS

Each of us has our favorite teacher or teachers from our grammar and high school years. For my dear wife of 60 years, Judy and I, it is most certainly Louise Simpson Baird who was the vocal music teacher at Hamilton High during our years there, and for MANY who were privileged to have been in her music room in the "tower" at Hamilton High, room 300. "Ouise" as she was known to all of us who loved her, was not only a Julliard educated music teacher who taught us how to sing in eight part harmony, she also introduced us to the beauty of Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, the militancy of Wagner, and the delightful music of Gilbert & Sullivan, Rudolph Friml, Rogers and Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein and so many others. She also taught both boys and girls about the meaning of life, exposing us to Kahlil Gibran,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Saints. Augustine, Francis and others who opened the doors to the keys of the Kingdom. I created the graphic above as I recalled that we boys were exposed to Rudyard Kipling's "IF" for boys by this remarkable teacher.Louise Baird also planted in my psyche a quotation that I carry with me to this day. It is especially relevant to any man (or woman):

"The true test of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."

TRULY WORDS TO LIVE BY!

2014: PARKSID AND OLDEN AVENUE IN EWING

This is for you, Sally Logan Gilman. The intersection you and I remember is nowhere near what you see in the Google photo above. John's old diner has been replaced by the large diner  you see in the background of the intersection. I think it is called the 3 Peters Diner.

1936: E. STATT.E ST. APPROACHING BROAD ST.

 

Here's another nice enhanced view of downtown Trenton, 1936.Note the cars parked on the street! A real "no no" when I was a young driver back in the 1950's. This photo an exquisite detailed view of the center of the city as it looked 77 years ago.

1936: NO. BROAD APPROACHING STATE STREET

What a splendid view! I did a bit of re-formatting this photo to highlight the more interesting Trenton environment as it looked in 1936. I love that old Yard's "Panel truck" as we used to call those enclosed vehicles which are now deep into the antiquarian category of automobilia.

1925: RIDER COLLEGE E. STATE STREET TRENTON

I did a bit of enhancing on this Maxwell photo in order to bring a closer view to the old Rider College which has since moved into the major leagues and become today's beautiful Rider University in Lawrence. My grand daughter Jessica Saiia is currently attending that stalwart old -faculty and I understand she is on the Dean's List.

"TYPEWRITING - MATHMANTICS - SHORTHAND - BANKING"

From austere beginnings as the Rider-Moore business school along with another "Stewart" connection,
the early years of the school were to train students for business experience.  

2014: HAPPY AND SAFE 4TH TO ALL OUR VISITORS?

From my "HOLIDAYS" folder in the Hamilton Township Public Library Local History Collection, this splendid 1869 engraving of the celebration of the 4th of July in the country. From one of my "HARPER'S WEEKLY" magazines. Here's wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th!

1909: BROAD STREET PARK DIARY

As the article above which I wrote a number of years ago indicates, Lawson Tattler was a figment of my imagination, as was Eli Mount. I took my father's "veddy, veddy" English middle name "Eli," and combined it with my mom's maiden name which was Mount. ( My mom's Mount roots go back to John Adams, the Borden family, Lord Cornwallis, and COUNTLESS others who are connected genealogically 7, 8 and sometimes 9 times removed.) The Tattler surname came from the Trenton connection with the pottery industry, and Lawson was the name of one of my Kuser School-Hamilton High friends and classmate. Assuming this little 800,000 visits venture survives into the future, generations to come will be very grateful that those of us who believe in preserving our historic heritage took the time and sometimes arduous research to come up with a valuable historical database.

1992: TRENTON'S "NEGRO" SCHOOL

 

I did this column back in 1992 during Black History Month. The African-American history in the city of Trenton and throughout Mercer County is a very interesting study. At the current time the Hamilton Township Public Library Local History Collection has