PRIVATE GLOVER'S UNFORGETTABLE NEW YEAR

I will never forget this new year for as long as I live.

1952 TO 2014: MERCERVILLE'S NORTH HAMILTON AVENUE

 Here we have a splendid example of how a neighborhood changes over 60-plus years. You are at the intersection of Nottingham Way, Hamilton Avenue and North Hamilton Avenue and heading toward Mercerville's "five points." Ironically two of the cars in the photo, the 1940 Nash on the far left, and the Hudson in the foreground were the two auto marques that I lusted for back in 1952 when I was a young driver. However, the budget only allowed for the $25 1937 Ford "Business Coupe" that I bought from a guy in Morrisville.

TOM GLOVER'S BROMLEY

Way back before there were digital cameras, and during the era when 35 millimeter film was state of the art, I did a walk around various Bromley area to find some of it antiquity. A number of the photos I took were incorporated in my "THE WAY WE WERE" column that I wrote for the late great Mercer Messenger. Sorry to say the article is truncated and only certain photos are identified.

1944: WWII TRENTON

This70 year old photo is the city as I remember it during the many visits Mom Glover made to downtown Trenton with me during the war years, right up to 1955 when Pvt. Tom Glover took a Trailways bus from the Perry Street Terminal to Fort Devens, Massachusetts to begin a 9 month super secret Army Security Agency training course in Signal Intelligence. The exquisite detail reveals many very familiar merchants. The old WWII Trenton Transit bus stopped at the curb, the "War Loan" sign suspended over W. State Street, and the throngs of shoppers brings back pleasant memories of a Trenton that was a vital shopping center before the destructive riots of the 1960's and the establishment of the many malls that surround the area.

1937: THE GARDEN THEATRE:

There it was all those years in the 20th century. It was a "second run" theater that folded with the destruction in the 1960's. The great old theater ended up as a sex-oriented theater before it closed. It was located on North Broad Street just north of Academy Street.

1936: E. STATE ST. WOOLWORTH'S - W.T. GRANT - S.S. KRESGE

 

Historian Sally Lane Graf taught me to look at the architectural details of many of Trenton's old buildings wherein you will find very interesting history. Even though the building is long gone, the lower photo shows the "Metropolitan" building which I believe was a predecessor to today's "dollar stores." This was at 115 E. State Street and the above exploded view showing F.W. Woolworth, W.T. Grant, and S.S. Kresge will show that Grant's took over the building. By the way, that whole string of buildings is no more.

1890'S BEAUTIFUL VICTORIAN ANTIQUITY

I have always loved trade cards and antique greeting cards. The art work is exquisite and the colors truly brilliant. Merry Christmas to the many visitors to this website and my Face book pages. Happy New Year too!

1905: MY MOTHER AND FATHER'S CHRISTMAS

Talk about an "old fashioned Christmas!" Here's a graphic representation of what many of grand mom and grand pop wanted for Christmas back in 1905. My mom and dad would have been 8 or 9 years old back then..

1988:FOR THOSE OF US WHO REMEMBER THE DISTANT PAST!

My "DO YOU REMEMBER THESE?" columns have proved to be quite popular with the more "senior" senior citizens among us. Here's a listing of a few unforgettable items which I dug out of the deep recesses of my aging gray matter. See how many you remember!

2014: SHOULD I GO FIRST - AND SHE DID

I have devoted my retirement to trying to bring uplifting, spiritual, feel good music to my many senior citizen friends. Indeed, the recently cancelled Hamilton Library program "1943: A WARTIME CHRISTMAS" was to have been a memorial to our grammar school years at Christmas time. As many of you know, I just finished my 8th summer concert series at the Kuser Farm gazebo and also on the Hamilton Library Gazebo area. No, we didn't have "SRO" standing room only crowds, but we did have just what I was looking for: those who are thirsty for just a taste of their younger years. At one of my programs this past summer, a lady wheeling a senior citizen sat on the sidelines listening to the music. I was singing that WWII heart breaker,

"I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places, 

that this heart of mine embraces all day through.

In that small cafe, the park across the way, the children's carousel,

the chestnut tree, the wishing well.

I'll bee seeing you in every lovely summer day,

In everything that's bright and gay,

I'll always think of you that way,

I'll find you in the morning sun, and when the night is new,

I'll be looking at the moon, but I'll be seeing you.."

Even as I  write those heart-rending but beautiful lyrics with tear filled eyes, so too did this WWII hero as he covered his eyes with a Kleenex tissue.I went to him, microphone in hand, and he apologized!

He had just recently lost his wife. Apologized! I can only paraphrase what I said to the gentleman: "Sir: every one of those tears is a gift from your God. After the sacrifice you and your fellow WWII members of the "Greatest Generation" gave to us, you should know we love and appreciate you.

2014: I AM NURSING A BROKEN HEART

On Wednesday evening at approximately 8 PM, my dear life partner Judy Britton Glover went to be with the Lord. All I do is cry, cry, cry and then cry some more. My Friday Christmas sing along has been cancelled.

http://www.nj.com/mercer-community/index.ssf/2014/12/hamilton_public_library_christ.htmlhttp://www.nj.com/mercer-community/index.ssf/2014/12/hamilton_public_library_christ.html

1944: SEVENTY CHRISTMASES AGO

This page from nearly 70 years ago to the day; 

some real bargains here!!

1944: I WAS 11 AND I STILL REMEMBER IT WITH CRYSTAL CLEAR CLARITY!

Before there was Toys R Us, Walmart, Kmart, there was GOLDBERG'S. How I loved that old store! Any old timers remember walking on those creaky wooden floors as you went Christmas shopping with Mom? Remember the pulley conveyor they used to exchange paper from one department to the next? Gone are the days! I have written numerous columns over these 32 years recalling Christmas shopping with my mom as a young boy. I was even much like Ralphy in "The Christmas Story," as I lusted for a Red Ryder Beebee gun. Ralphy got one. I didn't. Mom Glover was not a gun lover. I remember I did get a substitute cap gun. It was a Lone ranger white pearl handled six shooter complete with a holster and 4 SILVER bullets on the belt. I was really bad as I loaded it with a roll of caps and my buddy Don Slabicki and I took on the Butch Cavendish gang!

1897: AN EXQUISITE VIEW OF EARLY ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL

This excellent engraving shows the relatively austere St. Francis Hospital as it appeared in 1897. This is a duplication of the same view which was posted many hundreds of pages ago. Note the greenhouse in the right foreground. The sisters made good use of that green house to provide food for themselves and the patients; all of whom were cared for, regardless of race or religion.

2014: OVER 1 MILLION PAGE VIEWS!

Fourteen years ago, in December, 2005, I started this local history website (AKA "Blog). As can be seen in the statistical chart in the box bordered with green, there have been 1,066,586 page views. I am very grateful to all those many visitors who folks who visit this site on a frequent basis. It is my goal to continue to do my best to bring interesting local history and nostalgia to the community.

2014: WHERE IS TOM GLOVER??

Prior to this year, I had been to each and every Kuser Park Winter Wonderland event until this year of 2014. Sadly, I was physically unable to attend the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Kuser Park on Friday evening. I spent a day in the emergency room at R.W. Johnson of Hamilton with an attack of kidney stones that hit me on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. NASTY! Just prior to that, I had an ear infection that I was planning to have taken care of with a call to Doctor Steve Levenberg, our family physician whom I trust unconditionally. After drinking two very large containers of the chemical that they use to give contrast to whatever little instrument Dr. Ricci used, it was determined that I had a kidney stone attack. Thankfully the stone passed and a trip later in the week to the Urologist confirmed that I had passed the stones. I am currently hoping the anti biotic I am taking for the ear infection will solve the problem. After taking the antibiotic the past 4 days with more to go, there has been a marked improvement. 
So, with the meds I am taking I am now back in the saddle again, with only a minor suggestion that the ear infection is still there but it seems to be getting better each day.