2016: "BY JOVE," AS THEY USED TO SAY, "I THINK THE COUNTRY IS GOING MAD."

What possible "statement" is that beautiful lady trying to make? THESE PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY PURCHASING NEW JEANS WITH RIPS AND TEARS IN THEM. P.T. Barnum was right.

2015: THE WOMAN WHO INFLUENCED MY LIFE AND MADE ME THE PERSON I AM TODAY SOME 60 YEARS LATER

I was one of many fortunate Hamilton High School students who studied and performed under the tutelage of Miss Louise Baird who was the vocal music teacher there from the first year of Hamilton High School until she retired in 1961. I will be forever indebted to her for instilling a love of music and philosophy.

2015: WWII HISTORY IF FLYING INTO MERCER AIRPORT!

THIS WAS EMAILED TO ME THIS MORNING. THE PHOTOS ARE FROM THE WEBSITE CITED BELOW.
For Immediate Release
The Wings of Freedom Tour of the WWII Vintage Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator and North American P-51 Mustang Announce Unique Display in Trenton at Trenton Mercer Airport from August 31 to September 2
In honor of our WWII Veterans ~ The Collings Foundation’s Wings of Freedom Tour Brings Extremely Rare Bomber and Fighter Aircraft for Local Living History Display as Part of 110-city Nationwide Tour
WHAT: Participating in the Collings Foundation’s WINGS OF FREEDOM TOUR, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Nine O Nine” WWII Heavy Bomber, Consolidated B-24 Liberator “Witchcraft” WWII Heavy Bomber and P-51 Mustang fighter, will fly into Trenton Mercer Airport in Trenton, NJ for a visit from August 31 to September 2. This is a rare opportunity to visit, explore, and learn more about these unique and rare treasures of aviation history. The B-17 is one of only 8 in flying condition in the United States, the B-24J and Full Dual Control P-51C Mustang are the sole remaining examples of their type flying in the World. Visitors are invited to explore the aircraft inside and out - $12 for adults and $6 for children under 12 is requested for access to up-close viewing and tours through the inside of the aircraft. WWII Veterans can tour through the aircraft at no cost. Discounted rates for school groups. Visitors may also experience the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to actually take a 30-minute flight aboard these rare aircraft. Flights on either the B-17 or B-24 are $450 per person. Get some “stick time” in the world’s greatest fighter! P-51 flights are $2,200 for a half hour and $3,200 for a full hour. For reservations and information on flight experiences call 800-568-8924.
WHERE: The WINGS OF FREEDOM TOUR will be on display at Trenton Mercer Airport in Trenton located at Landmark Aviation 300 Scotch Road.
WHEN: The WINGS OF FREEDOM TOUR will arrive at Trenton Mercer Airport at 2:00 PM on August 31 and will be on display at Landmark Aviation at Trenton Mercer Airport until the aircraft departs September 2 after 12:00 PM. Hours of ground tours and display are: 2:00 PM through 5:00 PM on Monday, August 31; 9:00 AM through 5:00 PM on Tuesday, September 1; 9:00 AM through 12:00 PM on Wednesday, September 2. The 30-minute flight experiences are normally scheduled before and after the ground tour times above.
WHO: The Collings Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation devoted to organizing “living history” events that allows people to learn more about their heritage and history through direct participation. The Nationwide WINGS OF FREEDOM TOUR is celebrating its 26th year and visits an average of 110 cities in over 35 states annually. Since its start, tens of millions of people have seen the B-17, B-24 & P-51 display at locations everywhere. The WINGS OF FREEDOM tour is one of the most extraordinary and unique interactive traveling historical displays of its kind.
WHY: The WINGS OF FREEDOM TOUR travels the nation a flying tribute to the flight crews who flew them, the ground crews who maintained them, the workers who built them, the soldiers, sailors and airmen they helped protect; and the citizens and families that share the freedom that they helped preserve. The B-17 & B-24 were the backbone of the American effort during the war from 1942 to 1945 and were famous for their ability to sustain damage and still accomplish the mission. Despite the risks of anti-aircraft fire, attacking enemy fighters, and the harrowing environment of sub-zero temperatures, many B-17s and B-24s safely brought their crews home. The P-51 Mustang was affectionately known as the bombers “Little Friend” – saving countless crews from attacking axis fighters. After the war, many aircraft were scrapped for their raw aluminum to rebuild a nation in post-war prosperity and therefore very few were spared. The rarity of the B-17, B-24 & P-51 - and their importance to telling the story of WWII is why the Collings Foundation continues to fly and display the aircraft nationwide. At each location we encourage local veterans and their families to visit and share their experiences and stories with the public. For aviation enthusiasts, the tour provides opportunity for the museum to come to the visitor and not the other way around! Visitors can find out more by visiting our website at .www.collingsfoundation.org
For further information e-mail Hunter Chaney, Director of Marketing: hchaney@collingsfoundation.org or 800-568-8924.

My generation invented holes in our trousers, socks, patches in our trousers, hand me downs and didn't know we were fashion plates. I guess this is where the fashionable term "grunge" originated.
Believe me, we would much rather have had the luxury of wearing anything but hand me downs or as I guess we should have called them, "grunge wear."

1840'S AND 1950's: WHEN THE WORD "WHOLESOME" WAS IN VOGUE.

I wonder if our educators ever use the word "etiquette" in the class room in this year of 2015. Words like "wholesome," "good grooming," "Sir Galahad," etc. seem to have been placed on the top of a dusty cob-web shelf and out of the social mainstream and categorized as relics of the dark ages. Well folks, I'm here to tell you that we did indeed often hear the aforementioned words and phrases and many of us still practice those fast fading customs. Check out the above photo and you will see what I mean.

1950's: BRING THEM BACK, PLEASE!

I wrote this column way back in 1992. As I re-read it, I began to mentally think about all the moral decay and sheer decadence is overtaking America. In New York City, topless females are parading around demanding equal rights for women. "If men can go around with bare chests, why not women." Another male member of the porcine species was also completely nude in public  IN FRONT OF ANY CHILDREN WHO MAY BE TOURING THE CITY WITH MOMMY AND DADDY! Evil is rearing its ugly head. Put a "D" in front of that word and I would guess that's how the word "evil" was added to our English language. I am going to keep the column I wrote those many years ago and print it out on my tabloid printer and have a full size article to retreat to whenever I read, hear or see such  disgusting behavior which is being allowed to exist due to an increasingly permissive society. GOD IS WATCHING US!

1935: IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN "THE GREAT DEPRESSION" BUT LIFE WENT ON

FFrom a 1935 full page ad in the Trenton Evening Times proves that even though we were in the throes of the "Great Depression," life went on in Trenton and the surrounding areas.

1988: "DO YOU RMEMBER THESE?"

I wrote this column nearly 30 years ago recalling things that came to my mind as I did a mental inventory of the persons, places and things I recall that are no longer part of our daily lives. After some Monday morning quarterbacking, I realized that I should have entitled it, "I REMEMBER THESE."

2006: TOM GLOVER WONDERS HOW MY VIEWERS REMEMBER THE MUSIC OF THE 1950'S.

DO NOT PEEK AT THE SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE COLUMN WITH THE "GLOVER" headline. The answers to this quiz are there and I want you to honestly see how many of those great old songs you remember with the clues I have furnished. I sing almost every one of these songs at my Kuser Gazebe singalongs, and over the years have sung them at countless senior citizen centers.

NO PEEKING!

1951: LOVELY DARA BROWN, CNBC AND MSNBC PERSONALITY

 

This lovely gal is the daughter of my Hamilton High class of 1951 classmate, Karen Peterson Brown.

I am an avid watcher of MSNBC's "Lockup," (and Lockup only.) I am personally not a fan of their far left  agenda.Like "The Gray Lady," New York Times. "All the News that fits."

1896: THE KUSER MANSION WAS BUILT AND FINISHIED IN 1896, NOT 1892

 Unfortunately, when the township took over the Kuser Farm area back in the 1970's, they were also given the hand written diary kept by either Fred or Theresa Kuser which had an entry dated 1892 stating that they "spent their first day in their new country home." They were referring to the Goldy farm house which was on Olden Avenue at Cedar Street ( Today's Cedar Lane.) Given the extensive research I have done over the years on the Kuser Farm and family, I would bet that even Fritz Kuser thought they were referring to today's Kuser mansion.

1937: HOMEDELL SCHOOL SAFETY PATROL

 

Do you remember

THE KEYSTONE AUTOMOBILE CLUB

SAFTEY PATROL?

Here's a photo of the Homedell School patrol from 1937

1946 - Trenton Central High School

1946 - Trenton Central High School

There they are, the Central High School Service Corps! There is a possibility that a relative is shown in the photo.

Remember, you can click on the right mouse button, click on "Save Target As," and move the file to your computer for printing.

 

I am rapidly increasing my Hamilton Library Local History Collection of R.C. Maxwell photos of Trenton and the local area, following Duke University's instructions as to how to use them under the U.S. Copyright "Fair Use" law with credit and Duke Library call number on each each photo. Our first Hamilton Township Historical Society presentation in September (the Monday FOLLOWING Labor Day) will feature an on screen program using the library's huge movie scree to project these incredible photos in full screen size on the library's lenticular movie screen. The photos displayed here show only a portion of the originals  as I zeroed in on the corner of Front and So. Broad Street. (The tower of the Broad Street Methodist church can be seen at the far upper left of the photo.) also focusing on the White Horse Tavern in the accompanying Maxwell photo.

1944: "TO ALL THE GIRLS I LOVED BEFORE"

What a sad state of affairs! Poor spelling along with a manufacturer's engraving error, gave young Tom Glover a very perplexing situation. However, as you will read, it ultimately turned out OK!

2105: TIME OUT FOR A GIGGLE OR TWO OR THREE OR?

NO COMMENTARY NEEDED FOR THIS GRAPHIC; IT LAUGHS FOR ITSELF.

HHS 1951: BILL BAGGOTT-: HE COULD HAVE BEEN A STAR AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

My memories of my years as a member of Louise Baird's Hamilton High School choir are alive and vivid and will be with me forever. It was such a privilege to have been a member all four years of my high school career. Certain members stood out. Bette Beiger (Farmer) was one of our lovely female leads in our operettas, as was Shirley Whitebread and the young man in the article I wrote a number of years ago, Bill Baggott. Bill had the tenor voice of an angel. Anyone who watched or watches Lawrence Welk is familiar with Joe Feeney. To me, he has a very harsh tenor voice. I remember Louise Baird commenting one night when Judy and I were at her apartment when she made the comment that BIll's voice was far superior to Feeney's; especially Bill's falsetto.

1917 and 1925: HAMILTON TOWNSHIP'S NOTORIOUS "CLAY PITS"

 

"Dogtown:" Back in the late 19th and early 20th century the area where today's Hamilton Police Station and the Hamilton Library are located, and more specifically the area we know of today as "downtown Hamilton was known as "Dogtown." It was located near the intersection of White Horse-Mercerville Road and encompassed the area eastward and presumably was part of what we know of today as the "Morton Tract."  The strange neighborhood earned that strange name due to the fact that there were apparently a proliferation of dogs running loose around the area. Dogtown was also one of Hamilton's historic and notorious "Clay Pits." Trenton was a very viable pottery center back in the aforementioned late 19th and into the mid 20th century. Potteries needed very densely composed clay for use as "saggers;" a necessary product needed in molding pottery. I have been searching for historic information on this little known area of Hamilton and found the two articles above which will give a very detailed glimpse into the history of that old neighborhood and it's importance to the local pottery industry. On a personal note, the abandoned clay pits provided a very dangerous swimming area for many young boys back in the day. Mom Glover made it perfectly clear that the Glover boys were to avoid the hazardous swimming area which in later years had filled up with water and in many areas of the water equally hazardous Cedar stumps under the water. I remember when a Kuser School
student was killed when he drowned in those waters. I remember the clay pits as being very close to the area where the Hamilton Elks building and the office suites are located.

1986: TWENTY NINE YEARS AGO AND I STILL REMEMBER

Back in the 1940's when Don Slabicki and I worked for Fred Kuser, we made monthly trips over to Newtown Pennsylvania to the George School where we presented 20th Century Fox movies to the students on Saturday nights. The trip to that affluent campus was far different from today. The road leading out of Newtown to the school was a rambling two lane road with Burma Shave signs posted along the road. I remember how clever those little signs were and how we eagerly awaited the next line in the poetic gem. Beards were not a common thing on men back then and Burma Shave wanted it to stay that way.

1960: HAMILTON HIGH CLASS OF 1960 TO CELEBRATE 55 YEARS!

 Above are three graphics relating to the upcoming 55th reunion of Hamilton High's class of 1960. Thanks to my Hamilton Historical Society colleague Eleanor Goldy Guear. I have tried to incorporate all the necessary information on the reunion into a single page but it was an impossible task. I had to break them down into separate pages as displayed above.

Below are images from another dear friend, Kathleen Csorgo Annaccarato who obviously treasured her years at the best high school in the United States of America. Kathy's dad was a fellow amateur radio and personal friend of mine.

 My favorite musical in the whole world! I would loved to have played the part of Billy Bigelow!

 Ann Peters was a Glover family friend who lived "up the hill" at 35 Hartley Avenue.

 I am indebted to the late Alice Wilhelm who gave me her complete collection of Hamilton High memorabilia from her years as one of the first faculty members of the school when it opened back in the 1930's.

 

 Below are 3 more keepsakes from Kathy and her obvious fondness for HHS '60

1937: E. STATE "IN THE THEATER DISTRICT"

That would be E. State Street driving toward State and Broad Streets. I zoomed in on this beautiful scene of the Trenton of 1937 with those fabulous old cars lining both sides of East State Street. Thanks to image editing software, I was able to bring the area of the Orpheum theater from a deep black shadow with no detail By the way: the Orpheum became the Mayfair; one of my favorite Trenton theaters.

HISTORY SHOWS HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED

How times have changed! Can you imagine religion at Trenton High School back during the "teens?" No, well check out the article above. A very common custom in all American schools back in the day.

Did you know the Democratic party was largely made up of racists in the post Civil War years? READ ON!