1950's: C'MON FESS UP YOU 80 YEAR OLDS...YOU WERE A "CRUISER!"

It was a custom back in the 1950's for many of us teens who were just beginning to learn the art of driving, along with a mysterious urge to exercise our new from freedom as we left our bicycles in the garage and took to the open road. Trenton on a Thursday night was a joy to experience. The town was alive with shoppers as the stores all stayed open until 9 PM. These are delicious memories for my fellow "CRUISERS" as we remember those long ago trips to "downtown" Trenton.

1937: TRENTON'S BEAUTIFUL TRENTON CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOLF

 Here's a scene sure to warm the heart of any Trenton High attendee who ever performed or sat in the audience watching one of those incredible operettas that high schools performed back in the 1930's and 40's. No falling ceilings here, folks! Maintenance and upkeep back then was as neat and clean as those well groomed students in this photo!

1942: A FEW DAYS AFTER PEARL HARBOR. AMERICANS LIVED IN FEAR

How well I remember "Aircraft Spotters" during the very early years of WWII. To an 8 or 9 year old boy, those scary stories that were coming to us over the radio and in the Trenton Evening Times will be with me forever   The aforementioned aircraft spotters were usually up on the roof of a flat building with their binoculars on 24 hour duty. It was really scary back there in the early years of WWII. Nazi submarines were off the Jersey coast and fifth columnists were known to have been set ashore in rubber rafts to do their dirty deeds in the industrial areas. Over on the west coast, the Japanese navy was lobbing shells into the west coast refineries. I also read the story how the Japanese sent lighter than air balloons up and let the upper air currents carry them to Oregon, Washington and the Northwest where the felll to the ground and expolded. Many stories in my hundreds of columns I have written over the years recalling life on what was known as the "Home Front." Here's an article showing the military guarding our Trenton bridge just a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

1942 THE WAR ON THE "HOME FRONT"

As a boy of 9 back in 1942, it was a somewhat frightening thing when the area defense officials decided to perform area wide practice air raids. Japan had recently bombed Pearl Harbor, Hitler's Luftwaffe was bringing all kinds of fear to London and other British cities, and we all wondered if the dreaded Nazi air force would be able to penetrate our shores. I remember blackouts quite well. In our neighborhood the Colonial Volunteer Fire Co. was an integral part of the air raid practice runs. Their familiar siren was sort of frightening when the air raid warning siren sounded. All lights in every home were to be extinguished, shades drawn, and in our house, the radio was on and an "air raid" low wattage glowing blue light gave off a ghostly glow. The Air Raid Warden took to the neighborhood streets looking for leaking lights from careless home owners, and also flagged down moving autos who had to turn off their headlights. I remember it well. My father and older brother were both Air Raid Wardens as were MANY are citizens from that era.

MARCH, 1951: MEMORIES OF OUR WASHINGTON TRIP WHERE IF FELL IN LOVE WITH MY CLASSMATE

It was March, 1951; time for our class trip to Washington in 2 buses. I was on bus 1 and as luck would have it, the girl of my dreams was on bus 2. I'll never forget that day when we stopped at the Luray Caverns and explored Mother Nature's incredible underground display. It was here that I fell in love with Judy Britton. She had on a very stunning navy blue suit, and was movie star pretty. I will never forget the thrill and electricity that surged through me as we walked hand in had in those dark caverns. Here's a pleasant memory of my classmates that I scanned from a 1950 "CRITERION" which I received from Bob Oliver HHS '50.

1960's A GLOVER CHRISTMAS REMEMBERED

Yeah, Christmas was two months ago, but I just came upon this Christmas article I had written many years ago. A writer always has one or more columns which he holds in high esteem; this was one of my best in my 30 plus years of writing.  Judy and I presented the above Christmas present to our three children Juliane, Tom and Ken as a special present to help them understand what the Christmas season meant to our generation and would mean to them in their generation. Now, at the age of 82, I look back on this article with tears in my eyes. So much has happened in the intervening years! I recall how I personally suffered "empty nest" syndrome when my three went on to live their own independent lives. I suffered, but Judy was elated; happily accepting the fact that they were going to go their own way and make their own choices; be that a life of happiness or adversity. Please forgive me for posting this graphic; it is one of my very best and came straight from my heart, and I do believe that many of my visitors can understand and agree with my sentiments.

1941: AN INCREDIBLE CLOSEUP OF E. STATE AND CARROL STREET IN TRENTON

It took a bit of tweaking to bring this beautiful closeup of E. State Street looking west. The DeLuxe Diner, Moose Hall and Post Office (on the right) give an excellent view of the city of Trenton in this area as it looked in the early years of World War II.

2016: THANK YOU JACK RAFFERTY!

How time has flown! Were it not for this Hamilton Township legend, there would be no Hamilton Township Public Library LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTION. Jack and Mayoral Aide "Mo" Rossi, along with then Hamilton Business Administrator Joe Bellina were kind enough to let me present my case that Hamilton needed a comprehensive local history repository. I had pointed out the fact that the city of Trenton put us to shame with their incredible interest in preserving their local history. Hamilton on the other had had destroyed countless valuable historic material in order to gain storage space. Even today, few in the upper levels of local governments are too busy with every day business to concern themselves with history. Indeed, the only time they realize that there is a need is when they are commemorating an historic anniversary and seek information. Jack is a fellow history buff and especially knowledgeable on the subject of local American Indian lore. In his earlier years, he did archaeological digs seeking Indian relics and came up with an impressive collection which has been on display at the American Indian Museum that he founded at Hamilton's Veterans Park. In today's society, The Hamilton Library website, "Tom Glover's Hamilton" will soon reach one million visitors; not unique visits, but from those who return day by day looking for the latest posts. I will be eternally grateful to former Mayor Jack Rafferty for accepting my proposal to bring local history to those who are interested.

1930: NORTH OLDEN AVENUE EXTENDED

Did you know that North Olden Avenue once terminated at Princeton Avenue? In 1930 an "extension" was added at Princeton Avenue northward. The article indicates that it terminated at the Scotch Road which I interpret as being Parkway Avenue.

1943: TRENTON DECORATES A FEW OF THE MANY WORLD WAR II HEROES

100 Years from now, future area residents will seek out genealogical information on their relatives who lived back in the 20th century and the World War II era Indeed, it is my belief that future descendants of the men in this photo will avidly resurrect this photo and include it in their respective family trees. Thus, my mission to preserve and digitize as much as I can while I am still able to do so. This post will be posted on my www.glover320.blogspot.com
website as well as here on Facebook. All of which begs the question: Will future generations still be able to retrieve these digital posts.? I feel confident that my "hi-tech" local history articles and graphics will survive in some form. If I am able to retrieve old newspaper articles and photos from the earliest years of the printed page, certainly future generations will probably have a much more refined method of historic research. History must be preserved for future generations and I have devoted my retirement years to embellishing local history.

THANK YOU, HARRY PODMORE!

As I have mentioned numerous times over the many years I have been mining for historic research, one of my favorite subjects is Mill Hill. I was fortunate enough to get an old weathered and "foxed" scrapbook. "foxed is (book people;s reference to the browning and tanning of pages). This old treasure was the property of fabled historian Harry Podmore. Herewith a digitized and dressed up set of pages relating to "Washington's Retreat."

1934: AMAZING RADIO RECEPTION FROM AROUND THE WORLD!

As a licensed radio amateur, I have always been interested in radio. My army career with the super secret Army Security Agency had me using an incredible state of the art Collins "R-390" military radio receiver which back in the 1950's was state of the art. As a young boy I had an intense interest in radio, even experimenting with a very primitive "cat's whisker" receiver. Ask your grandfather to explain that antique receiving apparatus. As a teenager, I developed an addiction to what fellow radio buffs call "DX;" which is short for long distance radio or television reception. Thus this article from a 1934 TRENTON magazine telling the story of the revolutionary new radio receivers being sold by downtown Trenton department stores. I found this article completely captivating as will any of my fellow radio lovers; whether amateur such as I (WA2RVU) or just plain "DX'ers.

1869: A CLOSEUP LOOK AT THE SWAMP ANGEL

One of the more fascinating subjects in our local history centers on the fabled "Swamp Angel" and of course the legendary Camp Olden. I have been pursuing historical documents on that subject since the 1980's when I found an article in my newspaper collection relating to Henry Lawton who had a farm over in the area of today's Kuser School ("Lawton Avenue, etc.) His farm was said to have been on a portion of the Camp Olden boundary.  In 1992, I wrote a column in the MERCER MESSENGER telling the story of Camp Olden as recalled by the brothers Lawton. That article spurred Bob Butera and Vince Mercandetti, and then-Mayor Jack Rafferty to clear the decks for the establishment of today's Camp Olden Park which is located on that triangular intersection of Liberty Street and Hamilton Avenue.

Above is an article from the Daily State Gazette telling the fantastically interesting story of the Trenton made Swamp Angel and with the date of the article being only 4 or so years after the end of the war between the states, one attains a sense of "immediacy" as the article is read. Today, President Bruce Sirak is keeping the Civil War and Hamilton's historic Camp Olden alive with the very viable CAMP OLDEN ROUNDTABLE. (www.campolden.org) This scholarly group meets monthly at the Hamilton Township Public Library.

ABOUT THE ENGRAVINGS: One of our favorite pastimes when we were kids was to sit down at the table, bring out the "Crayola" wax crayons and start filling up that coloring book! Well, folks, at the advancing age of 82, this old codger is enjoying that joys of coloring once again. This time, I find that my crayons are on a Photo Shop color palette where I merely click on the desired color and paint my subject, all the while remembering my Kuser School teachers to "Stay in the lines!" Above left is the original engraving from the 16 page "INDUSTRIAL EDITION" of the Daily State Gazette of July 31, 1897. Now look at the results of my digital coloring book wherein a added a colorful border, atempted to match the colors of the Swamp Angel, greened up the grass at the base, and even lit the lamps on top of this historic treasure. There's a little boy in each of us even as there is a little girl in each of our ladies!

1949: So. Montgomery looking to E. State Street

Remember Zorn's record shop? Back in the late 40's and 50's this was a teenage favorite source to buy the latest record on the top ten tunes of the day. You are on So. Montgomery Street heading toward E. State Street. Recognize that long forgotten "rest station" in the background? Another splendid downtown Trenton photo showing Trenton as it was in 1949.

1941: THE NEW RKO TRENT THEATER

How I love these full page features! Unfortunately they do not reproduce full size on Facebook due to the graphic size limitations of that social media site. However, here at the Hamilton Library Local History web site, you get the full page in all its glory. Here's a fabulous 1941 view of the 75 year old event that gave birth to the legendary RKO Trent theater.John Taylor's original Taylor Opera House stood on this site, and the building shown in the upper left of the photo shows the Trent theater building that was the original opera house. How unfortunate it was leveled and replaced by the modern structure shown to the right of the above page. The original Taylor Opera House is shown below:

1959: MR. FRANK COOK; TRENTON MOTION PICTURE PROJECTIONIST EXTRAORDINAIRE

1959: Movies were getting from television when this article was written. However, it is a really interesting look at the career of Mr. Cook who began back in tThere is a reference here to the early years with the Rialto and American theaters which were allied with Hildinger Enterprises one of the early Trenton are conglomerate who ran numerous Trenton area movie houses. The late Mrs. Rosemary Kerwick McLaughlin was our across the street neighbor and was a relative of the Hildinger family. Rosemary told of the early live piano and/or organ accompaniment that was used during the silent film era.

1888: THE FABLED BLIZZARD OF '88

As this is being posted the northeast U.S. is still cleaning up from a monster blizzard that hit the eastern seaboard and dropped massive amounts of snow that led many to believe that this 2016 storm was the worse snowstorm ever in the northeast. Here's an article. You decide.

1914: A SUMMER AND WINTERTIME PLAYGROUND

Here's a 1914 article dealing with the "old swimming hole" and playground at Sanhican Creek. This is from my "WEST END" folder in the Hamilton Township Public Library Local History Collection.

NEWCOMER TO THIS WEBSITE? YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT!

WWW.GLOVER320.BLOGSPOT.COM

1914: THE HERMITAGE AVENUE SWIMMING AND PLAYGROUND AREA

One hundred and two years ago the Hermitage  area! This graphic is in my "WEST END" folder and produced herewith for history oriented visitors to enjoy. I am posting the graphic ONLY on Facebook due to the fact that Facebook does not have the ability to reproduce a legible and easily read lengthy historical description.

1929: WHEN QUALITY WAS KING - THE NEW TRENTON CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Like many area residents, I was saddened to see that the legendary Trenton Central High School had to be done in. In my ignorance of the building trades, I thought that even though there was water damage throughout the building due to shoddy maintenance over the years, the red brick super structure could be saved and the interior of the red brick shell re-built with modern classrooms inserted. Newer construction could have been extended out the back end of the building. However, and very unfortunately, experts far more knowledgeable than I said it would be too expensive and too much extra labor. Even though I am a Hamilton High alumnus, my memories of the great rivalry between HHS, Trenton High and Trenton Catholic hearkened back to the golden years of that great high school  where educational excellence prevailed.

1915: URKEN AND KOHN DEPARTMENT STORE

It took a bit of time to bring all these graphics together and form a vignette of one of Trenton's more popular stores in Chambersburg. The Messrs Urken and Kohn are shown in a photo from a 1915 Trenton "Daily State Gazette." The popular "flatiron" construction was a very busy department store right up to its demise, which I place as the early 1950's. I am currently working on an expanded CHAMBERSBURG on screen presentation which will be presented this coming year at one of our monthly Hamilton Township Historical Society meetings which are held on the first Monday of each month except July, August, and December.

1912: CHAMBERSBURG AS RECALLED BY AN OLD RESIDENT

These old clippings are truly a goldmine of interesting and little known history. Most historians will agree that old newspapers area an incredibly rich source of historic information. Of course, the newspaper publishers of the day never dreamed that they were creating these wonderful moments in time. Such is the case with this graphic and countless others that are being digitized in the Local History Collection of the Hamilton Township Public Library. Former (and current) residents of this historic neighborhood will find this enhanced graphic to be a fascinating journey into the past of what old timers call "the old borough."

2016: KUSER POND IS NO MORE

"WIKIPEDIA defines progress: Evolutionary progress, the idea that there is a largest-scale trend in evolution of organisms and that the trend is toward improvement or adaptation to changing environmental conditions"

How ironic! Years ago, I recall a story where a member of a Cranbury area of New Jersey complained to the authorities that a farmer was doing what farmers had done for centuries: tilling and fertilizing his land for the new crop. The neighbor complained that the process was raising dust and complained to the aforementioned authorities. I don't know how it turned out, but I would bet that the environmental agency or agencies sided with the newcomer who moved into an area that had been doing what farmers do for centuries. This it is with the graphic I have posted relating to the klate, lamented "Kuser Pond".
Mom Glover loved that pond and was not a cold weather lover. When she heard the ageless croak of frogs in the early spring, she knew that we were soon going to welcome another beautiful spring season. Back when the Lord created that area that I love so much, He decided to place a pond in a low lying area that was noted for a high sub-surface water level. Many homes in the area had damp and water problems in the basements; including the Glover family whose home Hartley Avenue house bordered Kuser Farm. Most of us in the neighborhood accepted that natural water level and opted to prefer the natural habitat that provided us with frogs (tadpoles), cat tails, lily pads, gorgeous Red Wing Blackbirds, countless bird species, and what we kids called "sewing bugs;" which were known by most as Dragonflies." So along comes a city bred newcomer to the neighborhood who complained to the township that mosquitoes, and their wet basement was being caused by Kuser's pond and demanded that it be drained. It was and when it was we lost one of the neighborhood natural wetlands that provided countless hours of fun in the winter for ice skating, and in the summer for us kids to catch tadpoles or float our flat bottom cement mixing vessel as we played pirate or some other wonderful childhood nautical endeavor. So the pond was drained, and don't you know, the basements in the home in which I grew up and others are still getting water and dampness. I think they call it a "high water plane;" not sure.

1951 - 2016 PRECIOUS MEMORIES......HOW THEY LINGER

I am no longer posting on my Hamilton High School class of 1951 CLASSMATES.COM pages. I find that the site is much too limited in bringing the larger and more legible photos and articles. All of which brings me to this post: I have devoted my retirement years to my memories of growing up in a very rural Hamilton Township. I know there are a number of my contemporaries who have absolutely no interest in their past life, but as I grow older and older and older, I find that the memories I hold deep down in my very being should not be repressed. In short I am a hopeless romantic. I am also a hopeless, aging old guy looking back on how blessed I have been with my COUNTLESS precious memories. For instance: The photo I took was on one of my MANY passes I take to the best high school in the world (My opinion, of course.) I can't express the deep, delightful emotional wave that comes over me when I see that lovely settee under the school flagpole. School is ending, we were graduating seniors with our yearbooks at our side, garnering signatures of our classmates, and then that miraculous and never to be forgotten act of young love between me and the girl I would ultimately marry. Some folks take those memories to the cemetery. I take mine to the place where the memories were made, and this is one of those treasured landmarks for me.

1936: EAST STATE STREET CLOSEUP TO FIVE AND DIMES

 This closeup view of E. State Street brings you within walking distance of the "five and dime" store that once lined E. State Street near Broad. I posted this on Facebook but you can see the full screen version here; Facebook has limited "magnifying power."

2016: A NEVER ENDING PROJECT - DIGITIZING LOCAL ARTICLES AND PHOTOS

Most presenters use Microsoft's "POWERPOINT" to compile an on screen presentation. Many years ago, indeed in the very early years of Windows 3.1.

I responded to an ad from a company called "Gold Disk" who were trumpeting a revolutionary digital slide show that had incredible transitions, animation, and other features. It was a program known as ASTOUND! and i have been using it over all these years due to the fact that I have become so familiar with the program. Below is one of the "slides" from my program, "COMPUTERS AND LOCAL HISTORY: PERFECT TOGETHER!" After years of trying to get pristine copies of microfilm on the library printer I found that all I got was neck pain from moving my head up and down as that microfilm slide I sought was sliding through the gate of the projector and sometimes etching the microfilm with vertical scratches. Voila! Along came the digital scanner and with the 100 - plus year collection local Trenton newspapers reposing in my garage for over 20 years, my collection is now part ot the Hamilton Library's local history collection; not for public use, but for future Tom Glover successors who will continue the digitization process through the millions of pages in those Trenton Times, Trenton State Gazette and Daily True American copies in the collection.

1919: GIOVANNI SARTORI-FOUNDER OF THE TRENTON CATHOLIC CHURCH

This interesting article from the July 6, 1919 edition of the Trenton Times will prove to be of value to future researchers who are now or will be looking for historic material relating to the Roman Catholic church in Trenton.

1934: HAPPY NEW YEAR TOMMY GLOVER AT 4 MONTHS OLD

Trenton was THE place to be on New Years Eve back in those dark days of the Great Depression. Few indeed were those Trenton area residents who were affluent enough to partake of the fantastic prices and countless activities from movies to night clubs to restaurants as they bid farewell to 1933 and celebrated the new year of 1934.

1905: CHRISTMAS PAST

This 110 year old editorial is fraught with words of wisdom for those of us who are of the Christian faith.Read it and you will find your beliefs confirmed! To paraphrase the Holy Bible, "Let the little children come to me.."

1915: ONE HUNDRED CHRISTMASES AGO IN THE "THEATRES"

This would have been a page that grandmother and grandfather would have read in the Trenton Evening Times of 100 years ago. How fascinating it is to peruse through the millions of pages in my Trenton Times-Trenton State Gazette and Daily True American and find truly antique treasures such as this page extract. MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM 1915 AND 2015!

1905: HAMILTON TOWNSHIP'S WASHINGTON SCHOOL

 

This is one of the very interesting and little known grammar schools that were located in various areas in the rural township of Hamilton in the 19th century. This school was located on today's Hughes Drive near today's entrance to Mercer County Park and in close proximity to the old Tindall Farm.

1915: CHAMBERSBURG SECTION OF THE TIMES

One of the wonderful aspects of researching local history is uncovering long forgotten and in many cases little known features that were in newspapers of the past. All historians agree that one of the best places to unearth little know historic facts. Such is the case with the "CHAMBERSBURG" section which was a weekly feature in the teens. The graphic is a partial scan of the page dedicated to persons, places and things in the burg of yesteryear.

1939: THE LITTLE KNOWN "NEW ERA BREEDING FARM"

This is an interesting photo of rural Hamilton Township in the years before our population exploded into the megalopolis we have today. That huge building in the lower photo was located on Route 33 east. I speculate that it was on the southeast corner of Route 33 and White Horse Mercerville Road.
Years ago I procured a few "TRENTON" magazines from my old friend, Meredith "Med" Havens who was largely responsible for the Trenton Fire Museum. These old magazines are a treasure trove of Trenton industry and commerce in the 20's through the 40's.

CHABERSBURG MAP SHOWING WHO WAS WHERE - UNDATED

I found this map in an old scrapbook that has been reposing quietly in the many, many historical photos, articles and digitized documents I have yet to uncover and categorize. I find this to be an incredible artifact as it shows many very historic "Burg" persons, places and things.