RUNNEMEDE REMEMBERED

Growing up in a small town in Southern New Jersey


Thursday, August 23, 2007

Remembering part 2 -- The Pike


This is a picture of the corner of Clements Bridge and the Pike. At this time it was an Italian grocery store. The entrance is right on the corner. It changed in the late 50s to a vacuum cleaner store, and I while the building has been refaced, it is still there, and I think it's still a vacuum cleaner store. I walked to this place almost daily to get fresh Italian bread or rolls for lunch or dinner -- at least in the summer time. Mom would give me a list if she needed more than bread and I would get everything on that list. I felt so grown up to be able to do that.
Well, I left off at my second remembrance of Runemede. That event was the birth of my sister, Debbie. I was just shy of three years old when that happened. I can't say I was thrilled, or that I wasn't. I didn't treat her like a doll, though. It seems to me she and mom came home from the hospital -- mom had been in for 8 days or so -- that's how they did it back then -- and right after we got our family back together, it was my third birthday. I do remember it was cold when Mom and Deb came home because the baby was wrapped in at least three blankets, a snowsuit of sorts and sweater and hat. She must have weight 30 pounds with all that paraphernalia on her.

I suppose from there on I am living on small pockets of my remembering.

This past summer we went to a "small town" for two weeks. What is is about small towns that evokes nostalgia. Actually Cody, WY is larger than Runnemede, and the main street is about as long, but it's a tourist town, so there are shops and bookstores, and an old hotel from the days of Buffalo Bill Cody, and a couple of restaurants.

I remember when Runnemede had a fine main street -- at least to me, a child, it was fine.

I used to love walking down to the pike (you see on the east side of the pike you went down to the pike, on the west side you went up to the pike -- maybe because there was a slight downward grade to the pike on our side of town, and slight upgrade on the other side?). The stores -- there were a few, which I'll mention as I go along -- always had their windows "decorated". I especially loved touring the windows -- it's called window shopping -- at Christmas time. Let's see, I'd start at Marston's Jewelry store (corner of third and the pike), then walk down and look into Joe's news shop -- there was a grocery store on the corner of third and the pike when I lived there, until the furniture store took its' place. Then on to Leap's (also a grocery store, which became Binkley's 5 & 10. Then down to the deli, and on to the post office -- which was on the corner of Clements Bridge and the Pike. Then I'd cross back over the pike (at the light) and walk back toward Third Avenue to see those stores' windows. I recall an Italian grocer on the NE corner (where the vacuum cleaner store is) of Clements Bridge and the Pike. I know it was there because it was the best place to get fresh Italian rolls and bread (for 25 cents a loaf). It also had a pickle barrel. But then, so did Leap's. For a nickle I was in heaven for 10 minutes or so sucking on that pickle and then eating it.

Next -- heading north on the Pike -- was Dinks -- it was just a store that had little nick-nacks. Apparently, you know you're from South Jersey if you remember Dinks (there's a website about being from South Jersey that says this) if you put a nickle in the can for the paper and took a paper because no one was minding the store. Oh, yes, there was a restaurant inbetween Dinks and the grocery store. We ate there only a few times. I think it was called Webers.

Then came the lumber/hardware store. Then was a bakery and they had the best cream donuts -- well, not as good as Kelly's bakery in Glendora, but that was too far to walk when I was 5 or 6. And I was allowed to walk alone, no adult going with me to make sure I wasn't stolen or anything. And everyone in town, at least along the pike knew Judi Drexler. Next in the line was Pitt's Drug Store. Those windows were the best, year round, they were the best.

Pitt's Drug store had a soda fountain (as did Joe's), and he had magazines/comics for a dime, and perfume (gift for mommy). I played with his daughter occasionally, but since she lived a full three blocks from our house, it wasn't a daily event.

Crossing First Avenue, moving north toward Third Avenue, on the corner was a shoe store -- the kind that had the x-ray machine in it. Then next to that was Jake's five and ten. My Favorite store of all time. Jake had about 200 square feet (if that much) of junk, but what junk it was. Pencils, pens, notebooks, plastic toys that would break if you looked at them wrong, and he had candy -- penny candy. Candy cigarettes were three for a penny, and they were my favorite.

Next along the pike was the fire house -- and at Christmas that's where Santa sat, and all during the Christmas season, Christmas music played over loud speakers, and I'd just stand there and listen. Next was the Gulf gas station -- I imagine gas was 17 cents a gallon at that time. By the time I was driving it was up to a quarter a gallon. Mr. Egoff owned it.

Walking on, there was the barber shop (before they put a store on the corner of Second) and a bar (the name of which escapes me because I wasn't supposed to look at it -- on December 24, 2007 I remember that it was Freddie's). Then it was around the corner, heading away from the pike, to home.

Sometime, I'll talk about the houses I passed on these walks.

Walking is how I played and imagined and kept healthy. At this point in my life, I would do anything to be able to walk even one block and enjoy what I enjoyed back then.

No comments: