| Author | Message | ||
     Extuscan |
Memories are permitted, no? Its about 3 in the morning, I have my alarm set for 6 but I can't sleep. Something about the sidewalks in Maplewood Center breaking up (see soapbox) reminds me of what Maplewood Center was like last time the sidewalks were breaking up. Not better or worse, but still fresh in my mind. I probably have a memory for every store that ever existed in my life on that street. The Christian Science Reading Room was on the corner, where Burgdorff was. You never saw anyone come in or out of it, the door was blue before I think is red now. The tree out front has a little plaque that was too high up for me to read (its probably at waist level now) that said the tree would be maintained by some tree company because it was a special tree... something like that. First up for real stores, the ones you'd go in, was the Golden East. My Aunt Donna was for years a regular customer (as were we, but apparently not to the same degree). She moved away for years and came to visit us in Maplewood and we decided to order Chinese from the Golden East and she came along... "Donna? Is that you?" After all those years, they knew her. The next store was, I think, Clothing Barn. It was something-barn... or dress barn maybe. It was another of the many now missing clothing stores that once lined Maplewood Avenue. It was annexed by its neighbor, the Maplewood Pharmacy who grew into the empty space and installed that painting of Maplewood over the door. The Pharmacy was where I started my first business in middle school. I bought there 2 bags for a $1 Sather's candy and marked it up to 10 cents a piece. I made about a 50% margin on that stuff. I lost the business when I found my locker busted open and the candy strewn across the hall. With profits, I had invested heavily in inventory only to have an uninsured natural disaster. There was a lady who worked there who would check up on my business as I came in to buy more. I think she had red hair, rather young. I dont remember names well. The news of my business going bust was quite a shock, and I think hurt thier candy sales as well. Klein Realtors was next. They used to have a fascade like a pitched roof, all painted yellow, with an octagonal neon clock at the top. Looked like a shed tacked onto that building. They ripped it out and did up that brown siding thing. Never went it, but I remember being frequently stopped waiting for my mother to stop looking at the houses for sale. Next to Klein was the Hairafter. My mother got her hair done there till they went out of business. Later it was a TCBY, the second of the yogurt invaders. We didn't think it would outlast Flamingo's, but it did. The movie theater is a sore dissapointment. While the front never was historically accurate in any sense... I think it was brick red strips and white all wooden front. Nor was the inside hallway with those large groovy mod chandeliers, but deep inside was the biggest, oldest, stickiest theater anywhere. It was huge. The Millburn Twin had already been split, and we surely never went to the theater in Irvington so this was the biggest we would ever go in. Around the screen was all gold, and the Exit signs were stained glass. There were etched glass dividers with curtain between the front hall and the theater. Inside there wasn't a chandelier, but a round light... most bulbs burned out... in the center of the ceiling. I seem to remember faint medallions or small paintings or something on the ceiling. It was always too dark to tell. Even though it was very old, and very ornate in some/most places, there were some touches of the 70's inside the main hall with these columns that had brown orange and yellow stripes on them. I dont know if they were fake, or structural, or the only thing keeping the ceiling up. That place was always empty. The theater was in four large seating areas and you almost always could have an entire section to yourself. The only time it was ever packed was for Ghostbusters. The Roman Gourmet is thankfully still as it always was. Mobbed on a half day... get your money out... money must be ready... otherwise you wouldn't have your slice on a half day when 98% of Maplewood Middle school was lined up, sometimes all the way down Eva's, for a stinkin piece of pizza. It was easier, every tuesday night, on the way home from swimming lessons, to get our pair of plain cheese. I don't know what was where Freeman's Fish Market is/was... I think another realtor. But anyway, the next store was King's. King's, the upscale fashion retailer of groceries. The carpeted grocery store. I wasn't always that way! The floors weren't always tiled everywhere. The aisle signs were missing more than a few of thier letters and numbers. The coolers made grinding noises. It was a dump. But, the big front window was always lined with bags full of groceries awaiting delivery. There was absolutely no pre-packaged meat. If you wanted anything, it came out of the case and was wrapped in brown paper and priced with a grease pencil. At the register, there were two neat things. #1, you got Green Stamps. I think I got a tackle box that way. #2, the change didn't come from the cashier, it was dispensed out of a machine at the end of the register. Speaking of Green Stamps, my Grandparents (also of Maplewood) used to own half a trucking company and gas stations used to give out green stamps. Well those trucks used alot of gas and grandma got alot of stamps. Her house was consequently decorated on green stamps down the giant 6' nymph holding a pole with a light globe on top. All faux-gilt, of course. Luckily, when Grandma and Grandpa moved out they chose to rent a dumpster instead of a moving van, so such horrors are now buried in the Meadowlands. They did leave the next owners another, and perhaps scarier surprise buried under the front lawn. When they converted from oil heat to gas in the 60's, instead of having the oil tank buried under the front lawn removed they had it filled full of oil so it wouldn't collapse. I imagine it has since been removed, at great expense. But anyway, Kings used to sell beer too and they had the shopping carts inside so just image how cramped it was. But Maplewood Center... Maplewood Bank and Trust. They used to give out little furry green things as promos, and fridge magnets, and other mementos of a regulated banking era. The gifts were apparently better before my time. For years, we ate off the dishes which were given to us by Maplewood Bank and Trust for making deposits. My other Grandmother still has hers. Although it doesn't look it, that bank burned down once. They were replacing the roof, and ended up having to replace damn near everything else. It was, ofcourse, front page news for the News-Record. It took more than a fire however to displace the lady who ran the safe deposit box area. I don't know if her name was Viola, or Violet, or if her name was lost in time... but surely she completed with Eva of Eva's Gifts Toys and Cards for title of meanest woman on Maplewood Avenue. Not just to little kids mind you, if we came up with our little red envelope with our tiny key to our draw in that giant vault... Well I dunno I just remember her as being mean. And I think my mother was glad to see her go when she did. We met at the bank one day the man who held bank account #12. He was there the first day the bank opened in the new building and they were soliciting new accounts on the sidewalk... in the 1920's. He said they brought the money from the old bank in a wheelbarrow. He could have been full of it, but thats what he told us. Who were we to argue with bank account #12. It doesn't make sense now that he woudl get #12, but that there would be a wheelbarrow full of money from the old bank... Things didnt' have to make sense to little kids. Across the street was the Maple Leaf. Before it moved down the street a little bit, it was packed into that small corner. You could never get a seat, and the floors were worn right through the linoleum. The decor was very much "diner". Everything was pea green vinyl, except for the tables which were I think white with gold specks... the walls were dark brown wood and the curtains, half way up, were brown and white alternating panels. Whatever color, the walls and curtains were all evenly coated with the sticky remains of splattered imitation maple syrup. There were little boxes of cereal on top of the wall. The back wall, behind the counter, was quilted stainless. They actually cooked right there behind the counter then. I don't remember exactly where the waitresses went to smoke, but I do know it was right in the dining area. I know in the "new" Mapleleaf it certainly was right on the dining area floor, and sometimes right at your table. One egg, hash browns and toast... $1 if you got it before 6 am or something ridiculous like that. Two eggs, hash browns, and toast was $1.10. I think. You could get something with an egg for $1, and two eggs for $1.10. I remember my mother getting a cup of coffee once and the cup had a pair of giant red lipstick lip marks on it. We didn't stop going there because of that, or any other transgression of mainstream restrauranting. Jerome's Liquors was next door. I would go in because they were the rebel retailer who would sell JOLT! when that was the big thing. Expensive, tastes bad, but it was what every kid wanted... more sugar, more caffiene. I lifeguarded for a summer with Jerome's son. My parents didn't go there much except for when my mother wanted chilled red wine. Yes, I know, you don't drink red wine chilled but she liked it better that way and it was a long time ago so drinking wine at all was very upscale even if you drank your red wine cold. Well anyway he had like a little whirlpool on by the door that would chill your wine... including your red wine... quicker than your home fridge apparently. Next door, where Lenna Roberts ended up was another woman's clothing store called the Lazy Daisy. I don't recall much more than the name. Then, where the Mapleleaf stands today, was Eva's Gifts Toys and Cards. Alternatively, Evils Gifts Toys and Cards. It was dark. It was cold. Eva wore a jacket in the winter because, as was discovered when remodeling for the Mapleleaf, she didn't heat the place. My brother tells me once that when those famous lines on MMS half days at the Roman Gourmet got to her store, she threw a bucket of water at some kids. That was Evil Eva. Larrys... Surely the only store in Maplewood Center that retained its original store front into my youth. Imagine when all the shops had something similiar to that barber shops leaded glass fan window. I will spare you my attempts at naming the barbers (I do remember one was named Otto. Also Larry used to have huge hair like some movie reviewer who probably doesn't have huge hair anymore and there for ruins my association...) But anyway he had a little machine that dispensed shaving cream, a box full of very hard chewing gum, some comic books whose characters I did not find interesting, and green vinyl chairs with duct tape on them. Koken. Remember that word? Maguires. I hate to say anything bad about a business that is still in business, especially when they did something wrong so long ago. Nobody is reading this anyway so here goes. Apparently sometime in the late 70's they cut a suit for my father a little too much like you would see in The Godfather and from that day on my father has bought he suits, plaid or otherwise, from Lord and Taylors. That was of course until they closed and ran off to Short Hills from thier otherwise convient location at the end of Ridgewood (or is it Wyoming) avenue. After Maguires was Ken's Drugs. I have many stuffed gorrillas purchased for me from thier store window. My best friends aunt and uncle owned the place, and I asked who Ken was. Apparently Ken is nobody but Ken meant smart is some other language, probably hebrew but I dont know I'm not jewish but he was thats why I'm making that assumption. He could also have been making that up, but the store's name meant Smart Drugs. That doesnt' really make any sense, but they had a photocopier he could somehow get us to use for free and large selection of candy and thats all that really mattered. There was a small clothing store in that black painted section of the building with the fake little roof... Another clothing store, since gone. A little further up and around the corner was Maplewood Wine and Liquors. This is where my parents did go usually and I remember it only for the gravely voiced ancient lady behind the counter who could put a six pack in a paper bag without catching the side of the bag ever. She'd stack them. This was all in the same building as the Winolear. This was a cool place in its day. There was a train car in the back to eat in. It was always packed, until the clientele just got older and older. Our family last went there after a funeral, or was it a graduation... I dunno there were alot of us so it had to be a funeral. It the only thing that really gets families together. The place closed shortly there after and became a dollar-draft-bar and later an expensive italian restaurant with tomato sauce not unlike the Roman Gourment... hey it was him... Just kidding, we never actually went there. Maplewood Stationers... I once bought a little dectives notebook that was so old the maker had gone out of business when I wrote to them asking where I could get refill paper that actually fit the clips. Stationary was never thier biggest seller. They did sell lots of candy to kids, tons of newspapers, and enough lottery tickets to balance a state budget. I wonder though, did they sell many Camptown bus tickets? I think I was the only one who bought Clove gum... the gum that tasted like ham. The Book Stop was next door and my mother liked that place very much. The owner always had something good to reccomend, and she never got too upset when we pushed all her neatly pulled forward books back against the shelves. You did get something extra apparently for paying list price. Peter's Bakery. I miss them. I miss black and white cookies. They had a really cool carved wooden sign, infact I think it was the first element in Maplewood Center that signaled Maplewood had gone yuppie. Long before I was born they baked my parents wedding cake, and as my grandparents once told me they made the pies for the country club one night with salt instead of sugar. What a mistaka to maka. They were bought out, the name changed, the product changed... but when they were Peter's, they made a steady business selling cupcakes and cookies, wrapped in wax paper, put in a white box, and tied up with red and white string pulled out of a dispenser in the ceiling. I hope I'm not skipping something here... but the next store was The Village Market. It was a grocery store, just like Kings. My grandmother did all her shopping there... or, more accurately, did her shopping over the telephone and had it delivered from there. We never shopped there because for one, hard as this is to believe, it was more expensive than Kings, and two, you were not allowed to pick out your own produce. You told them what you wanted and they got it for you. It later became Palmer Video. Another clothing store was next, Delia's I think. Or Daphne's? I'll stick with Delia's but is suspiciously confused in my mind with the modern day young girls fashion catalog. Anyway it was not a young girls fashion store, it was a ladies store. They had a large fake fascade over the building that was torn away when Robbin Hutchinson moved in that had fake clapboard siding and Delia's written in big black script with gold borders. This store, like most, had little silver boarder along all the windows that was a primitive form of a burgler alarm. If you were so brazen as to break in through the front window you would presumably break this tape as well and set off the alarm. Delia's had yellow shopping bags, with Delias written in the same script. I know this for sure because when Delia's went out of business all thier bags ended up getting used by H. E. Rowe's . The Roman Gourmet did that too, I can't remember ever getting a pizza from there in a Roman Gourmet box. It always had some other pizza place's name written on it. But anyway, that dime store. My father told me that when he was a kid they used to call it Heros...H E Rowe. We never noticed it even had a name, it was the dime store. Wooden floors, a noisy cash register with numbers that came up, and two sales clerks per aisle watching your every move. There was an old guy who ran the place. I remember buying with my mother a pencil bag that came with pens, and pencils, etc. The pens didn't work. We brought them back, and he tried to fix them. He scribbled on a piece of paper, he tried holding a Bic lighter up to the tips, but nothing would get the ink flowing and finally, begrudgingly, we were given two new pens. Total cost to him, 20-30 cents. Surely must have cost him some pride. His wife, nice to us kids when mom was with us, was mean as could be when we came in alone. I think her mole would twitch when she suspected we were gonna steal something. We were suspects of course the moment we walked in the door, and I think her mole twitched even in her sleep. We could have been confusing customer service with being snooped on when we shopped. We sometimes forget what customer service is. They sold some neat stuff though. A little bit of everything. Next was... Savidis? No it was Harold Dry Cleaning, later Mark and Harolds. Then was Savidis. Both dark old places. Then was Baskin Robbins, another player in the yogurt wars. 31 flavors they said... if you counted, dammit, there really were 32. How would you fit an odd number of flavors in a rectangular ice cream cooler anyway. Then Beacon Jewelers... if it was on my grandmothers, or my mothers fingers, ears, or around thier necks, I'm sure it came from there. He always knew who my father was when he walked in, and asked about my grandfather. Then, Debrowsky's. Me and my brother were rough with glasses, and dammit Dr Debrowsky could fix almost anything. One day they were just too butchered. I picked out new frames, they needed new lenses, but the same old prescription. Everything was all set, except Dr. Debrowsky thought I was actually my older brother and the next day I went to pick up the glasses, I put them on, and declared that I couldn't see a thing. He has made my glasses to my brother's far weaker prescription. He knew our last names, but he thought I was my older brother. That was a common mistake, I was called Tom all the time by my teachers because he had most them two years earlier. He fixed the problem right away. Another funny thing about Dr. Debrowskys was that the police were always in and out of there. He had a few benches where they would take a rest. He also had an umbrella stand where the cops kept thier chalk-on-a-stick they used for marking tires (to keep track on 2 hr parking). Around the corner was the Bee and Thistle where my parents bought the chandelier for our house (the previous owners, for some reason, had taken the old one with them). My mother also bought other little bits of junk. Across the street was the Howard Bank, then there was Coiffures by Somebody... and then it all gets a little vague. Its 5 am. Tommorrow, if my mind is right... Pietz Bros Hardware through Miller Photo. If any of you read through, what you might have noticed... not what I noticed till I wrote it all down... was that Maplewood Center was always full of personalities. I remembered places, but people too. I can remember faces of waitresses at the Mapleleaf. Heck, they are probably still there. Also, it might sound like an old home town, like that could have been the 1950's. But it was the 1980 and some of the 90's. I'm only 23. But doesn't it sound like Mayberry? Man I was king of the world from behind my 10 speed. I could go anywhere and do anything all within the confines of Maplewood. I really should go to bed. Night. --John | ||
| Evm |
Wow you have a good memory! I can remember that the place next to Golden East was Bobbie's Barn, and it had that cool wooden sign hanging. And I also remember Eva with that huge hairdo.. and she was frightening! She used to love to kick us out of her store. Across the street from Ken's there was also a clothing store for kids that I was constantly dragged to but I can't remember the name. | ||
| Tip |
you really do have a great memory. I was sitting here racking my brains about what the "barn" was until EVM mentioned it was Bobbie's Barn. I got my first pair of Frye Boots in there in junior high (as it was called then). I must have brain cell damage because I didn't really recall all those things until you brought them up! | ||
| Tip |
evm, the clothing store was the Young Cottage. That one I remember. My mother picked out some "doosies" from that place! LOL!!! | ||
| Evm |
Oh and my favorite of all stores was the 5 and 10 which was where Richard Roberts is. | ||
| Evm |
Thanks Tip! That's where I got all my Girl Scout stuff. My mom was real chatty with the owner so we'd be in there forever! Of course while they were babbling away I'd escape to the pet shop! | ||
| Greenetree |
So- when did the transformation start? I moved here in 1997 & things are pretty much as they are now. | ||
| Extuscan |
The transformation began when "Yogurt" took hold of Maplewood Center... that was shortly after those bricks were laid and the tall green lampposts (with electrical tape holding the globes together) came down to be replaced by those cheesy things that exist now. I can't remember out of order.... But that corner, that is now Arturo's. Take a close look at the divider between Arturo's and the Bagel Chateau. The wall goes clear down the middle of a pane of glass. That is because it was once all one store, Pietz Bros Hardware. They had an orange and white floor. There was a clock in the sign on the corner. When they closed, the Maplewood Pharmacy added thier hardware section in what was... as we now know... Bobbie's Barn. That was so long ago that they closed, only to be split into a tanning salon, later Palmer Video, and then Arturo's and perhaps something shortlived inbetween. The next building... and man, this is sketchy because I might have them out of order... Was Maplewood Center Shoes. You may have noticed that I never refered to Maplewood Center as "The Village" as people say true Maplewoodians refer to it as. Well, no, true Maplewoodians call it Maplewood Center. The rivalry goes back far, as you do remember there was a Village Market, so both terms have existed since the first "Dickens Village" creation of the Chamber of Commerce started. It was more elaborate until some hoolums slaughtered the animals in the live manger scene... like we could have a manger scene anymore, especially one with live animals tethered in the freezing cold! But anyway, Maplewood Center Shoe is where that baseball card store is now... I think the shoe repair business still exists out of the back door. The man who ran the store had some sort of a problem where his head was not on his shoulders straight. I dont know if it was a stroke... or what... but anyway he had some cool stuff in his store. There was a large fiberglass Buster Brown and his dog. For some reason I think it filled balloons. There was also a nickelodeon... it was a wooden box with a crank and viewer and you turned the crank and could watch some non-sensical silent movie. Children were once easily entertained. Again, this was only in the 1980's that this existed in Maplewood... the town time forgot. But anyway, he repaired shoes more than he sold them and if he's still there, thats all he does now. I don't think my father still has his shoes reheeled because he can't get the shoes he used to get so he doesn't bother reheeling modern shoes. And who wears a suit to work anymore anyway that you would need english shoes with a Hoboken Terminal shine. Next to the shoe store was Robbin Hutchinson's old store. It was alot smaller, obviously. We went in from time to time, but only to have things framed. I'm getting vague... but next was Anthony Garubo. My mother went there are the Hairafter closed. There was perhaps a seperate business for the nails and the two were divided by a wall until later renovations... I didn't spend much time there. There was a optometrist next door. I remember the waiting room... although I certainly couldn't have been older than 10 last time my mother attempted to wear contacts... but there was a coffee table with a glass topped display case filled with antique glasses. In his window were also some posters... Are you Colorblind? or something like that. I checked if I was colorblind every time I went by. Never was. This was the only "modern" looking building on the street. It had some metal cladding on the side, and there was a bump out... It was actually quite and old building under all that modern looking front. WEll not modern, but certainly modern for Maplewood. The next place was a "fine gift" store but its name I do not remember. Thier sign however had a leopard in it, and it was dark inside. They had at the check out one of those things where there were lots of pins and you put your hand in the pins and left an impression of your hand. It was a very expensive high falutin gift until they showed up at every mall stall for $3.50 They later went out of business and became a bunch of little shops inside I think. Something like that. Then, there was the pet store. Maplewood was such a great town that you could easily walk anywhere, and bring you giant golden retriever. Mickey used to come with us, on occcasion because he didn't know how to behave sometimes, to the pet store. This pet store had fish tanks in the back and the walls back there were painted black. There was a main center counter running front to back with an aisle on either side. This was another of the shops in Maplewood that seemed to know us very well, not that we were anyone particularly special and infact we were quite anonymous aside from the News-Record birthday club. That celebrity ended at the age of 12 though. Next to the Pet store was... as I had forgetten the name... but it was, Young Cottage. There was a lady with gray hair that I think owned this children's clothing store, and I think someoen who worked there was the mother of a girl named Suzzane Piazza. I remember her because in the first grade she pushed me off the swing set at Clinton School and to this day my knee hurts sometimes. Dr. Evans decided it wasn't broken when perhaps, it was. Dr. Evans, as an aside, lived in a very old house. There was a waiting room with a fish tank and some Dr. Suess books. His wife had an office with a pull out typewriter thing... very interesting I think it was on a hydraulic lift or something. Dr. Evans had like a consultation room... a big desk, in front of a fireplace... usually with a dog under it. I dont remember the dogs name. It would come in the examination room I'm sure... which was the only white room in the whole place. Everything else was green... he was a good doctor. I had a bandaid that wouldn't come off. Apparently I had worn it too long. He took it off using charcoal lighter fluid. But this was about Maplewood Center... and we were just leaving Young Cottage with our cub scout uniforms. They had little school desks, two of them, wooden, around the front door. Again, simple things kept kids occupied. I'm sure simple things still do. There was Kean's Cleaners which we never went to once because, well, we went to Gleason's, and then there was the Terra Cotta but it was called something else before that. I remember when that whole building was renovated and made to look like what it does today, but I can't remember what it looked like before. Surely I am missing a building in between... but I can't remember it... but there was the last building on the street. The first spot was another hairdresser once, and for the life of me I can't remember anything else about it other than it had a pedament top of some sort over the opening... But the last shop was Miller Camera. Alternatively, if you went in the back door, it was Miller's Record Shop. Not that there was a damn record to be seen anywhere in that shop, not since my mother was young did Miller's have records. But that sign was still there until it became Camera One, then Camera One moved to that little black hole near Kens Drugs, and Flamingo's moved in. That was strange. Flamingo's was bright pink inside and out. They built a deck out back, right next to the dumpster. That was the beginning of the frozen yogurt war and I'd say the first moment Maplewood Center was refocused on emptying the pockets of yuppies efficiently. All at the same time, yogurt hit Maplewood like a craze. Flamingos opened, TCBY opened, and Baskin-Robbins added Yogurt machines all at once. It was a battle wills, and we all thought TCBY would fold first. Instead, it was Flamingos. Not because the store wasn't good or making money, but thier distributor went belly up and so they did too. It later became I think the Village Coffee shop, perhaps I think... I don't know I never went in. The Mapleleaf's familiarity was worth any price. Ok then there was that post office but it hasn't changed, minus a handicapped ramp, since the built it. Thats Maplewood Center. I know it sounds differnet than... the Village. It was strange, the business district clamored for street improvements to draw customers. It worked, it was beautiful, and all those customers meant higher rent which then drove out all the tenants who wanted the street improvements in the first place. H.E. Rowe, snoopy-owners included, was a loss. Those clothing stores were a loss. Everything ended up being a restaurant. We went from 1 pizza place, Roman Gourmet, to three. (or are there more now?) I'd hate to see the same thing happen to Springfield Avenue. DiPietro's is a great place, and I would not like to see the economics of property values end her lasange and sausage and little pizzas if it hasn't already. Rent or economics closed Blanken's, it apparently closed Maplecrest... I dunno just don't outclass the neighborhood. AND... not to be a spoil sport and say "Oh it was great in my day and today you sucker yuppies ain't got nothin... please, share some pleasant, and more recent, experiences. John | ||
| Bobk |
Unfortunately, the clothing stores were put out of business by the malls. And the hardware store by Rickels and Channel. I think, nostalgia to the contrary, that Maplewood Center has done a pretty good job of adapting to these changes. And by the way there was a very short lived Bath and Kitchen showroom where Arturo's is now. | ||
| Evm |
Yikes! I remember the man in the shoe store. He was sooo nice but I was terrified of him. And I vaguely remember Flamingo's...pretty tacky. Thanks for bringing back those memories John. | ||
| Curb |
Can somebody tell me when they started calling Maplewood Center the Village. Growing up, "The Village" was South Orange. | ||
| Mem |
Right now, I really miss that hardware store that used to be where Aturo's is. It is so difficult going to Home Depot to wait in those lines just to buy nails, etc. | ||
| Dave |
I miss the Cheese Shop. | ||
| Curmudgeon |
Yeah, me too. They always played that great bazouki music there! | ||
| R2boy |
TJ Marche was the gift and jewelry store.Don't foget Savidis deli and liquor store next to the five and ten. You're right, Curb, South Orange was always the village and Maplewood was the center even in the fifties...We took the #52Parker Ave bus to go to the village and to the jr high school on the corner of Academy and Irvington Ave... | ||
| Bella |
Extuscan- good memory! Your brother is right about Eva throwing a bucket of water on kids. My younger sister was there that day. Which one of the Jerome's boys did you work with? I babysat for both Matthew and Ricky. PS before it was Terra Cotta, it was Suzanne's and before that it was a cleaners I think. | ||
| Mtierney |
It will always be Maplewood Center to me! When my four were rug rats, I couldn't afford to shop in Kings. Did the big stuff at the A&P and went into Kings for deli, my Thanksgiving turkey, milk, etc. I outfitted the kids at Bobbie's Barn and the Young Cottage and often myself at Delia's. Who had the time to go to the malls? Remember when the now Short Hills Mall was department stores (Altman's, Saks & Bloomingdales) connected by a couple of blocks of shops open air? Made shopping in the winter very stimulating trying to get from store to store! Rowe's had everything - who needed Staples back then. Kids got all their school supplies there. Also, do you oldtime Maplewoodians recall how depressed the Center was during the years the movie theatre was shut down? That is has come back so strongly is a miracle to those with long memories. My kids were also afraid of Eva! Thanks for stimulating all my little grey cells! | ||
| Extuscan |
Was the Theater shutdown you are thinking of the 1980's shutdown when the new owner attempted to put 10 or 16 or something stupid number of screens into the old Maplewood, ripped out most of the seats and then prompty ran out of cash? He was forced to reopen the theater, will most of the theater floor cleared of seats, for a few months. It was so upsetting. Or was this a previous (and assumed... perhaps it was seemless) shut down after the 1940's when "The Maplewood" finally stopped showing live shows? I have three old, well, I guess you would call them playbills from the 1940's Maplewood. Its full of interesting advertising, especially when you see who is still around. They are now very beautifully framed and matted hanging over my mothers piano but next time I'm home I will read off what famous stars were at the Maplewood that week. Someone... Butterworth was his last name who was apparently famous. I'll find out for sure. I can remember reading in the News-Record Bob Grasmere being quoted as saying some of the famous stars that have appeared on the stage of the Maplewood. The only name I remember is Toulous Lutrec. We need to get that guy with all the old Maplewood photos to find us a picture of the Maplewood before they changed the marquee... see what the place used to look like. I only remember the marquee that was not dissimilar from the one which exists now (infact, does still exist under that gold sheeting but trust me, its no artifact deserving of restoration!) But I hate to see things that couldnt' be put back the way they were... The missing tower on the firestation, the missing marquee, the covered up skylight in the MMS Auditorium, three quarters of the visible exterior of Columbia High School, Olympic Park.... Ok those two last ones are lost causes but there are quite a few neat touches that make a community a community and they really should be #1) Preserved #2) Replicated when lost. Personally I HATE artificial history. Prime on my list of aversions is that clock in Ricalton Sqaure. I mean, how South Orange is that? Its vaguely european and vaguely victorian. It certainly does not match Maplewood Center in any respect. Clocks like those were put up by merchants to promote thier business, typically a jewler. A town would never put one in a park. So not only is it esthetically inappropriate, its in an innapropriate place as well!! I wouldn't tear it down, but I mean that was an interesting thing to invest some serious money in when it could have been spent on replacing those hideous street lamps from the J.C. Penney catalog that line Maplewood Avenue. But ofcourse those only replaced the originals which were tall, green, and rather stunning when painted on occasion. I'm sure some new globes could have been located for the ones which were cracked and taped! It was sweet justice that before they had even finished putting the lamps in (they started by the theater and worked thier way down) someone hit one with a car and knocked it right down. Don't look at me I was still riding a bicycle then. One thing that sounds the same was the Fourth of July. It seems to have not changed a bit. Except for some bizzare percussion thing I heard about? What the heck was that. How is that up there with relay races and pie eating contests? This is yet another night where I have just plain forgotten to go to sleep and write some ramblings lol... but hey... there are some REALLY COOL THINGS that still exist in Maplewood: 1) Trains. Train rattles, train whistles, train tracks, train station. I'd mention train smells but apparently they've been cleaned up. But wow, trains. They are a great thing that makes Maplewood a definition of town. We've even got tracks running right down the middle to seperate the mere rich from the super-wealthy. Maplewood has trains and they should be grateful for them, not only for the convience, but for the ambience. 2) Autumn. From the valley where I lived the South Mountain reservation rose up like preschooler's art, with the crayons limited to orange yellow and red. While you may remember burning leaves, I remember damp leaves and that smell they had. 3) Public Schools. What goes on inside I don't know a damn thing about, but if you drove past any school in Maplewood you would think for sure they were the finest institutions in the country. An aunt from outside the family visited us and we drove past Columbia, she was impressed. Must have been a private school or a college at some time... Nah Aunt Mary. Thats just Columbia. I've shown pictures and people thought I was lying. Its huge on the outside, a labarynth on the inside, but still it a jaw dropped. Tuscan was another simply beautiful school, with its carved beams way above the front door... Look sometime. The multicolored slate roof, the copper coupula... its just a beautiful school. Maplewood Middle, though kinda rough when you get up close and personal with it, still leaves an impression up on the hill. Remember the Olympics AT&T commericial it was in? 4) Memorial Park- Perfect planning genius designed a town where you fall out of the train and have a business district on one side, and a rolling park on the other. The field that acts as a lawn for town hall... the streams and quiet areas that do not ever seem at conflict with the baseball fields. The recreation department building with blue painted porch ceilings... green interior... and a certain smell about it. 5) The Murals- The murals which only distract us from the incredible building they are in. Missing from my youth now only are the original electric fans in the large rooms on either side where the town clerk, etc stay. Could a town hall be more perfect in every way? The lettering on the office windows, the terrazzo floors... the water fountain off to the side. Perfectly symetrical, large columns... No wonder is has showed up in investment ads for municipal bonds. Does any town hall demonstrate strength and trust more than our own? Does any town hall look more at home and in place? Has everyone rented thier bench in the greenhouse this year? And on top of that, a visual history of town from its inception to date? 6) Neighbors. Neighbors that you can't help but see and talk to. The 1-acre lot suburb insulates you from your town. Maplewoods narrow and deep lots give you the space you need, and the neighbors you can't live without. 7. The Town Pool Culture. Been written about extensively/ I feel so bad about writing about "How it used to be, and how we have to make it like it was... " There is so much more going for Maplewood than its proximity to NYC. I wish there was a realtors guide that effectively sold Maplewood the way it could be sold. A house would cost a million dollars and you'd not be overpaying for your house, but you'd be underpaying for membership in this town. Sell this town to the right people. Draw in not people who are looking for a close commute, but people who fall in love with the idea of what Maplewood is and what it means. Sell this town to proud sons of immigrants moving out of Irvington and Newark because they value certain things for thier kids. -- enough... John PS This section can be renamed from local history to ramblings of john... just kidding.... Lets get some more memories up here. Lets get some more celebrations of what we have now. Even if you do likle that percussion whatever it was. | ||
| Goodolddays |
Extuscan....John, you deserve a huge THANKS for taking the time to sit down and sharing so many wonderful memories. Your closing thoughts in the post above kind of said it all...in part "people who fall in love with the idea of what Maplewood is and what it means" Although we have moved on in life, away from Maplewood in 2000 after 40 years as Maplewoodians, reading all you presented carried us all back in time to the best times ever. And please don't feel bad about recalling how it used to be...just feel sorry for those who will never have those treasured memories, not ever knowing "how in used to be". Thanks again, Good Old Days | ||
| Bella |
About Memorial Park- my father, who lived in Maplewood until he was 42, says that it was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (the same person who designed Central Park) but that a lot of the plantings were torn out in the 60's to make it "safer" for those walking through the park. As for my family we always said we were going to the center or that we were going into town. My parents have lived in Cincinnati for 11 years now and they still go home to Maplewood once a year. It makes my father sad to see all the changes, but then again I can remember walking to open house night in elementary school and my father was describing/complaining how different everything was when he was a kid ("...and this used to be an orchard over here..."). I still think about moving back, but it isn't practical. | ||
| Bobk |
I have never heard Memorial Park attributed to Olmstead. I think there may be some confusion between South Mountain Reservation and Memorial Park. | ||
| Villagenative |
Suzanne's Petit Maison! I worked there for awhile; she taught me how to make her secret French Onion Soup. Yum! She also had the best filled croissants I've ever tasted: spinach & cheese, ham & cheese, chocolate. And the homemade French bread was wonderful. This thread is making me hungry - I'd better go to lunch! | ||
| Jgberkeley |
John, Last night while walking the dog, my wife and stopped and got an ice cream cone. As we were standing out front, I was pointing out to my wife the wall in the glass between Arturo's and the Bagel Chateau. Some kids overheard me and asked why it was that way. So, I told them about your stories and about the old hardware store that once was in that building. They were impressed, and went over to inspect it closer, and were heading home to see if their parents knew about it. I wonder what the parents thought when the kids hit home with that new found knowledge. Thanx for putting the word out! It gets around. Dave, I also clued them in to MOL and suggested that they come and read the history for themselves. Do you know how to remove graffiti from an OnLine site?  | ||
| Nan |
Olmstead was dead by the time Memorial Park was planned--but I read somewhere in Maplewood publicity that his firm was responsible for the design. The Olmstead firm continued on after his death, lead by his step-son, John--who was really his nephew since he married his brother's wife (or so I remember from a biography I read about him a while back) | ||
| Dave |
See 1931 entry: http://westfieldnj.com/whs/history/maplewood.htm |
