I’m looking for information anyone may have on Greenfield’s Pickles on the Lower East Side of NY in the 1920’s – 1940’s. Any and all remembrances, pictures, etc. are welcome. I’m trying to put together a retrospective for the owner’s son’s 70th birthday. I appreciate any help. I can also be reached by e-mail at maria_0121 [at] yahoo [dot] com. Thanks.
Fantastic to read about all the stories from the old days. As an ex-Brooklynite from the 50’s, the question is where can I play stickball in Manhattan when I’m in town? Any suggestions about specific places to play stickball will be greatly appreciated. At my age, anything that bounces will suffice, although Spaldeen was the ticket in my neighborhood.
It’s great to find a site where our childhood experiences resonate. I grew up on Ave. B (bet. 3rd and 4th,) in a cold flat. (I stopped telling co-workers where I grew up when I heard “We bought drugs there when I was in college” once too often.) Guys with beards sold hot knishes from little metal carts on Ave. B in winter, and shave ice in the summer. Ave. C and D and the surrounding streets were like Orchard Street now – a bazaar with wooden boxes on stands on the sidewalk, full of comic books and baseball cards. The Loew’s movie theater on B between 4 and 5 – or wasit 5 and 6? – with those gorgeous yellow plaster lions rampant, clutching blue shields with a wide red sash. Riding the subway at the 2nd Avenue stop with my big brother, wistfully looking at the pea green candy machines in the station, even though mom said the candy was wormy. (And the grease used by the French Fry Guy at B and 4th was rancid.) She couldn’t come up with a story to prevent me from asking about the dolls for sale at the supermarket at B and Second street, though. Anyone else with any memories of the lower east side are welcome to drop me an email anytime.
In Washington Heights (Dyckman area) we called it “Manhunt”. But it was basically the same game, with one team chasing the other and placing them in “base”. We did not allow running into basements, buildings or passing the corners on either side of the block. There was always someone guarding the base. I remember running with a car (running alongside of it as low as possible) and then pouncing on the base and saving as many of my teammates as possible. Also for a period of time we could kick the lamppost on our block and the lights would go off and the other team couldn’t see what was going on for about 8-9 minutes. Those were the days (late 80’s). We usually played during the summertime and usually till about 11:30 pm (never during the day either! Too hot!)and then just lay on top of a car and talk the night away.
I’m 25 years old from Washington Heights. But, while my friends and I were growing up we played Chinese handball (we have actually passed it down to the younger kids that are currently growing up). We had various forms of the game where the “Ace” could decide what the rules of the game were going to be. Usually when the best players were around we played “killer serve” (where you could serve as you pleased as long as you didn’t pass the first block of cement and the last block of cement), with stealing (you couldn’t step into another player’s box) and hitting the ball three times (if you wanted to).
The Coney Island Boardwalk was always a place of fascination. Two and a half miles long with something to see all along the way. It starts at Bay 1 (where Manhattan Beach ends and Brighton Beach begins) and gets to Bay 7 (Ocean Parkway where Coney Island begins) and then to the end which is Bay 35 (the beginning of Sea Gate). Bay 2 was where you made your date for Saturday night. It was wall to wall blankets, and the sand was hot so you’d stop at a blanket with the pretty girls on it, and start up some conversation. Back to the boardwalk … there was the Coney Island rides section off the Stillwell Avenue train station, then moving west we had Silvers Baths, and a few bungalow colonies where people vacationed to escape the summer’s heat. And remember, one wasn’t allowed to walk on the boardwalk unless adequately covered … police were always looking for such infractions (that’s when there were rules of “proper conduct”). What went on under the boardwalk was a world unto itself … the police were above looking for improper dress. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/7448/