by Maureen Wlodarczyk
 
My mother Arlene was a “Jersey Girl” decades before anyone thought of calling us Garden State girls by the moniker that now evokes images of big hair and dark suntans.  Arlene wasn’t that kind of “Jersey Girl.”  She was a Jersey City girl, born and raised.  Born just weeks after the stock market crash of 1929, a child of the Depression and an adolescent of World War II, my mother remembers a very happy, if modest, childhood in the city she loved, surrounded by caring family, friends and neighbors in the Greenville section.  I enjoy hearing her talk about those “old days” and I am usually the one to prompt her to tell me those stories.

Arlene is a girl of 81 (well, almost 82).   We were having lunch at her place recently and as she neatly constructed a petite sandwich for herself, I asked her to tell me what she did for fun when she was a teenager in the mid/late 1940s.  She looked up and thought for a moment.  “Well, we went to dances at the ‘Y’ and other places, went to the movies and always stopped in to hang out at ‘our’ soda fountain.”  She explained that there were soda fountains all over Jersey City and that young people had their favorites where they knew they would meet up with friends. 

“Where did you go to the movies?” I asked, knowing that Jersey City has a rich history of early movie theaters.  After reminding me that her memory isn’t as good as it once was, she told me about going to the Cameo on Ocean Avenue, near Cator Avenue. I don’t remember the Cameo, although we lived in Greenville until I was five years old.  I do remember coming back to Jersey City to stay with my maternal grandparents during summer vacations and taking the bus to Journal Square with my grandmother to see a movie at the wonderful Stanley theatre. 

Curiosity piqued, I dug around a bit to find out more about those iconic houses of live shows and cinema  that entertained people for many years before falling victim to perceived obsolescence by the 1960s and 70s.  Most of the best remembered theatres, including the Stanley, Loew’s, State, Palace, Capitol and Cameo, opened during the Roaring Twenties and began their runs showcasing live acts in the days of Vaudeville and early movies. The largest and most lavish were architectural and interior design works of art, and no doubt prompted many wide eyes and dropping jaws among theatre-goers, even before the curtain came up. 

 
Two decades before these grand movie houses opened their doors however, there was already a lively theatre community in Jersey City, Bayonne, and Hoboken that included the Majestic Theatre, Bon Ton Theatre and Academy of Music, all in Jersey City, the Gayety Theatre and Empire in Hoboken and the Bayonne Opera House. The Majestic, located at Grove and Montgomery Streets, opened in September 1907 to raves.  

 
Months before that, the Jersey Journal reported “Curious Crowds at Majestic Theatre,” gathering daily to watch the progress of construction at the new playhouse building that would seat over 2,000 people and include dressing rooms to accommodate 200.  The “curious” included not only locals but “architects in charge of new playhouses in other cities.”  The Journal went on to describe construction specifics that would result in a brick and masonry building “far in excess of the requirements of new building laws.”  The Journal also covered opening night at the Majestic under the headline “A Brilliant Audience at the Majestic,” reporting that “the consensus of opinion was that the latest addition to Jersey City’s dramatic temples was a credit to all concerned.”  

A hundred years ago, locals could have gone to the Majestic to see Fiske O’Hara, “America’s favorite Irish singing comedian,” in the romantic comedy-drama “The Wearing of the Green”, to the Bon Ton for “Bohemian Burlesque” or to the Bayonne Opera House where “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was finishing its run.  The Empire Theatre was offering vaudeville, “nifty girls,” and “sensational acrobats.”
 

Then, as now, a play, movie, or musical entertainment could (temporarily) transport its audience out of their own lives, daily cares and struggles through the talent and creativity of writers, musicians, and performers.  Given the choice, I wonder if they would have traded their seats at the Majestic for the chance to watch Dancing with the Stars on an iPad.

 
Maureen Wlodarczyk is a fourth-generation-born Jersey City girl and the author of two books about life in Jersey City in the 1800s and early 1900s:  Past-Forward: A Three-Decade and Three-Thousand-Mile Journey Home and Young & Wicked: The Death of a Wayward Girl.  She is an avid genealogical and historical researcher and squeezed in a career as an operations manager in banking and financial services.

The post HUDSON THEN…AGAIN first appeared on River View Observer.

Source: Truth Speaks- Icypeals Blogspot - Thanks Mimi

*Seeing the Three Stooges Live at the Stanley Theater *Live Acappella Shows at the State Theater * Hudson Boulevard had islands. *Ferris High School *Singing Doo-Wop under the tresstle on Monmouth Street *Hanging out at Coletta’s Bar * You knew how O’Hara’s got it’s name. * You knew all the troublemakers before they became cops. – Martin Luther King Drive was Jackson Avenue – Christopher Columbus Drive was Railroad Avenue – Luiz Munoz Marin Boulevard was Henderson Street -Manila Avenue was Grove Street – Roosevelt Lanes & Putney’s Pub – Annual Holy Name Parade – What Harvard on the Blvd. and St. Richards on the Hill are – The color scheme of the bus lines: … Brown: Central Avenue; Red: Montgomery/West Side, Green: Bergen/Lafayette, Orange: Bergen Avenue – Getting Sunday suits at Robert Hall – Bettingers on the Square – Uncle Milties/Bergen Point – The Skyline Cabana Club – You shopped in Woolworth on Journal Square and went to the Griddle or Driftwood after a movie. – The Hudson Mall was a strip mall – Instead of the Hudson Mall there was: Two Guys from Harrison; Great Eastern, and Valley Fair – Instead of the dollar stores there was Johns Bargain Stores – You could actually swim in the Reservoir (on the sneak) – The giant roach in the exterminators window on Westside Avenue – Floor shows at the Canton Tea Garden Chinese Restaurant – You’ve said “Youse” about 100 times in one day    – The best hot dogs at Boulevard Drinks – Orange Julius at the Square – Charcoal burgers at Tippys – The Tube Bar and Red the owner – The Concourse – The Oyster Bay, Murtaghs, the Alps, Robinsons Steak House, and the Blue Piano – The PATH train was .30 cents and before that they were called the Hudson Tubes – The Happy Birthday Truck from Schneider’s Bakery – You were part of the in crowd if you shopped at Danny Mack and Cara Carson (Marilyn on Central Avenue, Wetons on Bergen) – The Public Service Bus Terminal Concourse with 3 Guys Pizza, Universal, Horn & Hardardt – The chickens turning on the rotisserie at Universal – The shortcut through the escalators to Magnolia Avenue – Eating lunch at Liss Drug – Ice skating at Roosevelt Stadium – That St. Als Academy was known as snob hill or House on Whore Hill – The Bergen School – The CYO, OLM, St. Michaels, Mt. Carmel and Holy Family dances – Going through Lincoln Park to get to 440 – The CYO on Bergen Avenue – You remember go-carts on 440 and # 5 Park – You hung out at the VIP or The Colonette after a night of partying and before that the Colony – The football Giants practicing at Roosevelt Stadium – Drunks and derelicts donating blood for money at the blood bank next to McCrorys – Everyone lived in a parish – J.M. Fields – Brummers Ice Cream Parlor at the Junction(the sons opened parlors in Vermilion, OH and Westwood, NJ) – Schroeder’s and Myers Ice Cream Parlor on Central Avenue – Your neighborhood beat cops first name – The Captains Table Restaurant at Roosevelt Stadium – Fischer Beers – Drive-in movies at Roosevelt Stadium – You sat on the Buffalo at Mosquito Park and rode your sled in winter there – Nedicks and Bickford’;s Cafeteria on the Square – Monteleones, Five Corners and the Paris Bakeries – In grammar school you went home for lunch and your mom made it for you cause she was there – You lived in a house/apartment with at the least one cousin and/or grandparent on the same street – You lived within 1/2 mile of three catholic churches (with schools attached) – Track meets and boxing matches at Pershing Field – The pool at North Street Park (and never called it Washington Park) – Battle of the Bands – You know the You know the A. Harry Moore cheer > – You drank or ate at any of these >places: The Park Tavern, Frank’s Bar and Grill, the   Glenwood, the Showboat, Narrowbacks, >Soap Creek, or Guarini’;s * Dekay’s Diner HA! * Your dad would take the whole family >to the Roosevelt Drive-In, but if you were over 12, he’d hide you in the trunk > * You’ve eaten at Jule’s, IIvento’s, >or the Rodeo Steakhouse * You remember buying candy at Liss Drugs Store >and then going to the movies on the Square * You shopped at The Grove Shoppe, >State Gown, Wenton’s or Cara Carson, and Barney Stock for designer clothes >or accessories * You went to John’s Bargain Store >for clothes pins and underwear * You remember Mayor Smith and that >he once sparred with Muhammad Ali * You hung out at the Hilltop on Newark >& Baldwin Ave. after high school everyday * You went to the “City” >to get drunk at 15 * You ate zeppoles and took chances >for the 50/50 at the Mount Carmel feast * You knew Great Eastern before it >was found to be a toxic PCP dump. Ditto behind    Lincoln Park * You could see the Statue of Liberty >or the Empire State Building from your house and    never visited them. * KFC and Gino’s were the same >fast food restaurant * You watched “Cops” on TV >and recognize the streets * You played basketball or hockey in >Country Village * You had a coconut drink at the Canton > * You learned to drive in Roosevelt >Stadium or B ayonne Park and make out at 11 PM * You swam at Bayonne Pool and skated >at the roller rink next door] * You saw headliner rock groups and >fireworks in Roosevelt Stadium * The PIX didn’t show porn * There were three colleges in Jersey >City to choose from, Jersey City State,    St. Peter’;s, and Rutgers University * You delivered the Jersey Journal >door-to-door and no one worried you’d get kidnapped    by a neighbor * You could sneak into the back door >of the Stanley for a free movie before the Jehovah’s    Witnesses took it over * You remember going to the State and >Loew’s movie theaters at the Square * You and all your friends were born >in the best maternity hospital in the state, the    Margaret Hague (best on the East >coast!)  * You were proud that Jimmy Spanarkel >made it to the Blue Devils * You know someone who saw a UFO in >Mosquito Park * You went swimming in Newark Bay and >you drove to Bayonne to go to Uncle Miltie’s * Going to Palisade Park was a big >adventure * You knew which house on the Boulevard >was haunted * You went to the “Shore” >after the prom * Republican was a dirty word * You remember turf wars between Sterling, >Ocean, the Heights, West Side, and Marion * For $2.00 you could take the “Tubes” >to Greenwich Village, buy an Orange Julius and a    chili dog, and then take the “Tubes” >back, and still have change! * Who was better, WW III or Medusa? > * The Jumping Jack’s and Bobbie >Blue * Were the 2nd St Damato’s really >related to Sinatra? * Everyone knew Sam DiFeo * You knew what time the Mosquito truck >fogged the block with diapason so you could    run behind in the thick smoke * The water truck that soaked down >the dusty cobble stones * Lay-aways at Mo Finks! * Swimming in the Hudson, Bare Ass ;Beach and Big Time was the Colgate’s Clock * You knew who Mr. Fix It was * You went to school with kids from Gammon Town and Dog Patch * Every one spoke English * Country Village was for rich people * They arrest people from Jersey City in Bayonne * Cops would kick your butt if you >answered them back * You knew the corner bookie and could >play a number for 15c with a 10c combo Hanging out in Hamilton Park Making Scooters out of Milk crate, two by Four and and one roller skate *P.S. 35, P.S. 23 and Dickinson H.S. *White Castle & Blimpies on Journal Square *Why Journal Square is named Journal Square This is quite a nice blast from the past…….Maybe someone will make a list of what’s left now and what replaced the old memories with new ones.-Icypearl blogspot If you remember something about old Jersey City not mentioned on the list -add to the list: Â

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