HOLIDAY TRADITIONS OF YESTERYEAR
The Way We Were . . . East Falls Memories
December 5, 1980
First session in “THE WAY WE WERE – EAST FALLS MEMORIES” series held at the Falls of Schuylkill Library. 34 in attendance. Co-sponsored by Interac.
Notes in response to the question: “When I think of Christmas past, I think of . . .”
- Fresh killed turkey which we hung out.
- We would shoot deer and hang them out to get the “wildness” out of them.
- I remember home-made doll furniture. My doll furniture would mysteriously disappear about two
weeks before Christmas and then reappear on Christmas with new paint and new covers and pillows.
It was not like Christmas now – we were content with the same present over and over.
- The custom of having one lighted candle in the window to lead the way to the Christ child.
- I remember the carolers at midnight from all the churches. It was a thrill to be awakened by them
(in the 20’s and 30’s). The Methodist still go out but it’s “not like it used to be”.
- Skating on the duck pond and sledding down Raven Hill. It was called “Up the Nuts”. It snowed more
then than now and it was more primitive.
- I remember the excitement – we weren’t allowed downstairs until our parents came home from church.
- I remember the hiding of toys and baking. We were very naïve children - very obedient - and didn’t look
for the toys. We began baking early in December – the fruit cake had to soak in rum.
- We got our tree from the woods and decorated it with popcorn and cranberries. I remember when Santa
Claus got my sister and my names mixed up and I got all of her presents in my stocking!
- Presents were not opened until Christmas morning or after midnight Christmas Eve.
- My father played Santa but we were never sure . . . We had to have breakfast before opening our
presents.
- December 8 was a parochial school holiday and everyone went into Philadelphia on the steam train to see
Santa at Wanamaker’s. Gimbels had a pony and Punch and Judy show. Then we went to the automat –
for 5 cents we got an éclair; that was a big treat.
- My dolls would go to the 9th St Doll Hospital in Philadelphia to get their hair restrung and new clothes
made.
- I remember baking and the smell of fruit cake. The tree was put up Christmas Eve – not before.
- We went to the 5 am mass. It was so cold. Some of the carolers were still going around. We had a big
dinner but we were already too full of candy and fruit cake.
- We had caraway seed cake. It was an English custom. I used to think they put the seeds in it so that the
kids wouldn’t eat it all!
- We had saffron cake; that was English also.
- We had plum pudding. It was made in a cloth, steamed, and hung in the cellar. On special occasions silver coins were put in it.
- Our gifts reflected the weather – ice skates and sleds. We skated on Justine (Gustine) Lake. There was skating on the Schuylkill Rover, too. Big blocks of ice would come up into the park. There was a lot of fancy skating.
- The Garret’s home had a big front porch. The carolers sang there with a band. It was gorgeous.
They sang at midnight. You could hear them from my house which was two streets away. In school Monsignor Walsh gave to each Sunday school child a 4x2 box of candy guaranteed to send you to Dr, Rubin, the dentist. We were told not to eat it during Advent, but we all did. His name was Wenceslaus which we associated with the king.
- I remember the turkeys were full of pinfeathers. Many people had goose but you had to be a good cook to get the grease out.
- The East Falls station was the most beautiful l I had ever seen. At the time I didn’t live in East Falls and I always wished I could get off at that station.
- All the children went to chop the tree. We gathered moss to put in the yard. You don’t see much moss anymore. We made chains and stars. You could buy an angel to put on the top; we used the same one every year. We didn’t decorate the tree; we set up the decorations for Santa to put on the tree.
- We had Christmas at my grandparents’ store. Mr. James Dobson would talk to me on his way to Buena Vista. He was a delightful man.
- The electric decorations were in series and they were forever going out. We had electric trains under the tree but half the time they wouldn’t run.
- There was a lot of music and singing. Our tree was at the piano.
- During World War II, we decorated our lamppost. We played the violin and accordion and went from house to house, having a course at each one.
- We got up at 2 am to make the pies. We would go down to Dobson’s on Christmas Eve and he would throw out coins.
- I remember hanging up stockings. We were told if we weren’t good we would get coal. Of course, we never did. We would run down Christmas morning and say “did we get coal or gifts?!”
- We were from a bigger family and that made a difference. I remember my brother wasn’t sure if the man dressed up was Santa. Then he did something bad and “Santa” hit him; my brother recognized the hit as my father’s!
- At the Lutheran Church, they sang The First Noel. There was no tv or other distraction.
- We didn’t believe in Santa Claus. We heard a noise and there was Santa trimming the tree (it was my uncle).
- We always had oranges. We served fruit cake with wine and sharp cheese. I remember riding my tricycle to the corner of Ainslie St. and getting a cookie from Peg Flanagan’s mother.
- We won big dolls at Paul’s Drug Store.
- Everyone had to be home for Christmas Eve dinner. There were 16 of us and now there are two.
- The snow was so deep. My father took me to Valley Green on a sled for spring water. We never had much – we were just this side of the Walton’s. I remember the “Holy Rollers” rolling down the hill hour after hour.
- During World War II there was a blackout. We couldn’t get toys or ornaments. It was a different kind of Christmas. We dressed like old fashioned carolers.
- It was a rich human experience – that’s what we had. It didn’t deal with things; it was the interchange and the preparation and the getting together. That man said he didn’t have much but, look, he’s still here.
End
FASHION IN THE FALLS
The Way We Were . . . East Falls Memories
SOURCE: Older residents of East Falls who participated in the discussion group “Fashion in the Falls” held January 9, 1981 at the Falls of Schuylkill Library, Warden and Midvale Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This discussion group is part of a series of seven co-sponsored by the Falls Library and INTERAC Senior Center, with gerontologist Cherie Meier Snyder.
Did you know that:
Teddies and Step-inswere types of underwear?
The Shingle was a hair style worn in the 1920’s that looked like a man’s hair cut with layers in the back and short in the front?
Men in the 20’s were characterized as either Keg-eaters or Collegiates?
Rats were cylinders put in under the hair to make the hair look fuller?
The Marcel Wave was a popular hairstyle in the 20’s and 30’s and cost 35c at the beauty shop?
Four foot Martha Washington Silk Stockings were so named because you could replace the feet of the stockings with three other feet?
The Kellerman bathing suit was the 1st sleeveless bathing suit?
Empress Eugeniehad a hat named after her that was decorated with a big feather?
Girls were called flappers in the 1920’s because they wore open men’s galoshes which flapped as they walked?
Courtship Customs
The Way We Were . . . East Falls Memories
February 6, 1981
SOURCE: Older residents of East Falls who participated in the discussion group “The Way We Were… East Falls Memories - -Courtship Customs” held at the Falls of Schuylkill Library, Warden and Midvale Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This discussion group was the third of a series of seven co-sponsored by the Falls Library and INTERAC Senior Center.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
- Attending dances at the Literary Club on Midvale Avenue
- Meeting your date at the YMCA dances next to Old Academy on Indian Queen Lane
-Taking the trolley to Willow Grove to hear the big bands
- Eating ice cream with your date at Shingles or Mclyns or Pflaumers
- Going to movies in Germantown at the Bandbox, the Orpheum, the Colonial, or the Carmen
Theater (where Carl Bonowitz played the organ)
- Attending the summer block parties on Conrad between Bowman and Sunnyside sponsored
by the Republican Club?
- Telling your mother you were going to study at the Falls Library . . .and then meeting your
boyfriend for a romantic study date?
- Ice skating at Valley Green followed by ice cream at the Valley Green Inn?
- Buying candy for your favorite girl at Eisenbergers candy store on Midvale Avenue?
- Joining your friends at the Queen Lane Reservoir with hopes of meeting boys/girls?
- Attending the Memorial Day picnic sponsored by the Methodist Church?
- Having dates on Wednesdays? (“Date night”)
- Belonging to a “Sunday Evening Company” with other couples?
- Meeting boy/girls at a Paul Jones Dance
(form a ring – when the music stops, that’s your partner)
The Depression Years
The Way We Were . . . East Falls Memories
SOURCE: Older residents of East Falls who participated in the discussion group - “The Depression Years” - held at the Falls of Schuylkill Library, Warden Drive and Midvale Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 13, 1981.
This discussion group was the fourth in a series of seven co-sponsored by the Falls Library and INTERAC Senior Center.
DO YOU REMEMBER:
. . . the peddlars who came to the door selling apples, horseradish, watercress, and clothes
props,?
….. the milk lady – Mrs. Conlon (where Joe’s Barbershop is today) who sold milk from her cow
for two cents a tin can?
. . . the English muffin man, the umbrella man, the wild mushroom man, the scissors man, the
waffle man, the deviled crab man, and the man who sold “new lifts for your shoes”?
. . . Bertrand Tregaue, the Abbotts milk man?
. . . a group of Depression-era young mothers who dubbed themselves the “Silly Sisters of the
Sick”?
. . . buying beer for five cents and the third one free at Quinn’s Bar, Ainslie and Conrad?
. . . the local politicians, Carl Meyers and John Daly who helped people out during the
Depression?
. . . “Charley the movie man” who owned the Alden movie house (which stood on the site where
Gino’s is today) and provided coal to those who needed it?
. . . 11 cent movies?
. . . collecting railroad ties to burn for heat?
. . . picking coal on the railroad tracks in East Falls?
. . . stretching food with such recipes as Poorman’s cake?
. . . the WPA crew who built Mifflin School?
. . . catching carp in the river?
. . . the sense of community pride and togetherness that characterized the Depression?
. . . the taste of “home brew”?
. . . local grocers such as Clayton Brothers on Conrad and Bowman who extended credit to the
neighbors?
. . . when 5 cents bought 5 gallons of gas?
What participants brought to the session:
- a political ad “A Chicken in Every Pot” from Charles Flanagan
- War ration coupons – Charles Flanagan
- Recipe for Poorman’s cake
- A poem “The Peddlar” written by Betty Behrens of Tilden Street:
The Peddlar
It was a very old gentleman
Who rapped so softly on my door
Burdened down under pots and pans
Tired with the heavy load he bore
“There was a time, yes indeed, he said
When I had a store of my own
But now I’m down with a misery
And I mind the years that have flown
Still a man feels better when he works
The pain doesn’t bother so much
If I sat around I’d go berserk
These pavements aren’t half so tough.”
He untied his pack; I bought his wares
He hitched it again to his back
Each in our lives for a moment shared
The courage his heart has never lacked.
April 23, 1956 Betty Behrens
SCHOOL DAYS
The Way We Were . . . East Falls Memories
April 3, 1981
SOURCE: Older residents of East Falls who participated in the discussion group “School Days” at the Falls of Schuylkill Library, Warden Drive and Midvale Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This discussion group was fifth in a series of seven co-sponsored by the Falls Library and INTERAC Senior Center.
Here’s what the participants remembered:
Old Academywas used as a school – the first public school in East Falls. The land was donated by
William Smith, the first Provost of the University of Pennsylvania.
Many East Falls churches began there.
Breck School
- Samuel Breck was a former Mayor of Philadelphia.
- If you want to see where Breck was, go to Indian Queen Lane, turn on Krail, go past Haywood Street,
and looked through the fence. Later the highway went through.
- It was a typical brick square building. Nothing outstanding about it – nothing unique.
- There were two doors where you lined up to go in according to classes.
- There were boys and girls entrances.
- A favorite teacher at Breck was Mr. Arthur Patterson – all the girls liked him.
- I went to kindergarten at Forest School – a gray stone building. After Breck was built, Forest
School was used for kindergarten and grades 1, 2, and 3 and Breck was used from 4th grade to 8th
grade.
- School Hill (Dobson’s Hill) ran behind Old Academy down to the Breck School. To get to school, we
came from the railroad and Indian Queen Lane– where the crossing is – diagonally and behind Old
Academy.
- My mother went to Breck School and learned this poem which she recited to me every morning:
Awake to the sunshine
It’s time to get up
Awake pretty daisy
And sweet buttercup.
For you have been sleeping
The whole winter long
Hark, don’t you hear
It’s the bluebirds’ first song.
Mifflin School
- I remember the beautiful day when the classes at Breck School marched together on Conrad
Street with their teachers to the new Mifflin School.
- Before Mifflin was built, P.H. Kelly had his home there. I remember going to dancing school there
on the ground floor. It was a beautiful place.
- There was a big, active PTA at Mifflin. We made so much money they had to give it to PTAs at
less privileged schools.
- The community was very excited about the opening of Mifflin. The Midvale side was designed to be
a garden – paths, trees, bushes – I was amazed. It was so intricate.
- Mifflin was darling when it opened. It had teeny weeny toilets.
- In 6 th grade, we had the option to go to junior high. I did that at Roosevelt School (Washington
Lane & Tulpehocken) and then went to Germantown High School (10th – 12th). This was the big
thing to do at the time - you were one of the “in” crowd if you could go – you had carfare, you
were away all day, you didn’t come home for lunch, you took the 52 trolley, then the 23 bus.
St. Bridget School:
- There were only Catholics at St. Bridget.
- If children were a problem in Catholic school, they were sent to Breck, who had to take them.
- I remember the nuns were strict but I learned a lot.
- Skidoo Street was where the lines of school children from St. Bridget’s broke up after classes.
Ravenhill
- I heard there were French nuns buried behind it.
Other Memories:
- There was a pretzel man who came up the steps on Crawford Street to sell penny soft pretzels to the
children at recess.
- On a cold, icy winter day we would sit on our school bag and slide down Conrad Street. We also went
sledding on New Queen Street – people would put ashes down to slow us down so we wouldn’t go
over the railroad tracks.
- At graduation we read the bible, saluted the flag, and sang “My Country Tis of Thee”
- We stood silent on Armistice Day (Nov. 11) at 11am.
- The school term was divided: September – January, and January – June. If you were born between
terms, you could start then attend A & B classes for each grade.
- Children were promoted only if they “made the grade” and passed their exams. I stayed in school until I
was 16 when I could get my working papers.
- In 7th grade we spent a couple of weeks on each foreign language so you could choose which one you
wanted to learn.
- In 5th grade we had summer school. You could either take “make-ups” or you could take “advanced”
and pick up half a grader. I went so I could advance and be with my friends.
- When we learned penmanship, the teacher would say “Up and down and around you go.”
We took a penmanship test in 5thgrade and got a certificate.
- We had ink pens and inkwells, not ballpoints, when we were learning to write.
- The school never closed for a “Snow Day.” You were teased if you didn’t come to school on snowy
days and were called “Sugarplum” or “Sugarbaby.”
…. Home Economics:
- We learned to cook – we had to bring an apron and were taught how to make Brown Betty.
- I was taught how to wash dishes with two pans – one for suds, one for rinsing, and a clean towel.
We washed the glasses first and the pots and pans last.
- We were taught to make mashed potatoes – I remember the smell of them boiling – nothing ever
smelled as good.
- We learned embroidery. The stitches are still with me. Do they still teach that?
After School:
- We went to the Girl Reserves after school down where the post office was. We’d have lunch, sew,
sing songs – it was like the Girl Scouts.
- We had Dramatics Club and Glee Club. I was put in the Christmas play but didn’t want to be in it so I
“got sick” and didn’t go back to school until the play was over.
- We had sports in high school and volleyball in gym.
- After school we played jumping rope and “Red Light.”
- In WWII there was a scout troop at Breck School. A neighbor donated a piano. Nearly 100 girls
signed up but only 25 were allowed. There were WPA people there helping
The World of Work
The sixth in a series of seven group oral histories conducted by gerontologist Cherie Meier Snyder with East Falls senior citizens - “THE WAY WE WERE – EAST FALLS MEMORIES.”
This session was held at the Falls of Schuylkill Library on May 1, 1981.
Responses are from over a dozen seniors.
Where did people work?
Dobson’s Mills, Powers & Weightman, Atwater Kent Radio, breweries, Philco.
What was the local newspaper?
Weekly Forecast, from 1900 – 1928. It documented everything; everyone waited for it like it was the Saturday Evening Post. Their office was on Cresson St. by railroad, near Sunnyside. Had one reporter. Editor: Ernest Carwardine. Chadwick headed it later on. Library has all the Chadwick Papers.
Tell me about the Business Association.
There was a strong businessmen’s organization. Started in1900. Every Wednesday afternoon was a holiday – there was a cricket field across from the reservoir where people would go to the ballfield where they played ball and had sandwiches. Big social group. Credible group. Businessmen’s records are in the Falls Library.
What were some of the projects of the Businessman’s Association?
Well, some people got killed at Allegheny Ave and the railroad. The railroad used to cross at grade level – Norristown local at Allegheny Ave and the station would kick up some speed at the crossing. Someone got killed there. The businessmen didn’t stand still for that. They put on a project that required the railroad to elevate the tracks so they went over Allegheny Ave. That took a lot of fighting but there were several injuries there in addition to people being killed so they were able to work that.
They also fought for the library down here. On the library opening day (Nov. 18, 1913), you’d think it was a palace. All the men in formal clothing. The women wore their best gowns. Had a guest list – couldn’t just walk in. My dad (Charles Flanagan) was president of the business association then and he considered this one of their major projects. Did they raise money? No, they persuaded Carnegie – needed to get money for the city to furnish the books. Also the old library just had two people there - not trained librarians - and when this was built they decided to put in trained librarians The businessmen put on a riot because they were going to fire Ella Boyd – she was keystone of old library. She had her hand amputated. They weren’t going to stand for her to be replaced by any college. Finally kept her here until retirement. Old library was in Old Academy building. In 1900 they organized it – opened in 1903. When you entered you better keep quiet. If you didn’t turn your books in Mr. Turner would come to your house to get them and get a cup of tea and pie. Library was a social center.
All of the churches in the falls began in Old Academy.
Dobson’s Mills:
What do you remember most about the years you worked in Dobson Mills?
When I worked there I first worked one year in the factory – later in the office for 22 years from 1916 - 1937as bookkeeper and stenographer. Left when I became a mother; my place was home.
I went to business college. The girls that didn’t finish school went into the mill. It was all girls who worked there. I was in the velvet finishing room. I liked it very much. The Dobsons’ were very nice to me.
Did you meet them personally?
Yes, I knew them all personally. I used to go to their house. Even after I was married. They had me up because my husband had worked for them too for many years in the office on Chestnut Street.
During WWI Mrs. Dobson was in charge of the Emergency Aides.
Mrs. Dobson, Jim’s wife was a very small woman like myself with peaches and cream complexion and her sister married John Dobson. Mrs. Hutchinson was another sister.
There was a story about John Dobson. He had an old rickety wicker chair. Someone went bankrupt and owed $50,000. They didn’t have it so he took their old rickety wicker chair and put it in his office. But you mustn’t sit in it because it was a $50,000 chair!
James Dobson used to stop at my parent’s store as he walked to work and had something pleasant to say. Shake hands. Handsome looking man who lived in Buena Vista way up in the fields. He walked up the hill from the mill every day to catch the 12:30 train. Delightful man.
John Dobson was a crank. I remember my father telling me that when John saw a man sleeping on the job in the plant he said “Sleep as long as you want, because while you sleep you have a job but as soon as you wake up you’re fired!”
James wouldn’t have said that. John lived on Allegheny Ave. Hutchinson lived next door. They had cows. Would sell the milk. At 4pm, right from the cow. But if you picked up anything from the lawn – a piece of fruit or something – John was after you.
When we were kids at Breck School the caretaker at Dobson estate was named Kyle. And 2 girls were his. The chauffeur would come and pick them up.
Buena Vista was where the Abbottsford Project is now.
Mr. Flanagan, did you know the Dobson’s?
My grandfather, father and aunts knew the Dobson’s very well. After the Civil War, Dobson Mills were originally water–powered and then changed to steam power and built new buildings and went into weaving in a big way. The best weavers were from Great Britain. So they recruited the best weavers from there including my grandfather. He was close to all of them. They lived very wealthy. We were the intelligensia of the working class.
Were there woman weavers?
Some, not many. Woman weavers made plushes, not carpets. James had carpet end of it; John did the velvet and blankets.
Then my grandfather reached in a loom and has his thumb and finger cut off. Without them he couldn’t weave. He couldn’t twiddle the ends of the thread together but he still maintained good relations with the Dobson’s, although they didn’t pay any compensation.
It was a dual personality with them. They were hard taskmasters but had a benevolent attitude and pleasant attitude. Whatever people said about them, they liked them.
What were the hours?
People in the mill worked 65 hours a week. All my aunts knew Bessie Dobson. If you got in an argument and punched one of the foreman there, which happened, you got fired as well as all of your relatives. Week later they said you could come back. But you lost a week’s wages.
Did they bring in any safety measures after the accidents?
Yes, they told him not to bleed on the cloth! My father worked there. His arm was caught in a machine and taken off partway. No safety devices at all. After WWI a gas tank exploded and burned a lot of people there. Good thing they still had the mill race. They were dropping people in it. The mill race ran right through the building. No one recovered 5 cents in damage.
Was Dobson Mills unionized?
Yes. Carpet weavers were, because my brother went there in 1916 and they were union.
Was there trouble when the union came in?
No, not too much trouble.
Ever any strikes?
Yes, there were strikes. In fact I went on a two week vacation and when I came back I had three raises!
What were the salaries?
Piecework – weavers paid by the yard. Different rates. $20 a week – it was considered high.
Overseer got $25 - good wage then. Some made a lot less.
That’s better than I did in the Depression when I made $17.50
Did most people who worked at Dobson Mills come from this community?
Yes they did.
When would children start?
After grade school if they didn’t go to high school. They didn’t need papers. 14
Did most of you work before you were married?
Yes.
Did you quit when you got married?
Yes, that’s why I got married. You raised your family - you had plenty to do.
Any more memories of Dobson Mills?
I remember going up to Buena Vista when it was still occupied. My neighbor knew the cook and that was my ticket. Bessie Dobson Altemeus had a little glass house built around a tree. Called it her white house because everything was white – white upholstered furniture, white ornaments, white turtle doves, She sat there and entertained.
On a terrace overlooking Abbottsford Road, she let people build Victory Gardens during the war. Little patches of their own where they grew vegetables. She had white chairs with umbrella there and she would sit with her guests and look over – called it viewing her Italian gardens. She had cigar store Indians all over the garden.
Bachelor Barge Club - Dobson, Widener, and all of Main line society were members - I managed it for 10 years. 1853 founded. Dinners there once a month. Once a year, on Washington’s Birthday, women were let in. They were not allowed except at private parties. Each person would get a special name based on what they did.
What were some of the local businesses?
My parents and grandparents had a store at Conrad and Crawford. Groceries and dry goods. Cole & Lobley. My grandfather started it around 1890 when he left Dobson Mills as an engineer.
Claytonshad a store for years at 35th Street (Conrad Street).
Reeds
Stubblebines
Messinger Haberdashery
Undertaker
Nice stores
Ferrets
Oyster house
When did that start to change?
When the project came.
Gunboat
- It started around 1900. Run by various proprietors and would change ownership in card games and dice games. Doc Burns stabilized it. Then he became a chiropractor.in St. Louis. Chiropractors were not recognized then so he came back to Falls. Was arrested. At his hearing were 9 champion oarsmen and 15 boxers. All of them testified for him. Magistrate said you must have had an office bigger than the cathedral!
- Escape route. If you took a girl to the movies you told her you couldn’t go out to eat because you had to stop at the gunboat and they weren’t allowed in. was on Midvale where the 5 & 10 used to be.
- All athletes – golfers, oarsmen, fighters, all sportsmen all came there. Could get all sporting information there.
- No gambling after Doc Burns took it over but he held all the bets.
- There was a restaurant in back of the Gunboat. Wyeth’s. He was a paper distributor.
Always got shoes shined before going out.
No animosity in the Falls.
Movies – older theatre, Alden was later.
America Hallon Sunnyside Ave. Had good ballroom. Played basketball there - they covered floor with canvas when they played. If you had good reports from school, you’d get a dime and go to the 10 cent movies once a week in America Hall to raise money. All single reels with illustrated songs and comedy. Jimmy Murphy ran movies in Odd Fellows Hall the same way.
Young Men’s Literary Association was on Indian Queen Lane. When I went to school they were raising money to build building on Indian Queen Lane. Ran movies at the Young Men’s Literary Institute to raise money for new baseball uniforms. Held 360 people. 6 reels of moving pictures, 6 reels of vaudeville and grand finale. Printed 1000 tickets. 30 kids crashed.
Weddings to Remember
THE WAY WE WERE. . . .EAST FALLS MEMORIES
June 6, 1981
SOURCE: Older residents of East Falls who participated in the discussion group “The Way We Were… East Falls Memories - -“Weddings to Remember” held at the Falls of Schuylkill Library, Warden and Midvale Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This discussion group was the last in a series of seven co-sponsored by the Falls Library and INTERAC Senior Center.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
- Getting your wedding cake from Rosie’s Bakery located on lower Ainslie near Conrad?
- Having your wedding pictures taken by “Mucky” Brownworth whose shop was on
Midvale across from St. Bridget’s?
- When most weddings were single ring ceremonies?
- Honeymooning in Atlantic City or New York?
- Shopping for wedding gowns on South Street?
- Quiet weddings during World War II when the men were getting ready to leave for
overseas?
- The difficulty you had getting a dress to fit during World War II?
- The day Elizabeth Altemus was married at St. James the Less or Lizanne Kelly married
at St. Bridget’s?
- When newlyweds could buy a new house on Ainslie Street for $6950, or during the
Depression for $2000?