Personal Recollections......
Maybe you can recall memories of your old hometown?
These are some of my memories of my hometown...Bryn Mawr, Pa......
WE USED PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION OR WALKED......
I remember taking the old P&W Train in to 69th St.....
OLD P & W TRAIN STATION IN BRYN MAWR, PA
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OLD PHILADELPHIA AND WESTERN TRAIN
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THEN CAME THE BULLET TRAIN - 70 MPH
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and when in Philadelphia...taking a trolley to travel around the city
If you lived in Bryn Mawr in the 50's,
you have to view and read this article!
It surely will bring back old memories!
click on the link ... Pay particular attention to page 2 of the
College News Paper from 1953
you have to view and read this article!
It surely will bring back old memories!
click on the link ... Pay particular attention to page 2 of the
College News Paper from 1953
I remember this "famous" White Horse " always being put out in front of the local hardware store. On the far right corner is the Bryn Mawr Fire House. (Horse is now owned by Bryn Mawr Hospital) |
This is the Bryn Mawr Firehouse in Bryn Mawr, PA.
It hasn't changed ...still the same as I remember it.
Many Halloween Costume Parties were held
in the second floor auditorium.
The old Bryn Mawr Elementary School about 4 blocks from my home. Went there from Kindergarten thru 6th grade and have many fond memories. I am still in touch with classmates from the elementary grades.
(some have passed on though)
In the 5th and 6th grade, I was a member of the school safety patrol and was made a co-captain of it in the 6th grade....I was very proud of this!
I REMEMBER LOOKING FORWARD TO THE ANNUAL END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR PICNIC WHEN IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.....HELD ON THE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND
EVER USE A MIMEOGRAPH MACHINE AT SCHOOL TO DUPLICATE SOMETHING...
MAYBE A TEST OR AN ANNOUNCEMENT?
MAYBE A TEST OR AN ANNOUNCEMENT?
Some old class photo's.......Thank you Scotty S
MY 2ND GRADE CLASS AT BRYN MAWR ELEMENTARY- 1946
MY 3RD GRADE CLASS AT BRYN MAWR ELEMENTARY - 1947
MY 6TH GRADE CLASS AT BRYN MAWR ELEMENTARY - 1950
I remember when I was in the 4th grade, I found an old, white quartz Indian arrowhead while playing on the old vacant lot at the corner of our street. I very proudly took it to school with me to show it off. When I was showing it to one of my classmates, he hit the bottom of my hand...the arrowhead popped out and fell to the marble floor and shattered into about 4 pieces....you can't imagine how mad a 4th grader can get!
Upon graduating from Bryn Mawr Elementary School in 1950, I went to the Ardmore Junior High School in the Lower Merion school district for one year only, the 7th grade. The principles name was Edward Snow...and I remember his favorite saying was "It isn't the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog," The Following year I attended Radnor High School In Wayne, Pa. , where I graduated from in June of 1958
This is probably one of my fondest memories from high school. This was in 1957, the year that we beat our arch rival, Lower Merion in football for a undefeated season and a giant bonfire on our football field!
I remember as a young child, being afraid of the dark and imaginary monsters in the closet..I asked my mother to leave bedroom door open and the hall light on. This lasted probably about two years. By that time I grew out of my fears.
(so if your child has monsters in the closet...leave their light on)
(so if your child has monsters in the closet...leave their light on)
SOME THINGS HAVEN'T CHANGED THAT MUCH FROM WHAT I REMEMBER WHILE GROWING UP! I THANK THE LORD FOR LETTING ME HAVE SO MANY FOND MEMORIES.
This is the church I was raised in...Baptized in, studied my Catechism, received 1st Holy Communion in and went to for mass every Sunday. I remember going to the dances that were held in the church school basement. I even sold Sunday papers there to earn extra money when I was about 12 years old. If you look at the picture of the church, the niche at the base of the bell tower is where we sold the papers. I helped an Afro-American named Sylvester sell the papers....I remember he would give me $5.00 to go to a local deli and get lunch for the two of us...it usually consisted of a baloney sandwich on a kaiser roll and a pint of chocolate milk. It was simple but I really enjoyed it.
ISN'T IT AMAZING WHAT YOU CAN FIND ON THE INTERNET?
(The larger red brick house on the right side of the image was my home.)
This is an image of Waverly Estates main house. I started working on this private estate when I was 15 years old. There was also another school boy who worked with me at the same time.
I worked every Saturday while in school and 6 days a week in the summer. I got paid $5.00 a day. My guardian also worked there as a laundress. They also employed an upstairs maid, downstairs maid, a cook, a gardener, a chauffeur, and a handy man who acted like a 2nd chauffeur. It had a farm on the estate that produced fruits and vegetables in the growing seasons. We grew corn, peas, lima beans,tomatoes, onions, apples, chives, parsley, grapes, cherries ,green string beans, turnips, radishes, and iceberg lettuce. My duties included, cultivating the vegetable garden,and several flower gardens, including a rose garden. We also had a large hay field that we had to mow in the late summer. We had a tractor and attached a sickle bar to It. I would ride around the field, stopping under a wild cherry tree and grab some of the wild cherries. We used large, 6' cut Locke lawn mowers to cut the more than 5 acres of lawn. It took myself and the other school boy 2 days to cut the lawn.
I worked every Saturday while in school and 6 days a week in the summer. I got paid $5.00 a day. My guardian also worked there as a laundress. They also employed an upstairs maid, downstairs maid, a cook, a gardener, a chauffeur, and a handy man who acted like a 2nd chauffeur. It had a farm on the estate that produced fruits and vegetables in the growing seasons. We grew corn, peas, lima beans,tomatoes, onions, apples, chives, parsley, grapes, cherries ,green string beans, turnips, radishes, and iceberg lettuce. My duties included, cultivating the vegetable garden,and several flower gardens, including a rose garden. We also had a large hay field that we had to mow in the late summer. We had a tractor and attached a sickle bar to It. I would ride around the field, stopping under a wild cherry tree and grab some of the wild cherries. We used large, 6' cut Locke lawn mowers to cut the more than 5 acres of lawn. It took myself and the other school boy 2 days to cut the lawn.
Still there...the Bryn Mawr Trust...The post office next to it on the right....Gave me my first car loan for a used 1958 Pontiac fuel injected Super Chief in 1961. The amount of the loan was $1080 at 1.5% interest rate.
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This is the Bryn Mawr Post Office...I worked here as a mailman for a short period of time upon being discharged from the Navy in 1961.
I Was a mailman for a short time after getting out of the Navy. I used a three wheeled mailster like this to deliver the mail
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Next to the post office is Parvin's Drug Store. Still in business at the same location since 1920's.
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As teenagers, we spent many hours hanging out in dinners...playing the Juke Box, and just being teens. This dinner is long gone. It was the Mari-Nay Diner in Rosemont, PA.
A McDonald's now sits on this site.
I USED TO TAKE THE LOCAL P&W TRAIN INTO 69TH ST TO GO TO A MOVIE
I HAD A CHOICE OF THREE THEATERS TO GO TO IN A TWO BLOCK AREA
AND EACH YEAR THERE WAS THE DEVON HORSE SHOW AND COUNTRY FAIR IN DEVON PENNSYLVANIA
This was held each year for the benefit of the Bryn Mawr Hospital.
This was one of the biggest social events in our area...
everyone would attend this horse show...
(A BUNCH OF HORSES SHOWING THEIR ASSES TO A BUNCH OF HORSES ASSES SHOWING THEIR HORSES)
This was one of the biggest social events in our area...
everyone would attend this horse show...
(A BUNCH OF HORSES SHOWING THEIR ASSES TO A BUNCH OF HORSES ASSES SHOWING THEIR HORSES)
For those to young to remember, this was a Juke Box that for a nickel you could play your favorite hit song, and later, the price rose to 3 for a quarter. Probably found in every diner in the 1950's.
(To learn more about the Juke Box..click on image)
(To learn more about the Juke Box..click on image)
SOME FOND MEMORIES.............
I REMEMBER MY MOTHER TAKING ME ON A PASSENGER TRAIN FROM BRYN MAWR, PA TO PHILADELPHIA AND FROM PHILADELPHIA TO WILKES BARRE, PA WHEN I WAS ABOUT 5 YEARS OLD
I RECALL PUTTING MY HEAD OUT OF THE WINDOW AS THE TRAIN WAS GOING AROUND A CURVE AND SEEING THE ENGINE AND THE LAST CARS IN THE TRAIN. I REMEMBER THIS BECAUSE I GOT CINDERS FROM THE ENGINE IN MY EYE.
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WHILE VISITING MY RELATIVES, MY COUSIN AND MY COUSINS HUSBAND ALONG WITH SEVERAL OF MY COUSINS FRIENDS TOOK ME WITH THEM TO AN OLD STONE QUARRY LOCATED IN THE MOUNTAINS TO SWIM
I REMEMBER HOW COLD THE WATER WAS, AND THEM SAYING THAT THEY HAD NO IDEA HOW DEEP THE WATER WAS. I DID NOT KNOW HOW TO SWIM AND THEY TALKED ABOUT THROWING ME IN...THANKFULLY THEY DID NOT DO THAT.
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DID YOU EVER HAVE A "VERY BEST FRIEND" WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG? I HAD ONE, AND HE IS STILL ONE OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS!
Just a note: Today, he is now 77 years old, and I was best man at his 1st wedding over 50 years ago. He asked me once more to be best man at his wedding when he remarried on Valentines Day 2015.
MY FIRST LOVE
(Almost every one has a "First Love".))
My "First Love" was my best friends sister. I met her when I was about fifteen and she was about thirteen. She was the light of my life....I was head over heals in love with her. Of course she never knew this. I used to visit her house along with several other fellows who made up our circle of friends. Her mother, God rest her soul, was the most gracious hostess and we all could not leave her house unless she fed us a sandwich or gave us something to drink. I would stay until the last possible moment , then leave and run all the way home in order to get home by my curfew. (by the way, this was the only time in my life that I got what runners call a second wind and it only happened once in my life..) To my dismay, while in the service, she married someone else. I attended the wedding, and I got "Shit Faced" drunk. I remember telling the groom, maybe not in these exact words, "You had better treat her right or you will have to answer to me." Even today, she still holds a special place in my heart.
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