MEMORIES OF DC - PAGE 12!

Thank you for this great site. I would like to add a few of my memories to the others on your website.

I was born in DC (1950 -- Georgetown University Hospital ) and grew up in the Adams-Morgan area. My Dad had moved to DC in 1948-49 from Puerto Rico via New York (hated it) and Miami (too hot and racist). He worked as a bus boy at several hotels and restaurants including the Mayflower. He later went back to the Island to marry my mother and they arrived in early February 1950. I was born on Veterans' day that year.

We lived mostly in the 18th Street and Columbia Road area known as Adams-Morgan loved Kalorama Park in the summers, People's Drug Store, the street car crossing - Rts 40/42 and 90/92), etc).

Lived at 11th and U Streets, 18th and Kalorama, 1801 Columbia Road , 1762 Kenyon Street , and 1650 Columbia Road . My Dad had become a professional barber by 1955 and established in 1957-58 what may have been the first Latino-owned barber shop in DC at 1650 Columbia Road -- Pan American Barber Shop. We moved into the upstairs apartment and lived there until November 1968 when we moved into our first real family owned house in College Park . Next door was the Embassy Rexall Drug Store (owned by "Doc" Salomon and Evelyn Gadol"), where I started working part time and summers when I was 15 until I graduated from Maryland U (1972). The row of stores included a Chinese laundry, a French furrier -later a mod clothing store, another laundry which later was converted to the famous Potter's House and a small deli shop.

I attended Sacred Heart School on Park Road from 1956 to 1964. Used to ride the streetcar (RT 40/42/45) almost every day to and from school (except for the year or so that we lived on Kenyon Street ). I then attended St. John 's HS (on Military Road ) graduating in 1968. Then attended the University of Maryland until 1974 when I obtained my Masters Degree in Engineering. After graduation I moved to Puerto Rico where I met my wife and my children were born. In 1990 we moved to Coral Springs , Florida and have been here since.

Last summer (2005) my family FINALLY had the opportunity to visit DC (still have cousins there). It was the first time my daughter (24) and son (19) visited DC after soooooo many years of promises. My wife had visited in 1977 shortly after we had married.

I took them to all of the standard tourist sites (o many!) plus the off the beat areas including my home turf along Columbia Road . The Zoo was impressive (although the heat was probably the worst in years) and it brought back memories of when my family and friends would walk to the Zoo via the old path off Adams Mill Road (before the Tunnel was built).

One of my personal highlights was the visit to Sacred Heart School and Shrine (16th and Park Road). Except for the fence around the site, including the famous ledge, the school looked much as when I attended the school. It is still a neighborhood school but it now also serves as a community education center especially for the large number of Central American immigrants living in the Mt. Pleasant area.

I felt rewarded when I was able to meet the current Principal and she graciously assigned a lady employee to accompany me throughout all of the facility. I immediately went to those rooms where I spent my youth with the nuns and O! what memories. The old auditorium, which few elementary schools had in those times, had been recently renovated and it looked better than ever. The Gym is still there located below the auditorium. Spent about an hour on the tour and loved every minute.

The old building that housed the Sacred Heart Academy (the all girls HS) is still there but is now used for other community oriented purposes. The same goes for the old nuns' convent.

From the school we went down the street across 16th Street to visit the Shrine where my parents and I (I being an only child) attended regularly the 9 AM Mass. It still looked magnificent inside but the large fence around the front speaks sadly of the current situation of the neighborhood.

Later we visited St. John's (my son was impressed -- "Dad, THIS is a high school!" He attended Cardinal Gibbons in Fort Lauderdale -- An excellent school in the South Florida style -- School mascot - The Redskins (Guess what team it reminds one of) - School colors Red and grey (like St John's). A trip to the University of Maryland at College Park was also on the agenda.

On my trip to DC last year I was able to meet up with a few of my old buddies from Sacred Heart and St. John's and although we spent more time watching NFL films and eating and drinking, a lot of memories were exchanged.

I would love to contact some of my fellow Sacred Heart/St John's companions or graduates.

P.S. There have NEVER been any doughnuts as good as those baked by Heller's -- including Krispy Kremes! Almost every Sunday after Mass we would walk to Mt. Pleasant Street and take a number to wait with dozens of others to order the delicious doughnuts and cakes.

I also loved:

The great rum cakes (with Don Q rum) from Avignon Ferrés(?) on Columbia Road .

Riding the Mt Pleasant street car when it traveled under Dupont Circle .

Glen Echo Park -- The Rt 20 street car was the best ride for me. It wasn't until 1960 that my father bought the first family car, a Chevy Impala.

Haines Point -- summer evenings at the mini-golf course.

The beautiful Christmas displays at Woodies, Hecht's, Kahn's, etc and the lights along F Street (especially after conversion to a mall style).

Hot Shoppes - I remember the one at 14th and Park Road and on Connecticut Avenue .

The Wisconsin Avenue Sears with the rooftop parking.

Immaculata HS was like the girl's annex to St. John's (or was it the other way around?)

Mt. Pleasant Library at 16th Street and Lamont Street

Corr's Hobby Shop

One of the first Toy's–R-Us on 18th Street just south of Columbia Road . It looked more like an old warehouse with static displays of the toys on top of the corresponding boxes.

Seeing Pic Temple live in a parade on 18th Street (Adams Morgan area) . Plus Ranger Hal and Captain Tugg, among many others.

The Joy Boys

Willard Scott as Bozo and the FIRST Ronald McDonald's

The Tivoli , Savoy , Ambassador and Ontario Theatres. The first has been renovated and redeveloped, the second was destroyed during the 1968 riots, the third was demolished in the late 60's or early 70's (It was a beautiful movie house but with a tragic history), and the fourth was converted to other uses. The Ontario had great first day premiere activities -- The Longest Day and The San Pebbles included several spotlights, military bands and marching units, speakers and a few of the main stars -- I got to see them LIVE - less than a block from home.

Other memories:

High’s ice cream.

Dart Drug Stores

The annual Christmas tree on the little island at 18^th and Columbia Road .

The Franciscan Monastery

The “old” Children’s Hospital

The temporary WW2 buildings around the reflecting Pool

Summers at Kalorama Park with games, sprinklers and movies at night (projected on a huge sheet)

ALL of the museums along the Mall.

Playing baseball at the 16^th Street / Kennedy Park – Carter Baron (got there via the S-2 bus)

Picnics along Rock Creek Park .

The Calvert Street Bridge (now Duke Ellington Bridge ) infamous for the spate of suicides.

Both Griffith and RFK Stadiums

Meridian Hill Park – Jammed packed summer afternoons and beautiful fountains.

José Luis "El Gran Puma" Rodríguez

Aloha from Maui! (A very long way from DC!)

Came across your site while googling Hot Shoppes. Very interesting! Loved all of it!!! Memories? Have I got DC memories? Ohmygod! I could (and should) write a book, but I doubt if anyone would ever buy it/read it if I did.

Anyway, here's a stream of consciousness "list" (in no particular order). The aforementioned Hot Shoppes, Little Taverns, Glen Echo (the pool, the concerts - Don Dillard's and Milt Grant's, the roller coaster, etc.), the Zoo, the "original" Smithsonian museums, National Airport (when all of the planes had propellers), hanging out at Dupont Circle (in the mid '60s), going to ball games at Griffith Stadium (I went to Friends School, and to games, with Clark Griffith III, so we never had to pay!), the street cars (and, particularly, the changeover from overhead to underground power on Wisconsin Ave. in Georgetown), Georgetown!, hiking on Roosevelt Island, trips down the Potomac on moonlit summer nights, drag racing at Aquasco Speedway and Capitol Raceway (and illegally, on "H" Road, directly in front of the Pentagon, and on the Beltway before it "opened" to the public!), Gifford's Ice Cream (Dutch chocolate with their homemade hot fudge sauce was the best!), B-CC teams of all ilks (I was on the rifle team in '58), Montgomery Donuts (on Ga. Ave in Silver Spring), Henry Hiser's movie theater (and downstairs bowling alley) in Bethesda, Barry Richards and Don Dillard on WDON, The Bayou, The Keg, The Rabbit's Foot, Emergency, and a host of other NW rock clubs that were happening in the '60s, and, before those, the Alpine Room , Benny's Rebel Room, Crossroads and the Lion's Den, Jimi Hendrix at the Ambassador Theater (opening for Vanilla Fudge), shopping on F Street (downtown), riding the Congressional subway, soaping fountains at various places around town, blowing the horn on my car the entire length of the Conn Ave underpass under Dupont Cir., summer concerts at P Street Beach, roller skating at the Congressional Rink (in Rockville), ice skating at Uline Arena (and seeing James Brown and his Famous Flames there, too), car shows, home shows, dog shows and more concerts at the DC Armory, being a "regular" on Milt Grant's show (1958/59), dining at Blackie's House of Beef and the Hot Shoppes cafeteria at McLean Gardens, marrying my first wife in the Bethlehem Chapel at the National Cathedral, the Avalon Theater, yelling as loud as I could to hear my voice echo off the ceiling of Union Station, taking a train from Silver Spring to Union Station (and back) - 35-cents each way! - the soft serve ice cream place on Fenton St in Silver Spring (name escapes me), driving around the Bethesda Hot Shoppes backwards (69 laps!), after B-CC beat Blair in the "big game" of '57, in my parents' '53 Chevy convertible, the Cellar Door, WHFS, Danny Gatton, Nils Lofgren, Link Wray and Roy Buchanan (guitar heroes, every one!)... and the list goes on!!!

On a more personal note, I grew up in Chevy Chase (without a silver spoon in my mouth, although there were a lot of silver spoons in my family), and lived just off Wisconsin Ave (two blocks south of Bradley Blvd). I went to Friends School, Longfellow School, Somerset Elementary School, Western Jr. High, and B-CC. I moved to Arlington in '58, and went to Wakefield High (Jr year), and then back to DC, finishing high school at Emerson Institute (near Dupont Circle). My paternal grandfather, C. V. Wheeler, was the modern day equivalent of a CEO with the Washington Steel and Ordnance Company, D.C.'s only steel mill (it produced armor piercing shells for the big guns on battleships, immediately prior to, and until the end of WWI). WS&O Co. was located on land that eventually became the site of Bolling Air Force Base and Anacostia Naval Air Station. Wheeler Rd SE is named for him. I haven't lived in the DC area since late '71, and haven't even been back since '79. (Yeah, I know, a lot has changed!!!)

So, how's that??? Did I do OK? 8-) I'll get back to your site again, and spend even more time there. As ol' Bob Hope always sang, "Thanks for the memories..."

Aloha,

Bruce Wheeler ("too old to rock 'n' roll, too young to die!")

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I wonder if you're still collecting them.

I'm in my 40s and recall glen echo! the old ballroom and the cups that you sat in and swirled around for a ride. I barely remember that but I know it was the most amazing place. Later one, after the park closed we still went to the ballroom and jumped around the place.

When I was young another big treat was going to the garden tea room in Woodies after shopping after doing some back to school shopping.

Or going to Best and Company for shopping--near the shabby (back then) but fun Johnson flower company and then the hot shoppes near there or the one in MacLean Gardens or the one near Scan Furniture store down on CT avenue.

(going out to hot shoppes seems to be a prominent memory!)

First time I went to a movie with friends was to see My Fair Lady at the Uptown.

We'd go to the spring fair at the cathedral and go to the little shop next to the bishop's garden--just like Donna did. I'd get a lemon with a peppermint stick in it and sit under the huge tree that was held up with wires in the garden.

OH and when I was a teenager, I'd wander around Georgetown randomly--and we'd try on Mexican wedding gowns at the shop there. It was there for years, might still be there, down a little passage.... the place that sold ethnic clothes. I and went to a couple of free talks closer to George Washington U (took the 30s bus but can't recall exactly where they were) and wandered in to listen to Milos Forman talk about making one flew over the cuckoo's nest. I volunteered at the Humane Society which I noticed because it was just at my bus stop (I'd take the D4 and the 30s bus to school) It was located above the Audubon shop.

Golly nothing as wonderful as the other memories I found at your site. I lived on 34th place between Newark and Ordway. We could clamber over the fence into Rosedale and go sledding there and play hide and seek in the old boxwood maze (a pathetic little maze but we loved it.) Cleveland Park was far more diverse when I was a kid -- it was a wonderful place to grow up. The Cleveland Park Club had that tiny little pool--the community bathtub, we called it--and we'd watch movies in the rickety clubhouse on summer nights and go to the potluck dinner. I think the place is still there (it had been there since the 20s) but I bet it' s far fancier now.

What a fun site!! So many wonderful memories...we had a great life back
then, with no worries about going anywhere we wanted! Living in D.C. all of
my school years. We moved to Chevy Chase when I turned 18.

I grew up in McLean Gardens, off Wisconsin Ave., in NW D.C. Went to Phoebe
Hearst Elem. (walked),
Alice Deal Jr. High (streetcar), and Woodrow Wilson High (streetcar, then
drove!)

Everyone that lived in McLean Gardens was there for years & we all went to
school together. Wilson and a lot of other DC schools had sororities &
fraternities...I belonged to Sigma Delta Nu. We had lots of joint meetings
with other schools fraternities, so we drove to the Western HS area, or over
to SE for parties. Boy, those were such fun. Looking back, it's hard to
believe we drove so far & late at night...a car full of teen age girls, no
less! We learned all the different dances going to those so-called joint
meetings!!

Hot Shoppes was the only place to see & be seen on weekends...remember those
orange freezes & onion rings? My very favorite things, along with Banana
Splits at Giffords! The cherry cokes at Peoples, made with cherry juice on
the spot; the x-ray for shoes, Glen Echo to swim or actually sing! A bunch
of us sorority sisters sang & they recorded the song...wow, it was awful!!
Drive-In movies for date night, no matter how far you had to drive to get to
one; Poodle skirts & saddle shoes; Kalorama roller skating; I was on the
Milt Grant show once, loved that show & Bandstand later on.

We used to go to Mayo Beach all the time in the summer, catch crabs in the
"run", play the slot machines & swim. Fell in that run once & my Dad caught
me before I went under the bridge...very scary!!

My parents took me to O'Donnell's Restaurant downtown every so often &
actually let me order lobster. That was a huge treat & I ate every bite of
it!! My Dad worked in an International area of Army Map Service at Glen
Echo, so we went to Chinatown often too & had wonderful meals, cooked by
some of his co-workers families. What an exciting place that was, so
different from NW D.C. to me.

Looking back, I feel so sorry for kids now days...they will miss all the
freedom we had. Thanks for bringing back so many great memories, I've loved
re-living all of them with everyone!!

Jody (Shepard) Culver

My mother was born in 1939 and grew up in DC. She went to Coolidge High School and I think graduated in 1957. Her name was Gale Richter. I know she won a Queen Esther pageant. I don't know too much more and I don't have a lot of contact with too many of her friends. She passed away suddenly in 2001 and I thought it would be nice to hear if anyone knew her and what they remembered about her. I do always hear how much people really loved my mother. She was a really special woman. Please write in if you knew my mother Gale Richter in any way. THANKS!!

I have lots of pix of Glen Echo. I am a photographer and also a vocalist. I live in Vegas now, but I'm from D. C. I lived for quite a while at 602 G St. S. E. My dad was a musician with Arthur Godfrey's band and Stan Kenton. His name was Danny Powell. My name is Sharon Powell Caballero and my professional name is Lynne Powell. I grew up all around D. C. Congress Heights was my longest place of residence. My mom and I lived on Highview Place and we used to go to Bob's Frozen Custard on Nichols Ave. We also went to the Atlantic Theater and the Pacific Restaurant when Manny and Nick owned it in the fifties. All my family worked in places like Kann's and Landsbergh's and the government printing office and the Navy Yard. I myself worked for the Washington Star down on Va. Ave. S. E. We all used to go to Glen Echo and I remember one time the tracks washing out under the streetcar during a storm. I was petrified!!! Do any of you remember Velati's Candy store on G St.??? I order from them now online, since someone else has bought the company. She is sticking to the old recipes from Mr. Velati and the candy is wonderful!!! We lived on Mellon St. for a while near the Congress theater and before that, we lived near Seward Square. I remember putting pennies in the milk bottles from each state to fight polio when they had the cart at the Penn theater on Pa. Ave. S. E. Boy have I jogged some old memories and feelings from the past. I would like to submit pictures to the site, and I look forward to hearing from some of the old crowd.

Sharon Lynne Powell Caballero

myspace.com/sharonlynne

HI, I grew up in S.E. D.C. in the 50;s and early 60's, now 61. What fond old memories of living on the corner of Penn ave and Minnesota ave and shopping at Mortons for clothes. Chino pants, Keds shoes, Banlon and boat neck shirts. Going down the block to Stevenson bakery (they were our next door neighbors living in a row house like ours). Going to Orr, Kramer, and graduating from Anacostia high. I remember being in a gang called the Turbans and then in the Ave gang. We wore black cordiroy jackets with the white lettering on the back. We just hung around the corners trying to look cool and mostly girl watching, very few girls would be around back then, wonder why. People's drug store and Mario's pizza would be hangouts. Highland Movie Theater was a big hit also.Little tavern next door was the place to eat and talk with the sailors and other service men who always seemed to be there. Rolling our Lucky cig packs up our sleeve in our white T-shirts. Listening and playing our 45 records in someone's basement while playing Tonk or hearts for pennies. Walking down to Good Hope Rd. to the Rainbow or Jacks playland to play the pinball machines. Stop by Clancy's for a cold mug of beer for 15cents and watch the Go-Go girls dance. Playing all sports daily in the Orr elementary schoolyard was a never ending way to spend time with all you friends. Going with my dad through the neighborhoods selling rat poisioning to the neighbors for extra money we always needed. Like probably most of you we were very poor (8 kids) but my dad did have a good Gov't job with the Interior dept and also worked at National Geogrophic and drove a Yellow Cab at night. Getting drafted and going to Viet Nam was something else i will never forget.
Growing up in D.C. was so much fun and the life experiences i had that i wish all young kids could have today. I think we had the best of times growing up in the era we did and nothing like it will ever be the same. Thanks for all the memories you lucky people have shared on this great site. B.C. Tampa, Fl.

FISH AND COW FROM SUNNY FLA.

I grew up in DC until we moved to Arlington when I was 11. Went to Calvert School , affiliated with St. Matthew’s Cathedral, through 3^rd grade and Our Lady Queen of Peace School in SE Washington through 5^th grade. We lived on 15^th Street, NW (now office buildings) and then on 37^th Pllace, SE. Remember Rocky’s Rolling Mart? It was a grocery store on wheels that went around SE. There was also the Good Humor Truck with popsicles for $.05 and Rockets (those push up ice cream bars in a cardboard container) vanilla on the outside and a chocolate center for $.10. I also remember Milt Grant and Pick Temple . Milt Grant’s show would sometimes be broadcast live from Parkington (now Ballston) in Arlington and we would go there. I also remember the night clubs— Rands , The Casino Royal, the Hayloft and the Rocket Room. I also remember the Christmas decorations in the window of Woodward & Lothrop.

My story starts out different than most of yours, I was born in Louisville Ky in 1936, it was during the depression, the south was hit by it harder than this area, my Father filled out an application in Ky, for the Navy Department in Wash, DC. and was accepted and asked to report to work, ASAP, the year was 1941. Dad was a draftsman in research and development for the Navy on Constitution Ave, now the home of the Vietnam Memorial. There was no big highways in those days, he packed his model t and in January, snowing and mountains, he persevered, even witnessing a car slide off the side of a mountain, he could not stop and would have been of no help if he did, so he reported it in the next town he came to. My Mother and myself (5)and 2 brothers(6&3), followed one week later by train. There was a housing shortage in Washington, Dad found a room across the street from what is now Guy Mason Ball park, the house is no longer there. Then, through a friend he rented the upstairs of a family that lived across from Old Soldiers home. Still looking for housing he rented a house on Buchanan St, in the same area, My brother Joe attended St Gabriel's first grade. I went to Barnard Hill Kindergarten. Dad applied for housing in Greenbelt, but was turned down, because he was making top salary, a whopping $1,800.00 a year, yeah, which was too much to qualify. So my parents bought a home in Riverdale, my brother and I attended St. James in Mt. Rainer, We were 6 and 7, Mother would take us across Rt 1 and we would wait for the Capitol Transit Bus that took us to the Mt.Rainer terminal, and we would walk the 2 blocks back down to school. My sister was born in 1942 at Leland Memorial, and by then St. Jerome's opened their school, we all eventually went through St Jerome's. We were outgrowing the little house in Riverdale, so moved to Hyattsville in 1950, 2 blocks from DeMatha, Joe attended DeMatha and could practically roll out of bed and run to school before the bell rang. I, on the other hand attended Notre Dame Academy, my girlfriend

and I, first had to walk 3 blocks to Rt 1, get the greyhound bus and get off at Big Ben, North Capitol St. then either walk down to K St. or get the streetcar.

After high school my friends and I got a job at Acacia Life Insurance Co. We would go ice skating at Uline Arena, where I met and married the love of my life, we were married for 48 years, till he passed away in 2003.

Phil lived on Ely Place across from Uline and started working there as an errand boy when he was 10. He was a great skater and besides his regular job continued to work part time at Uline, the skating clubs, circus, ice capades, concerts, everything. When the NHL came to Landover, Phil submitted his application for the Time keepers position. They told him his name was bouncing off of the walls, as he had kept the time at all of the hockey games at Uline. He would be on the phone explaining the rules to the men, as hockey was new to this area and even the sports writers and news people did not understand all of the rules, in the early days, during one of the games there was a big fight on the ice, and Phil had to explain to everyone, who got how many minutes, why and what for, and when they could come back out on the ice. He knew and loved his hockey. When he started having strokes, he turned it over to Bob Stafford, they gave Phil a wonderful retirement party, they all thought the world of Phil, he was a great person. They told him at his retirement party that even though he ran the off ice officials in a very professional manner, they also had fun while he was in charge.

He was one of the good ole' S.E. Washington boys on 7th and Penna Aves. He was one of the Cobra Club

members. Terrific ball player. Duck tail haircut, peg pants, blue swade shoes, and a convertible 50 ford. A far cry from the DeMatha boys my parents were used to me dating. We were both 19 when we got married. My Father cried when he first saw him, but learned to love him and Dad spent his last 10 years living with us.

One memory I have, that I did see yet was watching the donuts being made at Sears on Bladensburg Road.

I really enjoyed this site, keep up the good work for us, makes me realize what a good time we lived in.

Eleanor EMaratta_Mattingly@comcast .net

I was raised in Chinatown. The New Year's Parade was something my sisters and brothers and I looked forward to because we would line up to carry one of the flags in the parade. What a thrill when one of us were chosen. I have had the honor and so have my brothers. There were ten of us, twelve altogether, but some left home before some were born, so running the streets of DC was great. We also had a chinese grocer on the corner of Sixth and H streets. When little kids get some money, a quarter or such, they usually go get a candy bar or some such, but my siblings and I would go and get that amount worth of chinese roast pork. We also used to love the Metropolitan, the Palace and the Capitol theatres, all on F street. But our favorite was the Central on ninth street because for thirty cents you got a double-feature. The other movies cost a quarter for first-run movies. This is a great site! Thanks for the Memories.

Diann - Jefferson Junior High 59' to 62'.

P.S. I had the worst nickname in the world thanks to a Bill Haley song; TreeTop, from Skinny Minnie.

In response to Ilene Martin. The theater down from the Place was the Lowe's Capital. To the lady that remembers the man with no legs and the monkey. When he past on they found out that he owned two apartment buildings and was not hurting for money at all. D.C. was a great place to grow up in and I really miss it. have a great day...Ron Lacy

I've enjoyed this collection DC memories each time I read then and decided
to contribute my own.  I was born in 1951 at Doctor's Hospital on Eye
Street.  My parents were also born in DC.  My father in 1922 at Walter Reed
and my mother in 1927 at Garfield.  My brother was born in 1947 at "old"
Providence and my sister in 1962 at "new" Providence.

As an elementary school aged child I lived in Takoma Park and attended Carol
Highlands Elem.  I loved Giffords on Georgia Ave in Silver Spring which was
a regular weekend stop after lunch at the Little Tavern where I always
ordered Rock Creek Fruit Punch and the Hostess House carry out attached to
the Hot Shoppes.  We got gas for our car at the "filling station" on the
corner of New Hampshire Ave and Ethan Allen (East West Highway I think), an
Esso station.  The same man always tended to us and wore a contraption
attached to his belt from which he dispensed our change.  He dressed in an
Esso "uniform" and we knew him by name, and he, us.  We attended church at
Grace Methodist on New Hampshire Ave.  My brother and I and our neighborhood
friends played endlessly in the woods along Sligo Creek - looking for "mica"
in the water, "cray fish" (as opposed to "craw" fish), picking black
raspberries, swinging on a rope swing, walking on foot paths we were sure
were originally created by Indians.  We had a neighbor who was a DC Transit
bus driver and another who was a baker at Posen's (might be misspelled - it
was a Jewish grocery store and bakery) on Georgia Ave and then later on
University Blvd in Langley Park.  I remember the milk man (Golden Rule Dairy
and later Thompson's) and the knife sharpening truck, as well as a truck
with a small amusement park type ride on the back.  Our Good Humor man, who
appeared like magic the same time each day all summer, had his name painted
on the front of his truck, "Pete Joe" and he always wore a crisp white
uniform with a hat - rang the bell by hand with a string that reached inside
the truck.  I remember when a new flavor of popsicle was introduced,
raspberry, a light aqua color.  I also remember having the concept that all
roads to DC originated in VA.  When new neighbors moved a few doors down
from Pittsburgh, PA I remember asking them if they traveled through VA to
arrive in our area.  My whole world was our neighborhood and "the district"
where we went for shopping, doctor appointments (Dr. Katherine Knop at the
Yater Clinic on Mass Ave).

My grandmother lived on N. Capitol St near the intersections of New
Hampshire Ave and Blair Road.  I remember the clear distinction between
Maryland and the "district line" where the DC Transit buses always deposited
their passengers for transfer to the MD buses.  I recall VA having their own
buses which were red and black and learning those buses actually traveled
under the Pentagon, to my great amazement.

We spent summer outings at Glen Echo.  I never rode on the roller coaster
which my parents still call the "coaster dip."  I remember hearing stories
about people reaching up to touch the sign before the first "hill" and
falling out.  My grandmother told a story of a man once reaching to catch
his hat and falling to his death.  So I stuck with the pink roller coaster
designed for younger kids.  To this day I can conjure up the fragrance of
pop corn, cotton candy (which I was never allowed to have, "bad" for my
teeth), and chlorine from the "crystal pool."  We were never allowed to swim
in the pool because of the polio scare.

Sundays during the summer meant frequent trips to Beverley, Triton, and
Chesapeake Beaches.  I preferred Beverly because of the "bath house" and
remember my mother wearing her locker key attached to an elastic band on her
ankle or wrist.  The adults and older kids would always swim out to
"floats."  After being stung by a sea nettle (my grandfather had to remove
it with his pen knife) I stayed out of the water and decided I preferred
Chesapeake Beach and their pool.  I also remember going to the fire works in
PG County locations - Magruder Park, Greenbelt Lake - and ice skating on a
pond near University Blvd toward College Park.

My parents' memories stretch back to even earlier years as well as the ones
I remember my grandmothers telling me as a child.  My father remembers
chasing after the ice man to collect horse manure for his mother's vegetable
garden.  During WWII she called it a "victory garden."  Their memories are
so precious they could offer their services as tour guides.

I remember baseball games at Griffith Stadium and the aroma of baking bread
in the nearby Wonder bakery.  When I was very young my thinking was of a
concrete nature and I thought the Senators were the actual Senators from the
Capitol.  I remember watching an opening day game and the President throwing
out the first ball and I thought he gave the "senators" the day off and let
them have a nice game of afternoon baseball.

I was on the Pic Temple show when I was in the first grade.  My father sat
in the "peanut gallery" with other parents and I sat next to a boy dressed
like Davey Crockett.  My husband was also on the show and dressed as Davey -
so I like to think there's a small chance that was our first meeting.

Christmas parades in Silver Spring by Hecht's (that's where my parents
taught me to keep moving to stay warm), Easter Monday egg rolls on the White
House lawn, the old Watergate concert barge and marble seating, Woodie's
windows at Christmas and their lunch room upstairs with dessert carts (and
elevator operators wearing Navy blue dresses with white collars who
announced the items for sale on each floor before they swung open the cage
like inner door of the elevator), Velati's caramel candy, Toddle House
chocolate pies, frozen custard near Walter Reed and also in Silver Spring,
my great grandparent's home in Arlington on Columbia Pike with a small
orchard in the back yard which seemed like farm to me, hiking the tow path
with my brother's Boy Scout troop and learning about a "gold mine" near
Great Falls, taking a drive around the newly constructed beltway, sleigh
riding on Sligo Golf Course.......and on and on.

What wonderful memories to share.  Fondly, Patricia

HELLO: I got all nostalgic today and started a search for John Burroughs School in Washington, D.C. I found this site and your email, and am happy to have the opportunity to tell a little about my "1954 school integration" experiences. For two years, I was one of the little Black kids who walked several blocks each day to go to the Lucy Slowe School in Washington, D.C., because we were not allowed to attend the the John Burroughs School which was about a block or 2 from my house. In 1954, when I was in the 4th grade, this situation changed, and we attended the neighborhood school for the first time. My experiences in the first teacher's classroom (I will not mention her name, since the experiences were not pleasant) still stand out in my memory. The amazing thing about today's search was finding the name of Mr. Webb, who I now remember as one of my best teachers and who was my 2nd Burrough's teacher - either 5th or 6th grade - maybe both. I remember these two teachers, both White, who had such different impacts on me. Although my experience with the first Burroughs teacher was not pleasant, she was NOT my first White teacher. I attended a Lutheran Church/MS in D.C., called Mount Olivet, and had the joys of music and spiritual kindness, reminiscent of my grandmother, and family, from Sunday School Teacher Clara Scheibel, the pastor's wife. So, even though my experiences my first year at Burroughs were not pleasant, I never held it against the whole group (smiles). What stands out as the worse experience my first year at Burroughs was when this teacher put all the "Negro" kids in a lower reading group without testing. Since I was a champion reader (I used to read encyclopedias at home and comic books and other children's books as a past-time, although I was NOT a nerd. I played hard in the neighborhood, and also remember like the others on the site I found how free we kids were to walk, run, skate and bicycle all over our neighborhood without fear.) I knew I deserved to be in the top reading group, but all I could get was the middle group. You know, I remember this so vividly it is almost unbelievable. Well, by passing her spelling test with a 100, I eventually got back in the top reading group. But, this I remember, at Christmas, she was teaching us the song "White Christmas", and I led the "Negro" kids in the version I wrote, like this.. "I'm dreaming of a black teacher, just like the ones we used to know". (This is the TRUTH. Even back then, I thought I was so funny. In fact, my Mother made me memorize the poem "Little Joe Tunney" who thought he was so funny, to try to correct my joking ways. PS, I am a female.) I am certain that this teacher was glad to be rid of me, just as I was glad to be gone from her. Well, that next year, I had Mr. Webb, who I remember as a fantastic teacher, and my love of learning and new adventures was put to the test in his classroom. Another positive about Burroughs was being introduced to the cello, which I still play today. I remember this husband and wife coming to the school with these instruments, one of which was a cello. I was so excited about this new instrument that my Mother says I ran home and excitedly told her about the instrument you could sit down and play because it was so big! Music was always a big part of our family, and they had me playing the violin at home, which I did not like and never practiced. So, this cello was welcomed. In fact, Mother says that my Father cried when I played a song on the cello he liked, and he immediately went out and purchased a cello so that I no longer rented one from the husband and wife. I also began playing in my first orchestra at Burroughs, and was the only cellist - something I was kind of proud of, too. Well, after 6th grade, our family moved to Baltimore, and I eventually went to an African American "finishing school/boarding school" down South. I even attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music for a while. My last 3 years of high school were spent in Indiana, where my Mother's family is from. (I have one heck of an integration story from 10th grade!) Today, I am the manager of our community symphony and principal cellist, and I play in an AACM musical group which tours internationally. I do not make a living as a musician, I am a real estate broker and run a community cultural arts program for the children and teens in my community, and am a university educator. I still love doing many things, like back in the early grades. I haven't changed much - just age and I would say weight, but I was always kind of solid. I love all the things I do, and I especially love knowledge and learning, and bringing good things in this life to others whenever I find out about something, I want others to love it, too! Thanks for this opportunity to share some memories. NM (gcsorch@yahoo.com)

Boy this sure brings back memories. I was born at Georgetown Hospital in 1950. I remember when the temporary government buildings were located on the mall as well as the old medical museum. I also have a vague recollection of streetcars before they dug up the rails in downtown Washington, DC. I remember watching the Milt Grant TV Dance Show on TV. Does anyone remember him? The best ice cream was Reindeer Frozen Custard (lemon was my favorite) in Northwest and Bob's Frozen Custard in South East Washington. Bob even had a screened entrance door! I remember Woodies downtown when they had a person work the elevators with the iron gates, and the store played soothing background music while you shopped. I remember when we went down near Dupont Circle to see President Kennedy's funeral procession and I remember Marshall Halls amusement park as well as Glen Echo. I remember riding DC transit to get to school and our school tickets were purchased at the car barn. I remember the Good Humor ice cream man and Mr. Softee. I remember when Washington, DC was great and crime was minimal at best. Wish it could be that way again.

Hello Debi,

I found your site when I "googled" frozen custard. I was born in baltimore in 1943, but my dad used to work in dc, so we had many friends and relatives in the dc area.

I remember when we drove to dc on the old wash-balto hwy (I think it was us #1) we would stop at a frozen custard stand that was covered with broken pieces of glass or mirrors. I thought it was the most magical place ever, at the age of 5 or 6! I think it was in the shape of an igloo (I may be wrong).

Does any of this ring a bell with you. Thanks for your site and your answer.

Robert Mingee

Willifor, Ar.

August 2006

I chanced upon your website searching for my old Anacostia High School, Class of '64.

Not knowing whether your memories' section is still alive or not, I take this effort to share my few DC memories.

My youthful exposure to DC lasted quite a vew years -- some of it lived from Fairfax, some from Falls Church, some from Friendship, MD.

But there were my grade 8.5 through grade13.6 years lived entirely within the confines of DC's political geography. Most of that time was in our home two blocks from the east steps of the Capitol building. I think my father bought this rather distressed rowhouse for some early Sixties' $15K. We learn later that this same property is now $2 million. Oh well. Just the same, it was a skinny little stretched-out long trailer. In brick.

I recall hearing the Marine Band playing on the Capitol steps while we sat in our tiny back yard. And that memorable day when our whole family simply walked over to witness President Kennedy's inauguration in the cold snow.

And that so much sadder simple walk to the lying in state under the Rotunda so few years later.

There was some Protestant Church nearby [close to the LOC] where suddenly-President Johnson was visiting that Sunday morning and we were outside the church waiting to catch a glimpse of him when others with radios in the crowd told us of the murder of the Lee Harvey Oswald fellow and my father grabbed us all and took us pronto back to the house. Those days were a bit confusing for a lot of us.

My brother and I volunteered to detail our neighbor's car to get it ready for him to go to the White House for some of the funeral ceremonies. He was some US Representative. Maybe Iowa. I forget.

There was a Catholic church directly in front of our house on D St. and I remember my grandmother sitting at the front window looking at the nuns walking into the church and mumbling something about the Pope and now this Kennedy fellow coming to the White House. I always thought her comments quite odd as she was, alone, so alone, the ONLY Democrat ever in our family!

Around the corner from our home were several favorite family haunts and private 'Bro and Me' sanctuaries we visited clandestinely coming back from school on the streetcar.

Family approved sites were primarily the Sampan Cafe on Pennsylvania Ave. not too far from 12th St as I recall. A pleasant ritual for the family. And still the only Chinese restaurant I've ever frequented that served French bread with the meal. Of course, dessert was ice cream as only a Chinese restaurant can serve ice cream -- crunchy with re-frozen blobs of melted ice in it. The place was sill in business forty years later when my Bro (in some quite strange moment of nostalgia) went back there with his wife.

Bro and I had Angelos on Pa. Ave. at 2nd, SE which served atrocious greasy hamburgers and even more disgusting greasy French fries. This pastime enjoyment we kept from our parents, of course. We would decline to eat at our school cafeterias and save up for the treat at Angelos.

For us there was the Trover Shop just down the street. A book store kinda place. Where I recall my first (and I truly believe my only) descent into the criminal world when I shoplifted a nudist magazine. It was probably difficult for a tenth grader to purchase a nudist magazine at that time, no doubt. [In all fairness to me, I add.]

Around the corner was the Charles DuBois grocery store. I always loved the name of the place. I believe now that he and his family were Pieds Noirs from Algeria. They were very nice to us and I learned to love to eat plums from their fruit bins. Another careful savings from our lunch money at school.

I quit now.

As with so many of us in later years, so many memories.

Jim, from Florida

Greetings:

I recently discovered your D.C. memories page and thought I'd contribute. Please feel free to edit these as you see fit:

I spent my early years (1953-1960) growing up in Langley Park, in an apartment complex off Merrimack Drive. It was within walking distance of the old Langley theater, a Grand Union supermarket, and a drug store (Woolworth's?) where they made the best cherry Cokes at the soda fountain. There was also a Hot Shoppe on the corner of New Hampshire Ave and University Blvd. where we'd often eat lunch. I still say they made the best chocolate milkshakes around - really thick! I also loved their chicken noodle soup - hearty and with unique ring-shaped noodles. Dad worked at the Naval Ordnance Lab in White Oak and sometimes he'd take us out to the Hot Shoppe after work and we'd eat in the car (drive-in). They had little intercoms you could use to give your order, which the car hop would then bring out to you. Saturday night we'd generally go to Giffords in Silver Spring where I would usually get a cone of their great mountain blackberry ice cream.

In the late 50's there was a fast food hamburger place built across the street from us on University Blvd. We called it the "Big M" because it had M-shaped "arches". I don't know if it was connected with McDonalds or not, but it was that kind of place.

I attended kindergarten and first grade at New Hampshire Estates elementary, which was close enough to walk to. Around 1960, however, we moved to Wheaton where I attended Arcola elementary. I can still remember how we were all instructed to bring canned food to school during the Cuban Missile crisis in '62. I can also remember the day we had a "drill" to see if everyone could walk home within 30 minutes (i.e., before the bombs started falling!) I lived several miles away and normally rode the bus to school, but Dad took me to Arcola the Saturday before the drill and we walked home together to make sure I knew the best and safest route. The day of the drill my mother was really nervous until I made it home by myself, with 3 minutes to spare!

Other miscellaneous memories include:

Going to the Cider Barrel in Gaithersburg on a fall weekend for fresh cider. You really thought you were out in the country back then! They always gave you a paper cup with a sample before you made your purchase.

Driving down Route 5 and 301 through Waldorf and LaPlata to see my relatives in Virginia, and passing all the slot machine joints with their colorful signs. I was always fascinated by the WigWam (it looked neat) and the old 301 Restaurant (with its neon sign in the shape of a lobster!)

Going to Mrs. K's Toll House for dinner on special occasions. I especially liked Christmas, when they hung ornaments from the ceiling with colored ribbons. As you entered the dining room and went down the stairs these were all at eye level, so you thought you were walking into a forest of ornaments and ribbons.

The stone restaurant at Four Corners, across from the Methodist church. We only ate there once or twice, but it was a unique landmark. I used to think it looked like a castle.

The old Olney Inn in Olney, with their great crab imperial (as you can tell, I like to eat, so some of my clearest and dearest memories are of D.C. area restaurants).

Driving all the way out to Urbana, Maryland, to eat at the Peter Pan Inn - great country ham and those wonderful corn fritters! There were also a couple of neat antique shops there my folks liked to visit.

Taking school field trips to the Golden Rule Dairy (off New Hampshire between White Oak and Langley Park) and the WSSC Patuxent water treatment plant.

Going to see Ringling Bros. circus at the old DC armory.

The old DC Transit street cars and busses. I still have a couple of the old metal tokens and paper bus transfers, which I used as "play money." My mother made a point of taking me on the street car the last day they ran, so I'd remember it.

Watching the 3-Stooges every night on WTTG - channel 5. I remember being really upset when they preempted them to cover the 1960 presidential conventions!

Going to Giant supermarket and getting yellow TV stamps, then helping stick them into the stamp books. Also appearing on Pic Temple's TV show and getting a coupon for a free 1/2 gal. of Giant ice cream.

The Wheaton News Stand in Wheaton - the best selection of comic books in town (not to mention that mysterious adults only section).

Going to a big hobby shop in downtown D.C. (Corrs? Or something like that) at Christmas time, which had a great Lionel train layout. While there we'd also go check out the window displays at Woodies, etc. I loved the downtown Woodies - especially the old elevators with their glass outer doors. I'd stand by the elevators and watch the cars wizz past while mom did her shopping. As I recall there was also a tunnel under the street which led from the main store to an annex building.

I remember when Prince George's Plaza was the first "mall" in the area and we'd sometimes drive there to do Christmas shopping. It seems to me they had one of the first Toys-R-Us stores there. Then Wheaton Plaza opened and we did most of our shopping there. At the time it was an open air plaza - no roof over the sidewalks. We'd eat Sunday dinner after church at the Hot Shoppe cafeteria (great roast beef), then visit the nearby People's drugstore. Some Friday nights we'd have dinner at the Sirloin Inn, which had the best London Broil around. There was also a Brentano's books store and a Barachini chocolate store, in addition to Woodies and Montgomery Wards.

Well, enough for now. Thanks for posting everyone's memories!

Regards, Eugene H. Beach, Jr.
Highland, Michigan

A friend sent your site to me because she knew I had been writing about my own memories, the best of which were spent in Georgetown from 1947 to 1954 and beyond.

I remember being among a bunch of adolescents sneaking into the outdoor pool at Georgetown U and swimming in our underwear. One of the miscreants being caught by "Hawkshaw" and had to go to the guard shack in his underwear to get his clothes back. I don't remember if "Hawkshaw" was his name or his title.

I remember Hyde school and the morning prayer where we substituted "deliver us from evil" to "deliver us from Ebel" our 5th and 6th grade teacher, Mrs., Ebel. She was what education should be today.

I remember the old Georgetown boys club on "M" Street which was turned into a gas station after the new club was built up off of Wisconsin Ave. . Football practice drills on the hills of Rock Creek. Saturday morning football on the ellipse. One morning Harry Truman watched us play on his morning constitutional.

In April the herring came up the Potomac and we would snag them with treble hooks in Rock Creek at Montrose Park, or net them under Key Bridge at a spillway. One Spring, we caught so many, a friend and I sold them door to door by the bucket.

Riding your bike on the cobblestone streets was a challenge in itself, but avoiding the street car tracks to keep from getting thrown off the bike was a more difficult challenge.

I remember being a patrol boy at the corner of Potomac Street at "O" NW looking at a plaque with a stone dedicated to Colonel Ninian Beall, with no idea of who he was. Only to run across his name decades later in a genealogy search. And discover that he at one time owned a great deal of Washington, before there was a Washington,DC.

Discovering that the Stoddard School, Hyde School, and Corcoran School were all named for previous landowners in the area.

I remember carrying grocery orders for the neighborhood ladies from the Safeway on M Street for quarters and dimes in tips. You could tell when Hoffmeir's rendering plant was in operation through the smell that permeated the air. the plant was the butt of many jokes.

I remember swimming to the old stone piers of old Aqueduct Bridge. from "Jacks Boathouse" under Key bridge and diving from the old stone piers into the Potomac, not realizing it was an open sewer. Thank the Lord it was mostly up river from DC. Canoe trips from "Jacks" to Roosevelt Island and "Three sisters Islands" were a regular past time in the summer, and when we didn't have the money for a canoe, we'd swim over to the Islands. When not at the river in the summer we were at swimming meets at the Georgetown Playground pool, where they had regional and city wide swimming competition. Or playing softball against other playgrounds, such as; Stoddard, Palisades, Hearst, Chevy Chase, and others.

I remember helping a friend with the mules that pulled the "Canal Clipper" on the C and O canal. We'd ride the backs of the mules and hitch and un-hitch the team to go from one side of the canal to the other under the tunnel under the canal off of Canal Rd.

Two nights a week during the school year, Gordon Jr. High opened the gyms in the evenings. A lot more went on then basketball. During the day Gordon was ruled with an iron fist by J. Dallas Shirley and his able assistant Mrs. "Hawkeye", or "Eagle-eye" Walker, who acquired her name by her gaze spread around the cafeteria seeking miscreants and other wrong doers. Sneaking out of school to go to Korn's market across the street would earn you a trip to the "office"

Mr. Shirley eventually was inducted into the "Basketball Hall of Fame", and I was to later find that outside of the school building he was a great guy.

Friday's and Saturday evenings were confined to house parties at a girls house (guys just didn't seem to throw parties)

or at the Calvert Theater on Wisconsin Ave, or the "Avenue" as sit was known. The week end days were great times to explore the museums, only a bicycle ride away. Or the Custis-Lee mansion in Arlington. What a great era. what a wonderful city. It was smaller then, but closer, even though divided. I remember it kindly

John D "Jack" Barrett

Ocean City, MD

Jack Barrett
lbarrett129@comcast.net

I sent this several weeks ago, but it didn't get posted. I didn't save it, so I will write it again.

Does anyone remember the all-night radio show on WTOP called Jim Meyers & Company? It ran from 1960 to 1963. Jim was a popular DC jazz pianist who performed with his wife, Ruby Lee, a wonderful singer. The show included lots of album cuts from classic jazz records as well as Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others. Jim and Ruby often performed songs live in the studio. It was relaxing, laid back, perfect late-night music and conversation.

I wrote an article on my website a while ago about the show, and readers can see it at the following link: http://www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/personal6.html. You can even hear some short clips from the show, which were provided to me by the Meyers family. Jim passed away about five years ago, and Ruby passed away this year.

If anyone else out there has recordings from Jim Meyers & Company shows, I would love to hear from you.

Joe Manning

Florence, Mass

manningfamily@rcn.com

I was born at the old Providence Hospital in Southeast DC in 1940. My Dad was born there in 1912. We lived on 36^th St. NE and went to Benning Elementary School . Does anyone remember “Pop” the police officer that covered our neighborhood and helped us cross Benning Road on the way to school? Does anyone remember Sylvia Deevy’s Amateur Show on Sundays? How about the SE Apple Blossom Festival, Stevenson’s Bakery, the Little Tavern on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Highland Theater. Went to Sousa Junior High and Anacostia High School . Does anyone remember going for picnics at Fort Washington ? Taking the trolley to the Penn Theater? Going to the movies on Saturday for hours (the main feature, cartoons, serials, previews of coming attractions)? Thanks for a terrific website

Beverly Merrilees

Born in DC in 1943 at Old Providence Hospital. Lived across from the Navy Yard. Graduated from Anacostia High School . Remember the Sousa Bridge, Little Tavern, Glen Echo, Marshall Hall (on the boat ride), Mr. Henry's where Roberta Flack began. What memories Art Turmelle

Hi!

I grew up in D. C. myself and my dad and mom were from there too. My daddy was Danny Powell and he played music with Charlie Byrd and Stan Kenton in his day. I am a vocalist in Las Vegas now. My mom's name was Eunice, but they called her Jerry. My whole family worked in the D. C. area, and I remember going on Pic Temple Show. I sang at the Casino Royal at the age of 5. I lived in Congress Heights on Highview Place, and I'd love to find some of my old buddies. I lived on G St. S. E. when I was little. Thanks for this wonderful site, and keep up the good work.

Sharon Lynne Powell Caballero

Oh Boy! I was born in the back seat of Diamond Cab #7 at 7:00 am on 12/23/38; my father was driving the cab. It was snowing and sleeting. Grew up in the Mt. Pleasant area. 1661 Park Rd. Apt.26, then Apt.23, (now a condo) then a small rental house at 1613 Monroe St., NW. CO (lumbia)-1564 was our phone #. 8 years at Sacred Heart Grade School (Dominican Nuns) on Park Road. CYO Basketball Champs coached by Father Cole. Altar boy at Sacred Heart (The Shrine of)...Gonzaga High School ('56) and later Georgetown Law (Night) '66. My older brother and I would ride with my father in his cab on the catholic holidays when we got off school and the public schools were in session. He would pick up politicians, Supreme Court Justices, etc...a nickel for a High's Ice Cream Cone, or the "Dixie" Cups with the movie stars pictures on the back of the lids...playing baseball at 16th & Kennedy...snow sledding on Rock Creek Hill...basketball at Powell Playground with the Baylor brothers, including Elgin... The "Nats"...Eddie Yost, Wayne Terwilliger, Mickey Vernon, Mickey Grasso, Bob Porterfield, Jim Busby, Arch MacDonald (announcer..."ABC Inning...ABC Always Buy Chesterfield")...Uline Arena & "Bones" McKinney & the "Caps"...the Tivoli and Savoy theaters on 14th st... 15th st. hill & Meridian Hill Park...the "Downtown" Theaters on "F" St...."Go Gonzaga, Beat St. John's"....The Redskins...Sammy Baughj and Wayne Milner...Eddie LeBaron, Charlie Taylor, Bobby Mitchell, George Preston Marshall..."Hail To The Redskins, Hail Victory, Braves on the Warpath, FIGHT for old DC!!!!!!!!!!" ....standing up and making the trolley rock on the click/click tracks to Glen Echo...the pool in the Ambassador Hotel...running under the fire hydrant on hot summer days...making "biscuits" of the Daily News newspaper (Scripps/ Howard) and throwing them on peoples porches from my wagon... Boy Scout Troop 301...Heller's Bakery (the BEST doughnuts)...the Parades!!!! - Shriner's , VFW, American Legion, the Inaugurals...the iron drinking basins for the horses...the knife sharpener carrying his wheel on his back, ringing his bell,,,the junk men doing the same with their horses and wagons...the zoo, and especially the bears...Zlotnick the Furrier on G St. with the big white polar bear in front...Charlie Byrd at the "Showboat"...the Marine Corps Band...the "Mighty Mo" hamburger at Hot Shoppes...the 14th street stores - Murphy's ,Kresge's, Kinney Shoes, Waxy Maxy Music, Junior & Senior Proms at the Shoreham; the introduction of the "2-way" Studebaker at the 1948 auto show at the DC Armory...the building of the tunnel under DuPont Circle...the train crashing into Union Station (it is STILL there-they just covered it over)...sunday chamber music concerts at the Art Gallery (free)...Charlie Wong's Restaurant at 6th & G. and the "Good Earth" at Conn. & 18th..so many, many summer days in the Mt. Pleasant Library (it was cool)... picnics at Annapolis Roads and getting stung by nettles...Milt Grant building Drum Point and making WTTG Ch.5 "work" after vhe Dumont network failed - with "Hoppity Skippity" (AND he gave Jim Henson and his "muppets" their start - Wilken's Coffee)..."Tippy" Stringer the weather girl on Ch.9..."Footlight Theater"...Eddie Gallagher on the radio every morning...WMAL, WOR, Bob Mayhew and Mac Knight All Night...Peace Cross flooding every heavy rain...the names for areas - "Swamp Poodle"; "Foggy Bottom", "Tenley Town". "Mt. Pleasant", "Federal Triangle", "Anacostia", "Foxhall"...somebody was always jumping off the Connecticut Ave. bridge...Morgan Wooten and the DeMatha basketball dynasty...free band concerts and plays at the floating amphiteater on the Potomac just down from the Lincoln Memorial...bus tickets for 2 cents...a DC Transit Weekly Pass for $2...rationing tokens during WWII and getting tokens for bringing fat drippings and gum foil wrappers to the grocery store...4 cab companies - Yellow, Diamond, Bell and Black & White...Segregation...the Howard Theater..."Colored" signs,,,"White Only" signs everywhere...the "colored" people on the back of the trolley or bus...Gonzaga was the 1st integrated high school and had to play sports in Pennsylvania because they could not play segregated DC schools...Jazz at "The Bayou"...hanging around Griffith Stadium, listening to the game on the radio, hoping to get a ball hit out of the park and exchange it for a bleacher seat (or keep it if it was hit by Ted Williams or Mickey Vernon, etc. and get an autograph after the game...); all the bail bonding places on 5th st.; the special feeling if you got a gift in a Garfinkle's Box...the MacGruder's Grocery Stores..."Wings" & "Fatima" cigarettes; National Bohemian Beer, Gunther's, Ram's Head Ale, Valley Forge Beer, the seafood restaurants on Maine Ave - "Hogates", the "Flagship"...the Arena Stage... the Taft Carillon on the "Hill"...all the high school kids from all over the country every spring...the catholic girls schools with their different uniforms...the St. John's high school cadets in their uniforms...O. Roy Chalk and DC Transit (he also owned Glen Echo)....Valle's Candies on G St...Avignon Freres on Kalorama Rd., Britts for breakfast at 2 am on a sunday morning in Georgetown...when Georgetown was a slum and you could have bought a townhouse for $4000 and it would now be worth $4M...coal bins in every apartment house and in homes...ice boxes and the BIG ice delivery men with that heavy leather apron...Dr. Markwood coming to my apartment every day, letting himself in, when I was bed-ridden with "whooping cough" for over 2 months...the OLD EBITT Grill on F st..."Blackie's" Restaurant for the best steaks, and "Gusti's" for the best Italian...visiting friends in "IRON LUNGS" during the 40's and then later getting the polio vaccine free at DC General Hospital...and I could go on and on...DC was a great place to grow up...then... Richard Loftus RWLoftus@mac.com

I was born in old Sibley hospital and lived in the city and suburbs for 55 
years, before moving to Fl. I read the memory about the train crashing thru the 
train station. Around 1950 or  so.  I was at a gas station a few blocks from 
Union Station, and heard the Crash.  I rushed over to the station and  they 
were already putting up wooden barricades. The same day a store that sold tires, 
batteries, and other auto parts, blew up on H st. n.e., not far away.  There 
was also a streetcar crash.   It was a busy day.   I lived in northwest d.c., 
not far from Coolidge High School.

Bill Kirsch

Both my wife and I were born and raised in DC (1947). I lived at 10th & M St N.W. and went to the old Calvert School (long since closed) at St. Mathews Cathedral in 1st grade. Then moved to S.E. (Just behind Sousa Jr. High) and went to Our Lady Queen of Peace (QOP) before moving back to N.W. (14th & Military Rd.) and graduating from St. John's College Prep in 1965. Anyone remember the unfortunate riot at the end of the City Championship Football game between Eastern High and St. Johns at the then D.C. Stadium? My wife attended Nativity Catholic grade school and went to Immaculate Conception Academy downtown in Foggy Bottom for H.S. We remember almost all of the things mentioned by the other contributors (Glen Echo Park, Hains Point, Griffith Stadium, Wonder Bread Bakery, Polar Bear, Giffords, Stevenson's Bakery, Sheridan Theater (We both worked there for awhile), street cars, etc. How about seeing the Redskin players dancing at the Rabbits Foot (?), Sonny Jurgenson hanging out at the Dancing Crab (?) or the picture of the owner of the Locker Room, Gary Youish (sic), hanging over the bar, boxing (and losing) to a very young Cassius Clay? Before we were old enough to go to these great watering holes (Only needed to be 18 in those days) we used to attend CYO dances at St. Bernadette's on University Blvd. every Friday night for years.

I grew up very interested in fast cars and my good friend Doug Fleharty founded "Douglas Speed" on Fenton St. (Silver Spring), still there but owned by someone else now. We were very heavy into the drag racing scene back then and I remember sneaking onto the Not Yet Opened to the Public Beltway (Rt 495) and race all comers until early in the morning...or until the police showed up!! I would look forward to seeing the new hot cars at Hick's Chevrolet (If any of you remember, Malcolm Durham was a mechanic there before becoming one of the countries most recognizable African/American race car drivers).

Our neighborhood in N.W. was a wonderful place with great big, large Italian families with lots of kids to play baseball and pick-up football with. The little harmonica player, Johnny Puleo was everybody's Uncle (He and his very extended family lived on Tuckerman St.) and we would call every friends mother "Mom" and they would treat us like their own. I, and most of my buddies, delivered the "Evening Star" newspaper to make a little spending cash. My girlfriend Marie (now my wife) would deliver my papers when the good brothers of St. John's would see fit to punish me for goofing off in school. Yes we had discipline back then...and our parents agreed, no they actually encouraged, it! I did a lot of hanging out at the Silver Spring Hot Shoppe, Marie favored the one on Conn. Ave. but we both considered ourselves children of the "Avenue" (Wisconsin). After all that's where all of the aforementioned watering holes were located. I could go on and on, but hopefully these lines may jog your Memories. DC is a special place and growing up there in the 50's and 60's was too.

Marie Marino
Gary Furstenberg

Do YOU have any memories of D.C.? If so, please e-mail me and I will add them to this page.

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