Growing Up In NYC Memories

[3511]

Disp51,

Remember the Walton Kosher Deli on the South side of 170th right as you came out of the tunnel?

 

[raybrag]

Also, they, like the other butchers in the neighborhood had their knives  sharpened on a grinding wheel set up on the sidewalk outside by a tradesman who came by on a regular schedule.

When I was a kid, there was a guy who would come around in an ancient old truck that had a roof, but whose sides were open.  Inside he had various grinding  wheels (don't remember how they were powered, but I wouldn't bet against a foot treadle), and he would sharpen any knives or scissors you might have.  Came around about once a month.  He'd announce himself with a bell on his truck . . . one clang every few seconds (unlike the ice cream trucks that had sleigh bells).

The ice man also had an ancient truck (Model T, if I remember right) with solid stake sides and an open top.  He'd sell block ice for those folks who still had ice boxes rather than refrigerators (about 1/2 of the people on my block).  He also had a grinder mounted on the rear of the right side, and would chip a block of ice for you if you wanted it that way.

Then, of course, there was the milk man (Borden's), and the bakery delivery guys (Krug's & Dugan's) on competition with one another.

 

[1261Truckie]

Washington Ave in Brooklyn (Prospect Heights near the Museum) had any food you'd want....a Pizza place (round or square, pie or slice), Kosher deli, luncheonette (good burgers), a diner owned by a couple of Greek guys (good food...all types). Also great shopping...butcher shops, hardware store, supermarket, Ebinger's bakery. You name it, it was there. Like Chief JK, I long for the old days.

 

[memory master]

In the 60's there was a pizza place on 122 street (College Point Blvd. now) between 18th and 20th Aves. that was owned by a FF from E292 I think. He and is wife ran the place. Pies were very good and of course, the slice and soda was 15 cents. Then for you Flushing gents, Gloria pizza on Main street next to Bickford's was 25 cents for a slice and soda. Great days they were indeed.

 

[johnd248]

How about the guy with a truck who sharpened knives and scissors.  He would ring a bell as he came down the street.  And the guy with a pushcart that collected old clothes.  Not to mention seltzer deliveries to private homes.  Not old enough to remember the ice deliveries but Willy D might be.

 

[raybrag]

How about the guy with a truck who sharpened knives and scissors.  He would ring a bell as he came down the street. 

Read the posts, John!  :

 

[johnd248]

Sorry Raybrag; I missed your post on the same topic.

 

[raybrag]

Sorry Raybrag; I missed your post on the same topic.

Not a problem.  Just shows we both are too old for our own good. 

 

[1261Truckie]

Summertime, going up to Prospect Heights High School and playing baseball all day long on their field. Early in the day to dinner time. On Sundays, after Church, some of the locals would take over the field and literally have a festival. They would have their families with them and play ball, play with their kids, cook out on grills and have a great day. No hassles, no problems just family day.

 

[3511]

Those guys carrying the coal used to fascinate me as a preschool  kid, watching the whole operation out my 3d floor apartment window. And the resultant ash cans (separate from the garbage cans) full of the coal furnace residue. The building super would sometimes use the ash on the sidewalk as snow melt. Then he'd go back to shoveling coal into the furnace, 24/7. And then my building converted to oil.

and don't forget the firefighters on house watch doing the same thing. Company officers had to keep an eye on the coal level in the basement and order more from the local supplier. Jed then record the purchase in the Officers Record Journal and send the bill through the bag to HQS for payment.The FDNY didn't convert to oil till the late 50s.

 

[memory master]

There was at least one house in Queens still burning coal in the mid to late 60's.

 

[johnd248]

E 248 was burning coal in 1972 at the old house on Church Avenue right up to the time they moved to Snyder Avenue.

 

[lucky]

Most Brooklyn houses had coal until the early to mid seventies. You would always pray for no bells to start ringing if you had the late watch and you were down feeding the fire.

 

[raybrag]

Just try to find a place to buy coal today.  Maybe in a place as big as NYC, but in most of the country, GOOD LUCK! (West Virginia may be an exception.)

My parents house was one of the "modern" ones.  We had a driveway, and the coal truck (yes, no bags for us) would back up to a cellar window, put its chute in it, and dump a ton or so.

 

[raybrag]

I imagine shoveling coal in the fire house was a probie job, wasn't it?  Like shoveling horse s!it in a previous generation?

 

[68jk09]

108 burning coal both pea & nut on Siegel St until moving in '71.....pea coal in the small furnace (forget the name) year round for hot water & nut coal in the big furnace in the cold weather.....luckily we almost always got a relocater & the Fire was kept going when we had a job....it sucked to come back to the FH wet & cold & find the Fire out.......the coal was dumped down the chute by a coal truck then had to be raked into the proper spot in the bin depending on the size of the coal.....ashes were taken out in heavy steel garbage cans by two FFs working in unision w/2 ropes to lift the cans up the front cellar opening to the street.....the ashes did work well to spread on icy sidewalks but left a mess & if scrap wood w/nails were used to start the fire then you had to be careful not to run over a nail in the ashes on the FH apron......we had a small vacant lot opposite the FH to park in & it was the site of a prior frame that had long since been torn down but there were always holes appearing as the ground settled & or rats dug tunnels.......many cans of ashes were used as fill......the Sanitation men used to like to pick up the ashes also as back then once the truck was filled to a certain weight it could be taken back to the dump so the heavier the load the sooner they could go to the dump.....some guys used wet down the ashes after putting them in the truck for more weight......also some would "steal" ashes from another trucks route.....schools & projects (when incinerators were still used) were more sought after than FHs since there were more ashes available.......when as a kid i lived in Manhattan & we had the coal system but i was too young to have to do anything w/it other than watch my Father do the work........years later in QNS a good friend of mine (who also became a FF) still had coal in his house but the system was upgrade somewhat by a semi automatic device that was about as big as the furnace & was attached to it by a small conveyor ......it used strictly (small) pea coal which would be shoveled into the hopper then as the thermostat called for heat it would activate & add coal to the furnace.....the point of this part of the story is that the add on unit was called "THE IRON FIREMAN" was made of tin & had a steel nameplate w/their logo on it......last year while browsing "Fire & Rescue Memorabilia" on e bay i saw someone had one of these nameplates for sale w/a vague description as to what it was .....the seller probably did not know what it was & thought it was FD related .

 

[68jk09]

I imagine shoveling coal in the fire house was a probie job, wasn't it?  Like shoveling horse s!it in a previous generation?

A lot of the work was done by the proby but not all Units had one at all times & some none at all...... so yes if there were any a lot of the dirty work was done by them but the FF assigned to the Watch was the one who was responsible to make sure the Fire kept burning especially late at night.......taking the ashes up by rope required several FFs to bring the cans to the front of the cellar under the sidewalk hole then haul the cans up then drag them to the curb for pickup (or in our case often across the street to re pave the lot.

 

[3511]

Back in the 80s, when my son's were kids, I threatened them that if they did not behave they would get coal in their Christmas stockings. They were appropriately contrite in the presence of their reprimanding father, until the 7 year old looked up and asked, "Dad, what's coal?"

It hit me. They had no clue.

A year or so later I went on military deployment to some far flung outpost where the barracks were heated by old fashioned pot belly coal stoves. I took a handful home to show them and burn in the fireplace. Now they were fascinated.

 

[68jk09]

In January '65 while in the USMC we were deployed for Cross Training once again w/the US ARMY for of all things Cold Weather Training at Camp Drumm (now called Fort Drumm) way Upstate in NY.....most of the actual training exercise was out doors for several days &  nights in at best  16 degree weather & when available at night using an arctic sleeping bag inside a mountain sleeping bag but the before & after class stuff for a shorter period was in a wooden barracks heated by a forced air coal furnace......being able to sleep inside was more than welcomed but when you placed your boots on the floor the night before & got up early the next morning there was an outline of your boot size on the floor in the coal dust.....it may have  made sense to be prepared for the cold but  in June '65 we were deployed to the uprising in the Dominican Republic....who knew....Continued RIP to the 13 in the BN. 

 

[raybrag]

.....it may have  made sense to be prepared for the cold but  in June '65 we were deployed to the uprising in the Dominican Republic....who knew.....

Typical, Chief.  We in this country are REALLY good at preparing and training for the LAST war.  So, this probably means in a few years we'll be all set for a hot desert war and go to fight in Antarctica.