THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Taking a walk around my neighborhood in the summertime would be the best way for you to experience it. In the evenings, everyone would take chairs and boxes out front of their homes to pass the time. The summer air could be stifling inside. Air conditioning had not yet been invented. I don’t know when it was, but I do know we couldn’t have afforded it anyway. Meanwhile, most days were comfortable. It was mainly the bitter cold of winter that one had to be leery. Heat was a far more crucial commodity than cool air. Living on my quaint street all the early years of my youth was an experience I did not appreciate at the time. Thinking back, I am in awe. It was my whole world. I lived one block south of the lower school and a half block north of the movie house. In-between were virtually all the necessities of life: grocery stores, barbershops, doctors, dentists, beer gardens, tailor shops, candy stores, a bank, the butcher, a bakery, a drug store, an ice cream store, a jeweler, an undertaker, an empty lot to play baseball and even a haberdashery for clothing accessories all within a stone’s throw of my front door. The suburban life we live today was never even imagined then. Once one left the city, there were only farms and occasional cross- roads where there might be a country store or a gas station. Much of what we take for granted today did not exist when I was growing up. As I think about it now, in 2011, it occurs to me that just about the longest I have lived anywhere was 1904 West 3rd Street, eighteen formative years. My hometown was normally a quiet place. With the advent of the superhighway and suburban living, in the ’60s, the town became blighted. These economic realities drove my family to move, too. Poor Chester, also became the scene of one of the worst environmental disasters in America, requiring Superfund money to clean it up. Getting out of this small town in hind- sight was a blessing; it propelled our family in many ways they would not have attempted. As I reflect back on those seemingly
Dora and Harry with the Twins on 3rd Street The Strand Theater on the Left. Rare photo of 3rd Street
quieter times, I am sure I was dealing with all perplexities and questions of growing up. I bet my grandchildren are experiencing those same things now. The world seemed smaller then and less complicated. Ships and trains were the principal means of long-distance travel, airplanes a curiosity, and cars a significant expense owned by a few. A STONE’S THROW Our home was three houses in from the corner. Several large billboards stood near my home. Behind these was a field where we played baseball. On the other side of the field was Minchell’s funeral home. As kids, we watched it with awe, as the mysterious place where dead bodies were brought and prepared for internment. The funeral home didn’t hold our attention too long because Smith’s Candy Store was next door. The Second National Bank finished the block. It was on the corner of 3rd and Yarnal Streets. The second story of the bank was Dr. Smith’s office, the dentist who took care of our teeth. In those days, the only thing dentists did was either fill cavities or pull teeth.
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