[retiree2011]

Originally Posted by wolf39us

Ah, you're right. It wasn't around long for me to remember. I thought the spelling was with a k though. Oh well.

I'm 29 now so it was around prob until I was about 12 or 13.

Maybe you were thinking of Korvette's. They were in Trumbull. I went there a couple of times. Didn't know until recently the name was a shortened version of Korean Veterans. I originally thought it was a car parts/accessory store, before I actually went to the store. It was a large discount store. Also Read's was in the same area; very nice store and in New Haven, Branford, West Haven, we had Horowitz Brothers. The downtown New Haven store sold fabric, "notions", zippers, patterns, etc. and they always had racks of men's shirts from Gant and Sero shirtmakers (both companies had sewing shops in New Haven), slight seconds, but very good quality. The outlying stores were department stores with mostly clothes of very good quality. The shopping options were very good back then.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by DauntlessDan

I remember Service Merchandise. It was a nice store. We had one in the Albany NY area that we visited (sorry didn't live in CT). It was a display store where you looked at everything in showcases then ordered the item at the desk. I remember Ames. They were all through the northeast right into the 1990s I believe. I liked their department stores. I saw Bradlees when I was stationed in the Boston area. Think I visited once. I think they also had one in North Adams, MA. Did you have a Lechmere's Department Store in CT? Bought our first color TV there in the early 1980s and brought it home on a bus. Shaw's is still around in Maine and NH.

There was a Lechmere on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington. I thought there was also one in Milford or Orange but could be wrong. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by retiree2011

Maybe you were thinking of Korvette's. They were in Trumbull. I went there a couple of times. Didn't know until recently the name was a shortened version of Korean Veterans. I originally thought it was a car parts/accessory store, before I actually went to the store. It was a large discount store. Also Read's was in the same area; very nice store and in New Haven, Branford, West Haven, we had Horowitz Brothers. The downtown New Haven store sold fabric, "notions", zippers, patterns, etc. and they always had racks of men's shirts from Gant and Sero shirtmakers (both companies had sewing shops in New Haven), slight seconds, but very good quality. The outlying stores were department stores with mostly clothes of very good quality. The shopping options were very good back then.

The name of the store was E. J. Korvette which many people think stood for Eight (or Eleven) Jewish Korean Veterans but that is not correct. The E is for Eugene Ferkauf and the J is for Joe Zwillenberg, the store's founders. Korvette is spelling derivative of the naval war ship from World War II. The store was founded in the 40's long before there was a Korean War. Jay

[retiree2011]

Originally Posted by JayCT

The name of the store was E. J. Korvette which many people think stood for Eight (or Eleven) Jewish Korean Veterans but that is not correct. The E is for Eugene Ferkauf and the J is for Joe Zwillenberg, the store's founders. Korvette is spelling derivative of the naval war ship from World War II. The store was founded in the 40's long before there was a Korean War. Jay

I heard the Korean War version from a speaker recently; the topic was Long Island (Levittown and environs) and he mentioned Korvettes as an early large store on Long Island. Goes to show you can't believe everything you hear, even from a book author! But in any case, shopping was pleasure back then.

[bobwen]

I vaguely remember this store from when I was around 5 or 6 years old (1957-ish?). I recall it was very odd in that (as I recall) it was like a huge "bazaar" on top of an asphalt lot. You parked your car, then walked into a large area of smaller sections divied into areas of clothing, records, basic furniture, etc, all covered by overlapping tarps instead of a ceiling. The ground was uneven, especially as your walked from one section to another, implying that STF had started small and expanded over the years. Being that it was essentially a bunch of tents strung together, it was hot in the summer, and freezing cold in the winter. (I remember our mother buying our one-and-only-ever Christmas LP record there: "A Christmas Sampler" on Westminster Records and I still have that LP to this day!!!) I also recall that it burned down one night and the fire was given a big pictorial by the Brideport newspaper which said it went up in flames so fast, it was almost completely gone by the time the fire department even got there. The replacement store which today is a rather non-descript industrial store, was constructed several years later as an actual building over the original parking lot, and the new lot we know today was the location of the original sprawling tent city shopping bazaar. I suspect that that is how "Stratford Town Fair" got it's name in the first place.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by bobwen

I vaguely remember this store from when I was around 5 or 6 years old (1957-ish?). I recall it was very odd in that (as I recall) it was like a huge "bazaar" on top of an asphalt lot. You parked your car, then walked into a large area of smaller sections divied into areas of clothing, records, basic furniture, etc, all covered by overlapping tarps instead of a ceiling. The ground was uneven, especially as your walked from one section to another, implying that STF had started small and expanded over the years. Being that it was essentially a bunch of tents strung together, it was hot in the summer, and freezing cold in the winter. (I remember our mother buying our one-and-only-ever Christmas LP record there: "A Christmas Sampler" on Westminster Records and I still have that LP to this day!!!) I also recall that it burned down one night and the fire was given a big pictorial by the Brideport newspaper which said it went up in flames so fast, it was almost completely gone by the time the fire department even got there. The replacement store which today is a rather non-descript industrial store, was constructed several years later as an actual building over the original parking lot, and the new lot we know today was the location of the original sprawling tent city shopping bazaar. I suspect that that is how "Stratford Town Fair" got it's name in the first place.

I vaguely remember the big fire at Stratford Town Fair but for as long as I remember it was an actual building with ugly plain painted concrete block walls and an open ceiling. Even before the fire. Very simple and industrial looking, long before stores did that to make a statement. I don't ever remember it being open air. Maybe long before I was around. I will ask some of my family since they used to go there often before discount stores like Topps and Arlans were constructed in Fairfield. Those stores were luxurious in comparison to Stratford Town Fair. By the way, I am pretty sure Town Fair Tire began as part of Stratford Town Fair. Funny it is still around going as strong as ever. Jay

[JayCT]

Quick note, I just tried to look up the big fire at Stratford Town Fair and an article appears in the April 10, 1965 edition of the Bridgeport Post. I did not read it since you have to subscribe to a service but that can give you a reference point for when the fire occurred. Also I am not sure it took them years to rebuild since I still have vague memories of going there after it was rebuilt. I think I would remember it better if it was several years later. Jay

[persnicketygal]

Checking back in here after quite a while (it took City-Data this long to notify me of updates! -- but I'm glad they did!)

These comments are more directed to those who are familiar with the Hartford/West Hartford area. (And I hope that the people I'm directly addressing are still here!)

I guess this is family thing: The best memories are of the food we grew up with! (Well, not my Mom's cooking -- she was a pro at opening cans, I'll put it that way!).

Carvel's was always the favorite of the family, one of the reasons being that my Dad grew up in New York, where Carvel had a huge presence. But we lived a block away from the HoJo's on Farmington Avenue, and that was the place where the young crowd hung out after plays and concerts at the elementary school and junior high school that I went to. Do you remember the metal cups that held the scoops of ice cream, and the little HoJo's roof-shaped cookie (I think I'm recalling that correctly) that came with it? That HoJo's had wooden telephone booths inside the restaurant!

Many years ago, I took a road trip from N.Y. to Mystic Aquarium and was overjoyed to see the HoJo's there!

Aquaman: Do you remember when there was something of a carnival at the old armory on Farmington Ave. in West Hartford? I recall a little "scam" my friends and I pulled there. A huge slide was part of the fair, and we'd go up all the stairs and tell the ticket-taker "We forgot our tickets down there! My dad has them!" The ticket-taker wasn't dumb, but I remember he was incredibly nice -- he gave us these little mats he was passing out and let us go down for free, time after time... (I also recall the annual carnival, with rides (the Spinning Teacups!), that I believe was behind the library at West Hartford Center.)

Slipperman: The pizza place off Farmington Avenue -- I think it was on the same street where the children's museum was located (and the huge whale!). I believe it was either owned or run by the father of one of my schoolmates. It had FANTASTIC meatball grinders and tuna grinders! (and that word "grinder" tells you exactly where people grew up: We didn't get "subs" or "hoagies" or "heroes" -- we were grinder people!) I'm assuming that might have been "eaten up" by the Blue Back Square redevelopment. (Hey, I love Crate & Barrel just as much as the next person, but in MY West Hartford Center? Just makes me want to cry...)

When I hear the name "Kmart," I immediately get an olfactory memory of salty popcorn, which assaulted your senses as soon as you stepped into the store. And the Farm Shop in West Hartford Center was a frequent lunch meeting spot for my Mom and I (the "Golden Abigail" -- cheeseburger. Yum!)

Valle's and the Steak Club were frequent locations for my parents' social organizations' annual dinners. (And I took driving lessons at the little hole-in-the-wall place next to the Steak Club.)

And for my best food memory: Sage-Allen, hands-down! Another downtown Hartford lunch spot for my Mom and myself. Delicious cole slaw (the vinegary type), tuna sandwiches that tasted so much better than what my Mom made, giant frosted cupcakes, incredible muffins (corn, pumpkin). I remember seeing the 2 head cooks walk through the cafeteria numerous times -- the taller, bigger-stomached guy, and the shorter, skinnier one.

I still have some great physical objects from those times -- the golden-toned Bill Savitt "POMG" ruler, a folding ruler from Dunn's Fabric Store, a tin pie plate from Sage's ...

"Progress" ... sometimes just doesn't taste so great (IMHO!).

[Rich Cabeza]

I remember buying cheap walkie talkies at the Stratford Town Fair made by Juliette maybe? Anyway, I'd go to the beach and listen to the boaters talking. Once in a while we could talk back if they weren't too far away.

[hyechica]

syms.
leatchmears
the wiz
service merchandise
circut city
bradless
ames
kamart
caldors ( shoped at the new britain location)
railroad salvage ( the original still exists) grandson owns it and they sell close out furniture, bedding bath and curtains, and they still have a good selection of merchandise from the original store lots of nick nacks
i think i remember beefsteak charlies was there one in the central ct area?

does anyone remember this restaurant in west hartford it was across from the old i hop it was called good time charlies or charlies they were known for there brunch but they offered lunch and dinner as well

finast, shaws, greenfields, and waldbuams
chi chis resturant
hermans world of sports ( west farms mall)
filines and filines basment
g fox and sage allen
D&l
farmington valley mall when it was inclosed and small