Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,675,688 times
Reputation: 10256
Advertisements
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT
Good thread. I grew up in Collingswood and although I was born in 1980 I remember a lot of the things you guys are mentioning, at least in their later years. What was weird for me was going away to college in '98 and coming back home in '02. It seemed like everything changed, moved a little more upscale than what it was.
My dad used to work part time as a security guard at the Cherry Hill Inn. I still remember going there with my mom to bring him a late night snack. It was such a big place.
I remember the Garden State Racetrack, but not for the horses. I mainly remember going to the State Fair there while I was growing up as well as attending various trade shows like computer parts and baseball cards. I believe it burned down the first time while I was little and I remember how nice the rebuilt building was. Wasn't there also some controversy regarding the jockey statues that were in front of the main entrance?
I remember going to Olga's diner with my nana whenever she came in from California (originally from Jersey) as she thought it was the best diner on Earth. I was sad to see it close down to make room for them to eliminate the circle.
I remember when the original King of Pizza burned down and the rumors that it was the owners who set the fire.
I remember playing mini golf on Route 70 right near Cuthbert and the place had one course that was "frontier/cowboys" and one that was "dinosaurs". I also remember never getting a free game since the last hole was such a PITA. It's a gravel/stone company now and they still have one of the dinosaurs from the old golf course out front.
I remember my last day of driver's ed having to run the "gamut" from Airport Circle (130/30/70/38) down Route 70 to Ellisburg Circle to what we called the "Olga's Diner Circle" (I think it was officially the "Marlton Circle" at 70/73. If you made it through OK they deemed you ready to get your license.
I remember the old night club on Cuthbert Blvd. that changed hands like every other week. It went from a disco, to a nightclub, to a gay bar, to a nightclub and then finally to a teenage "milkbar" before shutting down for good. Cherry Hill Triplex now uses it to store cars.
Yeah, things changed drastically, very suddenly, which is why I thought this might be a good idea when we got a couple of people, besides me, who could post about way back when. As Cherry Hill is today, there is very little of the history left, but it had one.
When my family moved there in '64, from Michigan, there were still lots of farms & orchards. Most of the people were transplants, although the majority had moved across the river from Philly. A huge amount of the people in Cherry Hill were tied to RCA. During the Vietnam War, if RCA won a government contract, Cherry Hill did very well. If they lost a contract, there were problems.
On Ellisburg Circle, there were 4 gas stations, although one did double-duty as Greens, which was a produce stand. On the corner of the circle where Brace Road met Rt 70, was Greeens, a dumpy little truck stop called Wombo's & Garwoods which was a discount store, & The Big W, a food store, both in one building. The Big W & Garwoods folded & were replaced by Dale's, which was part of a supermarket chain, & it, in turn, was replaced by Pathmark, which stayed until the widening of Brace road when Ellisburg Circle was cut out took a big chunk of the parking lot, which meant renovation of the building to move the door to the Rt 70 side of the building, which meant enclosing what had been an enclosed parking area. Somewhere in there, they tore down Wombo's. The bus stop enclosure is right in front of where it was.
Yes, there was a big stink about the jockey statues.
I'm sure everyone know's Ponzio's diner and it's still there in the same old spot. The cool thing was going there mid-morning and trying to catch some of the Flyer's greats, particularly Bob Clarke and Bill Barber who went there every morning after the gym. They used to sit in the back and hold court. If you were patient (and lucky) they would sign some autograph's on their way out. They were generally always nice to kids and families, but would just flat out ignore the collector's who would show up. AFAIK some of them still go there daily.
When I was a kid in the 70s, I used to love when my mom would take us to the Cherry Hill Mall. One thing the mall had (that I don't think anyone's mentioned yet) was a HUGE bird cage in the middle of the mall - I believe in front of Woolworth's. It went from floor to ceiling and I used to love to stand there and marvel at the birds.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,675,688 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassygirl18
When I was a kid in the 70s, I used to love when my mom would take us to the Cherry Hill Mall. One thing the mall had (that I don't think anyone's mentioned yet) was a HUGE bird cage in the middle of the mall - I believe in front of Woolworth's. It went from floor to ceiling and I used to love to stand there and marvel at the birds.
The giant bird cage was by Strawbridge & Clothier. There were a couple of parrots by Bambergers. They were chained to perches, but had enough chain to allow them to fly for a certain distance, but couldn't just go anywhere though the mall & stores.
I totally forgot about that til you wrote that!! I loved it as a kids too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassygirl18
When I was a kid in the 70s, I used to love when my mom would take us to the Cherry Hill Mall. One thing the mall had (that I don't think anyone's mentioned yet) was a HUGE bird cage in the middle of the mall - I believe in front of Woolworth's. It went from floor to ceiling and I used to love to stand there and marvel at the birds.
What was the name of that German hot dog stand/store that was across from five and dime and around the corner from the arcade/movie theater in the Cherry Hill Mall?
What was the name of that German hot dog stand/store that was across from five and dime and around the corner from the arcade/movie theater in the Cherry Hill Mall?
Last edited by billb7581; 06-18-2010 at 10:40 PM..
It's tricky. Those of us who moved to/grew up in subdivisions are the reason that all the pre-1957 signs of life disappeared. Yet we miss them. Maybe we wanted to be the last one in and close the door.
I don't know. For some reason I was just so interested in the signs of rural life and so sad as they got bulldozed down. I guess I wanted Tract 2 in Woodcrest to be the end of it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
North and South
