Ridge Avenue, Lakewood, NJ

In the summer months, on Ridge Avenue, the weather was so hot most of the children slept on the down stairs woolen rug, in the parlor. The parents would sleep in the rocking chairs on the front porch. If we had to go upstairs, at nite, and the windows were open, we were suppose to go to sleep. One of the kids in our neighborhood would stick their head out the window and start to sing, “Last nite I stuck my head out the window, etc.” and the whole entire block of children would begin to sing, in unity. The parents would start screaming from the front porch with no avail, we just kept on singing until the wee hours.

Before Horowitz family moved into the house next to ours, the Hankins family with their five kids lived there. All five of these children slept in one full size bed, two at the top and three at the bottom. It must have been a smelly time with feet in your face. Mrs. Hankins took in clothes washing, as did Granny Thomas who lived in our apartment, over our garage. Since they did not have a washing machine, they boiled the white clothes in a large oval copper kettle on the hot iron cooking stove. After this, the clothes were put into a metal wash tib to be scrubbed on a metal or glass scrubbing board, then, rinsed several times in clear water. This washing was truly spotless and beautiful blowing in the wind on the clothes line.

One day a farmer from Greenville, NJ, brought the family wash, by horse and wagon, for Mrs. Hankins to clean, she threw the entire clothes basket of dirty clothes at the man, telling him she wasn’t about to wash shit. This farmer and his family worked in the fields, in mud, many times they did not have clothing and wore a burlap bag – as clothing.

Our neighborhood on Ridge Avenue was a mixed group of all denominations, a class of working people in Lakewood, NJ. When the Horowitz family came to town, they were sponsored by the Jewish organization. They had little or no shoes and clothing. Jacob and Lena Horowitz, immigrants, arrived to our neighborhood with five children, the oldest, Bertha, was confined to a wheel char with the illness of MS. Jake and Lena were first cousins and the children were not too well.

They lived in a rented, rather small, house down the alley across from our house. Each day, good or bad weather, Bertha was rolled out to the street edge in her wheel chair. Her Mother was a very small lady but took care of all her daughter’s needs. Jake bought a horse and wooden buckboard wagon and started buying junk, eventually having his own junk business. With the small amounts of monies and old clothing, the Horowitz’s were able to purchase the house next to ours, 316 Ridge Avenue, Lakewood, NJ, where our Grandfather Charles Brown was born, December 15, 1851. At this time Grandfather was born, at his brother’s home, William Brown, altho, his parents, Joel and Nancy Francis Brown, residence was Chestnut St. Lkwd, NJ. Poor, Jake, he worked so hard and many nites he sat out of doors because he could not breath, due to his asthma. I can hear that horse and wagon coming now with the brass sleigh bells ringing, it was a pleasant sound.

Everyone that walked down the street stopped and talked with Bertha, there was no gossip unknown to her. Today, all the Horowitz family have passed, except for Sadie, who is in her late seventies and has been unable to take of her own needs, for many years, she too has MS.

The Bob Wallace family lived across the street. Wallace’s had a garage along the railroad track, next to the YWCA. Their yard was spacious and had a large water wind mil which was used before the city water was installed. There was also, a tremendous, large septic tank since there was no sewage, when the house was built. Jack Smith fell into this sewage bed, one day, no one in our neighborhood would take care of him, his folks were not at home. He had to side under his porch, dropping wet, until his Mother arrived. Jack could really drowned in that mess. Winnie, Bunny and Wesley were the off springs of the Wallace family. Violet, their Mother, was an adopted daughter of Mr. Pit, a sea Captain. She played the piano and sang, we all enjoyed her music. Her daughter, Winnie, drove her nuts and on more than one occasion, Violet took off on foot and walked around lake Carasaljo to air her feelings. Winnie was one beautiful girl, she was the model for the Jenkinson bathing suit, picture was taken at Pt Pleasant Beach pool.

Every time, Violet took one of her long walks, Winnie would zoom over to Ms Vogel’s and phone every boy she knew in town to come over and make fudge or penuche. Bunny followed his Grandfather’s trade and became a Sea Captain and Wesley an airplane pilot.

Ms. Vogel had a rooming house and the only telephone on the Avenue. She lived across the street from our house. We had a bow and arrow target propped against the Queen Anne cherry tree, in our yard, which we tried to hit the bull’s eye with the arrow. Frances, when shooting an arrow it flew across the street and lodged in Ms Vogel’s screen, on the porch. It was some fun trying to retrieve this arrow without anyone seeing us.

The Campbells lived next to Ms. Vogel, their Mother was bed ridden and Mari and Peggy had to care for her. Their father worked at Georgian Court College. Martin Campbell would argue for hours on end with Jacke Horowitz or Percy Smith, about nothing, odd as it may seem, they all stayed friends.

Behind the Campbell home, there was the Aubrey Clayton stables where horses were housed and used for pulling wagons and sleighs to transport hotel and wealthy people about town, in summer or winter months.

Percy Smith and his family were our next door neighbor. He hand painted a border around the top edge of each room, of beautiful trees and other out door scenes. In his cellar, he painted the cement block side wall to simulate rock and a mirage of a door, non opening. On Halloween he invited all those in costume to see his décor in the cellar – when the kids were all incapsulated there, Percy hooked up the water hose and wet down the children.

It was customary for the Percy Smith’s to give a basket of an arrangement of canned foods to those that married in their family.

Gracie Anderson rented our garage apartment after Granny Thomas left this planet. She had a husband, John Anderson, but he had another wife in the Carolina’s. one day when Violet was playing the piano and singing like a bird, Mother told her that Gracie’s Aunt said that, “Gracie needed her.” Without hesitation, Violet went to the apartment just in time to deliver a new baby amidst all the other seven children that sat around the bed watching the delivery. The Anderson’s moved into Dad’s apartment with one son, Eddie, and left with eight children at a later time. This was a three room apartment above our two car garage, they never paid any rent and Dad never had the nerve to make them leave. Gracie became ill and they had to move.

Goldie and Geneva Johnson lived across the street just in front of the alley where the Horowitz Family first lived. One day Goldie put Harrison perched on a limb of the maple tree, in their front yard and couldn’t get him down. We had to run for help. The Johnsons lived at 319 Ridge avenue, Lakewood, NJ – Gerald, David and Frank Johnson were the builders of several homes on the Avenue, including our home at 322 Ridge Avenue, Lakewood, NJ.

Ms. Meyers lived next to the Johnson’s with her daughter Ruthie and her brother, Mr. Greenberg, who was a taxi cab driver. Ruthie was an attractive girl and the joy of her Mother. Once day Ruthie decided to bleach her hair, she appeared with her new colored hair while we were sitting on the wooden benches in the Horowitz yard, talking with Bertha. All Ms. Meyers could say, “Ruthie is that you”, everyone was stunned.

Aunt Blanche was Ms Meyers sister and would come to visit, often. She always had her lip stick on up-side down and drove the neightnook mad with he rasking for a piece of cake, etc. at Mother and Dad’s fifty Wedding anniversary, Balance was hanging over our white picket fence asking for something to eat, no one made a move to do so.

When I around five years of age, Karl Forsberg, helped a Mr. Dey build the large barn that is behind the Kern’s Meat Market. When I met Karl, he laughed like made for he remembered my belly turning over the meal pipe fence with my GOLD MEDAL BLOOMERS on, at Kern’s.

Kern’s meat market was on the corner of Ridge avenue and Nowlan Place. Mr. Kern was married twice, and his first wife had two children plus he had two children from his second marriage. Edil, son by the first marriage worked with his father in the shop. In the back of the store was the barn where chickens were brought and killed by the Rabbi, who cut the chicken throat with a sharp knife, making it all Kosher. Jerry and Lilly were the children of the second marriage.

When Jerry was born, the Rabbi circumcised him on the wooden block in the butcher shop, all the kids in the neighborhood peered thru the window, to watch. Lilly married Morty and the Kern family were not in accord with this marriage. Morty took his wife to Brooklyn, NY, where they lived in an upstairs apartment. Lilly became pregnant and during her term when walking down the stairs and fell over a child’s bicycle, she tumble to the bottom and did not survive the fall. This is truly sad, her Mother had to punish herself for this misfortune, since she had disowned her daughter, by sitting on a wooden box for six months and eating only grapefruits.

Mrs. Kern and Mrs. Horowitz were not on speaking terms and when Lena Horowitz passed the Black Mariah came to Mrs. Kern’s butcher shop with Lena’s body, the hearse stopped in font of the shop and Mrs. Kern was issued outside and made to walk around the automobile, three times, praying while the large group of loud crying Jewish mourners watched.

The Sininsky family lived on West Side of TYPINK, our meadow. They had a Kosher meat market, down town. In the dead of the nite, when all was quiet, you would hear Mother Sininsky whaling over the meadow, at the top of her voice.

Helen Beyer, my friend, lived next to our first store, Ridge Avenue Lake, NJ. She was an only child, her father had a Real Estate business, as well as a junk yard. They lived in a beautiful large home. Helen wrote one of her, “NO RETURN”, poems and in error slip it in my English Literature book so the teacher would not find Helen with it. Luck would have it, the poem was found in my book, I took a ‘Schalaking’ for this. I sued to hide my yellow knotted cotton stocking in Mr. Beyer’s old iron stove in his junk yard. Would take them off when going to school and upon returning home, I would put them on again. I felt weird wearing yellow knit stocking to High School.

Helen Beyer became a Newspaper Write and fulfiller her life time ambition. We met at our Fifty Year Class Reunion, she is no long with us.

Our Uncle Joel taught us:

Here I stand Ragged and Dirty,

If the Boys come to Kiss me, I will run like a Turkey.

Ole Aunt Hannah, she got Drunk,

She jumped in the Fire and kicked out a Chunk,

Oh, By Gully how the Ashes flew.

The West Wind Will Blow,

And where will Little Treesee do – ?

“Sit by the fire and crack nuts.”

Margaret Theresa Brown Forsberg