MEMORIES OF THE WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA AS TOLD BY THE WASHINGTON D.C. ROOTSWEB LIST
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"I
would like to Thank you for Memories, in 1987 I had a stroke and lost 75% of my
memory, I could not remember growing up in Wash. DC People ask me if I was
ashamed to admit I was born and raised in DC because of some public officials. I
would reply yes I was , But this Strolling down Memory Lane has helped me
remember some of what I had lost. Now I can honestly say no I am not ashamed of
DC. Genealogy is not just names and places and dates, it is also about how
people lived their daily lives."
Shirley
"Has anyone mentioned the open air street car ride to Glen Echo. People's Drug Store soda fountain. Shopper's special on Friday: sandwich of your choice (even roast beef with tomato and lettuce), beverage, pie or cake ala mode at a cost of $.25. When Howard Johnson brought their store to DC believe it was SE and their special was a hot dog."
Eunice
"I grew up in the Washington Metro area and the memories take me back to fonder days. My mother was born in Georgetown and I hope by reading the memories I will be able to get a better picture of how things were when she lived there. She met my dad at Glen Echo Park. She was a ticket girl at the pool!"
Brenda
"Does anyone remember a Kaywood Gardens around 1944? It was an apartment complex and I lived there as a little girl."
julie
"My mother has just told me to ask if anyone remembers a beach across the 14th St. Bridge that crosses the Potomac River. It was called Virginia Beach . She said there were amusements and even had its own Beach. My mother will be 83 on Oct 13th."
Shirley
"Does anybody remember when the train crashed into the train station and dropped through the floor to the lower level? That must have been in the late 40's."
"And I remember seeing Mamie Eisenhower light the Christmas Tree ... she was a all in red from tip to toe."
"And the beautiful Greek Orthodox Church around the corner from 1520 Upshur St. NW where my grandmother lived. Oh, those lovely tree-lined streets."
W.H.Byng
"Christmas Memories All the windows of Lansburgs, Kanns,Hecht Co and Woodward & Lothrop all decorated with animated decorations .Going to see the windows decorated you knew Christmas was in the air."
Shirley
"I really feel old by saying that I am 53! My sisters and I were all born in DC [Hyde Elem., Jackson Elm, Gordon Jr.; Western HS-now Duke Ellington], as well as my parents were as well and many grandparents. Granddad attended Western HS when it was downtown. Once my Dad was asked if he always lived in Georgetown. He drew himself up and said, "No! It was a slum then!!" If anyone went to the aforementioned schools: please contact me!"
(Webmaster can get address for you)
Judy
"Hey kids.........I'm OLD! Lived in Arlington on North Oak Street. Could
see all the fireworks at the monument from the backyard. During the war, the
lights on the city were all out. Couldn't see a thing! My favorite song as a kid
was "When the Lights Come On Again" The night the war ended, they
did......and we could see the whole city again. I remember the foot bridges
across the Potomac. Remember the Roslyn Circle and the trolley there. Took it to
Glen Echo many times. Wasn't allowed to swim in the Crystal Pool, due to the
polio threat. Hot Shoppes were everywhere! As teenagers the place to go was
Haines Point for the submarine races! the "Frozen Dairy" on RT 50 was
affectionately called the "Smiling Brothers" Two brothers owned the
place. They NEVER smiled! Falls Church High School was on Hillside Ave in Falls
Church! Washington Lee was the ONLY high school in Arlington. They had a
Thanksgiving Day game with George Washington High in Alexandria each year. You
are right........those days are gone, but the memories are good!"Winona
"Someone asked, in the last week, if any of us remembered Pic Temple. Not only do I remember his show, my sister and I were on it when I was about six. That got me to thinking of all the things I remember, being 45, growing up in the DC area... The Wilson Line to Marshall Hall The Crystal Pool at Glen Echo The streetcar going "downtown" Taking a ride in the station wagon on hot summer nights, with the windows down, and ending up at Giffords for ice cream (especially rainbow sherbert or swiss chocolate) No beltway Springfield was a far away suburb, Tyson's corner was the country, where we drove out to buy apple cider. Going to see the fireworks. Driving up, pulling off the GW parkway and watching without having to camp out all day to get a spot closeby. Captain Tugg Captain Planet Romper Room with Miss Connie (don't know if this was local) Bozo and Cousin Cupcake Anyone have any other memories to share?"
Bette
"Boy, you brought back many memories of my youth growing up in Silver Spring.(Four Corners), Giffords ice cream, Wylies in Takoma Park with their huge ice cream creations, was it Polar Bear or Reindeer frozen custard in Silver Spring ? the Silver theater for good movies( 35 cents) and the Seco for double feature cowboys. next door to the Seco was a penny candy store. Blair High school and of course, no beltway!I guess I could remember many more with some thought. I was born in Washington but raised in S.S. I am a sixth generation Washingtonian."
Barbara
"Remember going to Wiley's for ice cream also, but no one could beat the ice cream from the dairy at MD U in College Park. I went to high school in Foggy Bottom(does anyone remember that?) and after school would walk down town and go to Hecht's or Woodies and ride those horrible elevators to do some shopping before going home. Remember the beautiful display windows at Christmas time? That was a real family treat. "
Cheryl
"How about Stevenson's Pies over on Penn Ave SE ? Remember the black and white checker board box they came in ?"
John & Joyce Phillips
"Being from Virginia, don't remember Tech Stadium, but do remember Hot Shoppes with drive-in at Shirlington and Tops Drive In at the Corner of Quaker Lane and Braddock Roads in Alexandria!"
Bette
"We used to watch the fireworks from Tech Stadium. How about the Hot Shoppe
on Rhode Island Ave."Bill Bauer
"One of the best thing about the old stadium, besides the cost of tickets, was the Bond and Wonder Bread bakeries across the street. Us kids would always go there first and they would give fresh hot bread by the loaf just to get rid of us. I can still smell it ! And taste it !"
John
"My Mother came here at age 13 (about 1933) with her step-father & brother. They lived on Capital Hill (in SE) her dad walked her every day to Hine Junior High before he went to Eastern Market to shop and then off to work at the old NEA building in NW, which is where I watched fireworks -- direct line-of-sight to the Monument -- for many years. Mother talked about dances at what is now the Blair House and how you were always running into people you knew on the street in downtown DC. My grandfather lived in NE while I was growing up and had a garden plot - fascinating to a "city-child". He went every Easter to sunrise services at Ft. Lincoln cemetery, we buried him near the place he loved.
We lived near the Zoo on Macomb Street when I was a baby. I would wake up
laughing with the hyena's. I remember taking the train from the Silver Spring
station to 
Union
station and then the street car to my father's office on 14th & K Streets.
My dentist and eye doctor were on Eye Street and my father would draw me a map
& send me off on my own to get there ... perfectly safe.
Gifford's specialty confections like peach melba and ice cream rolls with designs in them for Halloween. Old Griffith Stadium, never too crowded! Carter Baron Ampitheatre.
My grandfather loved Glen Echo, except for the big roller coaster. We'd take the street car there too. When the train crash through Union Station he had to see it.
We all remember Pic Temple, Ranger Hal, Milt Grant. Who besides me remembers
the Rabbit? Six foot tall rabbit, on Channel 5, used to face the camera at the
end of the show, wave goodbye and say 'And remember boys & girls, I'm a real
live bunny rabbit'. My Brownie troop went on the show, I saw the zipper, it was
devasting! Not that I wasn't old enough to know that rabbits weren't 6' tall
& could talk ... I have racked my brain all week trying to remember the
rabbit's name ... can anyone help?
DC & it's suburbs were a fine place to grow up ... wouldn't trade it for
anything."
Kathi Jones Hudson
Do YOU have any memories of
D.C.? If so, please e-mail me and I
will add them to this page.
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