MEMORIES-PAGE 2
"Yep! Boy do I miss the D.C. papers. I love checking out the Washington Post online just to keep up!
Speaking of the Times-Herald...our family had a summer cottage on the Severn
River in a little communiy called Herald Harbor. It is still there,
Crownsville by post office address. During the summer, I would go for weeks
with my mom and grandmother and dad would come on weekends. Other family
members, cousins, aunts, etc, would drop by for a few days here and there.
There was a clubhouse on the beach and they would host dances. It was
called Herald Harbor because it was developed or promoted by the Herald
originally. I remember having some old clippings and post cards; I will
need to find those! My grandfather, John Samuel Drury, was an executive
with the Washington Ice Co when he purchased a lot there and had the cottage
built. My grandmother had roses and a garden. Grandfather died when my mom
was only 15, she and grandmother kept the cottage up. It was sold in the
70s, is winterized for year-round living now. I have seen it again over the
last few years because before I moved to Florida, I lived a long time in
Anne Arundel Co."Kathleen
"Does anyone remember the "Polar Bear" frozen custard place on Georgia Avenue, near Piney Branch Road in DC? It had a polar bear outside the place, and that frozen custard made you think you'd died and gone to Heaven!"
"Since I'm a third generation Washingtonian, I have lots of memories! "The Evening Star", "The Times Herald", and"The Washington News" ..... Hay rides to Great Falls, Moonlight cruises to Marshall Hall, and Street car rides to Glen Echo...... Mickey Vernon and the rest of the Senators at Griffith Stadium........ Roller skating at National and Riverside Rinks..... Ice Skating at Chevy Chase Ice Palace..... Friday nights at The Hot Shoppes and Hofbergs....... The West Lanham Speedway..... 5th and Kennedy...... Penny loafers, bobby socks, ducktails, poodle cuts, pegged pants, and blue suede shoes..... Tennis court dances..... North Beach and the slot machines..... Ocean City, in an old Ford convertible..... Weekends at the bowling alleys-Penn, Takoma, Petworth & Silver Spring..... The Takoma Pool..... The "Joy" of taking gym outdoors in mid-January..... Senior Proms: Strapless evening gowns and tuxedos (with argyle socks)..... The Chesapeake Bay Ferry to Ocean City..... Movies at the Sheridan and Kennedy and Colony and Takoma..... Long winter walks to school..... We can never bring them back, but we will always remember!"
"There used to be (until just a couple of years ago) a wonder place on Route 50 in Seven Corners, VA called "Frozen Dairy." It was so locally famous, that people would line up for blocks in the evenings in the summertime ('70s and '80s) for frozen custard. There is even a print made of it that a friend of mine, who moved to Canada, bought to remember it by! Boy, it must have been 80% fat! It was good!"
Bette
"Don't forget the MILT GRANT SHOW.... American Bandstand type show. Local in DC."
Reading this page has brought back names and places that I had forgotten in the 45 years I've been away from DC. I was born and raised in SW on 7th st across from Jefferson Jr High. Went to St. Dominic's as did my brothers, sisters, cousins etc. Remember " Hot shoppes hot shoppes all around the town, around the corner from everywhere a hot shoppe can be found. Take a bus or streetcar, or drive right up to our door, Hot shoppe food is a treat that always brings you back for more"? (to the tune of east side west side). And a grand town it is . Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Tom Slattery
Does anyone remember Chinatown between sixth and seventh NW. The celebration of their New Year and dancing dragons with strings of firecrackers going off around them. Mrs. K's Toll House on Colesville Rd. and Normandy Farms in Potomac, Md. Visits to the falls. The potato chip stores near the Peace Cross where you bought them just made and still warm. John Phillips is working on Belasco Theater. I am trying to remember where it was because I am certain our dance recitals were held there and the fun it was to go back stage and climb the stairs to the dressing rooms. Trips to the wharves to buy off the boats - seafood of all kinds. The Earle Theater on 13th St. near E. (My mother dreamed about just such a theater before it became a reality) Clements bakery on G St. nr. 14 or 15 - they also catered to the White House.
Eunice
My father graduated from Central High School when is was considered the elite school in DC. I graduate from Western after attending Wilson for a semester. As a child I lived in Garrett Park, MD. Remember when you could ride the street car from Pennsylvania ave all the way out to Kensington? How about the train window every Christmas at Kanns (I think).
Charlotte
It took me half an hour to stop the nostalgic tears streaming down my face before I could write this! What a trip down Memory Lane. I was born and raised till the age of 13 in DC, then my family went overseas for 2 years. On our return, we were houseguests of my uncle at Ft. McNair until my father landed a job here in Culpeper. Even though I have lived in many places since my childhood, I still think of myself as a Washingtonian.
We lived on Allen Place in NW, in a little area between Taft and Calvert Street Bridges immediately adjacent to Rock Creek Park. I believe at least part of my old neighborhood is part of what is now known as Adams-Morgan. I attended James F. Oyster School on Calvert Street [did anybody else go to Oyster?]; on days when the weather was nice we would walk the mile or so to school (unescorted...couldn't do that now, could we?). On cold or rainy days there was the wonderful M-8 bus. For my one year at Gordon Jr. High, we'd take the M-8, then transfer to the streetcar on Wisconsin Avenue.
I, too, remember not being allowed to use the Crystal Pool at Glen Echo because of the polio threat; we had to play in the hose sprinkler, or, on rare occasions, my uncle would take us to the Army-Navy Country Club to swim. Some other things I remember are: riding the bus downtown (alone!) to the YWCA for the summer "Camp Stay-at-Home" day camp, running barefoot in the back alleys and the park on sweaty summer days, seeing "Lady and the Tramp" for my 13th birthday, visiting the Bishop's Garden at the Cathedral and buying herbs at the Herb Cottage there, going to Wylie's for my 15th birthday--I still have the napkin I got that night, attending National Geographic lectures w/slides in Constitution Hall, daily trips to the Food Fair grocery store up on Columbia Road with my grandmother or mother, getting a special invitation to a Country Club in Chevy Chase to watch Princess Elizabeth's coronation on television since many homes didn't have TV's then.
More memories: those little burger places called Toddle House that sold hamburgers for a nickel, Little Taverns, the lions on Taft Bridge, Georgetown, the photographers who would set up their cameras in front of Woodies' or Lansburghs' to take pictures of pedestrians that they'd then sell. I have pictures of my grandmother and mother taken by one of them. The double amputee with the Capuchin monkey who used to sit on a wooden platform and beg by Woodies during the summers. We found out after he died that he wintered in Florida, where he used prostheses for his legs and was a millionaire real estate entrepreneur.
This page really pulled my chain! I could go on and on....thanks for the memories!
Donna Stevens Boyd
Grew up in SW Washington DC, went to Greenleaf elementary and Jefferson Jr High (as did my mother and her 11 brothers and sisters.) Moved to Silver Spring in high school (Blair) and did the Giffords and Wylie ice cream thing, along with the drive-in hot shoppe on Georgia Ave. In DC, loved the trolley cars to Glen Echo, the Wilson line to Marshall Hall and the slot machines in Waldorf. Had pies from Stephenson's every Sunday. Long lines waiting to get the pies. SW wharves with its small restaurants, fish houses, etc had charm that today's wharf lacks. Enjoyed the watergate concerts, in spite of the planes. Haines Point was called the speedway, and everyone went there to watch the submarine races. Marched in several of the patrol parades, including the one with Hopalong Cassidy as the Parade Master. Didn't go to Ocean city, but instead spent beach time at Colonial Beach, or a number of beaches on the Bay (loved Bay Ridge). Went to school with many of the children of students that had gone to school with my mother and her family. This all changed when SW was demolished.
John Holt
Remember High's ice cream stores and Peoples drug stores. I'm 67, lived at 4727 Georgia Avenue, went to West Elem. school before we moved away (5th grade) My Dad's barber shop's ph # was Ga 9508...why do I remember that?
My mother always wore a hat "to town". Georgia Ave being 7th St. was the car line right in front of our house, so we could go to town easier than to a mall now. Gov't workers and others had street car passes by the week. On weekends three could ride on one pass, so my 2 girlfriends and I would ride the street car all day Sunday. Spent my Saturdays at the Colony theatre. If we wanted to catch a movie a week ahead of the Colony, we'd go to the Kennedy.......what fun that was and this is.
JUNEWM
I have enjoyed everyone's memories on this web page! I grew up in Silver Spring (Four Corners) and my grandparents lived in DC on Franklin Street. I remember riding the street car with my grandmother to go shopping while my grandfather was working at the Post Office. She would always let me pull the string above the window when it was time to let the driver know we wanted to get off to shop at the "5 and dime." A lot of the pictures in my grandmother's albums were taken at Haines Point and Chesapeake Beach. I loved watching Miss Connie's Romper Room and Pic Temple. I was on Pic Temple when I was about 5 and I got to shoot a red balloon! On days that I went to work with my mother (school holidays) we would always drive past Pic Temple's house on the way. Oh yes, I remember Wylies too, and each year on the last day of school my grandparents would pick me up with my best friend and take us to the dairy at UMd College Park for the best ice cream there was. My favorite memories are from Christmas. I went to a private school in Silver Spring and we had an annual field trip on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We would go to the Silver Spring Christmas parade and stand behind the railing at the B&O railroad station to watch the parade and wait for Santa. That parade was always the official opening of the holiday season and you never saw a single Christmas item or decoration in the stores until that day! I remember going "window shopping" in DC, in awe over the animated Christmas displays. Every year between Christmas and New Year we would go downtown to see the National Christmas tree in all its splendor. (Of course, back then the nativity scene was still a part of the display instead of it's now politically correct location across the street.) Each Christmas season my Dad would bring home Gifford's Peppermint Ice Cream, fudge sauce, and Valadi's (sp?) caramels and we thought we'd died and gone to heaven. I'm adding this page to my "Favorites" and looking forward to seeing more memories!
Sue
I do remember the Christmas windows at Woodies, Hechts, and Garfinkels. The street cars, riding the bus downtown because that was the only place where doctors, dentists and other professinals worked. Glen Echo, Pic Temple, Bozo, Susie Snowflake at Christmas time; and of course, I remember Chinatown. It seemed so exotic and mysterious, as if I had walked into a Charlie Chan movie. You all make me feel young again
Cheryl
In 1939 or 40, my father was an ironworker, working on the National Gallery of Art. We had a canary named Petey that died during that time and we were all very sad about it. My father said Petey would have a nice burial. He took him to work with him the next day and buried him in the middle of the Art Gallery where the large fountain is today. We thought this was quite a memorial for the little fellow who sang so sweet for us.
John
I, too, remember the Milt Grant Show. I even took the bus downtown and went to the show a couple of times! I grew up in Silver Spring, and the Polar Bear ice cream place and Carter Baron Amphitheatre were favorites. Remember the great dances at the Silver Spring Armory? Would love to hear from others that went to Montgomery Blair in the early 60's.
Sally
Hi all! yes many memories. moved to DC in 1940 where father was at USNRL and Bellview in command. We lived in that large red house on the east side of the Potomac in Bellview just south of Bolling Field. Went to Congress Heights Grammar 1940-42 Any ALums? Then Kramer JH. Moved away but back in 1948 living in Alexandria. Hogates on Maine Ave with the fishing boats, Benny's Rebel Room on the Maine Ave ( Now or later uptown on 14th St) The old Gaiety Burlesque by DC Public Library. My mother dragging me ( HAD to dress up) to Lansburgs, etc. Old Senator and Penn Theatres. Baseball games - up by bus/trolley - to 7th and GA to Griffith Stadium. In early 1950's, college years, great party town: 823 Club, Ambassador Lounge, jazz on Sunday afternoon at a hotel on R St ( can't recall name), King Cole Room on Vermont ( where the singer sat under a baby spot on the piano and sang great songs) Oh yes, many memories. Watched DC change . After College, about 1956-1962 lived in Falkland Apts, E/W Hgwy at end of 16th St.. Moved up to CCap. Hill, living at 415 NJ Ave, just down from the Congressional Hotel. Then over to 234 C St. Went to St Mark's Epis. 3rd and A, first daughter went to Amidon when it first opened. PhD studies at GW 1959-62. Papas' Guitar Shop on M st. Charlie Byrd, Bill Harris, Carol Hedin singing songs. Kramer's Book Store on G, the book and record store on Conn at Dupont Circle. Then, 1962, moved to Annapolis wehere I was born in 1931). So, I've got about 50 plus years of watching DC, plus a second daughter born in GW hospital. Yes, yes, great memories.
Jon O'Donnell
I remember when Washington had a winning football team!!!! I also remember the field trips. Every year we went to the Smithsonian and the Wonder Bread factory. Oh that was fun. They would give you these little loaves of bread and a ruler! Use to attend many baseball games - the old Senators. My dad attended Coolidge High School, my Mom went to Blair, I graduated from Springbrook H.S. in Silver Spring. My Dad (deceased) played a lot of sports at Coolidge and I have a scrapbook full of old sports articles my grandmother saved. If anyone is interested in sports articles (local) from about 1947-1949, let me know.
My Uncle Marshall was the manager at the Hay Adams Hotel. We would go there about 3 times per month. I would "help" run the elevators, "work" in the kitchen, and sit in the bar area and drink Shirley Temples and eat red caviar! Apparently I loved the stuff. We would watch the fireworks from the roof as well as the Christmas Tree lightings and other White House events, all from the roof.
I was on the Pic Temple show as well as another show, I do not remember the name of it, but it was a show that had local "talent". I was not talented but our dancing class did a show.
Debi
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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Post card images courtesy of John Phillips
Photos of fireworks by Bruce Remer Photograph
THANKS TO BOTH!
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