Patterson, NJ 1933-1940

My earliest memories of my child hood were being baby-sat. They had me out in the hallway My Mother and father were going out somewhere. Before they left they gave the baby sitter a chocolate bar for me. It was a hot summer day so when the baby sitter gave it to me I put the soft sticky bar all over my face. When my parents came home and saw me they thought it was very funny.

In that same time frame my Father got in the sign business and printing stuff. One day I was in the workshop he had a miniature press for me and a

Toy ice truck. To play with I remember sitting on the floor and playing with the truck and press in those days you put ice in the Ice Box as they called it. The trick was to be there when the ice truck came when the iceman brought the ice in we would try in get little bit of ice off the floor of the truck.

Another real early memory I walked into a candy store and all I had was a penny in the display window was small bags of candy.” How much was it?

One penny and when the man gave it to me he said that some bags had a prize in it. I remember being in Kindergarten and playing with blocks.

It’s amazing how far back I cab go. We had a wood stove to keep us warm

So when I came home from school one day when I had wet my pants (and I don’t mean falling in the snow) I went straight to the stove to dry out.

It was in those good days that my father held me for the first time I could remember He would hold me only one more time. We lived on a corner

One day he picked me up put me on his shoulders and we went around the corner. There was a full moon that night and we just stood there looking at the moon. Its in that same place that one day I came home and somebody was sitting in a chair who had obviously drank to much by the sound of his voice.

One day there was a bad fire that destroyed a factory why I remember is that people were sitting on the sidewalks it was a very sad day. A Happier day was when the Catholic Italians had a street party. Each end of the street was blocked off carnival rides and by the sidewalks they sold different items. There were big tubs of water that I guess was meant to throw a coin and land in something. In the Church we went in and they showed a movie about some saint. The neighborhoods in those days were a mixture of Italian, polish; German.We still had not owned a radio or telephone that was still for those that had money.

My Mother brought us to the Baptist Church for bible classes; My Uncle was a deacon at that Church. First Hymn I ever learned “Jesus loves me yes I know for the bible tells me so” My Mother was always kind to the poor. I was going home with her when we stopped and said “Bill” my brother was at a party and how people liked him. Funny how I never forgot that incident.