Waldbaum’s (1965) By Barry G. Schwartz. Fairly recently I added this and several other Staten Island and Manhattan photos to my vintage photo collection. Some of these images pre-date me but hold elements that were present when I was a kid and therefore overlap my recollections from years later. Though I wasn’t born until 1973, this Waldbaum’s Supermarket, which stood on Manor Road across from the Todt Hill Houses (aka “the projects”) looked exactly as it did here up through the early 1980s. This print arrived with a date stamped clipping from its publication affixed to the back as seen at upper left but I also wanted to direct everyone’s attention to the prices of sale items posted in the window at the upper right. Rib steaks and top of rib were 89 cents a pound while lamb chops were priced at 79 cents. One could get varieties of juices for as little as 10 cents a can and 4 cans of Gilbetters Tuna for 89 cents. Comet Cleanser was 10 cents a can and 3 Morton Dinners (I’m not sure if they were canned or frozen) were available for a dollar. A pole obscures the prices of lox and liverwurst however a package of Kraft Swiss Cheese was a bargain at 35 cents. In the early 1980s, this store was extended outward (out of frame to the right) and a pharmacy was installed underneath. Up through the 1990s when I would visit my grandparents on Staten Island I’d stop in to hit their well-stocked magazine rack which always carried Star Hits as well as the UK publications Smash Hits, Q, NME and Melody Maker. I seem to recall their long rolls and racks of stickers being fairly copious as well. More about those collections later. This Waldbaum’s is now a CVS and I’m certain that they carry neither lox nor liverwurst on their shelves but a bottle of orange juice will equal the price of 9 cans (frozen from concentrate) in 1965.
Ocean Terrace - Staten Island, NY
Two eBay Scores: A photo of Majors Department Store on Forest Avenue in Staten Island, NY (1965) and a detail of an employee name tag from the same era. I’ve also scored shopping bags and circulars from this store dating back to the early 1960s which were built into layered collages that hang on the walls of my home. Majors had a separate supermarket location and both were in business until the early 1980s. Among my most vivid memories of Majors Department Store (which was a short ride from the apartment I shared with my parents on Willowbrook Road) was the art supply aisle where I got a large package of multicolored Plasticine air dry modeling clay that was laid out in long narrow tubes. In my memory, this aisle was on the right about midway to the back of the store and contained a series of racks and shelves filled with day-glo paints, color by number sets, markers, crayons and countless varieties of paper… Pure Heaven for a kid like me in the 1970s. My other formative memory of Majors was the space at the back of the store. This area housed the record department where customers could flip through browser after browser full of records, each row comprised of a series of wooden boxes arranged face up and lined with different colors of thick carpeting to protect the albums inside. It was here that I learned that records were arranged not only by artist or band name but also by genre: rock, pop, disco, easy listening and R&B. I vividly recall standing on a foot stool to browse the A section for ABBA records, my chest (likely in a Sweat Hogs or JJ Walker Dyno-Mite! iron on t-shirt) pressed against the carpeted box before me. Forty-plus years later, the memories remain and my fascinations are the same. Time is indeed a flat circle.
Another eBay Score: Uncredited AP Wire Photo - Times Square (1 January 1971) The notes attached to this news agency photo of a New Year’s Day snowstorm state that on the previous night a crowd of 150,000 packed Times Square for the annual New Year’s Eve ball drop atop the Allied Chemical Tower. A closer look at the photo reveals a Happy New Year greeting on the tower’s face, a screening of Tora! Tora! Tora! at The Criterion Theatre and a vertical advertisement for Channel 9 WOR TV. The weather report courtesy of the corner sign at Bond’s Clothing reads simply “COLD”. That oddly shaped little building and the different faces it had throughout the decades will be making several appearances in my new illustrated book which is currently in progress. More to follow soon.
Staten Island Mall (1981)
Staten Island Mall (1985)
Statue of Liberty Restoration (1985)
Sailors Snug Harbor (1976 / 1986) By Irving Silverstein and Tony Carranante. Over the years I’ve acquired Sailors Snug Harbor photos and postcards dating back to the 1900s when this complex of buildings was a home and hospital for retired sailors. Situated on Richmond Terrace, its three main buildings boast frontage across from New York Bay. As with other purchased newspaper photos, these had dated publication clippings affixed to the back of each. The images at the top show a group touring the grounds at the start of the massive renovation and rebirth of Snug Harbor into a vital arts and cultural center housing studios, museums, classrooms, performance halls, a reception venue and a botanical garden. The images at bottom show the pre-renovation state of the building that later became the expertly curated Staten Island Museum. Snug Harbor holds a very special place in my heart because I am a direct beneficiary of all of the work put into making this once forgotten and run down enclave (which was almost leveled to make way for a village of condominiums) into an arts education facility. It was here at Art Lab where I took Saturday and Summer classes between 1985 and 1986. In those two years I was not only introduced to more sophisticated materials and methods for art making, I was employed part time as an assistant to my teacher Jean Meisels. Jean trusted me enough at age 12 to help her instruct and clean up after the younger students and I loved it. To say this was a formative environment that would help shape the career I’m still enjoying 37 years later would be an understatement. Yes, folks… Time is indeed a flat circle. If you ever took a class with me and enjoyed what you learned, don’t thank me… Thank Jean Meisels, Sailors Snug Harbor and Art Lab. I certainly do all the time.
