Black Friday

November 26, 2013

Black Friday

By Jack Coll

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, according to some people. So you eat turkey, chat with some family, catch yet another football game on television due to the fact that there will be no local high school football games this year. Be forced to sit and listen, to that one family member explain why these two football games are so important. (There’s one in every family, that one person who knows where every team stands in the National Football League.) Then comes the fun, you had to get to bed early so you can be up early for Black Friday.

It used to be you had to get up by 6:00 a.m., stores opened a few hours early, most of them opened at 7:00 a.m., wait a minute, that was the 1970’s, we all know the story from here on. Then one or two stores opened at 6 a.m., 5 a.m., 4 a.m., wait a minute this is getting crazy. Then came midnight, and the retail stores wondered, hey why wait till midnight, OK let’s open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening, that’s great now the Thanksgiving celebrants of America will all adjust their Thanksgiving Day dinners to earlier in the day so we can go stand in line waiting for the store doors to open. But wait, there’s more, our big retail businesses have announced why bother to close at all, let’s open at 6:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day morning, instead of giving our employees $6.00 an hour and a day off, we’ll give them $8.00 an hour and force them to work a twelve hour shift.

Now when we sit down to dinner, no need to talk about family, the outcome of the football game, or the cutest baby in the room, we get to talk about the bargains we got that morning at the box store.

For the young citizens of Conshohocken reading this, well, there was a time, there was a time when Thanksgiving Day, followed by “Black Friday”, if it was even called that back then, was a whole lot more relaxing and fun. Thanksgiving Day morning started with families gathering early in the morning, dressing warm, and traveling to the Conshohocken “A” Field to watch some of the greatest high school football in the world, St. Matthew’s High School, beating up on Conshohocken High School, well maybe it was the other way around depending when you attended. In the glory years more than 6,000 fans would attend the game, every single person you ever knew was there, your friends, enemies, neighbors, school teachers, co-workers, and every single student from both schools, the only Conshohocken residents who didn’t attend the game were the mother’s and grandmother’s home cooking the turkeys. The women cooking the turkeys would be judged for their efforts, would the turkey be too dry, would the stuffing be moist enough.

When the game ended there would be a lot of smiles and handshakes, most of the 6,000 residents in attendance would then walk home, relax and wait for the magic words, “turkeys done.” Friday for most of the men was a day back to work, most of them worked in the steel mills, for the women it was a good day to take a walk down Fayette Street, do a little window shopping, check out some prices, often a lot of the borough’s shoppers would jump on the train and go to Norristown for the day. Norristown and Conshohocken were the shopping capitols of Montgomery County, whatever it was in life you needed, they had it.

When you got off the train in Norristown you headed for Main Street, the sidewalks would be crowded, the street would be full of traffic. You started with your favorite stores, Chatlins, was at Main and Mill Streets, this store was shopping heaven, three floors of some great stuff, Chatlins was the official area Boy Scout supplies store. All of the great things about Chatlins, is that they had a great record department, but what I remember most was the squeaky floor boards when you walked, you knew someone was coming around the corner long before they got there. F. W. Woolworths Store also on Main Street had the same squeaky floorboards, I think all Woolworths Stores had squeaky floor boards, it must have been a requirement when they built the stores. Blocks was a full blown department store, seems to me one could spend hours in Blocks. Chatlins, Woolworths, and Blocks were the three biggest stores in Norristown. One of my favorite stores was McCoy’s Music Store, the coolest guitars ever and a nice record selection. Just across the street from McCoy’s on DeKalb Pike was the old Bell Telephone building, the old building is currently a theatre. I also remember the store next door to McCoy’s was Myers Drug store, or maybe Myers Drug Store was a few doors down, Myers is still there and I think I remember a book store right there called Sames Book Store, I remember going in there a lot, I never bought a book but I would pretend to be browsing so I could warm up before walking back down to Main Street. I also remember going to a candy store just across the street from Myers Drug Store, it might have been called Horton’s, I walk in, browse through the display cases like I was someone important, and buy a Clark Bar, or Butterfinger. As a young man I remember walking Main Street, (with a pocket full of newspaper delivery money) marveling at the big bank buildings like Montgomery County Bank, People’s National Bank, Norristown Federal Savings and Philadelphia National Bank. I remember walking past a few stores that I never went into like Gilberts Men’s Store, that was located just across the street from the Norris Theatre. I remember this big store I think it was on Marshall Street called Spillane’s, anytime you were on West Main Street, like down around Novell’s Ladies shop the smell of warm bread was unbelievable, the smell could be traced to Wonder Bread once located on the corner of Main and Markley Streets. I used to love John’s Bargain Store, if you went to the back of the store they had a big basket of mismatched socks, three pairs for a quarter, hey if you found two balck socks or two white socks, they didn’t have to match, nobody noticed.

Before leaving Norristown to get back to Conshy I wanted to mention the majestic Valley Forge Hotel, actually I don’t know if it was majestic but they always had this door man hanging around out front and I remember thinking how important that place must be to have a guy dressed in a uniform standing out front. Next to the Valley Forge Hotel was this upscale clothing place, I knew it was upscale just by the name, “Friedman’s New York Store,” sounds pretty impressive to me. Next to the New York Store was Robert Snyder Jewelry, I never went in there either, but I always went into the corner store, it was my favorite lunch spot, the store below the P&W trolley line, they made a good ham and cheese sandwich and old fashion milk shakes there.

And that my friends brings us back to Conshohocken, not many residents realize that in the 1930’s and 1940’s Conshohocken had more than 230 retail outlets, most of them located from the bridge to Second Avenue, and of course along Hector and Elm Streets.

Black Friday along Fayette Street was more of Black Friday weekend, as the shoppers would line the streets throughout the day and night creating some very congested sidewalks. The residents loved it as they would see people they hadn’t seen in a while and take the time to catch up. It wasn’t uncommon for shoppers to walk down to the shopping district early and catch a 2 o’clock, or a 4 o’clock movie at the Riant Theatre, come out and catch a bite to eat, maybe at Pat Logan’s Tavern, Conshohocken Café

when it was run by Louise Silk, or George’s Restaurant. I know a lot of people enjoyed eating at May’s Luncheonette on lower Fayette Street or just across the street at the Ferst’s Hotel back when Frank was running the joint. Actually a lot of Black Friday shoppers would stop and eat, or down a couple of quick ones at Paciello’s Bar, 51 Fayette Street, the Banker’s Tavern, or eat at Sam’s Steak Shop, Conshohocken Steak Shop, Stanley Lontkowski’s Restaurant. Although I heard reports that the Bridge Grille was really good when Joseph Wyrwas was running the place, Nick Spuranto had a great sandwich shop just off the bridge throughout the 1950’s, and everyone’s favorite spot to eat was, The Spot. (currently Tony and Joe’s) Actually I heard first hand that Andy Matteucci’s Luncheonette served some of the best hot sandwiches along Fayette Street some 55 or 60 years ago. For convenience most movie goers stopped at the Terminal Restaurant at First Avenue and Fayette Street. I have to wonder if anyone around today would remember Carl’s Sandwich Shop or Jack’s Luncheonette located at Second Avenue and Fayette Street.

At some point during the shopping day everyone hit the bakeries, and man we had some good ones. Memory Check: Filomena Laudato Bakery once located at 14-16 Fayette Street, just off the bridge. Then we had Pater’s Bakery for more than a quarter of a century at 38 Fayette Street. How about the Perfection Bakery once located at 75 Fayette Street, but if you went to the corner of Elm and Fayette Street back in the early years you could have shopped at George Benze’s Bakery. What about Cardamone’s Bakery located just off the bridge for many years. While they were all good, in my opinion, all of them together wouldn’t stack up to today’s Conshohocken Bakery located on Jones Street, if you don’t believe me, try it!

Well let’s get down to it, if you wanted to shop for goods or food, back in the day roaming Fayette Street on Black Friday, you were likely to shop at the following stores. H. G. Wilkinson’s Meat Market, once located at 72 Fayette Street, guaranteed fresh, you might have stopped by Lacey’s Cigar store for some candy, soda’s or a milk shake. For footwear Wilde’s Economy Shoe Store located at 118 Fayette Street had some real bargains. Of course we all remember William Wallace Jewelers, and D”Annunzio Brothers who also sold diamonds, watches and jewelry. The Benedict Brothers covered all your television and radio needs, as did Walter Olszta who had a TV shop at 41 Fayette Street for years. There was Phillips Gift Shop, a great stop for the little gifts and the Conshohocken Variety Store once located at 122 Fayette Street.

Conshohocken’s biggest retailer for four decades was F. W. Woolworths once located at the corner of First Avenue and Fayette Street. (currently Light Parker Furniture) W. T. Grants had a small store at 110 Fayette Street for a number of years. Other retail shops you might have visited on Black Friday included Charlie Hicks Music and Appliance Store, located next to the Riant Theatre for many years, Sam’s Variety Store, Conshohocken Variety Store, Kehoe’s Hardware Store, they had some very cool gifts at Christmas time. The Conshohocken Bargain House on lower Fayette Street had a little bit of everything, Jacobson’s Men Store was a Conshohocken staple for many years. Swartley’s Gift Shop had a load of toys and sporting goods, and talking about sporting goods O’Donnell’s Gift Shop also had a great selection of sporting goods.

Shirley’s Market was one of the better stocked markets along Fayette Street. I wonder how many people alive today remember Gabins Hardware Store once located just off the bridge at Marble Street. I’ll bet not too many people alive today remembers Jack’s Seafood Store once located at 57 Fayette Street back in the 1940’s. Black Friday was always a good day to get a haircut, and talking to the old timers Benny and Reds Barber Shop located for many years at 26 Fayette Street was the only place to get a trim. For more than a quarter of a century Rafferty’s Drug Store located at 57 Fayette Street had the remedy for every ailment you could think of. If you traveled a few blocks along East Hector Street you could find the Peoples Drug Store at 301 East Hector.

Well it has been fun traveling down Black Friday memory lane, like I said during the 1930’s and 1940’s there were 230 retail shops in Conshohocken’s shopping district. The late 1950’s weren’t kind to Norristown or Conshohocken. As a matter of fact Main Street shopping throughout America was changing with the advent of strip shopping centers, and a few years later the shopping malls put the final nail in the coffin for Main Street shopping. The exit of F. W. Woolworths in 1961 marked the beginning of hard times on Fayette Street.

Today Fayette Street has enjoyed a nice comeback, Flocco’s has some great Christmas gift ideas, and they carry some of the nicest professional sports shirts on the market. Light Parker Furniture carries a number of great gift ideas and what better way to surprise a loved one with a framed gift from Coll’s Custom Framing. It’s an opportunity to frame something near and dear and create a lifetime memory. If you’re even thinking about a gift card, the Great American Pub and the Conshohocken Boathouse offer the holiday gift cards along with many of our other wonderful restaurants.

The box stores own Black Friday, but Saturday is for shopping local, when you shop local you are directly impacting the community you live as most all of the local businesses contribute to our youth leagues, our community centers and libraries. I don’t know that the box stores support many events on the local level. See you in line at midnight, happy shopping!