Shopping at the Great G. Fox & Co.

As a child growing up in Connecticut, nothing compared to trips with my mother to the department store, G. Fox & Company at 960 Main St. in Hartford. This grand institution was a family-owned, first-class department store, established in 1847. It was a cornerstone of the Connecticut economy when we shopped there in the late 60’s and early 70’s. I was unaware at the time that this store, which had once been the largest in New England, was soon to begin its decline. The original Fox family had sold the store to the May Department Stores Co. in 1965.

But in its heyday, before the invasion of malls, G. Fox was THE store to shop in. Within its 11 floors (plus a basement, sub-basement and mezzanine), you could find whatever you needed. And the service was exceptional. There were clothing departments for men, women and children, books, music, makeup, jewelry, art supplies, housewares, a fur salon and a stamp department for collector stamps.

A highlight of any shopping trip with my mother was stopping for lunch at the 1950’s lunch counter, which I believe was on the 6th floor. The restaurant was done in a classic diner style and had been preserved through renovations mostly in tact. There were booths to sit at, but I liked to sit on the chrome and leather stools that were fastened to the floor. I remember getting the best egg salad sandwiches there. It’s funny. I don’t remember the dessert, but I do remember the egg salad sandwiches.

My mother and I would make all of our usual stops at all of our favorite departments. The store was so beautiful to shop in, with its Art Deco design. The main floor was especially beautiful, with its high ceilings and marble floor. There were 8 passenger elevators. I remember taking one from the main lobby that was driven by a male uniformed elevator operator. There were also female attendants in the immaculate, black and white tiled ladies’ room.

You were so pampered at G. Fox that you didn’t even have to carry your purchases. You could have them delivered to your home the next day on the G. Fox truck, free of charge. I also remember my mother calling the store and having things delivered on approval. If it didn’t fit, or she just didn’t like the item, the truck would come out and pick it up, again, free of charge. We lived in a suburb of Hartford approximately 11 miles from the store.

The most spectacular time to visit G. Fox was during the Christmas season. The main floor was filled with poinsettias and there were old fashioned (yes—religious!) Christmas carols playing. The excitement and joy of the season made the air electric, as display cases brimmed with stylish and quality merchandise. But the real excitement began when Santa took up residence on the 11th floor. Every year, while we were young enough to appreciate it, my 3 brothers and me were taken up to the 11th floor where the Toy Department was. We would admire all of the unique toys and compile our Christmas wish lists. (As I recall, we would be allowed one expensive item from G. Fox to complement the stack of more standard games and toys selected from some place like Sears or later, ToysRUs.) I generally picked out a beautiful doll, but one year it was a stuffed white angora cat. I don’t ever remember being disappointed by not receiving this special item on Christmas morning.

Once we perused the toys, we got on the line to enter Toyland with its winter scenery, to wind our way up to where Santa was seated. Once there, we met Santa and asked him for something special and got our picture taken with him. Things usually went quite well, except for the year my youngest brother, about 4 years old, decided to tell Santa he had bad breath. My poor mother!

The day after Christmas, we returned to G. Fox. It had become a tradition to take advantage of the half price sale on Christmas wrapping paper and cards. The whole family spent a couple of hours among the crowds, selecting cards, paper and bows at 50% off for the following year. All of the shopping loot would be packed into a large box to be delivered to our home. When the box arrived, my mother and father packed it away for next Christmas.

So many of my memories of the time are tied in to that wonderful store. Going with my father to help him pick out diamond studs to surprise my mother on their 25th wedding anniversary. Buying my first real lipstick (not the cheaper version from the drugstore or 5 and dime). My older brother being old enough to drive me to purchase leather gloves for my mother, with money I had saved up. But the family sold the store in 1965, and there were so many changes made that the store lost touch with the core values it was founded on. The store closed for good in 1993.

The building at 960 Main St. in Hartford now houses both retail and professional tenants. I understand the Main St. lobby has been restored to its former Art Deco glory. But the store is gone, and I miss it and all the times we enjoyed there. I especially miss the days when a salesperson actually thanked you for spending money in their establishment.

Rockingham Park Grandstand Fire Pictures 1980

July 29, 1980 was a dark day for Salem, NH. Early that morning a devastating fire tore through the Rockingham Park grandstands. It would be 4 years before “The Track” would open again, and some would say it was never the same. From age 10 on, I lived very close to Rockingham Park and have lots of memories of it from before and after the fire.When we were kids we used to sell sandwiches and lemonade outside the main gate during the busy summer thoroughbred meet. In the winter (the trotters season) we would climb through the mountains of snow that were created from plowing the enormous parking lots. Years later and after the fire, we would occasionally sneak out of work to place a few bets on a friend’s horse, Maguru, (later nicknamed Maglueru ). I also had a friend who was married at the park. I didn’t know it at the time, but when we were selling lemonade, my future father-in-law was out front with his taxi. When guys had a good day betting, they would ride home in style in his Crown Victoria, rather then take the bus.

My mother worked in the clubhouse and it’s also where a lot of my friends had their first jobs. At least in my world, there were endless connections to Rockingham Park, so when I heard there was a fire at the track I grabbed my camera and ran over and captured these pictures. But this blog is really about all my memories from before and after the fire, not the fire itself. Looking through my pictures just got me thinking about all my connections and memories from Rockingham Park.

Here are a couple of interesting items that I hope will remind you of some of your Rockingham Park memories that you can blog about.

The track kitchen was a dining hall down in the stables where trainers, jockeys, owners and gamblers looking for an edge would go for breakfast and lunch. It really was an interesting place with great food and lots of character and characters. The gamblers were called clockers, always looking for some inside info or hoping to overhear something that would help them out at the betting windows.

Fight night was a unique Rockingham Park event. One night a week, during the summer meet, a boxing ring was set up over by the stables for a night of boxing. I don’t remember how they matched up people—maybe some stable grudges were settled there—but it was entertaining with an almost carnival-like atmosphere.

These days the trotters are still around but the live thoroughbred racing is gone, except for simulcasts from other tracks. I would guess that unless they get some sort of slot machines or other gambling, Rockingham Park might not be long for this world, given the size of the property. If I were a betting man (and I am), I would say that unless things change we will probably see something like an Ikea in its place someday. I like Ikea, but that would be a shame.

Let it Snow!

February 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of the Blizzard Of ‘78. Arguably New England’s “Storm of the Century,” the Blizzard of ‘78 dumped 30 plus inches of snow on the area, paralyzing Boston and surrounding suburbs for a week. The snow fell for a full 33 hours and at times as much as 4 inches an hour. Even worse were the hurricane force winds and high tides that devastated the New England coastline.

Over 3,000 cars were found abandoned on the highways during the clean up which took about a week to complete. My memory of the storm was almost becoming one of those who had to abandon their cars on route 93.

A friend of mine had a job somewhere down around Route 128 in Woburn, MA. On February 6th with the storm cranking along he decides to work some overtime. By the time he leaves he is going nowhere in his Firebird so he gives me a call for a ride. Well my Father was not about to let me ride off into the storm so he volunteers to drive me down and pick him up. Talk about a long, white knuckled ride. We made it but just barely. Route 93 was nothing but a couple of ruts by the time we got back to Salem, NH sometime around midnight.

Have any memories of the “Blizzard of ‘78” ? Let us know.

Doc’s Pizza Oak St. Lawrence MA

Does anybody remember Doc’s Pizza on Oak Street in Lawrence MA ? It was in the old Italian Neighborhood between Lawrence and Jackson Streets. Man that place was good ! When my friends and I were teenagers and got our drivers licenses we would head down to Lawrence from Salem, NH every chance we had. Of course they had pizza and it was great, but they also made Italian spinach pie, meat pies and lamb pies. The spinach pies where made on a large tray and cut into squares. They where fantastic.

The lamb pies where also incredible, little triangles stuffed with lamb, pine nuts, spices and who knows what else. So good ! You had to be careful with the lambs however because sometimes you would take a bite and a big drop of oil would come squirting out. I ruined a couple of shirts at Doc’s but it was worth it.

Not exactly sure when Doc’s went out of business but it was sometime in the mid 70’s. I think the family running it just decided to close instead of moving when the neighborhood started going down hill. My friends and I were totally bummed. One guy I know bought a tray of spinach pie to freeze only to lose them when his freezer broke.

I took these photos on some of our last trips to Lawrence for spinach pies. As a young kid I lived right down the street on Erving Avenue in a tenement my Grandfather owned, but the neighborhood was much nicer way back then. Eventually the whole neighborhood was leveled as part of urban renewal. But I will always remember Doc’s Pizza, Pettoruto’s Market, Frasca Variety, The Union of Italy Grand Club and of course my old tenement on Erving Avenue where I grew up.

Doc’s Pizza, Frasca Variety on Oak Street in Lawrence MA

Doc’s Pizza Storefront Lawrence, MA

My friend Al leaving Docs with a plate full

My old tenement on Erving Avenue in Lawrence MA

Pettoruto’s Market on Oak Street Lawrence MA

Toilers Club on Oak St Lawrence MA

Union of Italy Grand Club on Short Street in Lawrence, MA

Atomic Subs

Found these old photos my Father took of the Atomic Subs. Atomic Subs was a chain of sandwich shops started in Lawrence, MA in the early 60’s by a entrepreneur named Bill Littlewood.

Although this is a New England story it really is a story about the American entrepreneurial spirit. While all of the uncertainty was going on in the world, The Cuban Missile Crisis for example, this guy decides to open a Submarine sandwich shop and call it “Atomic Sub” featuring “The Atlas”, a three foot
long super sandwich.

These pictures are from one of the Lawrence, MA stores at 401 Broadway and show Bill & his wife Marge.

Atomic Sub grew to about 20 plus stores with locations in South Lawrence, Lawrence, Chelmsford, Lowell, Billerica, Merrimac, Amesbury, Haverhill and Ipswich MA. There were also locations in Salem and Nashua NH. Some towns had multiple locations and I am sure I missed some. I remember going to the Salem store as a kid, it was on Route 28 where the Burger King is now in a big A frame building that used to be the VW dealership. I understand that the Nashua store was right down the street from the retroplanet.com world headquarters. The story goes that because of a dishonest bookkeeper, Bill was forced to close most of his stores. The Salem store remained open the longest but pretty sure he had nothing to do with it towards the end. He moved to Brentwood NH where he opened a little variety store and lived out the rest of his days. My Father recalls that sometime along the way he was approached by a big company who wanted to buy his company and bring it national and that he turned them down. Who knows if things had gone a little differently we might be going into Atomic Subs for lunch instead of Subway.

I know this is more of a New England topic but I found these old pictures of
“The Center” in Salisbury Beach and could not resist. My Father took these
probably in the 1950’s.

The Center at Salisbury Beach in Salisbury MA was
the place to be. Me and my friends spent many a weekend down the beach.

The Frolic’s was the typical summer venue, thousands of artists were featured there over 40 plus years. Everyone from Frank Sinatra to Aerosmith.

The Center isn’t quite what it used to be, the Wooden Coaster and the beautiful Carousel are gone, but it is still a good place to play pinball at Joe’s Playland and grab a slice at Tripoli Pizza.

If you have any memories of Salisbury Beach or the
Frolics please share them here.