- nostalgia
- a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.
A bit of reflection
A friend sent me a link to a photo contest titled Nostalgia and thought I am not entering it I thought I would challenge myself anyway. I will be writing a post for my photography blog with the resulting images; I also decided to wax nostalgic here, too.Music
Ah.... music soothes the soul of the savage beast. I am assuming that doesn't include The Who, Black Sabbath and others. 😂 Music has always been a big part of my life, my first recollections are as a four year-old listening to The Beatles with my aunts. At that time we were listening to a transistor radio or 45's and lp's on a record player; vinyl was (still is in my book) king! When I got older I received a small reel-to-reel tape recorder and I used to record songs from the transistor radio; the quality wasn't great because I was using the microphone but how great was the sound from the radio anyway? The cassette tape was a game-changer and once I graduated to a good stereo system I made my own "greatest hits" tapes. I would make a list of songs, arrange them, calculate the total length, and then record from the album. It took hours to make a 90 minute tape because everything had to be "just right." A lot different from the "drag-drop-burn" that we do today! I must admit, I do miss the analog days....Good Humor bars & Penny candy
I belong to a Facebook group, Historic Long Branch, and someone posted a few photos of Dilger's Food Market. It had just been torn down after many years of standing vacant. Looking at the first image transported me back to my childhood and, specifically, Strawberry Shortcake Good Humor bars. I wrote about Dilger's and Strawberry Shortcake bars in an earlier post, Ice Cream, Oh How I Love You, so I won't get into it here. The post did prompt a nice instant message conversation with one of my aunts about Dilger's and Pascucci's Candy Store which is the second part of this section. Raise your hand - how many remember true penny candy? Where was your favorite candy store? What was your favorite candy? When I think of penny candy, I think of Pascucci's Candy Store on Branchport Avenue in Long Branch. The building is still there, though the candy store has been gone for decades; it had been a restaurant for a while and most recently a Reiki healing center, though the center is now closed. Just as Dilger's was an "after church" treat, Pascucci's was where we stopped after spending time playing in the park at the corner of Branchport and Atlantic Avenues. Can you guess who I went to the park with? Yes! I went with my aunts! We would stop on our way back to my grandmother’s house to buy candy. I remember walking in, putting a handful of pennies (if I was really lucky there might be a nickel or dime in the mix) on the counter and Mrs. Pascucci would tell me how much I could buy. I know that dots on paper and root beer barrels were always at the top of the list, and I believe I got more than my share of Pixie Stix. Though my taste in candy has changed over the years, I am still rather partial to root beer barrels however, I cannot remember the last time I had one.“The Gang”
Yes, I was part of a gang when I was growing up – not only a gang but a biker gang at that! When we rode into town, people knew it – the baseball cards in our spokes got damn loud at times! Of course, the “bikes” were our bicycles and we were a group of four – Lenny, Johnny, Jimmy, and me. I’ve written about this group of bad a$$es in the past but no trip down Memory Lane would be complete without mentioning them. We spent a lot of time cruising around Monmouth County and, sometimes, beyond on our bicycles. One of our favorite destinations was Stewart’s Root Beer in Atlantic Highlands; not only was the root beer worth the nearly 10 mile ride but Atlantic Highlands, and surrounding Highlands, had some great hills to ride down! Whenever I see a group of kids on bikes or a Stewart’s Root Beer stand I cannot help but think of my three best friends growing up.And So It Goes
I could go on for quite a bit longer but notice that I am rapidly approaching 800 words and not sure how many of you have made it this far. If you have made it to this point, let me know some of the things that make you feel nostalic in the comment section below. Does a smell bring memories? A song? A particular place? I would love to hear all about it.Please do me a small favor and share this post with others, for there’s a good chance that others might enjoy it, too! You will find buttons for many of the popular social media platforms at the bottom of this post. Thank you!
All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com
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