Old Hoboken Rises Again

Seems my readers are inspired of late to remind me of what they once loved: Hoboken of the 1940s and 50s. Some find the post about the Fabian Theatre, others go to old posts like Back to the Past.

Dennis of pigeons-in-the-piano fame just made this comment on one of those nostalgic posts.

"I think about the sounds and smells of Hoboken quite a bit, being that I live close to the Bay here and you do not hear those sounds anymore.

"When there was fog you used to hear the fog horns all the time from the Hudson River. Sit in the Ferry Building and you can hear the clanking of the chains as they used to tie the ferries in. I actually miss the sound of the buses as they passed my house. In the winter you could hear the chains on the tires of the buses. The buses has a kind of swish to their tires when it rained. You could hear the railroad train horns and if you lived downtown you heard the click, click, click of the railcars at night. The bus doors also had a particular sound to them when they opened or closed. The sound of a ship being docked at the Holland American line by the tugboats. In the summer the sound of the Peddler selling fruit from his truck. Once a week the fish monger.
On Saturdays the smell of the hallways and stoops being washed. You never walked in a wet hallway or walked on a wet stoop!!!!!

"Hoboken also had its smells, but that might come later due to me running out of room here."

And Slezak emailed me this flyer from one of the shows at the Fabian.Gregg K. found the Fabian post and added this comment: Wow, does the Fabian bring back tremendous memories. I used to live on Bloomfield Street, literally a block away and I used to go nearly every weekend to see the latest movies. Sure is sad to know it's gone, but just like my long gone parents, it will always be in my heart.

Those days are gone, and Hoboken is changing every day--tomorrow will be election day, after all. But there are still plenty of people all over the country who remember Hoboken's past. Click on the blue letters, browse the blog for old Hoboken posts, and enjoy yourself. Even if you just moved to Hoboken, you'll enjoy the trip!