Northeast High School Class of 1969 50th Reunion

Well, it's been quite a long while since my last post to this blog.  Basically I ran out things I remembered and wanted to blog about.  I haven't lived in Philadelphia since the early 1970s.  Spent most of my life (40+ years) in Northern Virginia and am now in NYC till I can retire to a year-round warm climate.

I was in Philly this past weekend for the 50th NEHS reunion at the Radisson Hotel in NE Philadelphia.  It was a blast seeing people I hadn't seen since I was a teenager.  I met with lots of others who attended Carnell elementary school and Fels Junior High... kids I grew up with.  Brought back fond memories of the old neighborhood.

Anyway, a friend of mine sported the shirt you see here in the photos.  Thought that would be of interest to followers of this group. 

Has anyone else been to their reunion?

Bushrod Library

Back in the 1970's, after having moved to Virginia, I worked with a colleague who happened to be the seventh generation direct descendant of George Washington's brother, Bushrod Corbin Washington (BCW).  As a matter of fact, he was named BCW the seventh.  He hated the name Bushrod and went by his middle name, Corbin, and vowed if he ever had a son that he wouldn't name him the VIII.  Anyway, I remember telling him I didn't think the name Bushrod was so bad and I mentioned there was a library in Philly named Bushrod.  I don't think he was impressed with that however and still went by his middle name. 

The Bushrod Library has a place in Philadelphia history: it was the first newly constructed branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia since the Central Library was built in 1927.  It opened in 1950.  Are there any blog readers who saw the library being built or were there the day it opened?  For me, Bushrod is one of the key landmarks of Oxford Circle.  It was where I got my first library card, sometime in the late fifties.  I remember the library had two stories: one I believe was for children, the other for adults.  Does anyone have any specific memories of the library back then?  I understand that the library has undergone a major renovation, so I'm not sure what it is like today. 

Oxford Circle Vocabulary

There are probably many "regionalisms" - words that are generally associated with a particular region of the country. Philadelphia has several that come to mind, such as hoagies and jimmies ("sprinkles" on ice cream). But are there words that are either unique or have a unique meaning in Oxford Circle? After discussing this with a childhood friend the other day, we've come up with two possibilities:

Breezeway - the space between two groups of rowhouses in the middle of a city block. (I placed this entry on Wikipedia). Breezeway has different meanings depending on what part of the country you live.

Texas Tommy - a hot dog with cheese and a bacon strip wrapped around it. Texas Tommies were available at the neighborhood luncheonettes. I've never heard of this food item outside of Oxford Circle.

Can you think of other words, phrases, or terms that could possibly be unique to Oxford Circle? If so, I'd love to hear from you.

Update: Punks could very well be another "Oxford Circle-ism": is that a term unique to the neighborhood? What do you think?

Cranford Street Landmark

Recently, I saw an old Nash similar to the one in the photo that brought back an old memory. Somewhere along the 6500 block of Cranford Street, there was an old beat-up rusty, turquoise and white two-tone car, which I believe was a Nash. That car sat on the lawn inside a fence in the exact same spot for so long I considered it a landmark. It was there for so many years from perhaps the late 1950's through the entire 1960's decade and beyond Does anyone else remember that car? Was it in fact a Nash? I always wondered why that car was kept there. I also remember a barbershop along Cranford street near the intersection with Magee Street, where I had my haircut several times as a young boy. Anyone remember that? I think there was "Wildroot" sign in the window of that barbershop.

Northeast High School 40 Year Reunion

This coming weekend, NEHS class of 1969 will hold it's 40 year reunion at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Philadelphia. So, I'll be headed back to Philly this weekend and hopefully will come away with an idea or two for a future post. Please let me know if any reader of this blog is a member of that class. Looks like I'll be missing the Phillies playoff game on Saturday night due to the conflict, but I'm sure it'll be fun reminiscing with old high school friends.