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    Ossining Remembered
    Ossining Remembered
    Ossining Remembered
    Ebook192 pages1 hour

    Ossining Remembered

    By The Ossining Historical Society

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Ossining commands a position high on the banks of the Hudson River, at the edge of Westchester County, New York. Perhaps best known as the location of Sing Sing Prison, Ossining is rich in history and in personal memories. The history and memories come through clearly in this book of exceptional photographs. Ossining Remembered focuses on the heart of the town, from Main Street out to the river. Included are images of places that made downtown Ossining the dynamic community it once was—the theater, the cigar store, and the bakery. Also featured are vintage photographs of the riverfront mansions and estates, the numerous educational institutions and churches, and, of course, the famous prison.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439634523
    Ossining Remembered
    Author

    The Ossining Historical Society

    Most of the photographs in this collection come from the archives of the Ossining Historical Society Museum. Others have been loaned by local residents. Through these images, members of the society portray the town as they knew it, lived in it, and loved it before much of it was erased by shopping centers and parking lots. A valuable and entertaining source of local history, Ossining Remembered captures the vibrant spirit of the community and celebrates the people and places that helped shape its remarkable past.

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      Book preview

      Ossining Remembered - The Ossining Historical Society

      Oechsner

      INTRODUCTION

      Just before the new millennium, a small handful of friends got together to reminisce about the good old days. A couple of us were teenagers in the 1940s, and a few were teenagers in the 1950s. In view of the extreme changes in the town over the past few decades (after the effects of urban renewal but before the focus on historic preservation), the ensuing discussions revolved around the group’s special memories of the town as we knew it. Meeting week after week, month after month, at each other’s homes, we pored over old photographs with the goal of producing a collection of photographs and captions that would present a general picture of Ossining over the past century.

      However, something happened that made the endeavor more than a clinical collection of data. We recalled our halcyon days of Americana as we knew them in Ossining. We realized that we are likely to be the last generation available to portray our town as it was in the middle of the 20th century, as some of the following photographs illustrate. We realized that if we did not share our pictures and memories, they were not likely to survive. Countless meetings and untold hours of remembering and reliving brought us great joy, which we present here now.

      One

      BROADWAY AND 42ND STREET

      The intersection of Main Street at Spring Street was practically one word: Mainandspring. Main Street began at the railroad tracks of the New York Central, just inland from the waterfront of the Hudson. For three blocks, it wound uphill, lined with houses but no businesses. For a block afterward, lower Main Street, packed with stores, stretched to Main and Spring Streets (the busiest spot in town) where, at some point, you met everyone you knew. A policeman who you knew stood at the intersection directing traffic, the bus stopped at Ankerson’s corner, and people criss-crossed from corner to corner all day long. As Main Street continued upward for another very long block, the sidewalks were always crowded with Ossiningites shopping in the somewhat limited area. There were, after all, no more than four blocks of this activity, three blocks of Main Street and little more than one block on Spring Street. But store after store lined these streets, and rarely was one ever unoccupied.

      A person could go to the store for a single item and take two hours to get home because everyone you knew was somewhere on the sidewalk, and it was a social affair to meet these friends. In the warm weather, awnings were rolled out over storefronts, and merchants sat outside in those days before air conditioning. As you passed each store, you shared greetings with the owners because everyone knew each other over many generations.

      The Victoria Theater, almost at the top of the hill before the Albany Post Road, was another Mecca where everyone’s paths crossed. Even from Croton, the next town to the north, people came to the Victoria. Every movie eventually had a showing there, since the fare changed two and three times a week. Every weeknight, the double feature began at seven. On weekends, shows were continuous all day, and (of course) the Saturday matinee included the current cliffhanging serial.

      With grocery stores, clothing stores, candy stores, drug stores, and jewelry stores, it was rare that what you wanted was not in one of the town’s stores. Sometimes you took the train in to Manhattan, but for the most part, all shopping was done on Main and Spring Streets (before the days of supermarkets and malls). Narrow storefronts were similar in width, usually with a display window on each side of a center entrance, and the interiors ran very deep. Hardwood floors often creaked. Two levels of apartments were usually above the stores, and their names were painted on wood or metal signs (Who knew what plastic was?).

      Clothiers and shoe stores supplied outfits as people grew from child to adult since merchants and customers lived their whole lives in Ossining.

      The varsity boys from Ossining High could be seen in their maroon cardigans with the white stripes on the sleeve, designating their years on the team. Pretty cheerleaders wore their short maroon skirts with the white lining. Everybody sported saddle shoes or white bucks.

      It was the war years, when women wore lipstick, rouge, and knee-length dresses, and blouses with padded shoulders were in style. Hair was worn in a pompadour, and no one used eye makeup or hair spray. Men wore fedoras, while women wore hats with veils. It was rare that someone in high school had a car because you walked to most places, and when you did not, you usually took a bus.

      Main Street was Times Square, and the thoroughfare was peopled by the entire town. The Citizen Register, the local daily paper, had a regular feature known as Town Talk, which kept you up to date on who was going where on vacation, who was having a birthday party (and who attended), and who was in the hospital on Spring Street.

      Although the town had a few restaurants, people did not eat out the way they do today. Soda fountains did okay, though. Cherry Cokes at Kipp’s were a nickel, hot dogs were a dime, and everyone enjoyed hot chocolate at Ankerson’s. Food was not frozen, and whipped cream was real. Main and Spring Streets each had a pool hall, and there was a bowling alley farther down Spring Street (over the Grand Union). There was even a roller skating rink at one time. Beyond these things, entertainment was self-made.

      Everyone rooted for the high school’s football team, known as the Indians. The recreation center, near the movies, was a popular spot for the non-school sponsored games and meeting friends. Abelon, the one music store in town, sold 78s for 52 ¢ (there was no tax back then) in a tan paper sleeve. The records were sold as singles with RCA Victor, Columbia, Decca, Bluebird, and Capitol labels. You played them so many times, the black turned gray, and the sound became scratchy (Who knew it could get better? Who even knew the word television? Not even Martin Block on the Make Believe Ballroom.). But those songs of the war years are memorable still. As busy as our Times Square was, the saying in those days went, "They rolled up the

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