The other day I found myself wandering around at the bottom
of a rabbit hole of my own doing (I suppose all internet rabbit hole journeys are
self-assigned…). I was working on my latest project for Winterthur when I
stumbled upon an alphanumeric phone number, that is, a number old enough that
it begins with letters instead of numerals. Does anyone remember them?
I was at once reminded that the earliest of our family phone numbers I can remember as a kid in Hopewell, NJ also began with letters. But since I couldn’t remember the specific number, I decided to try and find it online. A few libraries in NJ have old telephone directories for Hopewell, including from the early 1960s when (1) phone numbers began with letters and (b) we lived in Hopewell (and would be in the book), but they are only available in print in the libraries. No help there.
I decided to check out the copious resources available on the website of the Hopewell Valley History Project. I sorted their digital collection by date and looked in the vicinity of 1960. I didn’t find a phone directory, but I did find a resource that gave me the answer! It was a 52-page book celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Hopewell Fire Department.
My father was a member of the fire department in those years and I remember having this publication in our house up on the hill. I loved leafing through it when I was a kid looking at the pictures of the fire trucks.
Anyway, I searched the document using my last name as the search term and BINGO! My dad and his business partner Sal Taormina had taken out an advertisement for Xpanders, their home improvement contracting business – WITH phone numbers. You can see our number in the advertisement.
That's right, our number was HO 6-0502, short for HOpewell 6-0502. Here's another Xpanders relic, a sticker Dad and Sal had made to advertise the business.
This is the first time in at least 55 years that I've looked through this book, what else can I find?
For one thing, I was reminded that Dad participated in preparations for the 50th
anniversary as a member of the Decorations and Stands Construction
Committee. Makes sense.
I also found a photo that reminded me that one year I rode in the Hopewell Memorial Day parade in the front passenger seat of this fire truck:
This photo is from the bottom of page 13 (the document itself has no page numbers – look on p. 13 of the PDF) – a late 1940s (probably 1947 or 1948) American LaFrance pumper. The parade must have been prior to 1966, because the parade route we followed while I was riding shot gun in this swanky fire truck was the one that snaked through town when the American Legion hall was still on Mercer Street. (If I recall correctly, this route went past all the cemeteries in town.) When the Legion moved to Van Dyke Road, the parade route was basically a straight shot up Broad Street from east to west and out to Van Dyke Road before ending at the Legion Hall.
I also recall being a little leery about being a passenger in a big fire truck being driven by a man who, while in reality was probably in his 60s or early 70s, seemed to the very young me at the time to be about 150 years old. I recall coming down off the railroad bridge on Greenwood Ave past Jimmy Hall's and hoping he would be able to get us all the way to the end of the parade. Spoiler Alert: We made it just fine.
I wonder what photos of the Hopewell Memorial Day parade I might find on the Hopewell Valley History Project? Although none of me in the fire truck nor of me marching with my Cub Scout Pack dressed as a minuteman, but I did find this one:
And this brings me back to Xpanders, in a way. But first, older Hopewellians will know where this photo was taken. The same place I described above when I was in the old fire truck and wondered about the potential of the driver to make it to the end of the parade route. The airplane is about to bank to the right and fly down Model Avenue.
Anyway, the workshop for Xpanders was located in one of the barns on my grandparents’ farm, adjacent to our property (the house on the hill). I don't recall what civic group this float represented in the parade, but Dad was a member of the Jaycees, so perhaps it was them. At any rate, this airplane was built in the Xpanders shop in my grandparents barn. I don't know who helped him build it, but I'm confident it was a group effort and that Black Label beer was involved (his preferred brand before discovering Gablingers). I recall the fuselage before the fabric was stretched over it and I remember having fun sitting in the cockpit. I also have vague memories that after this parade, the plane came back to the shop where it festered and fermented before being consumed by age and neglect. But I may have this wrong.
I'm not sure if that's Dad driving the Wheel Horse tractor or if it was even our tractor, but we did have one, several actually. This photo is a little older and the tractor has different rear tires. But notice the Black Label can in the lower left.
And with that, I'll climb out of this rabbit hole and get on with the day. If you have questions, give me a call - HO 6-0502, that's HOpewell 6-0502. I'll pick up.
Until next time...
