ONE SQUARE MILE OF MEMORIES...

THE YEARS 1930 - 1939… As the 1930's began to arrive so too did the future members of the Class of 1950 began arriving. Some in private homes. Some in the new Zurbrugg Hospital. Yet others in surrounding communities, such as Palmyra (our arch enemy.) Some as far away as Philadelphia. The large metropolitan city on the other side of the Delaware River. A place that we rarely got to visit. Our lives were pretty much limited to that special one square mile we knew as Riverside. And no question about it we were more than content with that arrangement. Riverside was like countless other towns across the country that was devastated by the Great Depression. Small towns to major cities and every size community in between were suffering through the Great Depression. Unemployment was in the 33 percent range. Compare that with a five percent unemployment rate at the turn of twenty-first century. Millions and millions of men were out of work. “Bread lines” were everywhere. We were poor, but so was everyone. We did not feel deprived or short changed. We were healthy, had a roof over our head, and food to eat. We were going to school and playing ball, shooting marbles, flying kites, and skipping rope. Life was good to us kids. Of course, we had no idea the strain and stress our parents were suffering under. You did not hear them complain, although they must have at some point. We all have pleasant memories of growing up in this special little town. Many of the ways of life from those days are long gone from the American scene. One that comes to mind is about doctors and how they treated us when we were kids. The doctor in our town, D r. R. I Downes made house calls. In those days the doctor came to the house, treated you, and in most cases gave you the medicine that you needed. All of this for a few dollars, if you had it. Riverside was located about ten miles from center city Philadelphia. Located on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. It might as well have been on another planet. We rarely got to travel to the “Big City.” Christmas would be one of those occasions. To get there usually meant taking the Public Service bus, #9, that carried you along River Road and over what was then called the Delaware River Bridge (now the Ben Franklin) and on to Market Street. All the major department stores lined Market Street from 6th street up to City Hall. Lit Brothers, Gimbels, Strawbridge and Clothier, and of course Wanamakers with its famous eagle where everyone met - “meet you under the Eagle.” This time frame was the heart of the Great Depression and times were hard. Prospects for the future did not look good. Riverside was definitely a blue collar community. The people were hard working and disdained the very thought of government handouts. The thought of welfare or charity was not a concept that they could embrace. That was about to change. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as president in 1932. He would remain president until his death in 1945. With his election the face of the federal government changed forever. Prior to Roosevelt the federal government was some distant place that had little day to day involvement with the average citizen. The United States Postal System was about the only agency familiar to most Americans. When we reflect on our early years we think of a wholesome and happy time, long before Little League and all of the formalized activities of today. Certainly there was no such thing as a “Soccer Mom” or driving kids to gymnastics or ballet. Sometimes, in a reflective mood, I think kids and grandchildren of today have missed a special time. They will never know about making their own kite from yesterday's newspaper. Indeed, they will not know the thrill of flying a kite, homemade or store bought. Compared to the excitement of todays' thrilling computer games flying a kite would certainly be boring. They will never wander down to the “corner” and just hang out until a couple other kids show up to talk, shoot marbles, or argue about what to do next, who is the best big league player, or who is the “best good guy” in the cowboy movies. All of this has passed on by. The structure of activities and the mood of the country could not let that happen today. I won't say that today is wrong, but certainly different.