Time Remembered from the Star Ledger

The photo to the right is from one of the last batches of bagels from Sonny Amster's in Millburn on July 7th.

At least one person, usually more, calls in an order every day and before they hang up, they want to share some memories of days gone by. Two yesterday come to mind, and both were born in Newark, as I was, as most of the people I talk to were. I send them to look at Old Newark talk, a place where distant memories come alive. Although I grew up in Maplewood, it does seem that most of the customers that call in, no matter what town they grew up in, almost all started life within the confines of the City of Newark. (I want to hear from some other cities; who was born in New Brunswick, Cape May County, or Paterson?)

My grandparents started life in the German, Polish, and Italian neigborhoods of what became known as downtown Newark just after the turn of the century. Richard Wiesner of California called last week and we talked about the places he remembered as a teenager in Weequahic. Tom Moseby left Jersey in 1968 and asked me if I've ever heard of Rut's Hut or Jimmy Buffs. Yes, I'm a diehard fan of the latter.

You can't call a Jersey food company without recollecting our favorite foods from childhood; pastrami, White Castle Burgers, Russian or Jewish Rye bread, and of course, Taylor Ham. This morning's Star Ledger has this article about the sad passing of an era with the closing of Sonny Amster's and Tabatchnick's in Millburn Mall. One of my daughter's ran down the day before they closed and signed me up for the mailing list, and she also bought me what I hope is not my last batch of Sonny's bagels and schmear.

The good news is, we'll still be able to find Sonny's bagels, decscendents of the Original Watson's Bagels of Newark, and if Seymour Tabatchnick has his way, being 85 years old won't stop him from opening a new shop elsewhere.

Time remembered
Millburn Mall takes a pass on age-old Jewish establishments
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
BY JOSH LEVINE
For the Star-Ledger
Once upon a time not too long ago, the streets of Newark were awash in pickled herring, Nova lox, pastrami, half-sour pickles. They brimmed with over-sized loaves of peasant rye bread, bagels and fresh pastries.

Well, practically. In the 1930s and for 30 years after, Newark's Weequahic section served as a cultural hub for more than 70,000 Jews who migrated from Eastern Europe and brought their tastes with them, prompting a collection delis and bakeries to meet their food demands. (End Star Ledger Quote)