Well, that was a gut-churning description ... can't imagine the squalor of living in Blissville early on. I'm glad the wonton factory has things smelling better. Some of those fortunes, hahaha! Great pics, especially of that church. And the ghost story ... love it. What a great post!
Thanks for writing this. I grew up in Blissville in the 80's and 90's. Lived right on Bradley Ave. Believe it or not, the sense of neighborhood was alive and strong there. Our moms would hang out in their lawn chairs on the corner in front of moe's deli smoking their Marlboro reds and gossip. While we kids played manhunt in the factory yards and Calvary after dark. The wonton factory always gave us huge bags for free. We would sneak a peak in the door of the titty bar on green point avenue, and swim in a friends pool. Yep there was even a pool in one of the back yards. I see that it was a dirty gross place from its inception. I HATED the idea of living there at the time and was angry a lot at my parents for not doing better. I guess I really hated that we were so poor. Looking back now and thinking about it, we really made the best of it, and I have lots of unique memories growing up in Blissville.
For the most part this was not an easy read though definitely interesting. Having spent a lot of time in cemeteries between genealogy research and just finding them a good place to stop for lunch and a stroll when on a road trip, I liked learning a bit about Calvary Cemetery. Wow, the largest cemetery in the country with over 3 million interments! And right near the top of the famous people buried here was listed Tony Bennett along with other members of his family.
Thanks Katie! Calvary is a fascinating place. I didn't go to far into it since its often considered part of Maspeth but its one of the more interesting cemeteries in the city and definitely, to my mind, the most visually arresting.
Excellent newsletter as always. Not sure if it's proper Blissville, but did Haddad's take down the big posters saying "WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND EVERYONE IS ON THE LOOKOUT"?
Also, great Simpson's clip, but I was also reminded of Troy McClure's promotion for the instructional how-to "Dig Your Own Grave and Save!".
I have nothing to add about Blissville but I do live right by 55 Hester. It’s now an art gallery/newish apt building/ and what I believe is a Chinatown advocacy org.
Thanks Travis. Yeah I was disappointed to see that the old storefront was gone but I guess housing,art, and advocacy beats poisonous milk distribution any day.
"...subtracted themselves from the locality...". The New York papers had some really fancy-talking reporters in the old days.
With elephants being turned into soap and cows being milked to death to make milk that killed babies, the animal rights people would be extremely indignant if they came into Blissville back then.
Thanks for writing this. I grew up in Blissville in the 80's and 90's. Lived right on Bradley Ave. Believe it or not, the sense of neighborhood was alive and strong there. Our moms would hang out in their lawn chairs on the corner in front of moe's deli smoking their Marlboro reds and gossip. While we kids played manhunt in the factory yards and Calvary after dark. The wonton factory always gave us huge bags for free. We would sneak a peak in the door of the titty bar on green point avenue, and swim in a friends pool. Yep there was even a pool in one of the back yards. I see that it was a dirty gross place from its inception. I HATED the idea of living there at the time and was angry a lot at my parents for not doing better. I guess I really hated that we were so poor. Looking back now and thinking about it, we really made the best of it, and I have lots of unique memories growing up in Blissville.
Thanks for writing this. I grew up in Blissville in the 80's and 90's. Lived right on Bradley Ave. Believe it or not, the sense of neighborhood was alive and strong there. Our moms would hang out in their lawn chairs on the corner in front of moe's deli smoking their Marlboro reds and gossip. While we kids played manhunt in the factory yards and Calvary after dark. The wonton factory always gave us huge bags for free. We would sneak a peak in the door of the titty bar on green point avenue, and swim in a friends pool. Yep there was even a pool in one of the back yards. I see that it was a dirty gross place from its inception. I HATED the idea of living there at the time and was angry a lot at my parents for not doing better. I guess I really hated that we were so poor. Looking back now and thinking about it, we really made the best of it, and I have lots of unique memories growing up in Blissville.
Well, that was a gut-churning description ... can't imagine the squalor of living in Blissville early on. I'm glad the wonton factory has things smelling better. Some of those fortunes, hahaha! Great pics, especially of that church. And the ghost story ... love it. What a great post!
Yeah, and I left out some of the grosser bits. Fortune cookies are definitely an improvement over glue factories! Thanks John!
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 🥠🥠🥠🥠🥠
Wow for that pine tree.
Thanks for writing this. I grew up in Blissville in the 80's and 90's. Lived right on Bradley Ave. Believe it or not, the sense of neighborhood was alive and strong there. Our moms would hang out in their lawn chairs on the corner in front of moe's deli smoking their Marlboro reds and gossip. While we kids played manhunt in the factory yards and Calvary after dark. The wonton factory always gave us huge bags for free. We would sneak a peak in the door of the titty bar on green point avenue, and swim in a friends pool. Yep there was even a pool in one of the back yards. I see that it was a dirty gross place from its inception. I HATED the idea of living there at the time and was angry a lot at my parents for not doing better. I guess I really hated that we were so poor. Looking back now and thinking about it, we really made the best of it, and I have lots of unique memories growing up in Blissville.
This post leaves unanswered an obvious question: Does Van Iderstine & Co. still operate in New Jersey? And if so, where?
I also have a much less obvious question: Where can I get some pachyderm soap?
https://loveleesoaps.com/products/elephant-soap-bar
For the most part this was not an easy read though definitely interesting. Having spent a lot of time in cemeteries between genealogy research and just finding them a good place to stop for lunch and a stroll when on a road trip, I liked learning a bit about Calvary Cemetery. Wow, the largest cemetery in the country with over 3 million interments! And right near the top of the famous people buried here was listed Tony Bennett along with other members of his family.
Thanks Katie! Calvary is a fascinating place. I didn't go to far into it since its often considered part of Maspeth but its one of the more interesting cemeteries in the city and definitely, to my mind, the most visually arresting.
Excellent newsletter as always. Not sure if it's proper Blissville, but did Haddad's take down the big posters saying "WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND EVERYONE IS ON THE LOOKOUT"?
Also, great Simpson's clip, but I was also reminded of Troy McClure's promotion for the instructional how-to "Dig Your Own Grave and Save!".
There really is a Simpsons reference for everything!
I didn’t know about those posters but when I looked them up I found a band called Peg who has a record by the same name that’s described as “an ominous gesture at the flea market. The Janitor's secret 'jazz' band. Music to drift through a CGI dog food factory.” I’m sold. https://norentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/we-know-who-you-are-and-everyone-is-on-the-lookout-nrr171
I think the train tracks-bridge stop-sign photo is one of my favorites ever. So beautiful!
And wish I could interview Rollins Johnson!
Thank you! I wish you could interview Rollins too! Nothing like committing to the bit
PS I do NOT approve of Wonton Factory’s 2.0 fortunes.
You only say that because you didn’t get the winning Powerball numbers
Another great one.
I have nothing to add about Blissville but I do live right by 55 Hester. It’s now an art gallery/newish apt building/ and what I believe is a Chinatown advocacy org.
Thanks Travis. Yeah I was disappointed to see that the old storefront was gone but I guess housing,art, and advocacy beats poisonous milk distribution any day.
"...subtracted themselves from the locality...". The New York papers had some really fancy-talking reporters in the old days.
With elephants being turned into soap and cows being milked to death to make milk that killed babies, the animal rights people would be extremely indignant if they came into Blissville back then.
And who would blame them! Though, to be fair, it was Bill who killed Hilda, not the soap factory - they just recycled her.
Thanks for writing this. I grew up in Blissville in the 80's and 90's. Lived right on Bradley Ave. Believe it or not, the sense of neighborhood was alive and strong there. Our moms would hang out in their lawn chairs on the corner in front of moe's deli smoking their Marlboro reds and gossip. While we kids played manhunt in the factory yards and Calvary after dark. The wonton factory always gave us huge bags for free. We would sneak a peak in the door of the titty bar on green point avenue, and swim in a friends pool. Yep there was even a pool in one of the back yards. I see that it was a dirty gross place from its inception. I HATED the idea of living there at the time and was angry a lot at my parents for not doing better. I guess I really hated that we were so poor. Looking back now and thinking about it, we really made the best of it, and I have lots of unique memories growing up in Blissville.
Thanks for writing this. I grew up in Blissville in the 80's and 90's. Lived right on Bradley Ave. Believe it or not, the sense of neighborhood was alive and strong there. Our moms would hang out in their lawn chairs on the corner in front of moe's deli smoking their Marlboro reds and gossip. While we kids played manhunt in the factory yards and Calvary after dark. The wonton factory always gave us huge bags for free. We would sneak a peak in the door of the titty bar on green point avenue, and swim in a friends pool. Yep there was even a pool in one of the back yards. I see that it was a dirty gross place from its inception. I HATED the idea of living there at the time and was angry a lot at my parents for not doing better. I guess I really hated that we were so poor. Looking back now and thinking about it, we really made the best of it, and I have lots of unique memories growing up in Blissville.