Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards
General Category => Hackensack History => Topic started by: Editor on July 01, 2004, 03:06:32 PM
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Note: Two prior topics were merged to form this one.
(http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/packards2.jpg)
We're working on a project to exhibit some old photographs at City Hall. We found these in the basement:
Holy Trinity (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/trinity.jpg)
Fire Truck (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/firetruck.jpg)
Temple Avenue (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/Temple.jpg)
Sears & Roebuck (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/Sears.jpg)
Packards (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/packards2.jpg)
Stay tuned for more images.
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Nice Pics ;D
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I really enjoyed those pictures! I remember Sears when it had nice display windows, until some idiot got the idea to cement them in! I don't remember as far back as the awnings, but they add a classy touch!
As for my church, Holy Trinity it looks the same from the outside, but it used to be majestic inside. Now it's, I believe the word is. minimalist! (in my opinion, tasteless!}
I used to live on the same block as Packard's when I was a kid, and I have some terriffic memories of playing on the escalator, till we got told not to do that. I remeber going all the way back on the 2nd floor and there was a post office there, where I think the stamps were 3 cents! I'm really dating myself now! The very best part of packards was the 3rd floor toy department. They always had a viewfinder at the counter that you could look into--- I thought that was magic! At Christmas time they had a great train set up, and Santa would give you a toy and a lollipop! My friend and I used to go sit on his lap, and then come back later after he was finished "feeding the reindeer!" We thought we were so clever, but I don't think we fooled anyone!
Once when I was about 4 or 5, they had Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob, and Clarabelle(honk, honk) the Clown set up outside on a stage near the rr track. My mom made me go up and sing "Yankee Doodle"--- I was so shy, I thought I was going to die, but I managed to make it throught the whole song. I still blush when I think of that!
The other thing I loved about Packard's was The Print Room. when I was in kindergarden at Fairmount School and my dad was on the election board, he would always take me to lunch there for my favorite meal-- a hamburgerand a coke! I felt like I was an only child, for just a little while.
One year they had a coloring contest there. I was about 6 and my youngest sister,3 so I entered for her. Well, the joke was on me! She won a pair of roller skates with the key and I won a lesser prize, a box of colored pencils! In the winter, the plows at Packard's always plowed all the snow up to the back of the B&W and all along that wall. That was back when we had a lot of snow and I remember sliding down those snow hills and even building igloos in them.
That's enough nostalgia for one night, but I sure do miss Packard's, my big playhouse!
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The picture of the fire engine is a 1938 Ahrens Fox which is now owned by the Maywood Fire Department.
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I'll be uploading more images from City Hall soon. I'll place them in the message boards for a while and then move them to the Historical Images page where you can find 100+ images of historic Hackensack.
Click for more Historical Images. (http://www.hackensacknow.com/historyimage.html)
I really appreciate everyone's comments.
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More pictures I found at City Hall. I wish they had exact dates. Does anyone know?
Fire Station Central (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/firestationcentral.jpg)
Fire Station Main (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/firestationmain.jpg)
Hackensack Hospital (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/hackhosp.jpg)
YMCA (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/ymca.jpg)
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Kathleen when i read your reply on packards i started to laugh, ahhh the escalator, so i see you to got into trouble riding that thing too huh i think they yelled at everyone..lol lol....just the smell of the place, the sawdust, the barbershop, green stamps, hair salon, well that was later on, i even ended up working there for awhile...I believe Mr Newman was my boss not really sure anymore it was so long ago, it was great. I loved the hamburgers at the printroom as well, and of course i loved going into the garden where they sold all the flowers...great places in Hackensack we just don't appreciate it until its no longer there, how about B&W bakery....the best pecan ring and crumb cake...oh gosh i hear you on missing all the great places, nothing seems the same anymore....oh well..........life goes on.
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Kathlene,
I grew up on Emerald street and used to collect bottles to take back to Packards for a refund (2 cents for small bottles, 5 cents for large bottles).The biggest excitment in the late 1940s was the arrival of the Freedom Train which parked in Packards lot for one day and carried the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. There is an internet site that lists where the train was on every day of it's travels. As a 12-year-old I made money packing grocery bags at Packards and carrying them out to cars for tips. I made out famously. Labor laws were a little lax in those days. As an adult I marveled that, with the oil-soaked wooden floors in Packards that it never burned down!
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Freedom Train: http://www.freedomtrain.org/ft_timeline.html (http://www.freedomtrain.org/ft_timeline.html)
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This is the image that Commerce Bank chose for a mural at their new branch on River Street. The images is a street scene: State Street, near Banta Place. Circa 1890. It's a colorized photograph.
Click here to see the image. (http://www.hackensacknow.org/images/Hackfeed.jpg)
The image is provided courtesy of the Bergen County Historical Society (http://www.bergencountyhistory.org/)
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Al, awesme pics, they all have meaning...worked at packards, and sears, went to holy trinity....love that fire dept...thanks pal
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I remember Santa and his sleigh all lit up and strung between the Packard's towers. I could see it every year from my street - Cumberland Ave - in Teaneck (yeah, I lived in Teaneck - sue me).
Does anyone remember a small, open-air trampoline park on the Packard's lot near the tracks circa 1960? I think you paid by the half-hour of usage.
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There was one on Temple Ave next to the cleaners where the newer building stands. I remember it in the summer of 1962.
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I remember the Santa lights between the towers. They were there for years. I lived within biking distance of Packards (yes, Virginia, kids used to bike everywhere) in the 40s and early 50s. My first job for "real money" (tips) was carrying out groceries from Packards to cars in the parking lot. Wheeled baskets were not used outside the store then. I was only 11 but saved over $50 one summer. Packards put an end to this "free" child labor when one of the bag boys was cut on a broken glass in the wine store part of Packards.
My fondest memory of Packards was when the Freedom Train was parked in the Packards lot on October 24th, 1948, bringing the Declaration of Independance and Bill of Rights to Hackensack (http://www.freedomtrain.org/ft_timeline.html). We were given time off from school to tour the train.
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Packards in it's final days. Courtesy of Bob Leafe.
(http://www.hackensacknow.com/images/Packards1.jpg)
(http://www.hackensacknow.com/images/Packards2.jpg)
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Thank you, Barry, for the info on the Freedom Train. I remember it being in Hackensack but was too young to know what it was all about. I wanted my mom to take me on the "white train" & wondered why I never saw it again.
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https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/hackensack/2021/02/08/nj-history-packard-bamberger-closed-30-years-ago/4408535001/
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My mother worked at Packards. I remember going there often. Mr Packards chauffeur (Lacey?) used to put me on his shoulders and walk me around. One of my mother’s friends was in charge of the clothing section upstairs. The rest of her friends were cashiers up front.
I remember the snack area where you could get a hot dog on a poppy seed bun with neon green relish.
There was a liquor dept near the front on the left side (if you were looking from the outside).
They also used to sell child-sized loaves of bread. My mother worked in that little cashier booth near the meat dept. I loved that place. Mr Packard was really ahead of his time.
My memories are from approx 1951/52 till approx 1956/57. I was very little but still have these memories. 😊
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I was wondering if anyone knew if the concrete/stone panels at the entrances to Packards were saved when the building was torn down. They were beautiful and I hope that they were preserved somewhere. Does anyone remember them?
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Sorry, I'm just seeing that this picture was waiting for post approval. My bad.