Although I have very little memory of the "Chatterbox House," I do remember the Chatterbox - a local young people's "hangout" which I think was a soda shop. We rented the house across the street from it for a couple years. It might have been around 9th and Asbury Sts.
I remember how Aunt Mae and Aunt Ruth would always sniff the air as we got to the causeway, and, with great enthusiasm, remark, "Smell that salt air!!!!!" It was always exciting to me as a youngster to hear those words (and I still think of them today when I get near the ocean and "smell that salt air"), it meant we were getting near our destination and lots of fun. In past years the trip to the shore was very long - especially to a little kid who couldn't wait to get to the ocean!
I guess it was the summer when I was six we stayed in a house across from the railroad tracks. In addition to the through trains, there was a train yard. Uncle Ed would take me to go with him to walk Blackie and I would be oh so frightened, I just knew we were going to get run over by a train. No matter how much Uncle Ed reassured me, I still wasn't convinced and was always scared. Not Blackie, though, he thought this walk was the very best place to be.
One of the days we were staying in this house, it was lunchtime. People were sitting at the dining room table eating, others were in the kitchen getting their lunch. Someone had plopped me up on the radiator and I was eating a peanut butter sandwich. Suddenly there was a terrible loud boom. I jumped down from the radiator, and along with everyone else ran outside to see what had happened. The house catty-cornered to us had propane gas and the gas had built up. What we heard was the explosion when the side of the house blew off. It was like looking into a doll house - we could see the wallpaper on the walls, the furniture neatly arranged in each room, the items in the kitchen and bathroom. The side wall had just exploded out and was laying in the side yard, mostly in one piece! Fortunately (?) no one was home when it happened so no one was hurt, but it sure had the neighborhood abuzz.
I also remember movies at the Strand at 9th on the Boardwalk; the wonderful fresh squeezed orange juice at the stand at the next street from the movie house; the machines in the window of the store that made salt water taffy; and how much Aunt Mae and Aunt Ruth loved going into the auction house. Don't know if they ever bought anything, but they sure derived a lot of pleasure just from attending the auctions. We would sit on the boardwalk across from the music pier. When the concerts were free, we would sometimes go inside; if they were not free we would sit outside and listen to the music for free. Without air conditioning, the windows had to be kept open and the doors on the pier itself so the sound filtered out quite nicely.
Eventually, Ocean City became out of the price range and we moved down to Sea Isle to the house across from the convent. At that time (and maybe still - it's been a very long time since I've been to Sea Isle - you all would no more about this than I do) the nuns would get up at daybreak and in their long, black bathing suits, go to take a dip in the ocean and scurry back before anyone saw them. I was always of the opinion they were there on a sort of retreat - they had some rest and relaxation while they were there and came from other parts of the state and from Pennsylvania. Don't know if that was true. They would have long pants on and then a knee length dress with high neck and long sleeves over the pants, a white bathing cap and black rubber shoes all of which they wore into the ocean for their morning ritual. I remember waking early and looking out the window to watch them.
When my mom and I stayed at the Sea Isle house, we had one of the bedrooms in the attic and Aunt Mae and Uncle Dan had the other attic bedroom. Your Uncles Ed and Larry each had a cot in the large landing area at the top of the steps that led to the attic. Aunt Ruth and Uncle Ed took a room in the house next door - Uncle Ed's sister Irene and her husband Bob owned the house and rented out rooms. They also had an apartment in the lower level that Aunt Ruth and Uncle Ed's two boys would rent with their wives and kids. I remember Walt Day bringing his boat with him and taking others out fishing in the bay. Dinner that night would likely consist of their catch of the day. And fried tomatoes - no one could cook fried tomatoes like Aunt Mae and Aunt Ruth! And corn on the cob, maybe fresh picked green beans, potato salad, makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
I remember the day the washing machine overflowed, suds everywhere and the machine "walked" itself across the kitchen floor. What a mess!
Irene and Bob Pickering lived just down the street from Aunt Ruth and Uncle Ed (in Philadelphia) and they used to rent out rooms to Philly baseball players who didn't have family in town. I guess I might have met one or two of them, maybe they were even famous, but I don't remember who they were :(
I remember my mother sitting under the boardwalk in Ocean City all bundled up with towels wrapped around her because she burned from the sun and the sun's reflection on the sand and water. Yet, when she was younger she used to sit out under the umbrella. Maybe she just got burnt one time too many.
It was all good times, I do remember that much and I do miss it all.
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