Yes, the Great Depression of the 30’s was a tough time but HG can only remember it with fondness. The family escaped the heat of summer by renting a tiny living space in a boarding house on B.114 Street, Rockaway Park. Rent was $60 for the summer season —end of the school term in June through Labor Day in September (though little HG liked school and was an excellent scholar, tears were shed when the time came to leave the sea and sand of the glorious Rockaway beach). The vacation apartment consisted of a bedroom where Mom and Dad slept; a foyer where HG’s late, beloved sister, Beulah slept; a kitchen where little HG slept between the dining table and ice box. Yes, there was an ice box (no refrigerator) containing a big block of ice delivered by a sturdy Italian. The ice melted into a basin and it was little HG’s job to empty that basin. When HG forgot and flooded the kitchen, HG was chastised. Toilet (communal) was in the outside hall. Showers were in the basement. One temperature: Icy cold. Primitive? Yes. But, the family was happy that it could afford a summer vacation place. Meals were jolly. Lots of sweet corn and ripe tomatoes (plus a meat or fish dish) washed down with cold beer. Little HG brought the beer in a tin “growler” from Reidy’s, the corner saloon. (When HG was a bit older, HG had an “Abie’s Irish Rose” romance with lovely Peggy, the proprietor’s daughter). As a special treat, HG was sent to Barney’s on nearby Rockaway Boulevard to pick up a container of superlative, hand made ice cream. Fleet HG ran both ways to make sure the frozen delight didn’t melt. Happy days at the “Proletarian Riviera.”
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