My brother Mike worked at Cartun’s all during his senior year of high school and up until he left for the Navy. Home Depot has nothing on Cartun’s, that place had everything!
Looking at the sign…does anybody know what “Congo Wall” would be? Must’ve beena big seller to get its own marquee. Cartun’s had everything you could need. I went back there a few years ago (okay, maybe 15 years ago) when I needed a gasket for my grandmothers Presto Pressure Cooker (which is where my mom always bought hers) and they had two left. I bought them both. Try getting that at Home Depot.
Bob, Congo Wall is Congoleum… that laminate paneling they use to use in bathrooms and kitchens in the 40’s and 50’s. Wonder if they still sell the stuff, or have some in a back room? I always liked the look, kind of retro. Should have checked Cartun’s out last year when I was redoing the bath.
Not sure,but way back there were floor coverings made of linoleum.
Before they had individual tiles.
Old timers called it “oil cloth” because it was made from liseed oil.
You bough a large piece off a roll ,like carpet,then cut it to fit the room using a hooked knife.
Later the stuff became new & improved …more flexable,wore more evenly.
That I believe was called Congoleum. ,may have been the mfrg. name.
So ,perhaps the later made wall voverings too.
Just guessing,not sure,but there was a product called Congoleum.
Cartun’s was a serious hardware store. I remember my Dad asking for some strange wiget or part and the clerk would go off and magically reappear with the item. It seemed they had everything.
There was another rather large hardware store in East Camden, on Westfield ave, between 34th and 36th, named Reese and Wilden. As a little kid (9 to 12 yrs) my buddies and I would shop there for fishing line, lures etc. The owner and clerks it seemed “assumed” that we were shoplifting and that was not the case. I never liked being in that place and it turned out that the store closed a few years later. I don’t think the management at R & W was very progressive. I sure they blamed their failure on those East Camden kids that were stealing fishing lures. lol
Wow…thats strange,back in my day Wilden”s was great. We went there for kites,cap guns & caps,balsa wood airplanes,and those balls you threw high in the air & they opened up & a parachute came out,remember those?
The owner was very nice back in the early 50’s.
Had a friend ,Victor Wasker who worked at Cartuns part time.
I got out of the Army in 1964,and everyone I knew except for 3 guys had either married or moved away. Anyway about 3 years later 67 or 68,I was walking down Westfield & bumped into Victor.
He got a strange look on his face ,and sort of jumped back.
Skeeter,he said…I said yes,how you been Vic…Skeeter he said,again I said yes,Skeeter.
Then he said,But you…your dead!
I said What?
He said ,yes we were told you were killed in Vietnam.
I said Wow,well that explains why no one has called…LOL.
I got out in 64 & The Big Red One,my outfit, didn’t go to Nam until Sept. of 65.
i used to go to reese and wildens all the time. they were great people. they had a german short hair dog and a spaniel of some kind in the store all the time..we got our xmas trees there every year. do you remember george the barber on the same block? and the hallmark store on the corner?
I don’t remember George, the barber, but I do remember Charlie, the barber. He worked in the shop in the block between 34th & 36th Sts., on Westfield Avenue. He lived in Verdi’s appts. on 34th St. directly across from Davis School. I thought it was so sweet that every Saturday he had the florist deliver roses to his wife Julie.
What about Al’s Meat Market? Right near the barber shop. He lived in the last house before Weatfield Avenue, on 34th St. He used to cut the meat on a huge butcher block.
Peg I was just thinking wasn’t the Barber shop on westfield ave right at 34th street ” Henry’s Barber Shop ” ? I am old and confused I know as Mr. Brown was so willing to point out about me, sad as that was, but I had many a cut from Henry there in the early to mid 60’s.
Yes, it was Henry’s Barber Shop. I can remember when the shop was in the middle of the block, same side, between 34th & 36th Sts. It moved to the spot you mentioned, probably in the early 50’s. There was another shop that opened on the opposite side of the street in the middle between 34th & 36th Sts. I just remember the barber was a slightly built man with black curly hair and a thin mustache. Old regulars to Henry’s were a bit put out that the “upstart” opened the shop so close.
Before Irv Cartun moved from his original location across Federal, the present building was occupied by two small competing markets. In the ’30’s and early ’40’s, the entrance closest to 36th (refer to the photo at the top of page) opened into an A&P Store. The next entrance opened into an American Store. (American Stores eventually turned into ACME stores)
Re barbers: My barber from my early teens until I left Camden in ‘69 was Jim Manifesta, a very pleasant, good natured Italian man. His shop was in the north side of Federal between 35th and 36th.
I think that Gulf station was at the corner of 36th & Westfield. Is that right? If so, that spot had a big Victorian home on it which was moved to Cramer St. across from Davis. This would have been late 40’s or early 50’s. It was exciting to watch them move that house. All the kids for miles around were gawking. I seem to think it had been a funeral home when located on the original site on the corner of 36th & Westfield, but my memory may be fuzzy.
February 25, 2008 at 9:26 am
My brother Mike worked at Cartun’s all during his senior year of high school and up until he left for the Navy. Home Depot has nothing on Cartun’s, that place had everything!
March 14, 2008 at 8:17 am
Looking at the sign…does anybody know what “Congo Wall” would be? Must’ve beena big seller to get its own marquee. Cartun’s had everything you could need. I went back there a few years ago (okay, maybe 15 years ago) when I needed a gasket for my grandmothers Presto Pressure Cooker (which is where my mom always bought hers) and they had two left. I bought them both. Try getting that at Home Depot.
March 14, 2008 at 10:39 am
Bob, Congo Wall is Congoleum… that laminate paneling they use to use in bathrooms and kitchens in the 40’s and 50’s. Wonder if they still sell the stuff, or have some in a back room? I always liked the look, kind of retro. Should have checked Cartun’s out last year when I was redoing the bath.
March 16, 2008 at 4:50 pm
“Congo Wall”
Not sure,but way back there were floor coverings made of linoleum.
Before they had individual tiles.
Old timers called it “oil cloth” because it was made from liseed oil.
You bough a large piece off a roll ,like carpet,then cut it to fit the room using a hooked knife.
Later the stuff became new & improved …more flexable,wore more evenly.
That I believe was called Congoleum. ,may have been the mfrg. name.
So ,perhaps the later made wall voverings too.
Just guessing,not sure,but there was a product called Congoleum.
April 21, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Cartun’s was a serious hardware store. I remember my Dad asking for some strange wiget or part and the clerk would go off and magically reappear with the item. It seemed they had everything.
There was another rather large hardware store in East Camden, on Westfield ave, between 34th and 36th, named Reese and Wilden. As a little kid (9 to 12 yrs) my buddies and I would shop there for fishing line, lures etc. The owner and clerks it seemed “assumed” that we were shoplifting and that was not the case. I never liked being in that place and it turned out that the store closed a few years later. I don’t think the management at R & W was very progressive. I sure they blamed their failure on those East Camden kids that were stealing fishing lures. lol
May 14, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Wow…thats strange,back in my day Wilden”s was great. We went there for kites,cap guns & caps,balsa wood airplanes,and those balls you threw high in the air & they opened up & a parachute came out,remember those?
The owner was very nice back in the early 50’s.
Had a friend ,Victor Wasker who worked at Cartuns part time.
I got out of the Army in 1964,and everyone I knew except for 3 guys had either married or moved away. Anyway about 3 years later 67 or 68,I was walking down Westfield & bumped into Victor.
He got a strange look on his face ,and sort of jumped back.
Skeeter,he said…I said yes,how you been Vic…Skeeter he said,again I said yes,Skeeter.
Then he said,But you…your dead!
I said What?
He said ,yes we were told you were killed in Vietnam.
I said Wow,well that explains why no one has called…LOL.
I got out in 64 & The Big Red One,my outfit, didn’t go to Nam until Sept. of 65.
April 20, 2009 at 5:02 pm
i used to go to reese and wildens all the time. they were great people. they had a german short hair dog and a spaniel of some kind in the store all the time..we got our xmas trees there every year. do you remember george the barber on the same block? and the hallmark store on the corner?
April 22, 2009 at 10:55 am
Hi George,
I don’t remember George, the barber, but I do remember Charlie, the barber. He worked in the shop in the block between 34th & 36th Sts., on Westfield Avenue. He lived in Verdi’s appts. on 34th St. directly across from Davis School. I thought it was so sweet that every Saturday he had the florist deliver roses to his wife Julie.
What about Al’s Meat Market? Right near the barber shop. He lived in the last house before Weatfield Avenue, on 34th St. He used to cut the meat on a huge butcher block.
August 7, 2009 at 10:44 am
Peg I was just thinking wasn’t the Barber shop on westfield ave right at 34th street ” Henry’s Barber Shop ” ? I am old and confused I know as Mr. Brown was so willing to point out about me, sad as that was, but I had many a cut from Henry there in the early to mid 60’s.
August 7, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Ken Barr,
Yes, it was Henry’s Barber Shop. I can remember when the shop was in the middle of the block, same side, between 34th & 36th Sts. It moved to the spot you mentioned, probably in the early 50’s. There was another shop that opened on the opposite side of the street in the middle between 34th & 36th Sts. I just remember the barber was a slightly built man with black curly hair and a thin mustache. Old regulars to Henry’s were a bit put out that the “upstart” opened the shop so close.
August 8, 2009 at 12:28 am
WAS THAT THE ONE IN THE BUILDING RIGHT NEXT TO JOE WINTERS GULF STATION I BARELY REMEMBER THAT BEING A B-SHOP AT ONE TIME
August 8, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Before Irv Cartun moved from his original location across Federal, the present building was occupied by two small competing markets. In the ’30’s and early ’40’s, the entrance closest to 36th (refer to the photo at the top of page) opened into an A&P Store. The next entrance opened into an American Store. (American Stores eventually turned into ACME stores)
Re barbers: My barber from my early teens until I left Camden in ‘69 was Jim Manifesta, a very pleasant, good natured Italian man. His shop was in the north side of Federal between 35th and 36th.
August 9, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Ken Barr,
I think that Gulf station was at the corner of 36th & Westfield. Is that right? If so, that spot had a big Victorian home on it which was moved to Cramer St. across from Davis. This would have been late 40’s or early 50’s. It was exciting to watch them move that house. All the kids for miles around were gawking. I seem to think it had been a funeral home when located on the original site on the corner of 36th & Westfield, but my memory may be fuzzy.
August 9, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Before my time Ms DeBoard but sounds awesome