One was a place called "Dolly's", which was south of us on New Hyde Park Road, just across from St. Anne's church. Now, the actual name of the place was never really known to us kids. We all just called it Dolly's, because in the window there was a neon sign which advertised Dolly Madison ice cream - to us, it was Dolly's. This store was much like the others we went to; on the right as you walked in, a big rack with newspapers, magazines, comic books, paperback books, maps, and other periodicals. On the left, the counter where you paid, also where the candy was displayed, and the cigars and cigarettes were kept behind the counter. Further into the store, on the right hand side, there was a section of greeting cards; on the left hand side, the soda fountain. And in the far back of the store, the toys, school supplies, and whatever else the owners could pack into the shelves and on the racks. Much of the stuff was seasonal, squirt guns in the spring, flip flops and cheap pool toys in the summer, extra stationery at back to school time, Christmas merchandise late in the year - well, you get the idea. Dolly's, however, was a little different from the other places, in that at the soda fountain, you could also get food. So this was more like what might be called a "luncheonette". Tuna sandwiches, grilled cheese, burgers, soup, the typical small joint menu. I don't think I ever actually ate anything at Dolly's, and honestly, I didn't frequent the soda fountain there very often. If my friends and I went there, it was because we were playing stickball at the church, or goofing around the local park, Edgemere park, and we wanted a bottle of soda. Dolly's changed hands many times over the years, I'm pretty sure it's gone now, transformed into a pizza joint, I think.
Candy store number two was up on Jericho Turnpike, just a block west of New Hyde Park Road. Within very easy walking distance, this one was owned by an elderly Jewish couple, named Kaufman, neither of whom seemed to have much tolerance, or patience for kids. In fact, they were so gruff and at times nasty (come on kid, pick what you want and get going), that the store was referred to by all the kids as "Crabby's", as in, what crabby people. Crabby's was just like Dolly's, but didn't serve food. And it was a lot smaller, the soda fountain had maybe four or five stools, where Dolly's had a good 8 or 10. I can't remember how old I was when it happened, but at some point, the soda fountain stopped working, and instead of getting it fixed, Crabby just started selling bottles of soda out of a styrofoam cooler filled with ice, so all you could get was Coke, Orange, etc. No more ice cream sodas, egg creams, etc. If I recall correctly, when the fountain broke, they also stopped carrying ice cream, so unless you were in the mood for a lukewarm bottle of soda, there wasn't any real reason to go to Crabby's for the fountain. So what did you go there for? Well, for one thing, they sold all kinds of those stupid kid toys we all loved; balsa wood gliders, cheap kites, squirt guns, soap bubbles, punks, and whatever silly fad toy was popular at the time. And, of course, you went there for the candy. Crabby's was the only one of the stores we regularly visited that had an actual penny candy case in addition to the usual candy bar racks. you could get all the great penny candy there, and most of it really WAS a penny! Mary Janes, Atomic Fire Balls, Shoe Button candy, Nik-L-Nips, wax rocket ships filled with sugary syrup, black and red licorice laces, jawbreakers, Bazooka AND Dubble Bubble gum, penny boxes of two Chiclets - they had it all, and lots more! And some of the stuff was LESS than a penny - you'd get two or three pieces of some candy for .1c! You could go in there with a quarter and go home with enough stuff to last through a full night of television! Unfortunately, the Kaufman's were pretty elderly, and when I was about 13 or so, the store closed, was vacant for many years, and eventually became a nail salon or something similar.
The store that was our 'go to' candy store was further down on Jericho Turnpike, right at Lakeville Road. It had an old green and white neon sign that said "Cigars", and, at one time, I think, had been a "United Cigar" store. By the time my friends and I started going there, it was owned by a family named Weinstein, so we just called it Weinstein's. Of the three stores we frequented, this was the biggest, and the best. It had a huge magazine/newspaper section, and always had the most, and newest, comic books. The candy counter was very large, and had the biggest selection of candy. The soda fountain was big, and always open, and although they didn't serve 'food', they did make great drinks and ice cream sundaes. The selection of cigars and cigarettes was large, and from what Mom and Dad said, their prices were good (both Mom and Dad smoked). Most of the kids from the neighborhood made Weinstein's their 'usual' candy store. And for me, who loved comic books, this was THE place!
After a few years of going there, the Weinsteins decided to sell the store. Rumor was they'd moved out east, somewhere near Rocky Point, and had bought a store out that way. So new owners took over the store, two brothers, Leo and Julius Smith. Talk about two brothers who couldn't have been more different, these were them. Leo, tall, balding, outgoing and funny, always with a joke, happy to see everyone who came in. Julius (Julie), short, heavy, black hair, a scowl on his face most of the time, a chewed, wet half cigar in his mouth, he seemed to resent people coming in to buy things. Odd combination. They changed the name of the store to "Smiling Stationery", but to us kids, we called it either Leo's, or "Q's". Q's, because Leo wouldn't say 'thank you' to customers he wasn't fond of; he'd say a shortened version, sort of a fu** you that just sounded like 'Q'. Look, I told you they were odd.
Through the years we kids hung around there constantly. Almost every night after dinner, my buddy Doug and I would walk up to the store to get the "Night Owl" edition of the NY Daily News. That edition always had the latest sports news, even in the dead of winter they'd have Yankees news and reports, and we were such diehard fans that we wanted to read as much as we could about our team. We got to know Leo and Julie pretty well, and always felt welcome in the store. Years passed, and when I graduated high school, and had no plans for college, I managed to get hired at the store. Talk about a hobby or interest turning into money! I worked there for about 3 years or so, it was fun, but also difficult, as some of the work was tedious and there were times when the store was slow that Leo or Julie would be especially nasty, giving you things to do that were just make work. I get it now, they were paying salary and didn't want you just sitting around, but at times, my goodness, there really wasn't much to do. As time went on, I got pretty good at merchandising the greeting cards, and doing window displays. In fact, the guys stopped paying the professional window trim guy they'd been using, and let me do the windows all by myself. I enjoyed it, they saved money, and the windows got updated more frequently. I learned a lot about cigars from working there, and to this day, I can tell a good one from a bad one, and I know how to tell mild from strong. But the best thing I learned was how to run the soda fountain. Both Leo and Julie had been in the business for a long time, and they really knew how to make milkshakes, sundaes, sodas, etc. And they passed their tricks on to me, and I got to be the 'fountain guy' during the day at the store. It was a lot of fun, making those treats, even just taking care of the Coke machine and pouring icy cold ones for the customers was fun. Heck, I even learned the proper way to mix up a Bromo Seltzer, using two glasses and 'tossing' it back and forth between them! And to this day, from time to time, I enjoy one of these:
I guess those shops are now part of our past, our rose colored memories that we carry forward through our lives. I'm afraid our kids, and now our grandkids, are missing out on so many cool things that were fun, harmless, simple, and part of our everyday lives. Life goes on, times change, hobbies and interests change, but I'd say not always for the better. And now, damn, I'm in the mood for an egg cream. See you next time!
