***Frankie’s North Adamsville Fourth
of July-1950s Style
From The Pen Of Peter Paul Markin
Frankie, Frankie Riley, couldn’t
quite remember exactly when he heard his first Fourth of July fire-cracker, or
seen and heard his first fireworks for that matter. He got it all mixed and
confused together with his recollections of two-bit carnival times, which also
included, at least sometimes, setting off fire-crackers or fireworks displays.
But it must have been early, very early, in his life at a time when he, and his
mother and father and two brothers, two brothers just then, would visit his
grandparents’ house on the Fourth. And the beauty of where those grandparents
lived was that it was a bee-line directly across the street from Welcome Young
Field on Sagamore Street. Sagamore Street of now blessed memory.
One thing Frankie was sure of though
as he thought about Sagamore Street days was that he was going to need help in
relating the details of what happened because, frankly, he was confused and
mixed up about more than just when he first saw and heard fire-crackers and
fireworks displays. But for just this moment he was going to fly on his own.
And while depending on his own memories, such as they were, he also knew, knew,
flat-out what he wasn’t going to be talking about. Nix, to the tattoo of
marching drums, some yankee doodle threesome all bed-sheet patched up from
wounds suffered at the hands of the bloody British but still carrying, carrying
proudly, the brand new American flag all aflutter, and tattooing that beat up
drum and playing the fife to kingdom come. That was standard fare at these
Fourth celebrations but that battered patriot thing was not his Fourth,
although he had to admit it might have been somebody’s.
No also to an overblown description
of some Hatch Shell Fourth, streams of humanity stretched out as far as the eye
could see along the Charles River, sweating in the July suns, searching for
cool, for water, for shade against the madness and waiting, patiently or
impatiently as the case may have been, for the night cools, and the big boom
symphony Overture of 1812 finale. Again, frankly, that was not his
thing, although he knew just by the numbers that it was certainly somebody
else’s. And while he was at it he would not go on and on about the too quickly
over fireworks displays the directly succeeded that big boom overture. All of
that, collectively, was too much noise, sweat, heat, swelter, and just plain
crowdedness for what he wanted to remember about the Fourth. Instead he wanted
to lower the temperature a little, lower the noise more, and lessen the
logistics, the picnic basket, cooler, blankets, umbrellas, child’s toys
logistics, and return to those Sagamore streets of his 1950s youth when Welcome
Young Field in North Adamsville’s Atlantic section (why it was called that
particular name he never really did get except Sagamore Street Grandma Riley
always called it one-horse Atlantic so it had to mean something) was the center
of the universe, and if not, it should have been.
Frankie knew that, probably like in many
neighborhoods in the old days, every year in late June the local older guys,
mainly guys from the Dublin Grille and some scattered fathers, including Joseph
Riley, Senior, Frankie's father and denizen of the Dublin Grille, would put
together a kitty, collecting contributions and seeking donations from local
merchants to put together a little “time” for the kids on the 4th of July. Now
this Dublin Grille was the favored watering hole (and maybe the only one close
enough to be able to “drop in for glass” and also be able to walk home
afterwards when that glass turned into glasses) for all the working class
fathers in the neighborhood. And nothing but a regular hang-out for all the
legions of single Irish guys who were still living at home with dear, sweet
mother. Said mother who fed (and fed on time), clothed, darned socks, holy
socks worn out from hard living on the Welcome Young softball field, and
whatnot for her son (or, more rarely, sons) who was too afraid of woman, or a
woman’s scorn at late night Dublin Grille antics, to move out into the great
big world. But come late June they, the fathers and occasional older brothers,
were kings among men as they strong-armed neighbors and merchants alike for
dough and goods.
What Frankie was not clear on (and
he is looking for help here) was the details of the organization of this
extravaganza, how the money was gathered, what merchant provided what goods,
where did the lads get the various Fourth fixings. However he could surely
speak to the results. As these things go it was pretty straight forward, you
know; foot races of varying lengths for various age groups, baby contests,
beauty contests, some sort of parade, pony rides and so forth. But that is only
the frame. Here is the real story of the day. Here is what any self-respecting
kid lived and died for that day.
Tonic (you know, soda, pop) and ice
cream. And not just one tonic or one ice cream but as much as you could hoard.
Twice during the day (Frankie thought maybe about 10:00AM and 1:00PM) there
would be what one can only describe as a free-for-all as everybody scrambled to
get as many bottles of tonic (you know, soda) and cups of ice cream as they
could handle. Here is the secret to the success that Frankie’s older brothers,
Timmy and Tommy, and he had in grabbing much more than their fair share of the
bounty. Go back to that part about where Grandma and Grandpa lived. Yah, right
on the corner of Welcome Young Field on Sagamore Street. So, the trio would
sprint with one load of goods over to their house and then go back for more
until they had filled up the back-door refrigerator.
Just thinking about it now Frankie
thought, “Boy that was work, as we panted away, bottles clanking in our
pockets, ice cream cups clutched in every hand.” But then, work completed, they
could savor their one tonic (read: soda) and one ice cream cup that they showed
for public consumption just like the nice boys and girls. There were other
sounds of the day like the cheering for your friends in the foot races, or
other contests, the panting and the hee-haws of the ponies. As the sun went
down it went down to the strains of some local pick-up band of the era in the
tennis court as the dancing started. But that was adult time. Our time was to
think about our day's work, our hoard and the next day's tonic and ice cream.
Ah....
Frankie’s call for remembrance help
was heeded. Below is the traffic, mostly unedited, giving other information
about those Atlantic Fourth of July celebrations.
Richard Mackey:
Frankie it was, like you said,
organized by the guys at the Dublin Grille, guys like my father and yours, and
my older brother, Jimmy, in his thirties at the time, who, as you also said,
was afraid to go out in the world and lived at home forever with dear, sweet
mother (and she was sweet, too sweet). He never married, never missed a
softball game, never had a dirty, un-sewed sock, or missed a free glass of beer
(Pabst Blue Ribbon, if you remember that brand). Jimmy and his buddies, his
softball buddies, did a lot of the leg work when he was younger and then they
kind of took over the show as the older guys, like my father and yours, had too
much to do or something and handed it over to them.
They had a truck, maybe rented or
maybe from one of the grocery stores, with a loud speaker that would go up and
down the streets and had some of the older kid (15 or 16 years old ) going door
to door for donations. I don’t know about the strong-arming part, but maybe.
Probably not the neighborhood families so much as the merchants. Remember those
were hard-nosed corner boys days and Jimmy was a serious corner boy when things
got tight. I know Jimmy used to “set up” his buddies a lot during that
collecting time and he never worked all that much.
The day [Fourth of July] started at
around 8:00 am and ended with the talent show in the tennis court. I think Mr.
Burke won every year that I can remember for his "crazy legs dancing.” Joe
Gill, who worked at Estrella’s Market on Newbury Ave, was part of the group
that set the whole celebration up. He was a friend of Jimmy’s as well so maybe
that is where they got the tonic and ice cream from. The last one I remember
was around 1975, because I had my oldest son there.
Frankie Riley:
That Joe Gill Richard Mackey
mentioned lived, with his dear sweet Irish-brogued mother, forever, never
married, never missed a softball game, never had a dirty, un-sewed sock, and
never missed a free beer (Knickerbocker, if you remember that brand) directly
across the street from my grandparents, Daniel and Anna Riley, on Sagamore
Street. That house is the place where we stashed our loot (the tonic and ice
cream). Joe, when he worked for Estrella's, would also take my grandfather,
disabled from a stroke and a retired North Adamsville fireman, riding around
with him when he delivered orders. My grandfather was a, to be kind, difficult
man to deal with so Joe must have had some charm.
Sticky Fingers McGee:
The earliest recollection I have of
the July 4th festivities at Young Field was when I returned to Atlantic in July
1945, when I was six, after being away for a couple years. I seem to remember
that they had foot races and other activities. I remember running one of the
races which was close between me and another kid, Spider Jones. They declared
Spider the winner, but I threw a fit. Nothing big, just a little shoving, no
fists or anything like that. It was just a race, okay. I still think that I won
that race and if they had had proper equipment like a camera for photo finishes
at the finish line I could have proved that I won. After writing that last
thing I guess I still haven’t yet learned to take a loss gracefully but like I
said the camera would not have lied.
Later, in the 50's maybe, I remember
hearing a girl who sang like Theresa "Tessie" Brewer at the Young
Field tennis courts. I think somebody said she was the sister of one Joseph
“Babe” Baldwin (Class of 1958) who later became one of North's best all-round
athletes. That's all I remember of the Atlantic 4th celebrations, and I'm not
totally sure of the accuracy of those memories. The years continue to cloud
some memories.
Frank Riley:
Sticky, glad to see you haven’t
mellowed with age, at least according to fellow class-mate Jimmy Callahan.
Jimmy says hello and to tell you that Spider Jones had you by a mile in that
race. He was right at the finish line when you exploded. (He says you did punch
Spider, by the way). As for the forget memories part we all know that
well-traveled path. Although your memory for some flea-bitten thirty-yard dash
for some crumb-bum dollar prize gives me pause on that one.
Irene Devlin:
Hi
Back in the 50's the first 9 1/2
years of my life was on the top floor of a three-decker on Sagamore St., and
Welcome Young was where we spent every day. We all waited for the Fourth. Richard
[Mackey]is right about the truck. My grandfather, George Kelley, and my uncles
would ride on the back of the flatbed truck going up and down the streets
playing their musical instruments while others collected donations. We would
throw change to the people collecting. On the big day we would line up early in
the morning with our costumes on. Buddy Dunne and Elliot Thompson had a lot to
do with getting everything together along with a lot of the guys from the
Dublin Grille. On our way down Sagamore Street from Newbury Ave heading to
Welcome Young everyone would get a shiny quarter for marching. I do remember
going to Harry’s Variety Store (later owned by my Uncle Harry Kelley) for free
ice cream and "tonic."
The rest of the day would be filled
with games and shows, and yes the tennis court would be converted to a stage
for the day and night activities. Richard, didn't you live on the second floor
of the Parker's Sagamore Street house?
