Pork Roll, Egg, and Cheese, Please

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Cover to the Taylor Pork Roll cookbook
Taylor Pork Roll — SNCLY TX749.5.H35T39 1940

By Tara Maharjan

Do you call it “Taylor Ham” or “pork roll?”  Either way, today would be the birthday of John Taylor, the man who created John Taylor’s Pork Roll [formerly known as Taylor Ham].  To make things easier we will be calling it “pork roll” because the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 forced Taylor to change the name, “Taylor Ham,” because it did not fit the new definition of ham by the Food and Drug Administration. He changed it to “Taylor’s Pork Roll,” however many people in North Jersey continued to call it by the original name, while South Jersey slowly transitioned to simply calling it pork roll, leaving those in Central Jersey using both terms.

Beyond creating the NJ diner staple, John Taylor was a businessman, member of Trenton City Council, and was elected to the New Jersey State Senate for Mercer County.

Today make sure to celebrate the day with a pork roll, egg and cheese, or maybe one of these pork roll recipes.

Taylor Pork Roll Recipes for Baked Stuffed Tomatoes and Pork Roll and Macaroni

New Jersey and Banned Books

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By Tara Maharjan

Each year the American Library Association celebrates Banned Books Week the last week of September.  This weeklong celebration focuses on banned and challenged books.  What defines a banned or a challenged book?  A banned book is one that has been removed from the shelves completely.  Books that have been challenged are an attempt by a person or group to remove or restrict materials to protect others.  Books have been challenged for being considered “sexually explicit,” for having “offensive language,” or for being “unsuited to any age group.”

This week, we celebrate New Jersey authors who have had material banned or challenged.

Title page for "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark."

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz.  This series of children’s books based on folklore and urban legend is on the American Library Association’s list of most challenged series of books from 1990–1999 and is listed as the seventh most challenged from 2000–2009 for violence.  Schwartz lived in Princeton at the time of his death in 1992.

Covers of Judy Blume's "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" and "Tiger Eyes."

Tiger Eyes and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret both by Judy Blume.  Tiger Eyes was challenged for its depiction of violence, alcoholism, and discussion of suicide.  Whereas, Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret was challenged for sexual references and alleged anti-Christian sentiment.  Blume was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  As an added fun fact, she serves on the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Cover of Allen Ginsberg's "Howl"

 

Howl by Allen Ginsberg.  The poem was part of a 1957 obscenity trial for the topics of illegal drugs and sexual practices.  A California State Superior Court ruled that the poem was of “social importance,” and dismissed the case.  Ginsberg was born in Newark and grew up in Paterson.

1855 title page for "Leaves of Grass."

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.  This poetry collection was considered obscene upon its release in 1855.  We are sorry to say that libraries refused to buy the book, and the poem was legally banned in Boston in the 1880s and informally banned elsewhere.  Whitman spent the later years of his life until his 1892 death in Camden.

Greetings from New Brunswick, New Jersey to the Boss on His Birthday

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"The Scarlet Letter," v. 103, 1977. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University, 1977.
All images: The Scarlet Letter, v. 103, 1977. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University, 1977.

By Christie Lutz

We’re the New Jersey Collection, so it would be unthinkable not to  acknowledge Bruce Springsteen’s 66th birthday today. We’re featuring  a selection of images from his October 12, 1976 Rutgers show at The Barn, aka the College Avenue Gym, where Springsteen and the E Street Band played to a crowd of nearly 3000.

"The Scarlet Letter," v. 103, 1977. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University, 1977.

"The Scarlet Letter," v. 103, 1977. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University, 1977.

The Sinclair NJ Collection holds dozens of published materials on Springsteen including biographies, pictorials, and readings of his music and lyrics. We also have works of fiction inspired by Springsteen songs,  a number of guides to the musical history of Asbury Park and Springsteen’s Jersey Shore stomping grounds, and the fan magazine Backstreet. Most recently, we added Springsteen’s picture book for children, Outlaw Pete.

Interested in knowing where to find Greasy Lake, pondering a comparative study of Springsteen and Walker Percy, or contemplating a photo of Springsteen pulled over by a Holmdel Township, NJ police officer? Below are some curator’s picks of books separate from the major biographies by Dave Marsh and Peter Ames Carlin and Springsteen’s own Songs.  All of the Sinclair NJ Collection’s Bruce Springsteen holdings can be found with a quick search of the Rutgers University Library catalog.

Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey: A Look at the Local Scene by Chuck Yopp, 1983.

Greetings from E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band by Robert Santelli, 2006.

A Place to Stand : A Guide to Bruce Springsteen’s Sense of Place by Bob Crane, 1997.

Reading the Boss: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Works of Bruce Springsteen edited by Roxane Hard and Irwin Howard Streight, 2010.

Springsteen: Saint in the City: 1949-1974 by Craig Statham, 2013.

Streets of Fire : Bruce Springsteen in Photographs and Lyrics, 1977-1979 by Eric Meola, 2012.

 

 

 

August 2015

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Bilby, Joseph., Madden, James M. and Ziegler, Harry F. On This Day in New Jersey History. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2015.

Burlakoff, Nikolai. The World of Russian Borsch: Explorations of Memory, People, History, Cookbooks & Recipes.  Ossining, NY: Aelita Press, 2013.

Constitution and By-Laws of the Harlingen Vigilant Association, Harlingen, NJ. Harlingen, NJ: n.p., 1906.

Curran, Christee. Rediscovering Raritan Landing: Buried Treasure of Raritan Landing. New Brunswick, NJ: Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission, 2014.

Dedicatory Services at Monument Unveiling: 23rd Regiment, NJ Volunteers: Salem Church, VA, May 3, 1907. Philadelphia: E.A. Wright, 1907.

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Bridgegate

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By Christie Lutz

As we mark the second anniversary of “some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” we take a look at the magisterial George Washington Bridge during an earlier, more innocent time.

Images below from George Washington Bridge Over the Hudson River at New York: built and owned by the Port of New York Authority, fabrication and erection of towers and floor by McClintic-Marshall Corporation. Bethlehem, Pa. : McClintic-Marshall Corp., 1932. (Sinclair New Jersey Rare Books Collection)

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While the towers, floor and girders were fabricated by McClintic-Marshall, a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel, the bridge’s cables were made by Trenton’s John A. Roebling’s Sons.  Special Collections holds the  Roebling Family Papers and related collections. The Sinclair New Jersey Collection includes numerous books on the Roebling family and business as well as company catalogs and brochures.

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43rd Annual Gathering of the Friends of the Modern School

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Saturday, September 19, 2015

Rutgers University Brower Commons, Rooms A and B

12:00-4:00pm

The Modern School, located in Piscataway, NJ, was a liberal and progressive school. Influenced by modern educational theorists such as Friedrich Froebel, the founder of Kindergarten and the anarchist Francisco Ferrer, who established a modern school in Barcelona in 1901, the modern school’s pedagogy focused on individual needs and free thinking. As the centerpiece of the alternative Ferrer Colony in Piscataway, the Modern School made a significant contribution to the interpretation and implementation of progressive educational ideals.

Please join us for discussions on the history of anarchism and education in practice in New Jersey.

Luncheon Buffet (with a fee of $20) at Noon*

Program begins at 1pm. Each lecture will be followed by a short q & a session.

Francisco Ferrer: The Anarchist Behind the Modern School. Mark Bray, PhD. Candidate in Modern and European History, Rutgers University.

Sasha and Emma: The Anarchist Odyssey of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman. Karen Avrich,    writer and editor, daughter of anarchist historian Paul Avrich.

The Stelton Colony: A Personal Appreciation, a film by Robert Rosen, former Dean, UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television.

*Those who do not wish to pay for lunch may attend the lectures for free, beginning at 12:45.

For more information, contact

Fernanda Perrone: hperrone@rci.rutgers.edu or 848.932.6154.

So long, summer…

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Chalfonte

By Christie Lutz

While it’s the beginning of the blog, it’s the end of summer. In New Jersey the shift to autumn means we start to vacate our beaches and boardwalks. Summer itself is ephemeral—so before Labor Day arrives, take a long, last look at just a few items of our ephemera that capture long-ago summers spent down the shore.

 

Asbury Park Pennant [GB Banners]Postcard -- Wildwood by the Sea -- Playland by Night

Postcard -- Manasquan -- On the Sands

Souvenir of Atlantic City Cover [SNCLY F144.A8S68 1900z]

 

July 2015

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Charlton, Lloyd and Terry. Boonton, USA: Stories of a Small Town. n.p.: n.p., 2010.

Horner, Albert D. Pinelands: New Jersey’s Suburban Wilderness. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2015.

Merriam, Eve. The Nixon Poems. New York: Atheneum, 1970.

Modica, Glenn R. Cadwalader Heights: The History of an Olmsted Neighborhood, Trenton, New Jersey. n.p.: n.p., 2009.

Snedeker, Clifton, ed. Progress: The Monthly Publication of the Three Middlesex County Vocational schools and Continuation Schools. Vol. 8, no. 4. New Brunswick, NJ: n.p., February, 1924.

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