NJ History – Page 3

Summer on the Shore

April 28, 2016October 13, 2016 Christie Lutz

By Catherine Babikian

The Jersey shore is known for beaches and boardwalks, but what’s for dinner?

Cover, Leland's Ocean Hotel menu, 1880s. — Cover, Leland’s Ocean Hotel menu, 1880s. Sinclair New Jersey Restaurant Menu Collection.

At the turn of the century, wealthy vacationers enjoyed elegant meals at oceanfront hotels. Guests at Lelands’ Ocean Hotel in Long Branch could choose from beef ribs, lobster, and halibut for dinner, and peach pie, chocolate eclairs, and tutti frutti ice cream for dessert.

010 — Leland’s Ocean Hotel wine list. Sinclair New Jersey Restaurant Menu Collection.

In Atlantic City, guests at the famous Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel sat down for afternoon tea, then tucked into roast goose with apple sauce for dinner. Camembert cheese and pineapple pie finished off the meal.

Marlborough Blenheim Hotel, 1931. Sinclair New Jersey Restaurant Menu Collection.

But fancy hotels weren’t the only places to get a good dinner. In the 1960s, Taborn’s Restaurant in Asbury Park served up fried shrimp, scallops, clams, and oysters, along with a wide variety of ice cream sodas, milkshakes, and fresh parfaits for a sweet finish. The lunch menu included grilled frankfurters and blueberry griddle cakes.

Taborn's Restaurant, 1960s. Sinclair New Jersey Restaurant Collection. — Taborn’s Restaurant, 1960s. Sinclair New Jersey Restaurant Menu Collection.

Looking for more shore delicacies? The new Sinclair New Jersey Restaurant Menu collection contains these menus and many more– down the shore and around the state.

Hungry in the Hub City

March 10, 2016October 12, 2016 Christie Lutz

By Catherine Babikian

When it comes to eating, Rutgers students have always had plenty of options, from pubs and taverns to diners and ice cream parlors. Today, we’ve dug into our archives to get a glimpse of what Rutgers students in the 1980s had to eat.

Shelly’s Ice Cream on Easton Avenue served sandwiches, subs, and most importantly, ice cream sundaes and milkshakes. Students really craving ice cream could order the “Heavy Chevy”: four scoops of ice cream, two sundae toppings, whipped cream, nuts, and sprinkles!

012 — Shelley’s Ice Cream, 1980s. Sinclair NJ Restaurant Menu Collection.

And students looking for Sunday brunch only needed to look to Stuff Yer Face for egg, bacon, or mushroom stromboli–or perhaps a frittata?

017 — Stuff Yer Face, 1980s. Sinclair NJ Restaurant Menu Collection.

The Rusty Screw Tavern offered standard pub fare along with live music and film screenings. In 1984, the restaurant welcomed the Rutgers class of 1988 to campus with a free concert, featuring the new wave band The Resistorz.

016 — The Rusty Screw Tavern, 1984. Sinclair NJ Restaurant Menu Collection.

Later in the semester, students could stop by the Rusty Screw for a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show or The Big Chill.

New Brunswick Music Scene Archive Featured on NJTV

February 15, 2016October 12, 2016 Christie Lutz

By Christie Lutz

We’re thrilled to have appeared on NJTV News on Friday, February 12th. View the segment or read the transcript here.

The piece features some recent additions to the New Brunswick Music Scene Archive (NBMSA) and a bit of documentary footage of the Court Tavern by friend of the NBMSA Fritch Clark. The segment was filmed here in Special Collections and University Archives’ preservation lab and processing room–where the magic happens.

Snow in the City

January 20, 2016October 12, 2016 Christie Lutz

By Christie Lutz

With the first snowstorm of the season approaching, we reflect on the Great Blizzard of 1888, also known as the Great White Hurricane. The storm buried the East coast from Maryland to Maine as well as the Eastern provinces of Canada. The following images of New Brunswick during the storm are from our New Brunswick Views photograph collection.

George Street, looking north towards Albany Street.

Northwest corner of George and Bayard Streets, south of Church Street.

Julia Child Sampled Our New Jersey Cookbooks. Why Don’t You?

November 25, 2015March 23, 2023 Christie Lutz

By Tara Maharjan

When I started my Library Science program at Simmons College in Boston, I came across an opportunity to become a Cookbook Librarian at America’s Test Kitchen. The collection is comprised of over 4,000 books ranging from local cookbooks to The Modernist Cuisine. I held the position as a very well fed volunteer for two years. I loved my position but graduate school ended, cookbook librarians are rare, and my passion is archiving. I moved back to my home state of New Jersey and strung together part-time, and sometimes full-time, temporary archiving work until I became a full-time Processing Archivist in Special Collections and University Archives at Rutgers University.

The Sinclair Jerseyana Cookbook collection came to my attention: forty boxes of cookbooks that needed a finding aid. Finally my interest in cookbooks and my passion for archiving came together! The collection is made up of cookbooks from New Jersey towns, local churches, schools, and organizations, and companies that operated in the great Garden State. Every book is unique. Some have homemade covers, others are professionally bound; some focus on ethnic cuisine, while a few focus specifically on and promote products to be used. Two of my favorite cookbooks with homemade covers are this wood burned cover from the 1976 cookbook by The Christian Community Shrine of St. Joseph, entitled Our Community Cookbook,

and this screen-printed 1973 cookbook entitled Look Who’s Cookin’, by the Somerville Neighborhood Troop 12 from Rolling Hills Girl Scout Council.

Some cookbooks were for a cause.

(Muhlenberg Hospital Auxiliary. Cook Book. Plainfield, NJ: The Auxiliary, 1907.)

Other cookbooks were produced to promote products, such as the 1962 Fun-To-Do Party Book, by the Ballantine Beer Company from Newark, or the Gem Chopper Cook Book (seen below) from Flemington, 1902.

This collection is filled with so many wonderful and unique cookbooks, with dates ranging from 1902-2006, that you just need to check out the collection yourself. Julia Child did in 1992 when she came and received an honorary degree at Rutgers. More information about the collection can be found here.

Congregation Poile Zedek, New Brunswick

November 19, 2015October 12, 2016 Christie Lutz

By Ron Becker

We at Rutgers University Libraries were saddened when on October 23^rd, we learned that Congregation Poile Zedek suffered a terrible loss when fire ravaged their beautiful historic synagogue building damaging the structure and its contents including the loss of most of their sacred Torahs. Founded in 1901, Poile Zedek was part of a once thriving New Brunswick, NJ Jewish community centered in the downtown Hiram Market area. Poile Zedek was one of four synagogues in the neighborhood which included Ahavas Achim, Etz Ahaim, and Ohav Emeth. In their early years, each had a predominance of members who hailed from different parts of Europe. Poile Zedek was Polish, Ahavas Achim was Russian, Ohav Emeth was Hungarian, and Etz Ahaim was Sephardic (Spain and Portugal). The other three congregations are now centered in Highland Park where the majority of the New Brunswick Jewish community migrated. Ahvas Achim suffered a similar tragic fire and rebuilt in 1987 in Highland Park.

We at the Rutgers University Libraries extend our best wishes to the members of Poile Zedek in their desire to rebuild in the wake of this tragedy. One very small consolation is that they had the foresight to donate their congregational records to Special Collections and University Archives in 1987. Consisting of the Constitution, minutes of meetings, financial documents, building committee files and other memorabilia, the materials date from 1917. All the early records are in the Yiddish language. The public is invited to visit our repository to examine this material which is described in detail through the finding aid which can be accessed at

http://www2.scc.rutgers.edu/ead/manuscripts/poilezedekf.html

Hurricane Sandy Three Years On

October 29, 2015November 2, 2016 Christie Lutz

Sinclair New Jersey Broadsides Collection

By Christie Lutz

Three years ago today, Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on New Jersey, New York and the surrounding region. Since then, a plethora of books have been published that document Sandy’s impact, both physical and emotional. They include powerful photograph collections, meteorological explorations, children’s books, and works of fiction.

A number of these books feature the Jet Star, the Seaside Heights roller coaster that famously fell into the Atlantic when Sandy destroyed the Casino Pier, on their covers. The powerful image of the giant coaster sitting in the ocean became a symbol of Hurricane Sandy. The image is perhaps at its most poignant on the cover of Richard Ford’s collection of Frank Bascombe stories, entitled Let Me Be Frank With You, set in the months following the storm.

Below is a list of Hurricane Sandy-related books in the Sinclair New Jersey Collection.

Pork Roll, Egg, and Cheese, Please

October 6, 2015May 17, 2018 Christie Lutz

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.