“We Just Played”: Childhood in Montclair, 1930s–1960s
Before scheduled playdates, organized leagues, and screen time, childhood in Montclair was defined by freedom, imagination, and neighborhood connections. In this episode of Montclair Stories, drawing from oral histories collected by the Montclair History Center, local residents reflect on how they played from the 1930s through the early 1960s. Their memories paint a vivid picture of a town alive with children making their own fun—usually outdoors— from morning until the streetlights came on.
Here are a few quotes from the episode – we encourage you to click the link at the end of this piece to hear all the stories!
Play Began with Family
Brenda Smith Williams described her grandmother’s house, bursting with cousins, as the center of daily life. Children filled their days with games like hide‑and‑seek and kick the can. “We just played,” she said.
For many, play started with siblings and cousins. Dr. Anthony Cagiano Jr., who was almost always with his cousins, remembered that games were informal and rules were made on the fly. “There was no Little League… it was eeny meeny miney mo to decide…was he safe or was he out,” he recalled.
Neighborhoods Full of Kids
Barbara Williams remembered Montague Place—known locally as Irish Hill—as teeming with kids. “We counted 60 kids in this little two‑block area,” she said. With so many children around, play was constant and largely self‑regulated.
Gray Russell notes, “I'm a baby boomer, so there were kids, kids, kids everywhere.” His stomping ground included Brookdale Park where he and his friends “were the kings of the jungle there.”
Parks, Playgrounds, and Independence
Town parks and playgrounds loom large in the memories, and many interviewees emphasized how much independence they enjoyed going to-and-from these centers of activity.
The townwide playground competitions – particularly the boat regatta at Edgemont Memorial Park, when playgrounds competed against each other with kids sailing the tiny boats they’d made themselves‑-was mentioned many, many times.
Roger Terry remembered “I could not WAIT until school was over to go to the park. There were maybe 100, 200 kids there sometime…and your parents didn’t have to worry about where you were.”
Donato DiGeronimo also recalled Montclair’s summer programs as fun, unstructured, parent-free zones. “You could go to almost every playground in Montclair. They hired teachers to run the playground. You could just come there anytime you wanted. There were games and things to do all day long. It was the best thing ever.”
Vincent Tango noted how accessible Montclair’s recreational activities of the 1950s were for children of all means. He said that Montclair “…had everything for kids. My family was relatively poor… I was able to do everything the rich kids did.”
Ron Owns lived in an apartment above the Upper Montclair business district shops where his parents worked. He said, “We were like the city kids…we didn’t have yards or lawns to play in at all. We’d go to Anderson Park.” There, he said, kids of all means played together.
Organized Play: Scouts, the Y, Sleep-away Camp
While much play was informal, churches, scouting, and community organizations also played an important role.
Jackie Pitts spoke fondly of church trips and Girl Scout camp in Stokes State Forest.
Linda Stark described scouting as “a major part of my life…it WAS my childhood really,” including an extended Girl Scout trip to Europe in 1956.
Alonzo “Lonnie” Brandon, who later became Montclair’s long-time Director of Parks and Recreation, remembered the Washington Street YMCA as “a community CENTER,” where he learned to swim, went to day camp, and played sports during the segregated 1950s.
Jay Schweppe was adamant that he “hated summer camp,” but knowing how much his parents sacrificed to send him to a premier sleepaway camp, he wrote letters home stating otherwise!
Seasons of Play
The rhythm of play shifted with the seasons.
Connie du Hamel who grew up Glen Road near the Montclair/Verona border, vividly recalled nighttime winter sledding adventures at the nearby golf club. She said, “Winter in Montclair was fun!”
Recounting her typical late-summer travel with her mother and grandmother to large hotels in Maine, she shared with a laugh, “Have you ever read Eloise? Well, that’s the way I felt!”
Joanna Weinstock remembers seeking cool options for hot summer days because “none of us had air conditioners or swimming pools.”
In addition to escaping to the basement of Mt. Hebron School, where she attended summer recreation programs, Joanna also, “…spent a lot of time at the Bellevue Branch of the library…I loved it…because you could bring home stacks of books.”
On a sweltering summer day, William McElroy was grateful for the friendly firefighters at the former Walnut Street firehouse. “The firehouse was a godsend to us on a ]hot] day…they would take the hose… and we would all run through it.”
In the winter, ice skating at Edgemont Pond was a cherished memory mentioned by many who were interviewed in the oral history series. Barbara Williams described skating as “the most wonderful thing… it was so much fun.” She even still remembered “the smell of the wet woolen gloves and scarves” when she entered the boathouse to warm up and get a cup of hot chocolate!
Nathaniel Johnson Jr. who lived near Carey’s Woods and Nishuane Park, summed it up: “Summertime, we played baseball. Fall, we played football. Wintertime, we rode our sleds down the hill.”
The stories captured in these oral histories paint a picture of free-range childhoods where kids “rode bikes, played baseball, went to camp, got bored, got creative, and got into mischief, ” defining an era of play in Montclair from the 1930s through the early 1960s.
This blog is an edited summary of an episode of the Montclair History Center’s oral history series, prepared for Radio Free Montclair. Listen to the episode by hitting play below Or, read the full transcript of the episode online here.
Stay tuned for more radio episodes (and blogs) based on our oral history series!
To explore more oral histories from the Montclair History Center, which were recorded in 2018 to commemorate Montclair’s 150th anniversary, visit online here.