Seaside Heights | Filling in the Memories

What was...

Do you have a memory of Seaside Heights but are a little vague on some detail that you want to fill in? This is the place for these problems. It would also be great if you could fill in the blanks of details that other people were wondering about.

Here are a few "mysteries" that need solving.

 

Barnegat Cold Storage Building

The old large building was torn down to build Rainbow Rapids in 1977.......continued

 

Late 70's mid 80's Popular Bar

Many years ago (think 70s and early 80s) there was a bar on the seaside boardwalk that was THE place to be. The entrance to the bar was right on the boardwalk. It was set up like a club and usually had top-rank Jersey-based bands. Do you remember the name of the bar? I think it may have burned down. Thanks

A few folks have let us know in their comments below...The ChatterBox!

The Chatterbox Bar

Don't forget SAM THE BAND.

AND PLEASE DON'T FORGET "LOU

AND PLEASE DON'T FORGET "LOU CADDY AND THE PANICS"

LOU CADDY

TO BILL FERRO...YOU WOULDN'T BE BILL FERRIZANO IN REAL LIFE, WOULD YOU.

Lou Caddy & the Panics

Great Band played mostly at the Bamboo Club and Joey Harrisons. Beachcomber /Parrot the best.. Bill Ferrizano in real life did you know my cousin Alan Jakuboski (Clifton)?

Chatterbox

Shit ! Watching the boardwalk burning down, such great memories, Sam the Band, Trigger, Kinderhook. Nothing can take away those memories :-)

Yes, and Cowtown on Sunday

Yes, and Cowtown on Sunday nights!

sam the band

saw them many times either at chatterbox or baby'os. also saw the band Trigger at chatterbox, and Flossie. fantastic days back in the late seventies.

chatterbox

I WORKED AT THE CHATTERBOX FOR 9 YEARS AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE SOME OLD FRIENDS.I THINK IT'S A FANTASTIC IDEA COUNT ME IN.-----acapella53@yahoo.com

My Lou--my best friend and buddy I ever had in the 20 years I kn

I was the original straight man and lead singer and guitar player when Lou Caddy started to grow in popularity. I was the guy that sounded like Bud Abbott, slapped Lou around on stage, Remember, Luciano's, Copacabana, The Point After, Big Daddy's, Mountain lakes inn, Mothers, Wine and Roses, The Living room, thew Metropole in NYC, Art Stocks' Play pen lounge both North and South,on and on and on, I worked with Lou for 12 years. WE recorded together di many Jerry Lewis telethons had a # 20 record in Virgina, but of all the crazy times we had it was Lou's after hours shows that really were crazy, Zany wacko times, like in Diners, white castles and any place we decided to eat. I'd like to mention, Roger Lamar, Gene Taylor, Joe D'angelo,Pierre La Salle, Bobby the drummer from the pilgrams ( I forgot his last name. Johnny King, Bob Damone ( My brother and Lou's bass player and lead singer too. Billy Ferro,. What great guys they all were. Now that a lot have passed on, I pray that you all would be Born Again, saved by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ who died for each of our sins and rose again from the dead.Time is running out on us all. Just to say Hi to a few fans from then, Carol Ayres, Yvonne, all hundreds of more.

Ray Damone 239-910=3692 or e-mail me at renrico4@comcast.net

Re: Lou Caddy & Pierre La Salle,

I was wit the Knockouts (keyboards)working at Luciano's & the Parrot club
so Pierre La Salle (Fats Domino)was on drums
Re:Lou Caddy 1st saw him at "The Garden House" near the city of Kearny
he was a almost carbon copy of Bobby DE Andrea

then my partner & I recorder Lou Caddy n Miami at criteria recording studios ......one of the most belly laughs I ever had...I mean on the floor LOL
never new wht happened to him after dat cuz I moved to California is he still alive????

Bob

I was on the recording that

I was on the recording that we did in criteria studios in 1972I was his bass player and his funky lead singer.

I remember that session at

I remember that session at the studio,they built Lou up time he was the new Tom jones and when he did the 2 songs they had to feed him the lines ONE BY ONE , he could'nt remember shit. We did HIGH HIGH AND IT'S MY EGO I THINK THE SECOND SONG WAS WRITTEN BY I WAS THE DRUMMER and sang background IN LOU's group for 10 years

Reunion

I'm game. This post looks old but I used to bounce with the infamous Johnny D. Those were the good old days.

Long Time ago in a little town call seaside hts

I remember a young Jock named Johnny DJ. He was a radical white boy, with a great ear for spinning tunes, and better with the mic. I hope you and all of your fans are living the dream. this is the myth who created the monster that danced on top of speakers. I owe it all to you. God Bless.

TJ

Johnny D, Chatter Box, Club Hollywood,& Razzles

I did not do the prior post, but with respect to my old friend Johnny D (Duress), he was a great Jock. I learned a lot from him, but was jumping on speakers long before that. We had crazy times. Hope all of you from back then are living the dream... I miss the shore, and the crazy nights.

that would be very cool. lets

that would be very cool. lets go back to the 80s and 90s because those were the days..

Bar on the Boardwalk in Seaside Hgts

I think the bar you are remembering was called "The Chatterbox"....I could be mistaken...

Seaside Bar beachcomber

The Beachcomber Bar on the pier was owned by my Uncle Tony Berardi from the 60's through the 70's. It was actually on the pier at the boardwalk.

bars on the boardwalk in Seaside Heithgs

The only bars of any significance in Seaside Heights on the boardwalk were The Parrot Club...main band was the Knockouts who had the hit Darlin' Lorraine. My father took me inside to see them I was just a kid. That night the Knockouts opened for Jackie Wilson. I can still feel his energy.

The other bar on the boardwalk that was hot was yes you are correct The Chatterbox. It was located down the middle of the boardwalk on a corner but between Seaside Hts and Seaside Park.

The other significant bar was one that had a band with blue hair...that was their stick. The bar was called The Beachcomber.

All the best...those times are gone forever...1955 I was 7 and was still going down there till about 1970 or so. Gotta love it. All the best.

C.Lallo Jr

seaside heights clubs

My friend and I used to follow a group called "The Newtones" who performed at the club on the north end of the boardwalk. I think that it was "The Parrot Club" Any one else remember "The Newtones"?

Parrot Club

My uncle Robert Catucci ,chubby guy in the Knockout's.Pierre LaSall was his stage name. I was sung to on stage as a young child.Sweet Memories.

Pierre

Pierre was a great drummer, singer and comedian, I worked with him whan he was with Lou Caddy. I think Pierre worked with us for 4 to 6 years, we became good friends a log with his wife Jerry and of course the great Dane they had.. Then Pierre started working for Lance cookie company and we still worked together years later at seaside and weddings. He was such a wonderful guy. I miss him.
Ray Damone

I remember Pierre well

I remember Pierre well ......worked wit him on many gigs
he lived n Kearney & Tommy Scarcone was one of his best friends
there were some wired story's abt him of his dad like wanted to know wht would happen if while driving a car n drive mode then putting into reverse OMG dats off the wall speaking of walls someone n the family had painted all the walls n the bedroom BLACK didn't wanted any light 2 enter n hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm on the contrary I thinks dats a gud way to get great sleep...im going 2try it hehehehehehe

My uncle Robert Catucci ,chubby guy in the Knockout's.Pierre LaSall was his stage name. I was sung to on stage as a young child.Sweet Memories

Parrot Club

My father was a bartender at the Parrot Club in the 50's. Frankie Avalon played the trumpet there and he used to babysit me when my parents were working. He used to take me on the ferris wheel when I was about 2 years old.

If you really remember

If you're a true old timer, you will remember the "Parrot Club", "Beachcomber Bar" (how about Misty and the Greenmen" from the late 60"s) Walsh's became "Tex's" Gulf. (Henry). How about the giant wheel and the big slide between Sumner and Webster. Henry's arcade. "Guess your weight" at Lincoln Av. the Info booth at Dupont. Getting the Daily News on the Boards just after midnight. Watching the garbage trucks go out at midnight 7 days a week. Running thru the Mosquito Mist of Georges Dodge truck. Buying frozen bunker at the Ice House. Watching the guy in the green truck grinding ice for the food stands. I've got so much more. And I didn't even grow up in Seaside. What about the Sonic Blasters that took over the Boardwalk in the early 70's.

BARS

Remember Jack and Bills just south of Freemans, not a niteclub but a great meeting place for a cold one on a hot day.

Jack and Bills

Remember in the 60's you could always hear someone playing the Hammond B-3 when passing Jack and Bills ...

Jack and bills bar

I grew up going for two weeks in the summer to jack and bills to see my grandfather who owned the bar. Had great memories of my grandfather giving me and my sister $20 dollars to play the games and go anywhere on the boardwalk. Had so much fun, new all the concession stand people and often went to some bands playing there on the boardwalk. The drifters played under the boardwalk while enjoying them at the boardwalk. This was in 1960 thru 1968 my sister and I enjoyed the bar which my grandfather who's name was Clair kleinback. We stayed above the bar in a apartment which he and my grandma lived, lots of rides and games what a great summer for us the older two girls of 5 children from long branch, New Jersey. Great memories

Seaside boardwalk - Perry's Juke Box Wheel

Diane,

Hi I saw your post from last year and you mentioned that you knew all the people that worked the stands on the boardwalk in Seaside in the 60s. I just found a picture of my father and a friend standing behind the counter at one of the boardwalk "wheels", called Perry's Jukebox. This was the stand where you could win current albums. The wheel had all the names of singers from that decade, Louie Prima, Sinatra, tony Bennett, Jackie Wilson, etc. My dad ran the stand and I have been trying to find out where on the boardwalk it was located. He passed away in 2006 and I don't remember where he said it was. It is such a great picture too. Thanks for your help.

Marlo

How about Humpty Dumpty

How about Humpty Dumpty restaurant on the boulevard?

humpty dumpty

omg...just was talking about this restaurant. went as a child all of the time. best speghetti and meetballs...

Two sets of Maruca's pizza.

Two sets of Maruca's pizza.

Best pizza EVER!...and they

Best pizza EVER!...and they had a 3rd location on 37 W. in the strip mall where the Pepperidge Farm outlet is (near Sovereign Bank). I wish that one still existed!

I ate a lot of pizza on the

I ate a lot of pizza on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights and in Seaside Park. I always thought the best was Poor Pete's Pizza up near the merry-go-round in Seaside Park. Only 25¢ for a big slice.

I worked at Poor Petes

I worked at Poor Petes several years, 1963-1965. Pete Landro and Josie, and Petes brother who made the dough downstairs under the boards, Tony. Josie was a tough boss but she taught me how to make change and work the rush. Pizza was 25c the first year and went up 5c every year. great memories. I quit her twice and she fired me twice but kept hiring me back. At $ 1.00 per hour, wow

Poor Petes

Pete and Josie was my aunt and uncle. I was at Seaside every summer in the 50th and 60th. All my relatives including my father had stands on the boardwalk.

Poor Petes Pizza

I said earlier it was 25c a slice, I was wrong, after thinking about it. It was 15C a slice, $1.25 for a whole pie when I first worked there

Sonic Blasters

My uncle and all his in-laws owned the Chatterbox from about 1946 through 1957. As I was a child, these are approximate dates. Indeed the whole family "lived" in an apartment above the bar during "the season." The women, all sisters and their mom, worked as waitresses and the brother-in-law bartended. Afterwards each sister had a game of chance stand on the Boardwalk.

So one year the Sonic Blaster was the hot, runaway hit for Boardwalk prize. If a booth had them, it had the business. There would be a shipment of Sonic Blasters and the atmosphere paralled the arrival of genuine Scotch whiskey in the 1920's.

The Sonic Blasters caused deafness in certain children, probably b/c some kid shot one off into the ear of a playmate. They were prohibited and the businessmen who paid dearly for them were stuck.

The really Old Seaside Heights

I was in Seaside in the late 1940's ands remember the Chatterbox. My older cousin met her husband there , they're in their 80's and still married. I finally made it into he chatterbox when I was legal in the sixties. Does anyone remember the laughing lady in front of the fun house half way up the boardwalk. You could hear her all the way on the beach. I learned to pray going over the wooden bridge with the loose boards. Sometimes a cigarette butt tossed from a car would smolder and start a fire in the middle of the bridge. There were railroad tracks overgrown with weeds and bushes in the middle of what is now Central avenue, you had to walk through them to go crabbing on the bay. Soooooo many great memories of the "old, real Seaside Heights"

Really old Seaside Heights

Oh yeah....My grandfather was a volunteer fireman in Seaside and I remember the bay bridge burning more than once...I also remember the laughing lady....The railroad was part of the Pennsylvania that came across from the Toms River and then went up the island....

really old seaside

how about the Friday and Saturday night dances by the pool. they had the large room upstaires from the pool with a DJ. Does any one remember the ice cream place called the Wheel?

laughing lady

Yes, remember her from the 50's. Wasn't there a green split rail fence in front. Also a barrel you had to walk through. And I used to be so afraid as Aaron little kid going over the wooded bridge.

The Laughing lady of Seaside Heights.

In response to your question of whether anyone remembers the laughing lady in front of the fun house half way up the boardwalk, it appears that I certainly do.

As a little boy in the early 1960s I distinctly recall "a" laughing lady on the boardwalk of Seaside Heights that has remained in my mind to this day.

The "Laughing Lady", as I recall was a full-scale mechanized mannequin contained within a glass-paneled booth. I remember at that age being a little frightened of her, and asked my aunt about her. My aunt, one for her talent of expressing dramatic humor related to me that the Laughing Lady was once a real person.

As told to me by Aunt Patsy, long ago when the Laughing Lady was once alive she was caught on the beach of Seaside Heights during a terrible storm which left her as we saw her now; and forever after the only thing she could do was sit there and laugh.

There was a chant-song that my aunt taught me about the Laughing Lady, which also has stayed with me half a century later. Set to the tune of the chant-tune "Whenever you See a Hearse Go By" the words were as follows: "The Laughing Lady of Seaside Heights, she laughs all day and she laughs all night." There may have been more to the chant, but if there were it has become lost to memory.

Laughing lady of Seaside Heights

You can see a short snippet of her laughing in this old promo video of SSH, along with a lot of other memories! She's at 11:48

https://youtu.be/_nonAJqSbWE

If the URL link didn't post, just go to You Tube and search for "Seaside Heights Boardwalk NJ Sun-N-Fun 1960's Promotional Film in HD"

I really remember

How a bout Barney's?. Tyre's Bike Shop, Rossi's rentals and mini golf, the humpty dumpty, strand theater, the slot car track in casino arcade,

Barneys.. Slot car champ

Had realatives in Ortley so practicly lived in Seaside (strong memories between 63 and 73) Remember I couldn't wait for pancakes and thick breakfast sausage from BARNEYS. Slot cars were my thing, had the track down so pat that the operator would give me a checkered flag before I even sat down to play....best clams on the half shell at the clam shack. GOOD GOOD TIMES.. Thanks for the site!!!

Seaside Heights | Filling in the Memories

This design is spectacular! You obviously know how to keep a reader entertained.
Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost...HaHa!) Excellent job.

I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that,
how you presented it. Too cool!

Seaside Heights 40's & 50's

My aunt lived on Hiering Ave.There were no buildings at all from her house to the beach (one block). She picked wild beach plums and made jelly. I spent many weeks every summer there. The mayor was Patrick Tunney. Does anyone remember Augie Hoffmann's bar on the main blvd. The big banner outside said"hammond organ". Many a good time there.

Hoffman House

Augie Hoffman's Hoffman House was my favorite in '49-'50. Augie always wore a white suit, and the guy on the organ knocked me out when he did renditions of Shearing's "September in the Rain." His place in Point Pleasant was a mad house, too big and noisy.
But it wasn't as bad as the Chatterbox. They'd open the doors there and the juke blew you off the boardwalk with Rosie Clooney,s "Come ona my House.
How about pancakes in the morning at Barney's of Barnagut Bay.

Barney's

My grandmother Mae and my mom Pat used to work at Barney's

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