From the author of The History of Diners in New Jersey comes a collection of true stories that capture the spirit of the Garden State. Diners are where communities across New Jersey go to celebrate milestones, form lifetime bonds and take comfort in food. Daily life at the counter or in the booth inspires sentimental recollections that reflect the state’s spirit and history. In Stories from New Jersey Diners, local historian Michael C. Gabriele documents colorful stories from the Diner Capital of the World. Late-night eats fueled Wildwood’s wild rock-and-roll days. An entrepreneur from India traveled eight thousand miles to open a diner in Shamong. From an impromptu midnight wedding in an Elizabeth lunch wagon to a Vietnam veteran sustained by a heartfelt note from a beloved Mount Holly waitress, these are true tales from the “Diner Capital of the World.”
Hollywood Remembrance and American War addresses the synergy between Hollywood war films and American forms of war remembrance. Subjecting the notion that war films ought to be considered ʻthe war memorials of today’ to critical scrutiny, the book develops a theoretical understanding of how Hollywood war films, as rhetorical sites of remembering and memory, reflect, replicate and resist American modes of remembrance. The authors first develop the framework for, and elaborate on, the co-evolution of Hollywood war cinema and American war memorialization in the historical, political and ideological terms of remembrance, and the parallel synergic relationship between the aesthetic and industrial status of Hollywood war cinema and the remembering of American war on film. The chapters then move to analysis of Hollywood war films – covering The Great War, World War II, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Cold War, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – and critically scrutinize the terms upon which a film could be considered a memorial to the war it represents. Bringing together the fields of film studies and memory studies, this book will be of interest to scholars and students in not just these areas but those in the fields of history, media and cultural studies more broadly, too.
When Newark Had a Chinatown: My Personal Journey by Ms. Yoland Skeete-Laessig Edited by Hal Laessig “Through her dedication, persistence and hard work, Ms. Skeete has pieced together a virtual gold mine of information about the history of Newark Chinatown. Her work fills a void in our understanding of Asian American history as well as Newark history.” – Peter Li, Teacher of Chinese Literature, Professor Emeritus History & Culture at Rutgers University. Author & Co-Editor of “Understanding Asian American.” “Yes, at the turn of the century, Newark’s Chinatown community was larger than New York’s. The history and the circumstances of its demise are largely a mystery rediscovered in the archives, in oral histories, and by the efforts of dedicated researchers who insist on asking these and other questions. I believe this initial effort will be the beginning of a long term project to reclaim this lost aspect of Newark, New Jersey, and New York City’s regional history.” – John Kuo Wei Tchen, Author & Professor, Asia Pacific Studies Department of NYU, Co-Founder of the Museum of Chinese in America “Newark Chinatown, the passage from South China to America, is one of many stories with the texture of real places that can tell us of a turning point in how we became who we are. As much as we like to boast about our accomplishments and ambitions, we hardly know the fullness of the genesis of ourselves as Americans. Yoland Skeete tells this story. It is a joy to give what I can and see her bring this story to life.” – Robert Lee, Executive Director, Asian American Arts Centre
The oral history of a family never matches up with the written word. As a result, when a person dies who has the basic information, much of the history dies with that person. Gone are the horse thieves, rascals and real characters who make up the gene pool of the present generation; gone are the do-gooders who never created a fuss or stirred a wave. They are forgotten along with the horse thieves, and yet all of them left an impression and were part of the history of the family. In an effort to pass on what was said, these words are being written. They may not amount to much, but at least, they will contribute to the knowledge of the present and future generations. Maybe it can make something of it. Personages are not consciously romanticized; they are treated as they are recalled or as was related. If in the telling, they are made to seem more important than they were, or if they were given a mantle of gentility that they dont deserve, it wasnt done consciously. All one can do is tell it like it is, hope that it is admired for its honesty, if not for its comfort, and hope that the effort is appreciated. It should also be recognized that what I recall, or what made an imression on me as to any event may have been recalled entirely differently by one of my siblings, or what we were told may have been recalled entirely differently. After all, that is the nature of oral history recorded a half a century plus later. I have read some of the incidents of each of my parents youthes, and have the effort that each made to record some of them. Both are just a few pages long. I have no doubt, however, that to them, they record what each recalled as being important in their lives, and that their writings record the things that they recalled and wanted to pass on to their children, grandchildren and subsequent generations. And yet each is but a single chapter. Mother doesnt mention, for instance, what she said and did when I was recording our conversation about the dirty ballad that she knew. (Actually, it was quite tame, and in contrast to present day rap, didnt begin to hold its own.) And for dad, some of the most interesting stories are best left untold. My father was very closed mouthed about his youth, and it wasnt until he was almost ninety that he opened up about some things. As to others, I had to wait until he was in his grave before I learned them, and learned them, then, from my siblings. He specificially avoided telling me about certain things. I recall specifically, that I was given some of the stories by dads younger brother when I was sixteen years old. When I laughingly told them to dad, his comment was, Roy never should have told you that. Some families dont pass on the rich history and heritage that they have. In my own case, having been preceded in death by my elder son, and not being sure of the interest of my other son, this effort is made for the benefit of my other relatives. They have asked me about it - at least some of them have. I make no apologies for the the lack of Notable Americans. I started to say, great Americans, but that would have been wrong. All of my forebears were Great Americans. Its just that they were never recorded as such, or noted. The history speaks for itself.
Volume 27 in the Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America chronicles the life and ministry of one of the RCA's most significant twentieth-century representatives, Howard G. Hageman (1921-1992), respected pastor, teacher, president of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and weekly columnist for the Church Herald.
Everyone will agree, a great Coney Island restaurant, one of a kind, is a coveted core sample of the late historical past. Imagine table talk and social customs of a pulsing patronage encased now in the cruel aspic of time. May I place you at a favored table facing a proscenium populated by diners—cooks, scullions, waiters, musicians of the cafe chantant scullery maids, deadbeats—and the notable and notorious of the years 1915-1975; an inscape for the "livingness" of an era. I, too, am playing my role, only consciously by writing what I remember in this loving memoir of a gathering place, a showplace of human kindred at its mellowed best. Not a history pinched by spinsterish qualms, bigoted asides, shrivelled libidos, and dyspeptic frowns, for bitter lips make for bitter palates, and stingy tipping. No, rather a free spending largesse cuore a cuore of matching vignettes, anecdotes, profiles, tintypes, tales and tattles in full bodied appearances. Restaurants are marvelous core samples of the past. How wonderful if all the great restaurants of the past were written up so devotedly and grandly!
