Everett in the '50s

 


This is another special photo, not only because of the marvelous socks that Jack Goldstein is wearing, but because it's so wonderful to see him again as a younger man. The soaking wet young fellow, who has obviously just climbed out of a dutz-free lake, is his son Barry.

 

 

Looking at this picture reminds me what a grand building the rec hall was. This shot was taken in 1957 just after Olympics broke:

 

The photo below is from 1957. Look who was Cuba's general that year:

Ok, here's the real picture with Rick Silverblatt back in place:

The camp t-shirts are the giveaway that his photo was one of those used to make the case to unsuspecting parents that Camp Everett was an idyllic place for little Poindexter. Of course, if they looked closely at the picture they would see the slick dude in the saddle shoes (what was that about?) on the right shaking down his bunkmate for protection money. In the back, two young thugs are ganging up on the fat kid. Then there's the two in the middle who share the same bed, well, enough about that, while nobody is talking to the little goody-two shoes in the foreground with the perfect hospital corners and jelly roll. Note the complete absence of shoe polish on the walls, which leads me to believe this was probably shot and staged at Camp Berkshire Hills down the road.

Joel Brenner says: "the slick dude in the saddle shoes is Billy Livingston, and I'm the guy he's shaking down. Lester Rapapport is on the middle bed facing the camera and Mark Goldstein is standing next to the bed with his hand on his hip. Also, the goody two-shoes kid on the bed with the perfect hospital corners? That's MY bed he's lying on - I recognize the scratchy plaid blanket that I used in all 14 of my years at camp. What's strange to me is that I don't recognize any of the other kids in the picture. Oh well."

 

When I posted this one, I missed what was clearly the best thing about the picture, which I've blown up so you can see the kid in the striped shirt basically flipping off the photographer.


Here's the banner of the other team in 1957 when the camp's leaders demonstrating interesting
judgment chose to celebrate Japanese warrior mentality, only 12 years after the end of World
War II. And speaking of taste, I think the kid's plaid shorts might be the missing bottom half of the
outfit being worn by the girl in the archery shot.

Lynn Chasen Lipton sent in this photo from visiting day in 1961. The adults cannot yet be positively identified. Lynn thinks the fellow on the left who is suffering from either leoprosy or poison ivy (what can you expect when you frolic naked through the bushes with Nellie Scheiner), is named Maury (like Sys, there was always a Maury at every Jewish camp in the 1960s). The other is mostly likely head counselor Sam Kostman. The fellow with the safari hat and whistle is Lynn's future husband Steve. What are the chances that he was the waterfront counselor? The kids are Kenny Kafka and Marty Kafka and on Steve's leg is their older brother Franz, who underwent quite a metamorphosis that summer.

 

After all the phony shots of kids in their camp shirts pretending to be enjoying golf lessons and volleyball, it's refreshing finally to see a photograph that depicts accurately how little kids really spend most of their time. Do these guys look like the Camp Everett branch of the Future Juvenile Delinquents of America Club or what?

 

I don't know who the kid in back is, but he is by far my favorite former camper of all time, even though you have to figure he got whacked every day by either his parents and his counselors. Based on his demonstrated aptitude for it, I would guess that today he's digging in a mine somewhere searching for gold. Many thanks to Jonathan Kaskel for these two photographs. Far right in both shots is Mark Goldstein.

 

The light patch of wood is covering up a hole created when someone ran through the wall after making a layup.

 

Marc Newberg sent in the following three pictures from his camp years in the 50s. You will notice a lot of campers named "Unknown," which was apparently a popular nickname in those days, like "Butch" or "Gus." It's true. I remember when we were kids and if we got into trouble and someone said to my mother, "Who are those kids?" She'd say, "They're unknown."

Seniors, early 50s: (Back row): Walter Freund (who owned the camp), Camp doctor (I'm not sure I'd go to him), unknown, unknown, Fred Melnick, unknown, Julie Rowan (Head counselor), Roy Rubin (future owner of the Nets), Sandy Farber, Bucky Weiner, Howard Klaman, Garry Wallace, Jack Goldstein.
(First Row): Mike Warren, Marty Finkel, unknown, Marc Newberg, Ronnie Sonenshein, unknown, Lewis Hahn, Ed Rosenstein, Steve Fischer, Mal Bissen, Don Birn, Seymour Crain, Wally Herbst, Jack Zipes.

 

Back Row: unknown, unknown, Sandy Farber, Julie Rowan (head counselor), unknown, Lew Kramer, Bucky Weiner.
Third Row: Howie ("pogo") Pogolowitz, Wally Herbst, unknown, Howie Tolk, Gary Wallace, unknown, Jack Zipes, Richie Zipes, Stan Einbender.
Second Row: Marc Newberg, Steve Fischer, Dave Newirth, Steve Katz, Ed Rosenstein, Don Birn, Seymour Crain, Mal Bessen, Marty Finkel, Mike Warren.
Front Row: unknown, unknown, unknown, Arthur Shuster, Joel Wayne, Arthur Ansel.
Back row: Dave Halperin (owner), unknown, unknown, Roy Rubin, unknown, Sandy Farber, unknown.
Third row: Howie Cohen, Al Leiter (not the Mets pitcher), Lenny Silver, unknown, unknown, Ed Tisnower, Irwin ("Butch" Epstein, Fred Melnick.
Second row: unknown, Bucky Weiner, Howard Klaman, Howard Tolk, Don Birn, unknown, Jack Zipes, unknown, Seymour Crain.
Front row: Wally Herbst, Steve Fischer, Ed Rosenstein, Charlie Stillman, Marc Newberg, unknown, Mike Warren, Lewis Hahn.

 

Was our camp named after Chad Everett, Rupert Everett, Carl Everett, C. Everett Koop or Edward Everett Horton? None of the above. It was named for Mount Everett, and here's Mike Warren, Joan Halperin and Howie Tolk with Marc Newberg in the foreground atop the aforementioned mountain with the tower atop the aforementioned mountain in the background.

Terry Newirth writes: In the Deb group picture, in the back row from the left: Terry Newirth, Rosa Kobley, Marsha Gerstein, ?, ? ,Barbara Merrit, Arlene Singer, Jeri Bilus, Terry Schweitzer and ? Second Row from the right we have Diane Rosenthal, Jane Benson, Arlene Medoff, Jo Ann Bloch, ?, ?, Phyliss Rebell (with the blond braids, Cookie Bromberg (?). The names of the rest of the kids are in the 1957 Everett Echo's, but I am not making connections. Maybe others can make the rest of the identifications. Fay Brenner is of course the Head Counselor. The Green and White debaters can see that counselors were always green and white.

 

 

Again, guest commentator Terry Newirth. "In Bunk 11 Ruth Jacobs was our counselor. According to the comments on my picture, the other counselor was Mildred Feller, but I don't remember her so well. Ruth was my sister Jill's best friend, so I knew her very well. Sitting down on the left is my cousin, Jane (now Jayne) Benson (now Engleheart), and Jo Ann Block. Seated from the left is Diane Rosenthal, me, Terry Newirth Hirshorn, Barbara Merrit, Jeri Bilus and Terry Schweitzer."

 

And Terry again: "Thanks to Everett Echoes 1959, I can send you the best, College Hall 1959. top row from left: Leah Blackman, Judy Hack, Faye, Hope Weisman, Lynn Gidget Chasen, Harriet Karshmer middle row from the left: Laurie Jacobson, Susan Korman (I'm guessing on this one), Janet Zeller, Diane Berman (also a guess. it could be Mary Meyers, but I think I would recognize her. she must have been missing on picture day.) Terry Schweitzer, Frankie Zelikow, Carol Toporek, Judy Levy bottom row from left: Arlene Singer, Arlene Medoff, Lynda Luks, Barbara Merritt, Arlene Bedell, Jo Ann Block, Sharon Willens, Jane Benson, Karen Chazen and Terry Newirth"

 

Another photo from asst. web master Terry Newirth. Here's what she has to say: 1955 was the year of Hurricane Carol: seated from the left: Jayne Benson,Terry Newirth, Janet Haber, Rachel Glass, and Lynn Tittleman. Back row from the left: Somebody Rosenthal, Carol Poster, Julie Rowan, Carol Feld, Annette somebody. (These old plaques are hard to read.) Carol Feld was a good friend at the time. She had a twin brother Sidney, down on the boys campus.

 

Terry sez: For you new folks, the first bunk on the upper girls campus actually used to be Bunk 1. Then, in 1954 or 1955 during the baby boom, they ran out of bunks and moved Bunks 1, 2 and 3 down to the three cabins next to the Mess Hall, and the first bunk on the upper campus became Bunk 4. In this picture the seated campers from the left are Terry Newirth (me), Judy Feldman, Barbara Mesnikoff (her mother was a counselor I think) Jane Benson and Diane Pinici. The counselors from the left are Margaret Spitzel, Aunt Eva, the camp mother who washed our hair each week, and Marjorie Vogel.

If anyone actually knows Judy Feldman, please apologize on behalf of Jayne and myself, as we were not so nice to her.

Terry says she doesn't remember any of the counselors names, but she thinks she liked them. The campers are from the left:  Jane Benson, Terry Newirth, Carol Feld, Louise Kohn (?) Judy Feldman

I think in the back row are just a bunch of women's faces superimposed over a group shot of the East German women's Olympic wrestling team. Check out those biceps. I remember Herman Brenner as such a pleasant, mild man. Who knew that it was because Fay was beating the living crap out of him every night. Anyway, here's the lineup, according to Terry Newirth, who says that outside of Fay (who is standing in the center, she didn't like this group of counselors very much. Look at them, who would? Second row is: Jane Benson, Arlene Singer, Marilyn Sande, Carol Feld, ? [and the Mysterians], Ann Raft, ?,?, Lynn Hittleman [ed. note: who was also apparently called Lynn Tittleman. Either way, she appears from this series of Terry's photographs to be the unhappiest and most picked on child in Everett history, clearly even worse than Ed Chazen], Sharon Kracke, ?. Seated on ground from left: Jane Koenigsberg, ?, Phyllis Rebell, Terry Newirth, Janet Haber, ?, ?.

Terry believes the counselor on the left is Rick Silverblatt's mother Esther. After that it's ?, Rosenthal, Ann Raft, Bette Rowan, and Annette somebody. Standing from left: Jane Benson, Lynn Hittleman, Arlene Singer, Carol Feld, Carol Poster, Terry Newirth. On bench from left: ?, ? Phyllis Rebell, Arlene Medoff, Rachel Glass, Janet Haber. On ground from left: ? and Hedi Cooperman.

 

I'm sure that Aunt Eva, the elderly woman in the starched white dress  was  a very  kindly old lady who loved everybody dearly, but looking at her, all I can think of is Eva Braun. She has that look of someone who liked to do experiments on little kids. On the other hand, the woman in the top right at the left looks like some kind of Norwegian movie star. She might have been. Terry has no idea, so I guess we can pretend. Next to her is  Lois Shaefer, Ann Raft (Head Counselor) Aunt Eva, Margorie Vogel and Margaret Spitzel.  On the bench from the left: Judy Feldman, Marilyn Sande, Jane Koenigsberg, ?, ?, Jane Benson. Seated on ground from left: Terry Newirth, Ronnie Fantel, Barbara Mesnikoff, Diane Pinici.

The pitcher, who has done a nice job of coordinating his stripes, is Gary Karshmer. I have no idea who the left fielder is, but he appears to be stationed at the side of a steep hill.



I don't know what the play is, but I think the scenic artist later did "Frogger."


Here, Judy Levy meets up with a couple of flashers in Central Park. The play is My Fair Lady, which makes the scenery in the background London, I guess. The flashers are Rick Silverblatt and Mike Rebell.

And a good time was had by all, except the guy on the left who spent the rest of the summer with a fake mustache indelibly etched into his cheek. He's now the old dude on "American Chopper."


Apparently, Everett had a frat house back then. The guy on the right, of course, didn't get in. Rick Silverblatt says the guys stacking themselves instead of dishes are a group of waiters. The fellow standing on the left is head waiter Monte Scheiner. On the bottom from the left is Steve Jond, Alan Novich, then Charlie Nemser. Second row on left is Rick Silverblatt, then Howie Millman. Rick says the guy on top was funny, but he doesn't remember his name.  I guess that makes him the Unknown Comic (sorry, bad 70s joke).


This fellow seems a bit formally dressed for the occasion, doesn't he? I'm going to go out ona limb here and guess that the purpose of this game was to throw  something through the tire. I'm also going to guess that a lot of people threw whatever they had at him instead.

Fascinating bathing suit worn by the girl on the right.

I'm guessing that's Marge up front there with the rest of her family. 

I bet it was the buttons which I inspired this......

The author seems to have some trouble  recognizing when to use plural verbs. Now, is that "laughter and soft toes"?

Or maybe this was the image which did it.  But why should Marge be the only one to have fun?.....



This is the back of Carole Toporek's bunk photo from 1957. Check out what Arlene Bedell wrote.

Who knew that Dr. Livingstone explored Everett before he went off to the wilds of Africa? Here he is following a successfull safari through College Hall.

So they insisted on having a CIT act as a crossing guard on a road where maybe one car passed each day, but it was ok to let the kid stand in front of the target during archery. What's up with that?

The little guy on the right  apparently used to play for the Knicks. I don't know who the tall guy on the left is, except if this camp was in the South during the 1950s, they would have had him standing in front of the archery target.

Apparently, making out with bedposts was a popular activity on the girls' campus, but hey, this was the '50s and it was Camp Everett.

This is the first of a batch of photos given to me by Steve Fischer. The lookout tower was put up on girls's campus in the late 40s to prevent boys from encroaching on the territory. I'm assuming this is Steve, and that is his sister, because no girl I've ever met would ever be caught dead with her arm around someone wearing that hat.

See what happened when he ditched the hat?

Wow, am I sorry I missed out on this place. Not only do you grow up incredibly  fast on that hill, but the action was amazing.

Interesting tennis courts they had at Everett in the 1950s.

This shot has a Currier & Ives quality to it. Note the basketball court, the placement of the backstop, the lack of any tetherball courts and that the bunk at the right appears to have been painted a dark color.

 

Here's Cookie Bromberg posing on the Camp Everett gold coast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Cookie with her Mom just after her Mom took her to get a tattoo on her leg.