Prelude to Popp's Ice Cream Parlor Days

I don’t really remember the very first time I stepped into Popp’s Ice Cream Parlor, but I can just image that it wasn’t too much after my 13th birthday. That was the year I planned a major life event- my very first boy-girl party! As a matter of fact, it was such a major event that I "called in sick"  to clean a room in my basement so I would have a private place for my friends to party. When I returned to St. Michael's Elementary School the following Monday, I remember being severely reprimanded by my 8th grade teacher, Sr. James Miriam.  She asked me why I had been absent.   I guess she was expecting to hear that I had been terribly sick with some major disease or another or possibly that there had been a death in the family.  Instead, silly me, I answered her truthfully.  Overly honest and ridiculously stupid, I answered, "Sister", I said,  "I had to clean the room in the basement to get ready for my birthday party".   I was informed, in no uncertain terms, this was not a legitimate reason to miss school.   Luckily, I knew enough not to verbalize the thought going through my mind at that moment, Sister, if you saw the mess in my basement, you would have agreed with my decision to call-in sick. ‘

It was at this monumental party, in this clean, tidy room in the basement at 62 Interboro Parkway, Brooklyn, NY that I met 'the men" of Woodhaven for the very first time.  My cousin, Tom Marski brought a handful of his male friends on the bus from his Queens neighborhood, and walked them up the hill from Jamaica Avenue to attend my party.  Among the small group was a guy named Mike Roach and one of Tom's closest friends, Bob Smith.  There were a couple of other Woodhaven  guys with him  but I honestly don't remember their names (possibly Jack Sweeney and a guy who wore glasses).  Most of the evening, the guys stood in one corner of the room and the girls stood in the other.  Forever a game enthusiast, I had planned to play at least one game and this is the thing I remember most clearly about my coming of age party.  Being deeply enmeshed in my eighth grade Catholic School training, I was frightened to death that the game I had chosen as the main point of my party might be taboo and possibly a terrible sin.  It was a huge decision for me but I made the determination to go forward. So I coaxed my guests to sit in a circle on the floor and placed the bottle in the middle and spun it.   Back in the late 50's, "Spin the Bottle"was a big part of the coming-of- age party scene.

At this fateful party, Bob Smith, who had just turned 14 a week before, "fell in love" with my cousin, Sharon O'Donnell, aged 13.  Sharon was obviously smitten also as she immediately wrote me a letter ( I will post it when I locate it as it is truly priceless ) basically telling me to "keep my hands off that tall, handsome, dark-haired guy named, Bob.  She even pointed out that " Sharon Smith " was a much nicer sounding name than "Mary Smith " which was way too common.   At this point in her life, Sharon was living at 91 Craig Ave in Freeport, Long Island and  therefore she stayed overnight at my house the night of the party.  Being a weekend, the very next day, Bob Smith returned to my house to see his new love interest.   A few of us teenagers took a walk up the street to Highland Park to hang out.  I took the above photo of Bob as he sat on the wooden guard in front of the Interboro Parkway.  He was shaking his finger at me and saying, "Don't you dare take my picture" as I snapped my little Brownie flash.
I guess when Bob spun the bottle, it must have landed on Sharon!
By the way, I don't think any serious sins were committed that day.