My Grandfather, Bruno Spohn, was a baker
and lost his bakery business here in Newark during the depression.
He had to take my father and all of my uncles out of school and
make them go out and work to bring some money home to feed the family.
Somewhere I have a photo of him with his "bakers hat"
on. It was always great to go to my Grandparent's house at Christmas
time because my grandfather would make all of the "German Stolen"
and other wonderful German holiday cookies and cakes.
Back in the 1940's and 50's there was a German bakery shop on the
SW corner of South Orange Ave and South 10th Street by the name
of Adolph Schmaltz. Every Sunday, after Mass, I would stop there
and bring home six cheese pastries, six crumb cakes, and a coffee
ring. Have never had anything taste so good since I went into the
Marine Corps and moved out of that neighborhood. Every Thanksgiving
and Christmas people in the neighborhood would bring their "stuffed"
turkeys there and they would bake them for everyone.
There were plenty of small "Mom & Pop" bakeries here
in Newark when I was growing up. There was a "bakery"
on South 12th Street and 12th Ave back in the 1940's and 50's named
"White Castle Bakeries" and every so often the kids in
the neighborhood would go over there and they would give us some
cakes and other pastries.
Then, of course, there was Dugan Brothers, Ferrara's, Leherhoff's,
Spisak's, Taystee Bread, Bond Bread, Fisher's Buttercup Bread, Tip
Top Bakers, Wagner Baking (Wagner Pies), Ward Baking, and plenty
of others.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - I can still think of those wonderful smells
of those long ago days here in Newark.
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