Ronald Naldi about to leave his tent for a concert in Ocean Grove. 2015. Paul Goldfinger portrait.
We first posted this shot of the great tenor Ronald Naldi one year ago. Here is a link which tells about this photo and offers a recording of Ron performing on one of his albums of Italian music. But meanwhile, here are the Chiffons offering a tribute of their own.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net Posted 2015. Re-post now.
The first cottage built in Ocean Grove was called “Pioneer Cottage.” A gentleman from Warsaw, New York built it on Asbury Avenue in 1870. You can still see it at 64 Asbury Avenue. It is quite large now. The size of early cottages was influenced by the standard small lot size of 30′ x 60.’ Also, many cottages were created at the site of prior tents.
Around 1900, Mrs. W.B. Osborn, an author and wife of the OG founder wrote a book called Pioneer Days of Ocean Grove. In it she relates how Pres. Stokes decided to present a “cottage” to Rev. W.B. Osborn “as a testimonial of esteem and in further consideration for labors rendered.” A “handsome cottage” was built for Osborn at a cost of over $3,000.00. The money was raised outside of CMA funds, and “the whole scheme was carried to completion by the perseverance of the wife of the Rev. John S. Inskip alone.”
The presentation was made at a gala event on July 15, 1873. Osborn was evidently a sort of snowbird, because they had to wait for him to return from Florida.
Of course many cottages were constructed after that, and over the years, a considerable number were changed and enlarged. Today, OG cottages can still be found all over town, and despite their size, they remain highly desirable to this day.
DINAH WASHINGTON tells us that a house isn’t necessarily a home. Sometimes a derelict house has a story to tell, and we need to think about them that way.
It must be great fun to be a kid living in a tent during an Ocean Grove summer. Instead of bicycles to zoom around the sidewalks of the Village, there are now skateboards and scooters.
I saw a teenager coasting down Mt. Hermon Way on a skateboard, in her gravity defying short shorts, maintaining her decorum all the while speaking on a cell phone. It is certain—-someday she will have a tattoo, and her parents will approve. This is the new look of femininity.
But the Village girl, on her scooter, shows no sign of becoming anything but a proper young lady.
JUDY GARLAND from The Wizard of Oz.
“Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh, why can’t I?
“If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow.
Why, oh, why can’t I?”
In Morris Daniels’ book The Story of Ocean Grove, 1869-1919, he said, “Being primarily a camp ground, tents were the abode of the people. By the end of 1871, The CMA (‘The Association’) owned 201 tents, but these were not sufficient to meet the demand.”
By 1879, it was decided to rearrange the tents around and near the Auditorium. Then there were about 700 tents. The tents were divided into “blocks” which were given names such as Auditorium Circle, Bethany, and Bethesda. The tents were very popular, and if Rev. Stokes were around today, he would not be surprised by the competitive popularity of the tents in Ocean Grove.
In the photo above, the sign indicates to watch for pedestrians over the next 600 feet. In 1871, carriage drivers had to pay similar heed.
I bet that the pitter-patter of raindrops on the canvas roofs caught the attention of the tenters. It must have been a very reassuring sound to those religious pilgrims of the 19th century in Ocean Grove, and surely they thought of them as gifts from heaven.
Here is Tony Bennett regarding those gifts. He is at Carnegie Hall live on June 9, 1962 with the Ralph Sharon Orchestra—it can’t get better than that.
Here is a link “The Summer Tents” from August 2013