80's child in South Jersey Wonderland-{Toni's Custard,Hagerty's xmas Display,Tom's Garden World}

Some people who know me are totally in shock that I still live in the same old house in the same old place  but I do. The same old state of New Jersey, the same old freaking boring as hell town of Hammonton, and our same old red house that is started to fall apart with help of my three children who are busting down the walls from the inside out. I don't mind it much anymore but it has been a sad sight to see some of my favorite places from my childhood disappear one at a time and reappear with a brand new space. I really hate change but hey, it's a part of life. Here's a few memories from the dirty South,(South Jersey that is), that I love to remember and wish were still here.

"Toni's Custard"

Toni's outside sign facing the road

inside Toni's

 When we were kids, if we talked our mom into taking us to go get custard, we knew that Toni's Custard is where we would end up at. We usually never went inside Toni's which was a little restaurant, we normally went to the outside walk up window & ordered ice cream. There is where I would wait for my ice cream on round white cement tables that were always cold which helped out my ass on hot summer days. When we went on the weekdays it was almost always right before dark since we had to wait for my mom to get home from her job. During those late days we would sit next to a big bug zapper and get to watch moths being fired right before our eyes with that eery electricity snap noise that came with their death. Adding to the eeriness was the only neighbor's house just up about 100 feet more or less.

{overview of Toni's-the "Freddy" bus was a little to the back right in the grass}


I went to school with the girl who lived in that house. She was one of the popular kids and made my school life a torment on some days. However, one summer as we road the bus home from our daytime summer camp the bus started to stop to let the girl off at that house and all the other kids noticed a white, abandoned, broken down bus off to the back in her back yard. Before getting off the bus she gladly informed us all that Freddy Kruger lived inside that scary as all hell bus which remained a true rumor from therefore. I think that it had used to be the bus for the blueberry pickers since they owned a blueberry farm. (Our town was and still is famous for it's blueberries. I mean, how stupid is that?) Back then though Freddy Kruger was real and I truly believed he lived in that bus. The bus itself was so creepy with it's broken windows, not to mention school buses where supposed to be yellow not white! There was no way in hell that Freddy wouldn't have passed up on that opportunity to settle in such creepiness. Even after we got our cones we would try to tip toe as close as we could to get a better glance inside the bus. Another thing I loved about Toni's was the sign on the top of their roof that bared a little cartoon man with a sombrero holding a giant chicken leg. The place itself was awesome and was the best place to get my chocolate ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. Unfortunately though after years of Toni's Custard and the freaky bus next door remaining they faded away. Eventually the bus was removed first, then Toni's disappeared and is now some other resturant probably with their new owners.
 

"Hagerty's Xmas Display in NJ"

Do you remember how magical Christmas was when you were a kid? I sure as hell do! Almost everything that had to do with Christmas was pure magic. This one attraction that I saw every year had such a profound impact on me that I still remember it to this day. My dad,(who was the coolest dad in the world), took me to this place every Holiday season even after he and my mom divorced. We would get into his car, which was most likely filled with second hand smoke clouds, and we would drive about forty minutes away. When we got there and seen this place it was like a kid's winter wonderland come true. The house, walk way, and yard was filled with Christmas lights and displays.There was a pathway that led toward the back of the house to a garage. This was my favorite part because I thought the pathway had lollipop lights on the edge of the sidewalk. Absolutely awesomeness isn't the word. (Actually it isn't a word!) Inside the garage was this huge collage display that you could stare at for hours and you still wouldn't catch every detail within. The theme I believe was manager where Jesus was born and it involved every mini piece of whatever that they could find to put in it. I know there was a lot of animals stuffed into the display from what memory serves. But now the greatest part. I did a little research and I believe I found my magical winter wonderland and from the looks of it, it may still be there! From the online article I read, the home is located in Pitman. N.J. and the family is known as "The Hagerty's". From the photos I found, this has to be the spot! I even found the lollipop lights that I thought I dreamt up on the site! The really great news is the post was from 2009 only a year ago. I'm hoping that the Hagerty's will do the display tradition again this year, making it a new tradition for me to bring my children to see and show them just how magical the holidays can be.

"Tom's Garden World"
Okay, so the last one put me in a Christmasy mood and got me to remember Tom's Garden World during Christmas time. Tom's always had an awesome Christmas display. Their front doors would be showered with white twinkle lights.  I can't even begin to describe the inside of the store. During Christmas they had every kind of yard display imaginable for the holiday. I believe they had a section that had all kinds of movable displays, like a waving Santa and a rocking Mrs. Claus, and they were fairly new back in those days giving everyone something to point at. I can't remember each and every detail but I do know that they're set up was off the hiz-ook! Tom's went under a few years back and now there's some kind of bullshit offices or something boring there in it's place. Change should be a four letter word sometimes.


At least I had an opportunity to get to be at these places though and that I am grateful for.


What Tom's looks like now