What prompted Paul and Lillian to open a candy store in Hackensack, New Jersey?
Paul had a lot of friends in the police department in Hackensack. He heard them talking about low rent apartment buildings that were going to be built. He saw that as an opportunity to open a candy store since he realized a lot of the tennants would not have cars and would need a local store to shop at.
They named the store Pauls’ Sweet Shop. It was located at 59 Newman Street in Hackensack and it was open seven days a week. It opened in the early 1950’s.
Besides ice cream and malted milkshakes, it sold candy and even vegetables, and some canned goods. There were also a variety of toys. Like other candy stores, it had a lunch counter.
Lillian made the lunches and was well-known for her tuna fish sandwiches.
Below is what a malted milkshake machine looked like in 1950. That is one thing that Lillian kept from the store after she sold it.
Here is a recipe for tuna fish in Lillian’s own handwriting. She wrote this out for me along with a number of other recipes after we got married.
I wonder if this is the same recipe she used in the store?
Below is a photo of a luncheonette in northern New Jersey in the 1950’s. [1] I imagine that the inside of Paul’s Sweet Shop looked similar to this photo, although it was smaller.
Although Stan was just a young boy of about 8 when they first opened the store, he remembers one incident very clearly. Some neighborhood boys came into the store and attemped to steal some candy from the display at the front of the counter. Paul saw them and stopped them. He told them if they wanted candy that badly to ask him and he would give them some. However, they should never steal. After that they respected him and never gave him any trouble.
Lillian would pick Stan up at school from time to time and drive him to the store for lunch. He remembers that they used Alderney Ice Cream.
Paul in front of his store, circa 1952.
From July 31, 1952, to August 14, 1952, they ran the ad seen at the top of this page looking for counter help. All of the ads ran in The Record (Hackensack,new Jersey). On August 21, they ran a new ad [2]
Stan’s first cousin Joe Kirsch, before he passed away in June of 2022, told us that he had his first egg cream [3] at Paul’s store. Joe said he would always “play” with the ice cream behind the counter. He could scoop it out, but he was not tall enough to reach over the counter to hand it to someone.
Joe’s siblings also remember the store. Selma said that Lillian gave them an ice cream cone with every flavor of ice cream. She said her brother got sprinkles on his but she couldn’t since already licked her ice cream.
Unfortunately, Paul got very sick with bone cancer and was home in a hospital bed for two years before he died in 1955. At first, family members tried to help run the store. His brother-in-law, Abe Warren, who was married to Lillian’s sister, Helen, came often to help out. However, it was too much for Lillian to handle on her own while caring for a sick husband and raising a 12 year old son. She was forced to sell it.
Below is what 59 Newman Street looks like today. [34 The building that housed Paul’s Sweet Shop had an addition added to it. Stan’s cousin Joe Kirsch confirmed that. He said there was no second floor when he would go there.
Sources
- [1] 1950’s luncheonette
- [2] Help Wanted Ad, The Record (Hackensack, New Jersey), August 21, 1952, Thursday, Page 31, posted by Newspapers.com by Ancestry.com
- [3] What is an egg cream?
- [4] 59 Newman Street today