I lived on Morris Ave. and then moved to 192nd Street. Remember the parades very well. Thanks for doing this.
Stan Sherr
03-Jan-2014 17:18
Yes The parade many should remember was the Memorial Day parade. I lived a block and a half east of The Concourse on 178th st. On Memorial Day morning, soon enough, we would hear and feel the drums from the bands as the parade made its way uptown. We ran up to the Concourse to see the soldiers and light cannons and tanks that were part of the whole spectacle. Once Buster Crabbe, TV and movie star and the actor that played Flash Gordon, road his horse as part of the entourage. Aside from the parades others that would occasionally be seen in the streets were guys that collected old clothes. A man would come down the block and his call would be "I cash clothes, I cash clothes" and you would bring him something. In the same vein there was a man who had a cart and he would sharpen knives and fix umbrellas. So your mother might give you an item for him to work on. Other neighborhood "entertainment" took the form of one or more itinerant musicians and singers that appeared in the courtyard or alleyway .You would hear them all of a sudden burst out into song or a violin favorite and you would put a quarter or other change in a tissue and throw it from your window.
