Check out these pictures of Union City, NJ back in the day

If you know me, then you know that I was raised in Union City and I hold it near and dear to my heart. There was a sense of family and friendship shared by everyone in the neighborhood.

We once counted 50 kids in a five-block radius between Summit and New York avenues and 14th and 18th streets and I must have hung out with every one of them at some point.

When Dez Manku sings "Union City" written by Mike Boldt and Phil Gallo I can totally relate, especially when it comes to the pictures in the video.

If you're from Union City I would heavily suggest you check it out. You can see it here. But also check out these pictures from back in the day, however far back in the day you'd like to go.

Here's the Twin State and Capital Theatre from 1923, the year my father Albert Trevelise was born. Check out the cars:

Here's the Roosevelt Theatre from 1937, As you can see from the marquee, Bette Davis is starring in "Marked Woman with Humphrey Bogart:

Here's 32nd Street when they still had  the trolleys:

Burlesque was a big deal in Union City, especially at the Hudson Theatre:

Some of the other stores of this era can be seen in this ad. Remember phone numbers that started with "Union"?

Here's Davis Toy Shop where every kid wanted to visit when strolling Bergenline Avenue with their parents:

The busiest street in Union City where it all happened was Bergenline Avenue:

The mayor of Union City when I was growing up there was William V Musto. If there were ever a man who should have written a book or have been a movie made about it was him.

One my favorite places, when I was a kid, was the Summit Theatre where I saw a double feature of the Beatles "Help" and "Hard Days Night" my life would never be the same after that.

One of the things we did growing up was playing behind the Yardley Building on Palisade Avenue. We used to go rock climbing back there:

Before there was the Colin Powell Elementary School or the Christopher Columbus School, it was St. Michael's School at 1500 New York Ave.

Here's the inside of St. Michael's. Note the priest sitting at the far right is Father Stephen Paul, for whom I was named after:

Union City had some cool clubs as well. There was the Rag Doll, both inside and out:

Camelot was located under the "Troy Towers" where all the rich people lived :

We couldn't get the Ichi-Ban But I was able to get singer/songwriter musician and guy who sent me all these pictures Mike Boldt in an Ichi-Ban tee shirt:

Who remembers the Abbey Inn on Mountain Road?

And of course, any cool kid growing up in Union City would have paid a visit to East-West Novelty. The Rock n Roll Super Store!

And when all was said and done and you wanted to get an incredible slice and have your fortune told by the Swami who was at every table and would spit out words of wisdom for a coin, there was Cristina's Pizza:

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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