Wonderful Memories Of New Jersey

Wonderful New Jersey Memories

Did you grow up in New Jersey? Do you have fond memories of places that no longer exist?

 I grew up in the 1970s in Morris County, New Jersey.

I practically grew up on Brookdale Soda. 

I hardly knew that Coke and Pepsi even existed! 

Farms still existed in East Hanover! 

I remember my mother buying milk at Lone Pine Farms in their little shop. I don’t think I ever even went into the shop. I would go out to pet the horse.

We would also go to the Two Guys on Route 10 in East Hanover. Route 10 didn’t have 1 million stores as it does now.

I remember Two Guys, Capitol Lighting (which is still there), a miniature golf course, and a few other shops.

Two Guys Department Store

When I was very young, Two Guys still had a full-fledged grocery section, where my mother would shop. 

However, I would run around my favorite part of the store — the toy section! (this was when mothers didn’t panic if they lost sight of their kids for a little while)

I would roam around the toy section, and of course being a devoted reader would always go to the paperback section, too. 

I collected the little Peanuts paperbacks. I loved Charlie Brown and Snoopy. 

When I got a little older, I would buy 45s in the record section and felt very old when I graduated to buy the whole album.

Everything was so inexpensive!

 
Here is a radio commercial for Two Guys: 

Here is a TV commercial:

The East Hanover Two Guys also had a tiny little section with a miniature bowling alley for kids! 

I loved to play there, even though I wasn’t very good. The bowling balls were child-sized and easy to pick up and throw. There were also pinball machines.

I loved going to Two Guys for Christmas to pick out the Christmas tree! 

They had a section in the back for garden supplies, and the trees would be there. My mother remembers the price as being very reasonable for a pretty nice tree.

Brookdale Soda

Also, outside the store was a liquor store (I can’t remember the name, or if it was part of Two Guys?), where my father would buy cases of Brookdale Soda. 

We would always get a variety, and I loved the orange, the lemon-lime, and the half-and-half flavors!

I dream very vividly at night (I’m dreaming within seconds of falling asleep!) and sometimes I’ll wake up and think about the dream I just had.

I’ll feel that I’ve been to the place in my dreams before. Then I’ll realize that it is Two Guys that I was dreaming about.

2022 Updates: 

Here is a wonderful video from one of my favorite YouTube channels, Recollection Road:

Please check out my post on Reluctant Hero From New Jersey!

Please check out The Lost Businesses of New Jersey.

Thanks for visiting New Jersey Memories!