My cousin Anthony Tassone and his wife Lillian had a small farm market on Trenton Road better known as route 206. This two lane highway has the community of Hammonton, NJ at its southern most end point. Anthony's father was my father's oldest brother Domenick Tassone, Sr. of Hammonton. I previously have written about my father's family of whom I affectionately called "Piney Italians". Most often Italian immigrants sought the comfort of living with other immigrants in cities and some in farm communities like Hammonton, NJ. Many Italians found work on the railroads which brought my grandfather to Atsion, NJ because of the train station there. In the 1900's my grandfather, another Anthony Tassone, eventually bought about a hundred acres of land and began to grow blueberries and cranberries on the sandy soils of the Pinelands. Three brothers eventually left the Pinelands to make their homes in Hammonton, NJ. I will post a video of my parents talking about their marriage. They have since passed away. My mother tells how she wound up marrying my father. In the late 70's my parents built a home on 206 connected to land on Middle Road that had belonged to my mother's family the Baglivos. One day last year my youngest sister and I had a chance to make a last visit to the land that was so much a part of our history. It is with sadness that I say we have lost so many relatives that had connections to the Pinelands, Middle Road and route 206 in Hammonton.
My parents interview before their 60th wedding anniversary:
Lillian's and Anthony's market was a real farm market not one where much of the produce was grown some other place. The fruits and vegetables were grown on the land behind their house. I just feel that because it is so easy to make a blog that someone in the family must do this. I feel compelled to document what I can. I am not a journalist of any kind of merit but until someone else steps up to the plate, please accept my best effort here.
These signs behind me were for the other farm market----- 206 Farm Market (Monzo's ?) further north but near my cousin's smaller market.
This is the side view of my mother's home which now belongs to a Castone family:
Lillian and Anthony's home:
Looking towards 206 with the view of my mother's home on the left and my cousin's home on the right. I was able to view the car port where we were used to enjoy so many memorable summer get-togethers:
My sister pausing to reflect on Anthony's tractor:
It was a gorgeous mid-August day that felt more like September. Hoping to hit farm markets for tree-ripened peaches and some antique shops, we prepared with a some internet info on possible stops and got the Garmin GPS out. We left from Pitman, NJ going south towards Salem. We visited Mood's Market, Cawman's Mall, Royal Port Antiques, Market Street Treasures, RNJ Grilling by the roadside near Bridgeton, and a unique place called Jantiques. We could have added a pick-your-own-fruit stop but we will leave that for another day. Also, we got a quick view of the area near the Salem Nuclear Plant. My son turned around in a parking lot near there but he was reluctant to linger there with the surveillance that surely goes on even near the peripheral areas. Here I have traced our route. It might have varied somewhat but it is basically correct:
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We stopped at Mood's Market. It is more than a typical Farm Market. It holds events and pick your own fruit days. They sell tree-ripened fruit, apple and peach ciders, and apple cider donuts. We were happy to get a package of donuts from the supply on the shelves but instead we were offered the freshly baked, hot from the oven, donuts---so yummy. Before noon my son finished the half-dozen donuts. Later that day we enjoyed the peach cider (90% peach juice) with our take-out barbecue.
I live in a town that is desperate to return to the glory days when the main street shopping was the hub of the community. As bad as it is in my town, these communities that are in Southwest New Jersey seem to be beyond making a real comeback. Salem must have been an impressive little city at one time but now they qualify for the 3% sales tax program with a significant amount of poverty although not as bad as Camden which may approach 44% living in poverty. I would assume farming, municipal jobs, education, and the nuclear plant are the main income producers.
The main street for shopping is Market Street and there are a few good antique shops. I stopped at Market Street Treasures and my son spied something that he knew would peak my interest and I had to have it. In a previous blog I have talked about my father working for RCA as a television service man. He had a folding carry-all case filled with TV tubes for repairs and I had a chance to purchase this one for $200 but I offered $150 and we made the deal.
My son bought a cubby organizer
for mail from the old Salem Post Office:
After we left Salem we headed towards Bridgeton in the hopes of meeting up with my sister at work but it did not work out. So we came to one rural intersection and there was a roadside barbecue with two fellows running it and we got the last of their ribs and chicken. I really do not know how it happened but my son breaks out in this comedic opera singing that he sometimes does. Then the owner, a Mr. Nicosia, breaks out into real opera singing. What a roadside delight! He gave my son a business card ----RNJ Grilling and Catering. We shared that we had been on a road trip looking for antiques and he directed us to one place that we had missed which turned out to be the most interesting stop of the day. The large yard was filled iron gates, a reproduction of the Thinker, brown cows, black cows, a panda, other animals, a metal gazebo, and other statues. The authentic old look was being enhanced on some pieces by leaving these pieces outside to get exposed to the elements. Near the back entrance there were newer small metal toy reproductions that were outside and I surmise even those items were being "aged" outside. The one guy whether an owner or not looked very eccentric with his wild blonde hair and one customer kind of matched. He looked like a large-sized Rambo at about 6 foot 4!
Do you see Triceratops lurking in the background?
