No, He was definitley at American & Fishers. You could see the factory lot and the RR bank from the corner. If you knew Garman you knew he was a DOM. He liked all the young girls in the neighborhood. All of us kids used to watch the old fart drool whenever a girl walked in the store. Speaking of Garman's, remember the gumball machine that had the winner gumballs (yellow w/ two brown stripes). They were worth five cents. Half the price of a soda.We all drank Triple cola because you got 16 ounces instead of twelve. There was also a great mom & pop store (Unity-Frankford) on the NE corner of Fishers & 4th st. which wasn't paved between Fishers & Delphine. The name of the proprietors were Art & Violet. Anyone ever ride the bumpers of cars on the snow covered streets? Great until you hit a manhole!

some of my olney memories: the big grand re-opening of the fern rock theater ( i remember a movie called "corvette summer" playing there for what seemed like 2 months) finks bakery on spencer st, buying candy from modern pharmacy and cal's, hopping the "y" bus on friday nights for a trip the roosevelt mall, buying 45's at gettlins and finally buying my first album at "sound odyssey" kiss alive i think. playing softball all day at lowell schoolyard, harveys pizza den "all you can eat night" me and my friends ate like 25 pizza's one night and the next week they stopped the special. the great olney eagles carnival, first at st helena's and then at lowell schoolyard, shoveling the basketball courts at lowell schoolyard in the winter just so we could play basketball in sub -frigid weather, the great cream donuts at schenks bakery, the fern rock diner on sunday's after church for breakfast. it seemed we were always walking to the subway station at fern rock on our way to either the phillies,flyers or sixers game. i remember in 1977 going to 47 phillies games with those 50 cent tickets! what a great place to grow up!

I agree that this is all awesome - the memories. How about Louise's at 6th and Nedro - HUGE hoagies. I saw we all get steaks at Old English, drink Schaefer at the Huddle and make a fire in the park pavillion.

Some great stories here. Brings back some memories. The drug store at 5th & Spencer was called Modern Pharmacy. The Mitzi shop was next door and it was always a rumor back then that the owner was a Nazi and flew a Nazi flag on his front lawn on Tookany Park Drive right next to Melrose Country Club.

Before CVS at 5th & Godfrey there was a supermarket. Don't remember the name of it but the store had a couple of firsts for me - one was it was the first place I remember playing video games. "Defender" is one that comes to mind. We used to bag peoples groceries ( before it was an actual real job) for change to play the game. It was also one of the first places I remember having an ATM machine. It was called a George.

I remember winning an am radio for my bike by winning best decorated bike in the 4th of July parade. They used to have a big celebration at Fisher park that day too. Anyone remember the oldest in attendance winning a dollar? They did the same for the youngest too.

Who remembers playing whack ball at the bball court in Fisher's Park?

The butcher shop at 4th & Spencer was my first real paying job,making deliveries.

Today, Olney is really run down compared to what it was. But growing up there definitely helped shape me into the person I am today. I'll even drop into the Huddle every blue moon to see old friends.

Hey the snow is coming tuesday night, bring a snow disk, sled, trashbag or cardboard box... and Im there LOL..I remember walking home from fisher park half frozen after a night of sledding and some disgusting cheap beer. Someone bring some firewood.

__________________
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth living in.

I am new here and 'FisherParkKid' has really hit the nerve central with memories of my youth. I lived in Olney from '59 until '76. Did my duty at St. Helena's (class of '69) and did my duty at Fisher Park Day Camp every summer. Every June, there was the church carnival.

BTW, FisherParkKikd, before the CVS at 5th & Godfrey, there was an ACME (pronounded AC-A-ME) at that location. On the very corner at the end of the ACME there even used to be a drug store that burned down. There was an Atlantic gas station on another corner that eventually become ARCO and beyond that was the famous Trolly Barn where we used to stop any buy penny candy after school and (he hangs his head in shame) they would sell us cigarettes at 2 cent each. Am I old or what!

Ah, the Mitzie Shop, Getlin's Records, and don't forget Fields Shoe store near Tabor. Had a girlfriend who worked there during High School - was across the street from - are you ready for this - John's Bargain Store.

These are the things that make us smile. Glad to see some others that were likely at the Fern Rock Theater too. Remember that long double stairway in the theater. The bathrooms were up the steps - boys to the left and girls to the right.

Wasnt it spelled Jonn's...? I loved digging around in there then it became Spains and they had the naughty section that all the moms were in an uproar over.
I didnt think that was an Acme it was another one like shop n bag or something.
How about the pet shop on Olney avenue, was it Vahles? across from the Fidelity bank drive through...remember that? AT Fairhill and Olney?
I remember biking to the rifle club on Tabor and thinking I was in another land once we passed the train tracks.....
Swimming at Cherashore playground (mid -late 70's) was always fun with Fisher park day camp....you needed an escort to go to the bathrooms.
I remember being exhausted walking from the park to the pool then back again after swimming for an hour...Not too bad but when it was 90 and humid it was rough!

__________________
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth living in.

Olney is typically pronounced "ahl-nee" or incorectly as "ah-len-nee."
-According to wikipedia

But if most of the people around there say al-len-ee then how does it make it wrong? Do the people who live there decide or do the people who write wiki articles decide?

You are absolutely correct. It was Jonn's and not John's. Forgot about that one. Do remember when Spain's came in. My mother told my sister and I that we were not to go there. That's all she said and we were not allowed to question it.

When I went to the Fisher Day Camp, we would go swimming Tuesdays and Thursdays at Gusteen Lake out off of Ridge Avenue somewhere. Anyone else remember that? Some lake - it was just a big giant concrete rectangle. But it was where I learned to swim.

I remember that long walk (from the day camp to the pool) too -- In fact before going to the 10th and Olney playground (1975 and earlier) we took school buses to the Hunting Park pool!! Now Hunting Park was REALLY another land than Olney all together.

Re: Biking over to the Rifle Club -- That is where I worked my first job at the age of 12. The buildings are still there (some date back to the 1840's or so) and are some sort of Korean business/offices.