Christmastime in 1950, Trenton, New Jersey


As I was browsing the Duke University Libraries site yesterday, my eye was caught by this photo of Trenton, New Jersey in 1950. In fact, it's December 5th, and it's 1:30 pm. I like to be very exact with the date and location of an old photo, and you really can't be more exact than that!


You're looking north on Warren Street at Perry. This area has changed a lot since then, but the Trenton Battle Memorial is still there, which is easy to recognize, and the building with the distinctive triangular top is still there, too. There may be other buildings that remain, let me know if you know of some!


By the way, just to be clear, the Duke site isn't about locations, it's all about advertising, in this case a billboard. Sometimes they have exact locations, and this instance they did, but often it's just a description of the billboard. I have a special fascination for advertising (I'm an old marketing guy), and I especially love Christmas, so this is a treat for me. I'm writing this on December 9th, and I'm feeling all Christmasy.

Time-travel with me. Since it's 1950, the war has been over for many years, and the United States is about to enter an era of tremendous economic growth. The privations of the war years are over, and Americans are about to make up for it, with cars, jewelry, you name it. Yes, the '50s were just as wonderful as you've heard! Santa appears on all kinds of advertising, from Coca-Cola to jewelry, as he does here for Sherwood Jewelers, 45 E. State Street, Trenton, New Jersey.

And just look at those cars! Did I mention that I also have a special fascination for old cars? If you recognize the make and models please let me know, and I'll update the post.


I just love walking into old photos like this. I don't know anything about Trenton, but I get a big kick out imagining that I'm standing right there. I've never seen a traffic signal that says, "Move on green light only" and I can't help but thinking that there would be a fair number of old-timers who really didn't understand the green and red light system, and may have just thought that they were just some very elaborate Christmas decorations! "Red and green! How Christmasy!"

Thank you for visiting Trenton in 1950 with me. And, oh yeah, the fire hydrant is still there!



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