Name/Title
B+W photo of a banner with names of Paul's Seventh St. Boys in Service, Hoboken, n.d., ca. 1944-1945.Entry/Object ID
2001.090.0013Description
Black-and-white photo of a banner with 48 embroidered names of Paul's Seventh St. Boys in Service with a bulletin board below with photos of them, Hoboken, no date, ca. 1944-1945.
8" x 10" high print. Photographer not known. Holographic ink inscription on photo: 7th Bloomfield St Accetta. Reverse has an erased holographic pencil inscription of transmittal that is only partially legible.
These men served in World War II in various branches of the military except one who was in the Merchant marine, Bert Engrieber. Ten of the men died in war service including Engrieber who actually was killed by enemy action prior to the United State's entry in the war. The banner did not list the branch of service.
Paul was Paul Accetta who died in 1948. Until then, he operated a candy store at the corner of Seventh and Bloomfield Streets. This banner no longer exists as it was buried with him as noted in the article mentioned below.
Enclosed is a photocopy of an article, "Remembering the Seventh Street Boys," from an unidentified newspaper (The Hoboken Reporter?), ca. 1980's-1990's, about the history of the banner and Accetta with comments by one of his his sons, Dominick. Text of article is in notes.
List of names transcribed including the associated names above:
Accetta, Dominick
Accetta, Mike
Accetta, Paul
Androsiglio, Al
Androsiglio, V.
Apfel, George
Bach, Frank
Barofsky, Walter
Behrmann, Henny
Bier, Bernie
Bier, Danny
Bier, Edward
Bonaccoria, Vincent
Christensen, T.
Crimmins, Joe
Crimmins, John
Dolan, Tom
Droste, Bud
Echarti, Eric
Engrieber, Bert
Fried, Bob
Gerken, George
Goffe, Harold
Goltz, Paul
Goneals, Ernie
Gordon, Lou
Johannes, Frank
Katzoff, Dan
Kovolik, Paul
Lewis, Doc
Marnell, Bob
Notarianni, Frank
Notarianni, Tony
O'Connor, Oliver
Olsen, Ole
Oneta, Phil
Phair, Art
Phair, Frank
Potts, Bobby
Puretz, Al
Reardon, Dave
Reilly, Buddy
Richter, George
Robinson, Charles, Jr.
Robinson, William
Scheuman, Arny
Wallace, James
Worsthorn, BobAcquisition
Accession
2001.090Source or Donor
Eckardt, Jerilyn RadiganAcquisition Method
DonationCredit Line
Gift of Jerilyn Radigan Eckardt.Made/Created
Date made
1942 - 1945Notes
Date: 1942-1945General Notes
Note
Display Value: Fair
Notes: From an unidentified newspaper (The Hoboken Reporter?), ca. 1980's-1990's,
Remembering the Seventh Street Boys.
A look back at the boys of Paul's Candy Shop.
When Paul Accetta's candy shop closed after his death in 1948, physical traces of it soon vanished. The storefront at Seventh and Bloomfield streets became an apartment and the circle of young friends who used to hang out there Paul's Seventh Street Boys grew up and went their separate ways.
Dominick Accetta, one of Paul's sons, remembers the kids who hung out as a "fantastic bunch of guys who never once got in trouble." The store, he says, was a neighborhood center for youth culture, primarily sports, since nobody had a car or much money for such things as movies.
There were three groups: grammar school kids, high school students and recent high school graduates. It was constantly changing in the 10 or 15 years it existed, for in time, the older kids would get married. Sid Gordon, whose brother Lou was one of Paul's Boys, remembers the group as more of an informal thing, much like the pickup games kids on one block would play against the next.
Then came the war
World War II contributed 10 the group's demise. As they came of age, most of the young men were drafted or volunteered. Before the war even started, in 1941, one of the Boys, Bert Engrieber, died when his merchant marine ship was sunk by a German torpedo off New Jersey. In memory, Henry Behrman got a red and while banner to hang in the store's window, and embroidered Bert's name in gold, then started putting on the names of everyone who joined. By the war's end, another 45 names had been added to the banner, including Henry's. James Wallace was the only other regular at Paul's candy shop who gave his life. He died in a training flight crash in Florida. Hoboken's Wallace School was later named after him aid a brother who'd also been killed in action.
Accetta served in an armored unit in the push towards Germany across France and the Low Countries, and helped liberate the first concentration camp the Allies discovered, Orhdruff Nord, on April 5, 1945. Although many of the other young men from his dad's store served in the Army in Europe, Accetta never ran into them there.
He still doesn't. After the war, many of the returning GIs used their government benefits to go to school and leave Hoboken. And of course, after the store closed, the group drifted even farther apart. Today, Accetta say, not one of the Paul's Seventh Street Boys named on the banner still lives in Hoboken. He estimates 30 percent have passed away. The one attempt at a reunion, several years ago, fizzled -- everyone was just too far apart. Their memories preserve the store, but as time takes it toil, those too shall be gone. The original banner was buried with Paul, and the few yellowing photographs extant can't really convey all that the store was to the local kids.So the last traces of that neighborhood institution in old Hoboken will one day be gone.
Original or Copy: Original
Status: OK
Status By: dw
Status Date: 2003-08-28
