South Shore Long Island
a 1970’s childhood
It’s hard to see the true character of one’s surroundings during childhood, when one’s experience of the wider world is limited. For me, the passage of several decades since my 1970s childhood has brought into focus not only the prevailing culture of that time, but also the particular features that made growing up on the south shore of Long Island singular.
Nunley’s in Baldwin encompassed 20th century leisure. The carousel and pavilion were from Golden City, a closed 1912 Canarsie seaside amusement park! The restaurant opened in 1940, outdoor rides were added in the 1950s, and the mini golf course was built in the 1960s. Until it closed in 1995, up to date arcade games mingled with Skee Ball and vintage attractions.
Somehow there were two worlds always on the outskirts of the atmosphere— New York City to the west, and the sparsely populated farmland to the east. Life seemed poised between these different energies— lots of folks had stories originating in the boroughs, or worked or visited there, and some of the teeming force of the city was evident. But the slower pace of change in rural Long Island provided a kind of ballast, a physical and cultural balance, to one’s sense of place. As a child, I remember field trips to the United Nations, and also to nearby pumpkin or game farms. In Baldwin, my hometown, the occasional deafening low-flying airplane seemed normal, as did undeveloped areas of woods, or the smell of ocean near the southern end.
Proximity to Brooklyn, and the flow of 20th century Brooklynites to suburban Long Island, meant that German, Jewish, and Italian delis would proliferate, that Nathan’s would open a huge satellite branch in Oceanside, and that amusement parks redolent of Coney Island would dot the landscape. Baldwin had such a park, Nunley’s, which opened in 1940 and featured a 1912 Coney Island style carousel. An older and much larger one, Playland Park, had operated at the water’s edge in Freeport until it burned down in the 1930s.
The water, of course, was a major presence. A favorite childhood memory of mine is heading early in the morning to either Point Lookout, Lido, or Jones Beach, stopping at a local bakery to pick up danish, rolls, and bagels, and eating breakfast in view of the ocean well before 9am. Those were epic, full-day experiences, and the pleasures in them were simple but sufficient… learning to ride waves, digging down in the sand to water, deciding how to spend change at the concession stand, while toasting in the sun. Freeport, next to Baldwin, had its Nautical Mile, and picking up bagfuls of steamer clams was as common as picking up milk and eggs at Dairy Barn.
I recall the childhood feeling of lying in bed on summer nights, no school the next morning. Little window fans cutting the humidity, the hint of salt air, drowsily enjoying a comic book by reading lamp, and hearing the resolute, mournful sound of a Long Island Railroad train whistle, seeming to signal even to our quiet street that the business of life was still dependably going on, somewhere at the edge of the world.
Several examples of my artworks of south shore landmarks can be seen below.
Click on image to see full size. Click on title to see print.
A watercolor painting I made of Nunley’s Carousel, as it looked in Baldwin, Long Island, my hometown, around 1970. The view from the parking lot, when the ferris wheel had six colors, rather than just three. The cars in the parking lot resemble the children’s car rides in the park. 14 by 18 inches, with border. Click on thumbnail to see full image.
Each giclee print is one of an edition of 250, printed on archival Hahnemuhle paper, signed and numbered by the artist.