{"product_id":"when-brooklyn-was-the-world-19201957","title":"When Brooklyn Was the World  1920-1957","description":"\u003cp\u003eAround the corner. The next block. Across the At the end of the line. Borough Park. Gowanus. Flatbush. Canarsie. Ridgewood. Greenpoint. Brownsville. Bay Ridge. Bensonhurst. City Line. What was the place called Brooklyn really like back then... when Brooklyn was the world?  Elliot Willensky  born in Brooklyn and now official Borough Historian  takes us back to a sweeter time when a trip on the new BMT subway was a delightful adventure  when summer days were a picnic on the sand and evenings were Nathans hotdogs at Coney Island and a whirl of lights  spills  and chills at dazzling Luna Park.  Remembering Brooklyn  its the neighborhoods you think of first -- or maybe its your own block  the one you were raised on. In those days  the street was a more animated  more colorful place. Jacks and jump rope  hit-the-stick  double-dutch and skelly or potsy (hopscotch to you) were played everywhere. The street was a natural amphitheater  and the stoop was the perfect place for grown-ups to sit and watch and visit with neighbors. Stores-on-wheels selling fruit  baked goods  and the old standby  seltzer  rolled right down the block  and the Fuller Brush man and Electrolux vacuum-cleaner salesmen worked door to door  saving housewives countless shopping trips.  For many  a big night out was dinner at a Chinese restaurant  where 99 percent of the patrons were non-Chinese  and you could get mysterious-sounding dishes like moo goo gai pan and subgum chow mein -- \"One from column A  two from column B.\" If you could afford to go somewhere really classy  the Marine Roof of the Bossert Hotel was one of the hottest nightspots. A hot date on Saturday night featured big bands at the clubs on The Strip (Flatbush Avenue below Prospect Park) -- the Patio  the Parakeet Club  the Circus Lounge -- or gala stage shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music or the enormous Paramount Theatre.  Still  for family entertainment you couldnt beat a day at the beach and a night on Surf Avenue  taking in the sideshows and the penny arcades.  For Brooklyn  the years between 1920 and 1957 were a special time. It was in 1920 that the subway system reached to Brooklyns outer edge -- linking the entire borough with Manhattan and making it an ideal spot for millions of new families to build their homes. The end of the era came in 1957 -- the last year that Brooklyns beloved Dodgers played at Ebbets Field before moving to sunny California. For many loyal fans the fate of \"Dem Bums\" represents the fate of Brooklyn.  With a brilliant  entertaining text and hundreds of exciting  nostalgic photographs (many never before published)  When Brooklyn Was the World recovers the history of this lively city  as remembered by the millions of people who knew Brooklyn in its golden era.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44983771594805,"sku":"ByrdShop_0517558580","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780517558584.jpg?v=1770809783","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/when-brooklyn-was-the-world-19201957","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}