What is your favorite memory of the Sweet Shop? Sweet Shop-more than a memory………………………………..Let’s begin with those addicting pinball machines: the tournaments, one on one, the many hours spent in fierce competition and the ever present equalizer: “TILT”! Bertha stood behind the counter barking orders exuding her ever-present personality. She served bowls of bean soup, hamburgers, and whatever else was still available. The forbidden back stairs were a gateway to enhancing meaningful friendships; “skullduggery at its best” to avoid the beady eyes of the “enforcers” downstairs. We shared a single bathroom nicknamed the “furnace room”. In the winter you had to ignite the gas heater to have heat. To occupy the toilet you had to sit next to the heater. Being unable to regulate the intensity of the blast furnace caused immediate “sunburn”. A cast of characters inhabited the “inner sanctum”: Jim Neville (the owners son), Jim Lustig (Heby), DB (dirty body), Al “in your face” McClintock, and myself, Uncle Hurk. We were the residents of the Sweet Shop sharing one T.V., one bathroom (with the exception of Jim Neville who had his own), studying, discussing current events, and philosophizing about the trials and tribulations of college life. The Sweet Shop-our safety net, a place to hang, to perform perfunctory needs, study, and just kibitz. This was for many who passed through the doors before and after us a place called….. home. - Dennis Hurley, Jr. ’70
The Sweet Shop was open my freshman year (1959-60). I remember that it was always crowded and thick cigarette smoke permeated the air making breathing difficult and eyes water. The most impressive aspect of The Sweet Shop was hundreds of carved initials on the tables, to which my boyfriend and I added ours for posterity. I have often wondered what happened to those tables!!! - Louise Bays Fox ’63 My favorite memory of the Sweet Shop is treating myself to a pizza roll when I would ace one of Dr. Bard’s history tests. I wouldn’t allow myself to get a yummy pizza roll for no reason, which gave me even more incentive to study hard so that I could reward myself with one! My visits became so frequent that Bertha knew what I wanted before I ordered! Gotta love Bertha! She was always a treat in and of herself! Boy, how I miss those pizza rolls! - Amy Greer-Knowles ’85 Since I lived in Princeton and commuted on Claude’s bus, I often had free time which was usually spent in the Sweet Shop. There was always a four-some for bridge, accompanied usually by Ann’s ice cream soda. A player who shall remain nameless went to get a coke and we stacked his hand - it was a winner! He was first to bid, but the last bidder called a misdeal (no face cards). He was really deflated, but
played on. When we told him what we had done, he took it very well after a little huffing and puffing. - Louise (Lou) Ryan Grimm ‘46 Jim’s Spaghetti! - Nancy Edge Lively ‘75
Question for the next issue: What is your favorite cafeteria/dining hall story?
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