Time With Grandpop and Water Ice at Pop's

     Pop's Water Ice is a South Philly institution that has been around since 1932.  Recently remembering great summer days with our grandfather brings back memories of him taking us there.

     My first memory of Pop's was back when I was a boy of about maybe five or six years old.  My grandfather, after his retirement from Budd Company, would take my brother, sister and myself a few days a week during the summer to Marconi Plaza (or as we called it, "Down the Park").  Marconi Plaza was somewhat different back in the years prior to the city rehabilitating it prior to the Bicentennial in 1976. It was well-worn in those days. Water fountains - the type you drink from, not the ones used for landscaping - could be found on the Broad Street side where the Columbus statue now stands. Those were the days when you wouldn't think twice about drinking at a public outdoor fountain. Grandpop spent hours with us down there playing with us. He didn't care that the park had seen better days. He enjoyed the time with us.

After what was always a nice day playing with Grandpop watching out for us, he'd walk us over to the water ice stand near Broad & Oregon and buy us each a small "lemonade" as he would call it (although at the time they had cherry and chocolate too), and some pretzel rods.  It didn't matter.  To him, it was still lemonade, or as he pronounced it in his Sicilian accent, "lemonada".  It was that same accent that kept him from pronouncing our names properly. He pronounced my sister Lisa's name as Eda. Matc, my brother, was called Marco. I could never figure out what he was trying to call me. He would always motion to me to come to him and would just say "Eh, come...". It figured I would be the kid with the first name that would be found in more Irish families than Italian ones. I remember he would call my cousin Robert what sounded like Ahbee. Still, as kids, we thought those days were the greatest.  What could be better than spending time with your  grandfather and him treating you to water ice at Pop's? Some of the kids on the block got to go there every week, but we were guaranteed at least two trips weekly with Grandpop. That didn't include the times Mom took us. When a friend accompanied us and Grandpop bought him a water ice, the word was out.  Every once in a while another friend would ask to come with us. 

My Grandfather

After we married years later and my wife moved into the neighborhood, she too became a fan of Pop's famous water ice.  We'd take a walk for the few blocks from 17th & Oregon and get our treats and eat them mostly before returning.  Even after we moved to Darien St. for a few years, we'd make the trek, although there were vendors closer to home. They say your tastes change with age. Forget water ice. I've had plenty of others and they were still the best. With Pop's having gelati on their menu, she's been hooked on them for years. And they have many more flavors than the few in our youth. We make it a point to stop by when family came in from out of town.  My cousin from Tampa was here a few years back while his oceangoing tugboat was docked at the refinery.  We treated him at Pop's and he was truly enthused.  "What's this?  Look's like shaved ice, really good!", was what I remember him saying.

As we get older, good things change. Grandpop died in 1982. In the words of a medic, he was as strong as a bull when he had a diabetic episode just before he passed at 90. He didn't want to go to the hospital and struggled with them before my grandmother had the last word. Those days with him "down the park" and Sundays at Guerin playground were priceless. Those were sad days when he left this world. Likewise, Pop's is a memory although they're just a few blocks away. As much as I'd love to, having water ice can send me to the hospital or worse. I'll still stop by to get a gelati for my wife if I'm out with my brother. But like with Grandpop, those days are gone for me.

AND YOU MAY REMEMBER...

    * Times with your grandparents. In our family, while Grandpop liked yo take us places, Grandmom liked to feed us. And have us stay over when our parents went out on Saturday nights. She's let us have the run of the house until bedtime. When she said lights out, there was no arguing. She did make a great Sunday dinner though!

     *Your own favorite water ice vendor, especially when the heat rises. You may have to wait in line for a while, but it's well worth it. And beside New York, our area is one of the few to have authentic water ice, or as they call it in NYC, Italian ice

    *Water ice in paper "dixie" cups in the candy store freezer.  I guess it was a reasonable facsimile when you couldn't get what you really wanted.  But come on, given a choice?

   *October.  No!  We have still have most of summer ahead of us!

     Pop's Water Ice is a South Philly institution that has been around since 1932.  Recently remembering great summer days with our grandfather brings back memories of him taking us there.

     My first memory of Pop's was back when I was a boy of about maybe five or six years old.  My grandfather, after his retirement from Budd Company, would take my brother, sister and myself a few days a week during the summer to Marconi Plaza (or as we called it, "Down the Park").  Marconi Plaza was somewhat different back in the years prior to the city rehabilitating it prior to the Bicentennial in 1976. It was well-worn in those days. Water fountains - the type you drink from, not the ones used for landscaping - could be found on the Broad Street side where the Columbus statue now stands. Those were the days when you wouldn't think twice about drinking at a public outdoor fountain. Grandpop spent hours with us down there playing with us. He didn't care that the park had seen better days. He enjoyed the time with us.

After what was always a nice day playing with Grandpop watching out for us, he'd walk us over to the water ice stand near Broad & Oregon and buy us each a small "lemonade" as he would call it (although at the time they had cherry and chocolate too), and some pretzel rods.  It didn't matter.  To him, it was still lemonade, or as he pronounced it in his Sicilian accent, "lemonada".  It was that same accent that kept him from pronouncing our names properly. He pronounced my sister Lisa's name as Eda. Matc, my brother, was called Marco. I could never figure out what he was trying to call me. He would always motion to me to come to him and would just say "Eh, come...". It figured I would be the kid with the first name that would be found in more Irish families than Italian ones. I remember he would call my cousin Robert what sounded like Ahbee. Still, as kids, we thought those days were the greatest.  What could be better than spending time with your  grandfather and him treating you to water ice at Pop's? Some of the kids on the block got to go there every week, but we were guaranteed at least two trips weekly with Grandpop. That didn't include the times Mom took us. When a friend accompanied us and Grandpop bought him a water ice, the word was out.  Every once in a while another friend would ask to come with us. 

After we married years later and my wife moved into the neighborhood, she too became a fan of Pop's famous water ice.  We'd take a walk for the few blocks from 17th & Oregon and get our treats and eat them mostly before returning.  Even after we moved to Darien St. for a few years, we'd make the trek, although there were vendors closer to home. They say your tastes change with age. Forget water ice. I've had plenty of others and they were still the best. With Pop's having gelati on their menu, she's been hooked on them for years. And they have many more flavors than the few in our youth. We make it a point to stop by when family came in from out of town.  My cousin from Tampa was here a few years back while his oceangoing tugboat was docked at the refinery.  We treated him at Pop's and he was truly enthused.  "What's this?  Look's like shaved ice, really good!", was what I remember him saying.

As we get older, good things change. Grandpop died in 1982. In the words of a medic, he was as strong as a bull when he had a diabetic episode just before he passed at 90. He didn't want to go to the hospital and struggled with them before my grandmother had the last word. Those days with him "down the park" and Sundays at Guerin playground were priceless. Those were sad days when he left this world. Likewise, Pop's is a memory although they're just a few blocks away. As much as I'd love to, having water ice can send me to the hospital or worse. I'll still stop by to get a gelati for my wife if I'm out with my brother. But like with Grandpop, those days are gone for me.

AND YOU MAY REMEMBER...

    * Times with your grandparents. In our family, while Grandpop liked yo take us places, Grandmom liked to feed us. And have us stay over when our parents went out on Saturday nights. She's let us have the run of the house until bedtime. When she said lights out, there was no arguing. She did make a great Sunday dinner though!

     *Your own favorite water ice vendor, especially when the heat rises. You may have to wait in line for a while, but it's well worth it. And beside New York, our area is one of the few to have authentic water ice, or as they call it in NYC, Italian ice

    *Water ice in paper "dixie" cups in the candy store freezer.  I guess it was a reasonable facsimile when you couldn't get what you really wanted.  But come on, given a choice?

   *October.  No!  We have still have most of summer ahead of us!