May I et the record straight. My name is Fran (Francis) Lucca, a retired print, wire service, and broadcast investigative reporter in Buffalo for more than a half century. I researched, picked the subjects, interviewed them,,, paper edited, and produced "Things That Are Not There Anymore". for PBS Station WNED as a freelancer under my copyright Fran Lucca Enterprizes. I do not know how Jason Mendola managed to get it on you tube...but am grateful for the exposure he has given to my documentary. ENJOY..
Thanks, wish I could find more, I just happen to have this on a VHS tape and was converting a bunch of old videos and thought others would find it as interesting as I do. Thanks for making the videos and not telling me to take them down :)
+Fran Lucca Thank you, Fran! My mom worked as a waitress at "Nat"'s diner in Crystal Beach on occasion, she was quite a "looker" back then! Ever turn up any remnants , or memories, about "Nat"'s?, as I recall, it was located just outside the park's "rear entrance", near the "kiddie" section!
I have the entire episode on DVD. Great stuff man. I especially like the Offermann Stadium part as I dedicated a plaque on that site back in 2012 so it never gets forgotten. Good stuff Fran.
Rodger, Thanks for your reply. My last visit to Buffalo was in Aug, 1999, when Dad passed away. He was born / raised in Williamsville, and his brother sold Christmas trees at the family home on Main St. Some things remain, and I hope that continues. I'm happy to see the Sheas Buffalo theater still standing,..it was a wonderful place for a family evening at the movies. John Carleton, (Buffalo native) Citrus Heights, Ca.
My family also had a small house, or "camp", in Crystal Beach, right on the lake a few blocks from the park. It was just our summer house, my dad sold the place after my parents divorced. We used to go to the park or to the beach almost every day in the summer. Thanks for posting this. Brings back a lot of memories. After the park closed, some people got together and made a documentary about it, in VHS format. Maybe someone will put it on RU-vid. I no longer have my copy.
+My Fraudulent Mortgages- Hey, MFY, I don't remember that we knew any Strombergs, what did they do? Mom later got into publishing, ("Scene" magazine, "What's happening on the Niagara Frontier")There WAS a family by name of "Straub", though, as I recall, who owned the "camp" nextdoor to ours on the lake. Andy Straub, was the old man's name.
What a great documentary. Even though I did not live in Buffalo, I would come to Niagara Falls, Ont every July with my grandfather. We would leave from northern New Jersey and head up the Thruway to Buffalo and then cross either the Rainbow Bridge or the Peace Bridge. We would leave NJ at 400am and get to the area about 400pm. A long day, but a great memory. My uncle in Niagara Falls would take us to Crystal Beach and I remember riding the Wild Mouse at the park in the early 60s. Such fun.
I remember going to downtown Buffalo on the NFT red & cream buses from Town of Tonawanda that went down Elmwood Avenue at Sheridan Drive when I had lived in Sheridan Parkside. There was a Brinson's on Military Road. Downtown Buffalo was real busy in the late 1950's and even early 1960's. Used to watch the St.Patricks day parade on the Sunday closet to St. Patrick's day. Once in awhile we would go to Glen Park amusement park which was a favorite for me. It's a shame that it was destroyed by fire in the mid 1970's around the time of Watergate. The video is great.
I spent many days, as a youth in the 1970's, at Crystal Beach. For $5, you could be bused from Buffalo's suburbs to and from the park, over the border to Canada ( no questions asked, no passport, no nothing!) . Remember Lancaster/Depew/ Cheektowaga Days? I do. Toward the end of Crystal Beach's life, a single admission fee got you unlimited rides and we would exit the Comet roller coaster and get right back in line to ride it again. And again. And again!!! Oh, and more than once I smuggled fireworks back from Canada to New York on the return ride!!!!!! Pretty sure the statute of limitations is up on those crimes.
vhsHQ4hedd I remember smuggling fireworks! When we owned a summer house in Crystal Beach, we were considered "landed immigrants" so we didn't have to stop at Customs. We had a sticker on the car windshield with a maple leaf on it, and Customs would just wave us through. Dominion Day in Canada, (July 3?) there would always be a huge fireworks display that was set off down on the beach right near our place!
My maternal grandmother, Leonora Santuci, owned and operated a "soda fountain", (ice cream and soda shop) in downtown Buffalo, I believe it was in the 1940's. I do not know the location, but my mother kept a photo of the interior. My grandparents lived a few blocks off of Genesee St., on Kehr and Frederick Place. I seem to recall that at one time downtown Buffalo had an "automat", a restaurant where you would buy your food out of glassed- in boxes that lined the walls of the restaurant. There were no waiters or waitresses.,You would put your coins in a slot by the door where your desired meal was located, then open the door and take out your food. The floor between the walls where you bought your meal had tables and chairs to eat at. I think that the automat was down on Main St., near the old Greyhound bus station. Does anyone remember this?
My Fraudulent Mortgages I wish I knew exactly where my grandmother's soda shop used to be- the only living relative who might remember would be is my aunt. I will ask her next time I talk to her. My grandparents had a house on Ontario st., that got badly damaged by flooding, then they owned a house a few blocks off of Genessee, on Frederick Place.
Was that perhaps a place calld "The Chicago Lunch" or "The New Chicago Lunch"? I do remember the automat...I am certain it did exist...perhaps into the mid 1960's.
There used to be two bus systems. NFT (Niagara Frontier Transit) serving the city, and another ???? that served Cheektowaga (and other) suburbs. Inbound to the city, these buses could only pick up passengers in the suburbs, but could not pick up passengers within the city limits, they could only discharge them. On the outbound trips, they could pick up passengers anywhere, but could not discharge them until they left the city limits. It was some sort of co-exist agreement to limit competition between the 2 bus companies. Does anyone remember the name of the suburban bus system? The buses they used were generally a generation older than those used by the NFT. I do remember the NFT bus barns in red brick buildings were on Broadway near Bailey.
Buffalo is a live and well and as far as WNED is concerned they have merged with most Canadian cable and sattelite companies to be on the air entirely around the country of Canada. Canalside down at the foot of Main St. has emerged as a large gathering spot for musicians, craftsman and resturants, if you have not been there lately you should make it a visit. The Bills and Sabres struggle but looks like both are making a comeback, Our history as far as newsmakers have had the Russerts and Wolf Blitzer and many other notables, the future seems to be now and our wonderful history is still alive. Thanks, Wayne Alt
Hughes coffee shop,....My dad worked at M&T Bank, at Main & Swan; Hughes was his daily lunch place, until the bank moved to M&T Plaza during the mid 60's. John Carleton, Citrus Heights, Ca
JON421000 It was so cool, standing up reading the newspaper while eating your lunch, I had to walk fast so I had time to eat, went thru a line with a lot of items ready to pick up,.put the food on the shelf stand, read and eat.
"They moved on... Buffalo Didn't... Love Buffalo, NY but it IS the 21st century and we need to let go of some of the past to have our hand open to grab the hand of the future... 15th largest city in the nation at one point 1950 and now 73rd.. It's a shame we haven't even tried to grow to some point to keep Buffalo Great! We've lost 215,000 plus since 1971 what a shame...
