Old New Jersey, Part 2

In 1933, Camden, New Jersey, was the center and headquarters of the world-famous Campbell's Soup company.  It still is today.  Camden also was an important manufacturer of the now-extinct phonograph records. Perhaps its largest industry was shipbuilding.  In Mr. E. John Long's May, 1933, article in the National Geographic Magazine,  New Jersey Now!, he writes, "Down the greased ways of Camden's shipyards have glided three of the four biggest ships launched in this country and nearly twenty percent of the vessel tonnage now comprising the United States Navy.  During the past 28 years Camden's shipways have built some 400 vessels, including warships for foreign navies," (p. 557).

Although there were dozens of shipbuilders in Camden in that era, the largest, New York Ship Corporation, went bankrupt in 1968 due to lack of orders from the U.S. Navy.  It was founded in 1899.

This one city in New Jersey, Camden, "has dozens of other industries.  Cork products, cigars, machinery, licorice products, printing, shoes, books, and linoleum stand out in a list of more than 300 diversified manufactures," (p. 557).  Most impressive!

Camp Dix, New Jersey, was a U.S. Army training installation since its inception in 1917. My Dad, Reuben, a career Army man, was stationed there once.  It is now called Fort Dix, and has been combined with other U.S. military services.  In reading about these 'happenings' of the 1930's and earlier, I enjoy checking what is still active and what is not, and which products which were popular then are being used now.

Trivia: "Bordertown, another historic Delaware River port, has the first public school in New Jersey, where Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, taught; the beautiful estate of Joseph Bonaparte, exiled king of Spain," (p. 559).  Trenton, New Jersey, was the temporary capital of these United States while the Continental Congress met there in 1784.  The Continental Congress actually met in a very large building on the Princeton University campus.  Princeton, the home of the 'Tigers,' was founded in 1746, before we were even a nation!

There are two 8-page sections of color photographs.  Particularly interesting were those of 'dyeing' industries: dyeing leather and silk fabric.  Despite being a heavy manufacturing state, New Jersey has beautiful areas of mountains and coast.

New Jersey once had the distinction of having the world's busiest airport.  "Six transport companies and two local air lines scheduled a total of 89 air planes daily in and out of Newark in 1932, and in addition a constant stream of unscheduled private and military planes used this municipal field," (p. 574).  In 2014, the Atlanta, Georgia, airport is the world's busiest airport but it may be surpassed by either the ones in Beijing or Dubai.

Imagine a transportation service on this scale: "Only London has a larger coordinated bus and trolley system than one Newark company, which serves 421 New Jersey municipalities, reaching all but one county in the state.  In 1931 it transported a total of nearly 400,000,000 passengers," (p. 575).

More trivia: In Morristown, "S. F. B. Morse secretly perfected the telegraph.  Morristown has, too, a school where German Shepherd dogs are trained to lead the blind," (p. 585).  New Jersey is, indeed, an impressive state, thoroughly flourishing in 1933!