Remember these NJ Legends ?

Lionel was in bankruptcy in 1969?

Jon  

yes very much so ! my father would hold back money at Christmas and would be the first in line the day after for all the good sales !

My brother had a Kramer bass, I had "quite a few" Ballantine India Pale, and I am slowly acquiring made in Joisey Lionel trains.  That India Pale was the real deal, as are the Lionels.  Didn't think much of that bass guitar, though.

Pete

Texas Pete posted:

My brother had a Kramer bass, I had "quite a few" Ballantine India Pale, and I am slowly acquiring made in Joisey Lionel trains.  That India Pale was the real deal, as are the Lionels.  Didn't think much of that bass guitar, though.

Pete

The Ballantine India Pale Ale is back on the market  It is the real deal however Ballantine is owned by Pabst  Pabst doesn't have any more breweries and contracts Miller to brew their recipes  Go figure  You thought the train world was crazy

My little piece of Newark

Thanks for posting.

It was great catching-up on some of the stores. Didn't know PathMark was gone. Regularly drank Brookdale sodas. Always enjoyed Two Guys and Bambergers.  *sigh*

Seeing Two Guys listed brought back a lot of memories.

In the late 50's and 60's my Parents always brought my brother and I to Two Guys the day after Christmas. All the toys/and the Lionel trains were discounted, best way to spend the Christmas gift money. I remember picking up a 57 "AEC" switcher and my brother bought the 58 rotary snow plow. Still have them both (no box) and the window struts are not broken.
There was another place in Hackensack NJ called Packard's. On the top floor there was a holiday toy land that had trains set going around the ceiling in and out of the walls. It was great.

Two Guys had a train department with a much better selection than some regular hobby shops. 

Here are a few of my treasures from Two Guys' after Christmas sales:

Bob

Two Guys bought alot of Gilbert AF S Trains in 1967 when the facrory closed. They were incomplete sets in plain corrugated boxes. I bought one it had the Plastic Milwaukee Rd 5 digit Pacific and like 3 freight cars for like $2.99. Also the Game train for like $2.99.

Carl Orton posted:

Thanks for posting.

It was great catching-up on some of the stores. Didn't know PathMark was gone. Regularly drank Brookdale sodas. Always enjoyed Two Guys and Bambergers.  *sigh*

Bamberger's was owned by Macy's in the thirties. They also owned Davison's in Atlanta and LaSalle's in Toledo. There were Macy's stores in Kansas City and San Francisco. This all changed when Federated Department stores bought Macy's and rebranded all the other stores they owned angering locals who missed their old stores. Pathmark was owned by A&P who owned Food Emporium,Waldbaum's and Super Fresh. A&P was owned by a German company. All stores died during the last bankruptcy.

KOOLjock1 posted:

Lionel was in bankruptcy in 1969?

Jon  

    Yep, that's how MPC got involved, General Mills and Quaker Oats saved the name and stuck it under MPC control. The time leading up to this decision had many collectors buying "whatever they could afford" in support of Lionel, wanting to help keep the original company going, but it was too late. The fear of a further cheapening of the line, was day 1 a warranted concern among collectors too. I'm torn between loving MPC for the "save", and passing on it due to color choice and cheapness issues. Remember, this is a young boy who loved trains, saying "No, thank you, I'll pass". HO almost got me after seeing some boxed sets from MPC, "boxed sets" being all there was at a dept store by about 1975. DC voltage? I couldn't even run one. No way that power supply was big enough. "DC is for "cheap toys with batteries" was my mindset (wide spread Duracell alkaline was just beginning, that meant lots of buying batteries too. So DC was just a bad all around association to me)

  Good thing Tyco engine quality didn't appeal to me either, I returned that for a Daisy to help me with feeling better about some of my lesser modeling efforts of those days

Pathmark went down when the original owners did leverage buyout and the debt was huge. Shop-rite, on the other hand, was making a surge in the area and kicking Pathmark's butt who could not compete effectively any longer. A&P bought the chain a few years back but putting 2 dogs together was not the right move. They both plus their Waldbaums, Basics and Superfresh stores all went bellyup. I know Dave F. will chime in here as he worked for Pathmark as I was his Kraft rep for some years.

Great trip down memory lane.

thanks for posting

Did Two Guys in the 1970s sell Lionel trains ?  I recall going there the day after Christmas for blowout slows on HO items but don't seem to recall them carrying Lionel.

Like many of the NE states NJ was also a giant in manufacturing.  We had four automotive assembly plants, Otis Elevator, RCA electronics/ phonograph, Worthington Pump,  Westinghouse Television, Western Union, Bell Telephone, Regina Vacuums, New Departure Bearings, Fedders Air conditioners and numerous porcelain companies in Trenton.  Just about everything that you could find in a home was made here. Today we have no manufacturing. It is now all in China just like Lionel, MTH, and Williams.  Shame on you politicians!

Ed H, 

Two guys stocked Lionel trains as well as other companies like Life Like, Atlas and Bachmann. Bought my trains from two guys in Union when I was a kid. My mom or dad would drive me there. I would gloat at some of stuff there!

Do remember buying Bachmann HO as Atlas was too expensive for me!