Bruno's Grocery...Never Forget

Before the likes of Union Market hit Park Slope, we had Bruno's Grocery. Or rather, your grandparents had Bruno's Grocery.

Anyway, Bruno's was owned by John Bruno (the dude above) in the 40's/50's, and at67 on Brooklynian is John's great grandkid.

My great grandfather, John Bruno, had a grocery store on the corner of 6th ave & 17th st until it was taken (bought)for the construction of the Prospect Expressway. That's when he came to live with us on east 5 st and ave U. He died in 1957. Does anyone remember?

Anyone? John looked like a helluva swell guy.

Vexed in Park Slope: Thanksgivings of Yore Edition!

 New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Happy (almost) Turkey Day, everyone! In honor of the holiday, I've dug up some very FIPS-esque happenings from Thanksgivings of Park Slopes past. So take a moment and try to imagine a time when, instead of worrying about overcrowded airports, appeasing in-laws and finding a big enough organic turkey, you could focus on what really mattered -- not getting typhoid. 

Park Slope Thanksgiving Anecdote #1 (Sad)

Before you head outside with the "ole' pig skin" this Thursday, give a thought to young Walter Rhue: a 16 year-old who, in 1896, lost his life after a post-Thanksgiving dinner football game in Prospect Park. Walter set off from his home at 720 Carroll Street (between 6th and 7th) after promising his parents he would just watch. 

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Vexed in Park Slope: 1904 Firebug Edition

Grand Army Plaza, 1904

Welcome to Vexed in Park Slope -- a new column about every day things that FIPS would have reported on had FIPS existed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. All stories come from the NYTimes online archives, so if you don't believe one, look it up.

It's 1904, and Park Slope is looking great. You've just shelled out your life's savings for that beautiful brownstone on 6th Ave and 2nd Street (approximate cost: $11K). You're eating locally-sourced produce at the Montauk Club every night, and there's nary a stroller to be seen (though maybe a baby carriage or two). Better still, that cockfighting scandal blew over months ago (future column teaser!). Things are good, right? Not so fast. A rogue "firebug" (early 20th century parlance for arsonist and - I hope - future cocktail namesake at a nostalgia-laden BK bar) with a penchant for setting fires in coal bins near dumbwaiter shafts is on the loose! In a matter of weeks the guy has set dozens of fires in central Slope -- all within a two block radius of your new brownstone.   

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