Camilla Okamoto shopping on the Avenue in the '80s

by Camilla Okamoto

I turned 13 in 1980. The 1980s, therefore, was a pivotal decade for me; encompassing all of high school and all of college. Back then, I was a bit of a hippie – loving Fleetwood Mac and living at El Quetzal. Thinking of all of this recently, reminded me of the many shops on Germantown Avenue that saw chunks of my hard-earned cash (I had a series of teenage jobs in local businesses, including the Trolley Barn, Thorell’s Quality Cookware, Future Video, and the Chestnut Hill Farmer’s Market).

Let’s start at the bottom of Germantown Avenue and work our way up. First, there was Soffers. I didn’t get any of the little dressed mice figurines in the glass case, which I longed for when I was a child, but I did decorate my teenage bedroom with bamboo chimes, candles, and Indian bedspreads. I sometimes stopped at Reese’s Pharmacy for a molasses paddle (which I can still get at Zipf’s Candy Shop).

Walking up the street, we pass – not in order – Under the Blue Moon restaurant, the Chestnut Hill Bike Shop, Frank’s Barber Shop, Marion’s Girl and Boy Shop, and an ice cream parlor that was called Not Only Ice Cream (but wasn’t it only ice cream?), which is now Bredenbeck’s.  I remember seeing the Wanamaker Lewis Trio play as I ate dinner at the little restaurant that was the Spice Shop.

In high school, I often shared chocolate fondue at the Cheese Cellar (which is now the Chestnut Grill) and, in college, I sometimes ate dessert at A Slice of Heaven (now King’s Garden). Jenks was, and still is, in the next block, and a good friend and I would hit tennis balls against the school wall, long before it was covered with a tile mosaic and before there was a playground.

O’Donnell’s was still a stationery shop. I loved the creaky floors and inventory on the shelves in its original boxes. Fiesta Pizza was there, and I got many a take-out order of spaghetti and a hunk of garlic bread for $2. Serendipity was on the next corner, where J. McLaughlin is now. I bought one thing there with a gift card I received for my high school graduation. It was a pink and white striped matching skirt and top, which was completely out of character for me.

What’s now the Iron Hill Brewery had been the Jones Oldsmobile dealership, and I’d wave to my uncle who worked there, if I saw him through the large plate window. The Weaver’s Way Coop was Caruso’s, of course. The Nana Shop was for children, but I somehow managed to buy my senior prom dress there. It was a white eyelet affair that Laura Ingalls might have worn! And El Quetzal – oh boy, the money I spent there. I can still remember a black and yellow dress I bought that had shoulder pads. I’m pretty sure I took them out right away.

Across the street from El Quetzal was a shop called Quintessence, and I bought at least two hats there: a black wool fedora, and gray and black wool hat from south or central America. What ever happened to those hats?

A little further up was The Wooden Train, which replaced Allen’s Toy Shop, where I had perused the paper doll section for ages when I was younger. The Cheese Shop, where a friend worked, helped us develop the sophisticated palettes that we have now. And Kilian’s of course. If you turned on Highland Avenue, there was the Wawa (now Univest Bank), where I also spent way too much money, though I wasn’t much for sitting on the wall outside because I probably wasn’t cool enough. I worked in both locations of a store called Future Video. The first was on the 8500 block in a space that later became Banana Republic and, more recently, has hosted some pop-up shops. And the second, in the 8400 block, became Intermission, which is now Gravers Lane Gallery.

Further up the Avenue, I probably still bought penny candy at the Chestnut Hill West train station, though I didn’t love Swedish fish the way some friends did. I often went into Pacific Leather, where I once bought a pair of black suede ankle boots that folded over (think Peter Pan) that I wore the heels off. Yes, I wore them with the black fedora, if you were wondering. I remember making $60 in cash one Saturday at the Farmer’s Market, and then spending almost all of it moments later at Pacific Leather.  Oh, the financial irresponsibility!

Scooperman’s, the other ice cream parlor at the top of the Hill, had a ceiling painted sky blue with white fluffy clouds. There were so few places for teenagers to hang out, and there are even fewer now. And, finally, the library, long before the renovated children’s section or rear addition, was a favorite place for my bookish self.

I haven't forgotten the many gas stations, though I didn't drive when I was a teenager. McDonald's was a gas station, the TD bank was a gas station before becoming a Gap. I don't remember what I ever bought at the Gap except baby clothes, many years later. For jeans, I remember buying them at Auritt's Sporting Goods. I’m pretty sure that’s the Starbucks now. The Children of America daycare was a gas station before it was a Bassett's Bookstore and then a Borders Bookstore. Speaking of bookstores, there was the Frigate, the Fireside, the Encore, the Secret Garden and Summerhouse Books, which my husband and I opened in 1989 at 8127 Germantown Ave.

There were drugstores every few blocks, like Hilton, and Battin & Lunger (where we all bought our Love's Baby Soft in seventh and eighth grade). Also, there were small grocery stores like the Chestnut Hill Market and the Venetian Market, as well as Caruso’s.

Food and clothes; that’s how I spent my money!

Camilla Okamoto lives in Wyndmoor and still sells rare and antique books for a living.