I.J Gonon's Store on W 57th Street

Ted Gonon, son of I.J. Gonon, and Audrey Brava, granddaughter of I.J. Gonon,
have contributed the following information, for which we all are extremly grateful.
It's like going back to the store on Manhattan.

I am the son of I.J. I go back to the Drottningholm. I came out of the US Navy in 1946 and closed the business in 1981, after the demise of transatlantic passenger vessels. Lots of fond memories - Chief Purser Curt Dawe, Evert Eriksson, Captain Henry Sölje, Carl Quant and many other crew members, like Bertil Anderberg from the Beauty Parlor on SAL Ships. He resides in Cedar Falls Iowa, owner of a chain of beauty parlors plus being a successful businessman. His business card shows the Gripsholm and the Kungsholm in lights at night in NY.
- Ted Gonon

My grandfather’s store was quite unusual. I used to love going there as a young girl with my parents because the store sold everything. It was always such a treat for us.

My grandfather came to this country at the age of 15 with his father. After 6 months, my great grandfather returned to Russia and left I.J. in the USA with some relatives.  In 1950, he went to Israel for the first time and met his brothers and sisters. There were 12 in all but some were killed by the Nazi’s.  He worked in the store on 57th St. and finally bought it.

My uncle eventually took it over when my grandfather retired. My grandfather remarried and moved to Florida.  He was a great man and loved by so many people. When sailors from The Andrea Doria came to NYC and my grandfather saw that they did not have winter coats he gave them coats. They were so grateful because they had no money at the time. My grandfather said that they could pay in the future when they had money. He was that kind of a man. He would do anything to help another person.
- Audrey Brava

You can send a greeting to Ted Gonon and Audrey Brava trough salship@yahoo.com

Crew member Armin Nerger:

I remember that we used to buy our clothes, jeans, underwear (Fruit of the Loom), socks, Samsonite suitcases at very low prices, just opposite Pier 97 in a large merchandise store, operated by I.J. Gonon, on 642 W 57th Street.
I still have my first Samsonite suitcase bought in 1970 with the SAL initials on. Also, I still use my money clip (a present from I.J.Gonon with a 1935 silver dollar).
Contributed by crew member Armin Nerger, Germany, Pastry Chef on the Gripsholm 1969-72.

Crew member Björn Wallde:

Memories of Pier 97? Sure.

Docked at the pier five times 1961-62 and once in 1966 on the Gripsholm. You had to walk through the huge hall/storage building to get to W57th St. You could feel the smell of coffee. There was a candy machine where I bought a Babe Ruth (10c?). Inside the building there were green Clark fork trucks driving around, that you had to watch out for. Out on W57th St., the West Side Elevated Highway (now gone) ran above your head. And wasn't there a TV studio with its audience lined up just outside the pier's exit? Yes, I'm looking up my map from 1961. One block away on the right, CBS. And there was a large site for garbage trucks nearby, back then just as today.

I also remember how we hung around on the forward deck and watched the embarking cruise passengers. There were gentlemen and blue haired ladies in their eighties, each one in their own black Cadillac, with chauffeurs in uniforms of varied color, cut and design. There was even one in a light grey uniform with riding boots and all. We almost stood at attention on the forward deck (though I hadn't served in the military yet).

I remember Gonon's store very well, plus the Morning Star Bar a few blocks up. It was still there as late as a few years ago. I had my first hamburger (two for 25c) at the Bus Stop Bar on December 21, 1961, at about 2 p.m.

Björn Wallde
GRIPSHOLM 1961-62 and 1966

Ps. I always go on about the first 10 minutes of Taxi Driver, for Pier 97's sake.
Check it out!