"The 8th Street Water Park"

In the Good Old Summer Time...

Those were the days before air conditioning, or even electric fans...when the heat was oppressive..we all dressed and went to "The 8th St Water Park".

We were fortunate because it was about 3 feet from the stoop...

Being young we had to go to the children's section. Ah, it was great.

Looking at this picture the Fire Hydrant was to the left of the stoop. My grandfather or one of his sons or son in laws would unscrew the cap on the fire hydrant, and tie the lid of the garbage can over it. Using a special wrench the size of a small shovel, they would turn on the water and in an instant we had our own water park....that's me and the Mitze sisters sitting in the street as the water flowed down the curb to the sewer. That's Grandpa, Nonna and Willy on the stoop and aunt Milly standing next to it. We did that quite often, day or night depending on the heat. We were the Bigga-Shoots due to the fact the hydrant was right in front of our house. None of the other neighbors would dare come over unless they were invited and only the Cianciaruso's had the special wrench to turn it on.... I have several other pictures of this treat and will post them as soon as I scan them.

(remember m click on all pictures to enlarge them)