Originally published as the cover story in the NJ Metrowest Jewish News, July 1999
“To Brookside”
A Nostalgic Remembrance of Times Past
By Larry Chiger
If you happen to be surfing the net and run a search on “Brookside Swimclub” you’ll be rewarded with the address of a single site. In 1958, the year of the Edsel, a fad swept the nation, particularly among the young and limber. It was the act of gyrating one’s hips to keep a 30-inch plastic ring seemingly suspended in mid-air for as long as possible. The “Hoola-Hoop” craze was a newsworthy sensation in that otherwise lazy sixth summer of Dwight Eisenhower’s presidency. So much so that when a ten year old boy, surrounded by hundreds of contestants on Brookside’s great lawn, set the club record of 3,000 revolutions, LIFE Magazine published an aerial view of the event. (To read the full article, click here.)
Copyright Larry Chiger, 2009
