Heights History: Hotel St. George Pool Poster

By on April 10, 2009 12:00 pm in History

sg-pool001

From the BHB Inbox, Eddy writes:

Hi, I thought it might be nice to share the attached scan of St George Pool ad art…. not sure of the year (guess is the 50’s-60’s) but it was found in the hotel after it closed in the early 80’s (my friends and I used to explore it when we were teenagers)…

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  • Publius

    Thanks for sharing this Homer! Wonderful.

    I wonder how large the advertised giant screen television was?

  • nabeguy

    Great poster…and I remember those “sunshine” lamps, but not the TV. As for the gym, the condition of the air that I recall was the stank of old sweat.

  • http://keever.livejournal.com keever

    This is really great. What a wonderful find, Eddy.

    I love that the price of admission includes use of a bathing suit.

  • sarah

    Do you have any idea how i can buy one of those posters?

  • Eddy

    Thanks everyone, Yeah I don’t recall the “Giant screen TV either”, I do remember the place stank and there was about an inch of water in the floor of the bathrooms…. Yuck
    Sarah, I don’t have any copies to sell but if you or any one else wants a full size scan I’ll be happy to send it, just shoot me an email: eddyde115@yahoo.com

  • AEB

    …AND “Pool Open Nightly To 11″….

    …a swim before sleep. Hmmm……..

  • benita berman

    great poster!! I remember the suits well. Can’t say I remember the bathrooms being yucky. Does anyone remember the observation room above the shallow end of the pool where you could look down on the doings in the pool? You entered it through the lobby. The walls were covered with photos of celebrities of the day.

  • bornhere

    Benita – It’s possible I’m inventing aspects of my memories here … but I was talking about the observation area just last night. I seem to recall the nearly overwhelming chlorine fragrance, echo-y sounds, and sort of dramatic, incandescent lighting of an almost halogen type. Again, I may have made “creative revisions” over the years, but when I think of what I described as a “balcony” overlooking the pool, the whole memory is sort of sparkly gold and green, and unlike any other pool I had ever seen.

  • Eddy

    Bornhere, you hit the nail on the head…. the echos, the lighting, the colors and that smell which as I recall was unlike any other pool odor… perhaps because it was chlorinated saltwater? The place was kind of erie, like being in a David Lynch movie…. LOL

  • hoppy

    If it were a David Lynch movie there would be corpulent twin sisters in floral bathing caps doing a slow, synchronized breast stroke up and down the pool with creepy frozen smiles on their faces.

  • AEB

    …and when they spoke, the words would come out backwards.

    And they’re be a severed ear in the locker room. And Laura Dern would be in it. And the film itself would begin at the “narrative”‘s end and run forwards to the beginning, but you wouldn’t know that unless you were really canny….

    And the whole thing would be DEEPLY unsettling.

  • TMT

    Yes, to echo Sarah’s comment: does anyone know where one can buy vintage BK Heights posters like this one? Or, do you happen to have a higher resolution version you wouldn’t mind uploading? Thanks for sharing!

  • John Wentling

    Eddy, I’m sure you could have prints made reasonably, and some folks would gladly compensate you for the expense and time. It’d make a grand framed poster for the den or living room – what say?

  • Eddy

    I repeat, if anyone wants a full size high resolution scan so they can have it printed, I’ll be happy to send it, just shoot me an email: eddyde115@yahoo.com

  • Diana

    I remember reading Hawaii as I sat waiting for the heart throb of the time.. Whitey.. practice diving there… He died in the world trade center building on 9/11.. I had another friend who swam.. Pam Colby would love to get in touch with her..
    Diana

  • Reba Fischer Kovel

    I was a member of the Dragon Club when I was 16 years old. Wonder if any members are still around. I would like to hear from you. I am now 93 years old. It would be fun to bond with a friend from those days.

  • Reba Fischer Kovel

    my email address is: rebakovel@aol.com

    I now live in Aventura, Florida

  • nabeguy

    Diana, I just discovered your album today on the Growing Up In BH site. Amazing pics, some of which I passed along to Mr. Spano, who has become something of the neighborhood historian. And I remember Whitey well…one of the classiest guys I encountered in the PS 8 schoolyard…and one of the few (beside Fred and Belty) who tipped me for making soda runs to Schlemmer’s.

  • bornhere

    nabe — Is “Mr. Spano” Jimmy Spano? If it is, I’ll have to tell since47, because I think she knew him from P S 8. What is the site you’re talking about with Diana’s pictures?

  • nabeguy

    No, Frank.There’s a Facebook site called Growing Up in the Heights. It’s mostly people younger than myself and predominently south Heights’ers, but Diana posted some amazing pics from the 50’s, including a shot inside the St George Playhouse of a bunch of kids, with Max Baer the boxer sitting in their midst.

  • bornhere

    nabe – Who’s Frank? (But thank for the Facebook explanation.)

  • bornhere

    Nabe — Could I be any more obtuse? I just realized what the “No, Frank” went with. Sorry.

  • since47

    bornhere: Spano is Frank, not Jimmy…

  • since47

    I just joined the Growing up in Brooklyn Heights site on Facebook, and whether you know the faces or not (found a few that were familiar), some of the photos are just incredible! Thanks, nabeguy!

  • benita berman

    Nabe or Since47, I already have a Facebook page and I tried to find Growing Up In Brooklyn Heights, but got back “sorry we have nothing for you”. Perhaps, I’m not doing it correctly. After you log in, where do you enter “Growing…..”? By the way, Nabe, have you seen the “big white wall” at the health club? That was all the renovation they did. I thought of you this morning. There was an article in the Washington Post about a piece of the Berlin Wall being installed at the Newseum and I wondered if you accumulated any more pieces of the mural? One more question – do you think Mr. Spano has pictures?

  • nabeguy

    BB, I haven’t seen the renovation, as I’m not a member, but I’m hardly surprised. I still have about 3 buckets worth of the mosaic tile…hardly the Berlin Wall, but a unique keepsake nonetheless. Can’t speak for Mr. Spano’s photo catalog, but knowing him, I think that his best images and memories are still in his minds eye. since47, did you know Frank growing up? He might have been a couple of years younger than you. And did you go to the candy shop on the corner of Middagh and Hicks as a kid? It was last run by Evelyn in the early 60’s and I always had the impression that she had been here forever.

  • benita berman

    I finally figured out how to join a group on Facebook. I looked at all the pictures – as you said, most of the people are younger. There were some nice shots of the bridge, the one in the movie theatre was really good and I also liked the after fire pictures. I asked Reba about pictures, but she said she doesn’t have any. I wonder if Mr. Spano knows the location of the coffee shop in the St. George, as opposed to the drug store counter. Also, bornhere, you never told us what was on the NE corner of Henry and Clark. Was it the tobacco products, etc. store with the phone booths?