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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2002
The German-American societies of northern New Jersey hold an
annual Plattdeutsches (low-German) Volksfest in North Bergen, usually
attended by from 12,000 to 15,000 persons. The program includes old
costume dances, skits, and athletic events.
Hammonton is transformed into an Italian town every July 16. From
20,000 to 25,000 persons flock there from four States to observe the Feast
of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Beginning early in the morning, mass is
celebrated each hour. The highlight of the festival is a religious procession in which statues of favorite saints are carried through the streets.
In the early development of North Bergen, an area of farms and woods
beyond the boundary of the township was known as "the jungles." This
territory, long since surrounded, now occupies three blocks near the center of town, and here arose the annual custom of crowning a "King of
the Jungle." The first authentically recorded coronation was in 1910.
On a specified day in summer, contestants strove with each other in
wrestling and in drinking ale, the winner being enthroned on a gaily bedecked barber chair. The defeated candidate then fanned the champion's
brow with brooms as he downed two more tankards to justify his exalted
position. In recent years the wrestling has been foregone for the brew is now
supplied by enterprising politicians.
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