Kiddie Towne - 1958-1973

From Doris:

I grew up in East Boston and every now and then mom would take me to North Shore Shopping Center as it was called back then in the early 60's. I spent many happy times at Kiddie Town and I was sorry when it got taken down. I remember the Easter Bunny, a real rabbit, would be outside one of the stores, Jordan Marsh I think, at Easter time and we got to go and see him too

From Bryan Lagos:

I was born in 1966, so my memories of Kiddie Towne were from the view of a young child. As a matter of fact, the memories were non-existant. That is, until I awoke from a dream yesterday with a vision in my mind of a small amusement park on the grounds of the Northshore mall. I was sure it was real, but as the day wore on, I grew more and more convinced that it was only a dream. I called my mother today and had to ask if it had been real -- and to my amazement, she told me it was! A rather lengthy search on the internet lead me here. The pictures are great and are helping to jog a few more distant childhood memories. Thankyou.

Bryan Lagos
Parkland, FL

From Dennis DiGiovanni:

I have many fond memories of Kiddie Towne, but the best of all is one day my parents took me to an old favorite, Kiddie Ranch in Saugus, MA. When we arrived, we found what was left of Kiddie Ranch being loaded up on trucks and trailers. Of course, I started to cry to see my beloved amusement park gone. My father quickly got back on RT.1 north and we later arrived at Kiddie Towne in the North Shore Shopping Center. It was my first visit of many to follow for a few years to come. It was Kiddie Ranch but even BETTER! I rode my first Ferris Wheel there where I was terrified but loved it. I think other than the coaster, my brother's and my favorite ride was the small "bullet's" as we used to call them. That was the ride that looked like black bullets that went around on a up and down track at what we thought was "high speed" Fun, Fun, Fun... Wish I could be there all over again.

Dennis DiGiovanni, Salem, NH (formally of Wakefield, MA)

From Tom Zalewski:

Nickel Day

Throughout the time of my life at Kiddie Towne 1964 through 1968, there existed a day of excitement and trepidation…this was “Nickel Day” or Wednesday. All rides (with the exception of a brief experimental period) were five cents; and since a large number of employees were basically lazy and let the rides go for long periods of time, this was a great deal for the public, and provided immeasurable entertainment for the employees.

In order to ensure safety and consistency of operation, Izzy (the owner) had every ride safety checked and ‘lubricated’ each Wednesday and Saturday. The term “lubrication” is somewhat misleading. The word ‘lubrication” almost conjures subliminal feelings of a French term having to do with something much more romantic than crawling under, over and through amusement park rides, or climbing the towers of the Ferris Wheel with a grease gun in one hand and a mouth full of cloth rages at 7 a.m. The spectrum of lubricants and solvents used would later provide fertile ground for the creation of the EPA.

For years, Wednesday meant starting the day at 6:30 a.m. (or 7 a.m. if you were really good at your job), starting ticket sales and the rides at 9:00 a.m. and working ‘til close at 9 or 10 p.m. as well as “helping close” until 11 p.m. This, in large part, may explain why Izzy hired young, Polish, or starving college-age employees.

Although Wednesdays were long and bordered on the brink of controlled chaos, I think most employees enjoyed the electricity generated by hordes of sugar-infused children and viewing the terror they instilled in their parents. Precautions could, and usually were, in place to ensure the safety of the public and the employees. Such precautions were not always obvious to the casual observed – for example, the umbrella by the Ferris Wheel was not to shield the operator from the sun as much as it was to shield the operator from “kiddies” full of hot dogs, hamburgers and cotton candy spinning around 50 feet above; there was also a first aid kit someplace in the office if needed.

One year, Wednesday fell on the Fourth of July, and the park remained open until midnight. I can’t help but think there were a fortunate few patrons lucky enough to be riding on the Ferris wheel when the North Shore shopping center had its annual fireworks display. From where I stood, they sounded great!

A belated “thank you” to Izzy Yodlin who hired me and a grateful “thank you” to the patrons and employees of Kiddie Towne who provided me with the experience and memories of a lifetime. I would also like to say “thank you” to Charlene and Doug, who helped dredge up my memories of the umbrella!

Tom Zalewski

1501 Turner Street

Fairbanks, AK 99701

A memory from Johnny Wowk:

I started working at Kidde Towne after school when I was 15. Izzie Yodlin was a good man and had an eye for talent...that's why he hired me,lol. The crew were a good bunch of people to work with and eventualy I learned how to operate all the rides...Merry-Go-Round,Boats,Flying Planes,Bullet/Zipper,Whip, etc, on rare occasion the GO-Carts. But the the most important was the FERRIS WHEEL. When I learned how to operate the Ferris Wheel I felt like a big shot.... I had conguered KIDDIE TOWNE!! One of the best things about working there was playing the Pinball Machines. I swear I spent all my pay or nearly all of it on those awesome pinball machines, they were the good ones, the ten cent & 5 cent games and you could beat them, not like the ones today. We all played them and played for highest score. When we ran out of cash Douglas would come by and open up the back and give us free games....he was good like that. The Shopping Center was open then (No Roof) and when it snowed some of us would get hired by the Shopping Center to shovel and use small gas powered plows to clean snow away from the store fronts and push it into open grates in the floor to waiting dump trucks underneath the mall in the tunnel to haul away. Break times we would go to the Holiday Lanes Bowling Alley where Barnes & Nobles is now or to Peter Pan's Coffee Shop over by Tom Macan's shoes in the Shopping Center (all 3 gone now)We knew all the good places to eat at the Shopping Center like the cafe in JJ Newbury's, China Sails, Brigham's, or the hang out...Peter Pan's with the Juke Box at every table and the waitress with the short skirt and hot legs. At Christmas Time the Shopping Center would put up all kinds of decorations and Jordan Marsh had the best decorations of any store in the Center, I would walk through all 3 floors just to look. Yes Kiddie Towne brings back a lot of good memories for me in a time when things were simple and people appreciated what they had around them.

From Deb O.

Just wanted to give you a kuddos for the article on Kiddietowne! I remember that so well like it was yesterday.

My Dad whose been gone 24 years would bring me there especially on a Wednesday evening long ago '61 - '66 and it certainly is a wonderful memory.

I also remember the soldiers at Christmas time and how the center was not enclosed.

Oh how I could go on but thank you for bringing me back.

A former Kiddietowne lover!
Deb O.

From Laura Davis:

I have many fond memories of Kiddie Towne. From my mother bringing myself and my friends for a treat (even when money was tight with the GE on strike) to my bringing my younger siblings to have fun while mom was shopping. It was a win-win, we had fun and she had peace and quiet for a little while. In fact, my first kiss was there while they were riding the carousel. I wish it had still been there for my kids, and there today for the grandsons.

Laura Davis

From John R. Campbell:

Thanks for the link to this site and thanks for the memories.

My memories of Kiddie Towne come mostly after the move to the blacktop. I lived in Salem from 1960 to 1967 and spent hours on the little "hand-car" ride. I must have been born a train nut. The boats were on, the carousel and airplanes too, but the hand-car was MY ride. I must have put in 1000's of laps on that little track.