WHAT'S AN EGG CREAM, YOU ASK? — Sharon Mark Cohen

While growing up, egg creams were a standard in our house. That’s why when we were in the Berkshires, and our cousin insisted we visit the shop Lenox Judaica in Lenox, Massachusetts, we ended up with a print of an egg cream. The frothy drinks as seen in the colorful print, come sans eggs or cream. Missing here, however, is the milk. No worries, the measurements for the three ingredients are found on a drinking glass from Junior’s of Brooklyn. Read on.

As we walked into the shop, the appetizing print was one of the first things we spotted on the wall. After asking the price of the framed piece, my husband said we should buy it. I suggested that we sleep on it. One consideration was where we would find a spot to hang it, and another was having it to look at would make it hard to resist drinking more and more egg creams.

The next day, while we were in the area, Cousin Cory had us back to the shop with a purchase request. As we stepped inside, the print again rang out at us. The shop owner echoed, laughing, “I don’t know, it could cause an irresistible urge to have an egg cream.” In the end, just like the desire for an egg cream any time, we couldn’t resist the colorful print.

When we came home, removed all the wrappings, and hung the piece across from our refrigerator, it dawned on me that sharing it with a wide range of others who may have the same feeling about egg creams would be fun. It didn’t take long to figure out the perfect place to post a picture would be the Yiddish sight Yiddish Word Of The Day (A LIGHT, FUN Group Of Lovers Of Yiddish) heavily composed of Jews from the tri-state area.

One week and eight-hundred forty-six hits later (I lived at house number 846 for ten years), I knew I picked the right group. Three hundred and twenty-four groupies commented. The simple recipe was outed with various ideas for making it the most authentically tasting, noting affirmatively that an egg cream has neither an egg nor cream.

The responses ranged from Mary Meola’s posting of a glass marked, “Egg creams per Juniors of Brooklyn:”

to, “A nice Italian girl!” to Marlene Kellman Pinchik’s statement, “Invokes fond memories of sitting at the counter in the candy store having an egg cream,” to Susi Wood, writing, “Conjures up memories of my dad, who was a seltzer man in the Bronx. We often had egg creams for breakfast!” I laughed as I recently delighted in making our three-year-old granddaughter tussling about a drink for breakfast at our house, a chocolate egg cream.

Howell Streger wrote: “I see that the ingredients specify Fox’s Ubet. It’s a tradition. Nothing else will do.” One man posted a video of the seltzer man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agAkMbk20y4.

We always keep chocolate and vanilla-flavored Fox’s U-Bet in the refrigerator. Chose your favorite flavor, or combine some of each. Add milk and seltzer, stirring well.

With the excitement generated by the print of the egg cream, the next day, I held up a black and white cookie near it and posted, “The only way to top off an egg cream is to have it with a black and white cookie!” That picture roused about 485 hits in the same amount of time with over 200 comments. Several people announced their distaste for the cookies, while others added a love for another of my childhood favorites, the Charlotte Russe.

A pressing memory from my childhood is having cases of seltzer delivered weekly in the traditional wooden crate and buying syrup to make sweet carbonated beverages. When my father passed away, we had a garage sale and sold all the old spritz-style bottles stored in the basement.

The more relevant memories that came to me, the more I posted on the Facebook group sight for “friends” to enjoy. Naturally, next came the seltzer bottle.

There were over 100 hits on that latest post of the seltzer bottle, and around 50 comments. The most meaningful response to the three related Facebook group posts came from a man who recognized the logo on the seltzer bottle I posted. Isaac Chernotsky stated, “My family was in the seltzer business in Linden, New Jersey. Three generations from the 1930s to 1981. My grandfather's first label was "Union Mineral Water, Co., which eventually became Union Beverages, Inc. I am wondering where that bottle came from. The year it was manufactured should be on the bottom. What a memory. Thanks for any info.”

Immediately, I responded:

Sharon Mark Cohen - Isaac Chernotsky Hah!!! Wow!!! I’m from Roselle!! My parents lived on the Linden side when they married in 1940 at the Frank St shul in Roselle and then moved back to the Roselle side, where my mother was raised. My maternal grandfather Harry Friedman was the ice and coal deliveryman in Roselle and Linden! My mother-in-law was from Linden. Her nephew owned Everlast Seat Covers on St George Av. I’m positive our families knew each other. Maybe your family delivered our seltzer? We moved to Elizabeth in 1965. I checked, and the bottle is from Union Mineral Co! No date. My friend gave us this bottle as we sold the ones my family had when my father passed away in 1997. You will love my website. I have posted many blogs about family, friends, and memories from Roselle at sharonmarkcohen.com. My maiden name is Mark. I have three older brothers. I also wrote a book pending publication, and there is much about Roselle, including stories about Warinanco Park.
The banter continued:
- Isaac Chernotsky - Sharon Mark Cohen Memories are awesome! My grandparents owned apartments on the Linden side of St George Ave. Our soda shop was on Union and John st. Right behind Sipersteins paint store. Everlast Seat covers did all the work on our trucks.
Isaac Chernotsky - Sharon Mark Cohen my brother and I played little league at Warinanco Park. We both went to School at the Jewish Educational Center on Elmora Ave in Elizabeth.
Sharon Mark Cohen - Isaac Chernotsky Herbie and Bea are sadly gone, but their son Eric now owns Everlast. Gosh, we must know so many people in common. I lived on the Corner of Chandler and Grand in Roselle, and my parents once lived on Chandler in Linden. Both were four family apt bldgs.
- Sharon Mark Cohen - Isaac Chernotsky - Did you know any of the Cohens from Pennington St? My husband Arnee had two older brothers and three cousins on Pennington St. The six boys grew up in the two-family house their parents owned on Pennington St. They played lots of baseball at Warinanco.
- Isaac Chernotsky - Sharon Mark Cohen you can't imagine how excited I was when I saw that bottle!...”

Years after we sold our empty bottles, knowing the area where I grew up and my love for egg creams and nostalgia, my friend gifted me that blue bottle we display in our kitchen.

Barbara Albert commented on the Facebook group with the familiar expression for seltzer, “2 cents plain.” Many replied, “love it” and “the best!!” while several responded with Geshmact!, as they were reveling in the thought of the taste.

Wow, did the suggestion of that print revving up our desire for an egg cream ever prove true on this hot northeastern summer. Time for an egg cream…no eggs, no cream, just Fox’s U-Bet, milk, and as Edward Lee Rapp and others recalled so excitedly, …a shpritz (spray) of seltzer. Mmmmm.