Korvettes stood for Korean War Veterans.
I never knew that! Wow. 600 years later, and I’m just finding out. Thank you!
Yes, Korvette’s was on Fenimore and Central, Klein’s up the street - or down the street?
Wow. Never went to any of those restaurants. We only went to Howard Johnson.
I can still smell Bonanza the aroma of char grilling, was intoxicating, I loved bickford’s and I think there was a Jet’s hamburger fast food stand where KFC is on Central Ave…hamburgers were 15 cents. Maybe you are thinking about Mont Parnasse diner in Scarsdale. Red Coach was a treat and Washington Arms in Mamaroneck was an even bigger treat.
Coming from Yonkers you hit Klein’s first on the right. Korvette’s was up Central a bit further on the left. Shop rite is there now, I think
I think this was before Mont Parnasse. These diners were nothing fancy at all. The one in Hartsdale is now called Fountain something, I think. Yes, Red Coach in Cross county. WAIT! Wilskers in Cross county - loved that place!
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Ah, thanks Gwenn. From New Rochelle, we came down Fenimore Rd. (is that the major intersection? It might be Popham) and Korvette’s was just on the left.
We never went left or right very often, had to save on gas you know. But I do remember Klein’s, for some reason.
Anyone remember the Kitchen Sink at Jahn’s in Eastchester? Nope, never had it, just as I never had the (I know I’m repeating myself) Belgian Waffle at the 1964 World’s Fair because a $1. each for my brother and myself was too much money. Only NOW, thanks to a 1964 World’s Fair doc on PBS, do I find out that this was THE FIRST time the Belgian Waffle was introduced to America. And I missed it.
Yes, my father was cheap.
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Urban legend that is not true.
From Snopes.com
E.J. Korvette (initially a retailer of leather goods) was founded in 1948, two years before the Korean War began, by a Jewish World War II veteran named Eugene Ferkauf. Ferkauf explained the nomenclature thusly: “I had a name picked out for the store, E.J. Korvette. “E” is for Eugene, my first name, and “J” stands for Joe Swillenberg, my associate and my pal. As for “Korvette,” it was originally meant to be spelled with a “C” after the Canadian marine sub-destroyer, simply because I thought the name had a euphonious ring. When it came time to register the name, we found it was illegal to use a naval class identity, so we had to change the spelling to “K.””
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You have burst my childhood bubble! I’ll have to tell dad!
It just occurred to me that this thread would have been tossed out on CH as we are not talking about specific food! I had it happen to me there.
Oh how cute. So I never knew what I didn’t have to know!
And now I know how one of my favorite stores came to be. Thanks, jfood.
HAH! You ain’t just whistling dixie, Gwenn. NOT FOOD RELATED — VERBOTEN!
I hope this thread goes on and on. I need a brain jog. Who knew I’d get to the point where nostalgia would make me happy. I’ve turned into my grandmother. 
We only went to food-a-plenty places, like Manero’s and Traveler’s Rest, so I can’t contribute much outside of New Rochelle.
No never had it, but there was a Jahn’s on Central Ave too I think it had barrels of penny candy…that
was the best. Do I have the right place? It was in the shopping center that now houses TGIF and Staples.
You just solved a mystery for me. I always thought there was an Addie Vallens there but now I realize it was a Jahn’s. But I don’t think that’s where it was because that is where Patricia Murphy’s was. I think it was a bit further up - near Adventurer’s.
The staples you are thinking about has closed there is an Outback and of course a CVS now, it was a Waldbaums after PM closed.
The shopping center I am referring to is just North of Midway is, and where you were the other day on the same side of Central and just past the Ford dealership…Pizza and brew is in there too. I could still be wrong it may have been as far north as California Pizza kitchen.
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I just got back in here when I realized that I was thinking of the shopping center with Outback. I am thinking it was up a hill…these memories are VERY old!
Ah, the many after-softball meet-ups at Jahns at their location in Scarsdale. (Maybe that part was also considered Eastchester? Close, anyway.) Many a fine bowl of ice cream or other creation, but I stopped short of their kitchen sink.
I was one of the thousands who was fascinated with the Belgian Waffles at the '64 World’s Fair. I make deep-set yeast waffles on the Belgian Waffler at home, to this very day. Lots of whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
(See, most of our nostalgia is about food, right?)
How can New Yorkers of a certain age not include the Horn and Hardart automats in our discussion? I don’t think there was one in Yonkers. I am including a link to an article on Horn & Hardart, below. I think the family routine was: into the city to see the movie and show at Radio City Music Hall, Horn & Hardart automat for lunch or supper, and those Juicy Fruit gumpacks on the subway on the way home.
I have also had an article from the New York Times on Central Avenue itself, that may be of interest. Their mention of Korvettes is funny: “Korvettes drew housewives looking for bargain lingerie and teenagers in search of cheap 45’s.”
Smithsonian Magazine article: “Meet me at the Automat:”
“Westchester’s 10 mile strip mall… Central Avenue.” New York Times, March 30, 2001
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WCG if you pull out of the image I posted and rotate it, you can see that the shopping center is sort of in a pit.The Carriage House co op is up the hill.
Thanks. I see - it’s kind of near where I turned of CP to get to Costco at Ft Hill. That makes sense. I am now going nuts as I am remembering parking on a steep hill and walking up some stairs to get to what I thought was Addie
Vallens. Oy.
McLean Avenue in Yonkers - a butcher, a kosher butcher, a grocery store, a deli, a fantastic bakery (Lincoln Park), 2 candy stores, a great pizza place (slice and coke for 25 cents) and a burger place - burger and coke for a buck. Dry cleaner and a drug store with a fountain. It was so great!
these memories are VERY old!
So am I!
floridahound, I got to one, count it, one Horn and Hardart in NYC, and that was it. Fascinating.
Never got into the city, it was SOOOO far away (not) from New Rochelle, so I had to rely on the one time we went to see a religious film in grammar school.
Awwwww, makes me love Korvettes even more. Shmatas, they had lots of shmatas.
Jahn’s was directly across from the strip mall where Lord and Taylor is.
Same here, I use Costco’s Krusteaz, and the waffles are just fine, imo. But it was the idea that I missed out on a momentous opportunity. For…a…dollar.
(See, most of our nostalgia is about food, right?)
True!
