Another bright light in the city fades away...

One of the unexpected benefits of getting older is the ability to reminisce about how things used to be.As a young gun growing up in and around New York City in the 1970's, one thing that made the 'CITY' magical was how many characters there were everywhere you looked. By characters, I mean colorful people that defied what a normal person should look like, speak like, or behave. Sometimes these people were strange and scary to a little one like myself but more often than not, they were endlessly entertaining to watch and think about.

Joe Ades was part of this dying breed. His type would have been common place in the late '70s when I was waking up to people and personalities. Wearing expensive suits, speaking in a loud and exotic voice, and selling something while sitting on the street. Talk about defying logic and being endlessly fascinating. Anyone who has spent any time at all in Manhattan has seen this person. He traveled up and downtown faithfully selling his $5 vegetable peelers using a backdrop of press clippings about his life as his stage.

As I was saying, one of the best things about growing older is saying I remember when. Well I'm going to say..."I remember when New York was vibrant and colorful and scary in a good way. Before Giuliani turned NY into a big overpriced strip mall, New York was full of little shops that sold things you couldn't find anywhere else, people that wore clothes you couldn't buy anywhere else, and full of sights that you couldn't see anywhere else"Joe Ades could only have lived the way he did in New York.RIP Joe Ades!

Hat tips:
His Stage the Street, His Rapier the Peeler
Union Square Peeler Peddler Joe Ades Dead at 75