W.O.F. 15 -----Hess Monkey Town!

OK, this is a print of a picture that my sister gave me some time ago, from a series by this painter, Charlene Rene Clark, who has a weird fascination with oddball Baltimore things. Anyhow, I remember this place, this Hess Monkey Town, in Edmondson Village, a shopping center that was way ahead of its time, similar back in the 60's (maybe 50's) to the "power centers" and "lifestyle centers" like Easton near Columbus, or Levis Commons in Toledo, or White Marsh Towne Centre or whatever it's called in Baltimore. A bunch of stores you accessed directly from your car (pre-mall). They used to dress it up big time with lights at Christmas time. The architecture on the Hochshild's side of the street was uniform brick.

Anyhow, I recall hittin' Monkey Town for the occasional haircut as a young kid. There was a special carpeted ramp from which to view the monkey-shines. The monkeys held one's attention away from the fact that you were getting a hair-ectomy (and as a very young kid, I hated haircuts). Pretty entertaining, all right, and next to a Hess Shoes store. There was a Hochschild Kohn department store a few doors down, and a big ol' Hecht Company across the street, next to a cafeteria we used to hit on the occasional Sunday after church.

It's all gone now as the City and its blight spread out to the west along U.S. Route 40. The department store chains have fallen one by one, leaving, basically, Macy's. Maybe there is a renaissance going on in that area; I hope so, as Edmondson Village was pretty quaint. But I think the era of the monkey-festooned barbershop is pretty much over.