Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. This was "over-the-top" grand opening of a theater-like roller rink named Twin City Arena. There were some dressed like the Nutcracker soldiers, marching band drummers, the majorettes, and more. Courtesy of USARSA
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Today as Twin City Supermarket. Yes, it says Discount Store because it has discounted merchandise that are not common in grocery store. It is a "hypermarket." It is said that there is no dollar stores near this market. Courtesy of Google Maps.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of The Paper Boy of Union County - 1966
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. WOW! All gorgeous women posed for a photo shoot for AOW Corporation. I am sure it was featured at all AOW owned rinks. I am surprised it was not a skate car. Instead, it was a street legal train. Reminded me of those carhops featured on postcards and photos of drive-ins restaurants and other rinks which is quite rare. Rarely roller rinks compared to drive-in restaurants. See here for example. Courtesy of USARSA.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. There was an error made by the reporter calling this rink as "Twin Cities Arena" and did not see the huge clear fonts up front of the building spelled as Twin City Arena. This may have struck on some media spelled that way after this incident like the media did with D.B. Cooper which was really spelled as Dan Cooper. Some reporter goofed up and forever Dan Cooper was known as D.B. Cooper. Courtesy of The Daily Register - 08 November 1941.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of Billboard - 11 September 1943.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of Billboard - 16 February 1946.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of Billboard - 06 April 1946; page 78, top story, 2nd and 3rd column.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of Billboard - 26 February 1949; Page 83; 1st Column, Top story.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. 1956 USARSA Nationals Ad Courtesy of USARSA. Photoshopped Copyrighted by Rink-History (fix circles and borders).
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of The Record - 20 April 1962.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. The 1964 24th Annual America On Wheels Roller Skating Championship souvenir program detailing all the numbers, including skaters, where from, etc. Courtesy of USARSA.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of The Record - 25 March 1964.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of The Chatham Press - 24 July 24, 1969
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. This is the final known article in the newspaper and nothing about out of business. The Twin City Supermarket opened in 1985 so this made sense this was the final year. Courtesy of The Central New Jersey Home News - 20 October 1983.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of Rink-History.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ. Courtesy of Rink-History.
Twin City Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ
Twin "Cities" Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ
America On Wheels 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ
Twin "Cities" Arena 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ
America On Wheels 1018 Sherman Ave., Elizabeth, NJ
Twin City Roller Skating Rink also known as America On Wheels 1018 Sherman Avenue, Elizabeth, New Jersey. This rink was the Flagship and headquartered roller rink for AOW Corporation known as America On Wheels.
The roller rink operated with a huge banner Grand Opening with drummers and actors Nutcracker style soldiers and Skate Girls and had drums as marching band to welcome in the brand new rink in 1941. It was quite over the top for such a grand opening. Not like today with a business have such grand opening of grand scale.
And the Skate Train. Train? Yes, it looks like a train engine rather than an automotive sized roller skate that many other rinks used. This was perhaps considered as "Gravy Train" like Soul Train was to a televised night club dancing similar to American Bandstand.
But the train was perhaps just promotional. They even had the females on the train. Reminded me of many Drive-In Restaurants that the carhops wore the majorette uniforms serving meals in postcards lined up or promotions, things like that. Some of the Drive-in Restaurants like the Sivils had that Marquette look which was similar to this rink and other America On Wheels Theater décor look arenas that most other rinks did not have. Ushers wore differently. They wore Doubled Breasted suits similar to ushers you still find in a fancy four or five star hotel in major cities today. Usually Maroon colored. They were also floor guards long before cheaper uniform with a sports refreee uniform. Time for a new next generation. Seen Baywatch? Yes, red again! This time Red top and pants similar to the once popular television series. Rinkwatch! Haha.
If you read TIME Magazine 26 February 1940 issue about the Sivils, it was sex sells as a requirement for the servers to be good fit and attractive. The very same I can see in the photo on their grand opening in 1941. And of course, the train photograph. The timing is very close to the TIME Magazine. They may have picked that up from seeing beautiful with high confident Josephine Powell, the Sivils Car Hop on the cover and read the article. Read all about it here.
The managers came and went. This was practical with AOW Corporation that they rotate or reassign managers. They were Don Victor, George Sticka (1946), Frank Morris (1952), and Joe Schneider (1964)
They had organ music and likely they used Hammond Organ like most of their AOW rinks had. The Organists were Peggy O'Leary in 1949 and perhaps worked until1969 followed by Vic Romano in 1969.
Since this was a flagship rink they assigned, they had headquarters upstairs of the roller rink. The front used to be facing the street. Now that front has been cut off and you enter on the side for the hypermarket.
They likely closed in 1983 because the final ad was on 20th of October 1983. This was the final AOW rink to close before the defunct of AOW due to family members not wanting to operate anymore.
Building now used by Twin City Supermarket which was opened in 1985 and still is operational today.
The Interior.
They likely had Hardwood Maple wood floor that was not painted any colors and likely raw wood floor. They appeared to be large thanks to bird view photograph from Google Maps.
The Exterior.
The theater-like front marquee really impressive like they did with other AOW roller rinks that they operated. Boulevard Arena comes to mind for example.
Since those photographs were Black-and-White, it is unknown what they were like in color. Anyone?
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-color, non-painted, Likely Maple Hardwood. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1941. Renovations: 1985 (grocery store). Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Steel - Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gabled.
Acres: N/A.
Architect: N/A.
Contractor: N/A.
Interior Designer: N/A.
Organ: Likely Hammond Organ.
Organist: Peggy O'Leary (1949 to ?) , Vic Romano (1969 to ?)
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Air Hockey Tables: N/A.
Foosball Table: N/A.
Basketball Speed: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: N/A.
Fascination: None.
Restaurant: None.
Cocktail lounge: None.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: None.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Swimming Pool: None.
Jungle Gym Playground: None.
Skate Park: None.
Theater (movie/stage): None.
Dance Center: None.
Picnic Grove: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1941 to 1980.
Twin City Arena: 1941 to 1980.
Twin City Supermarket: 1985 to present.
Reason for Closure:
Twin City Arena: N/A.
Twin City Supermarket: Still Operational.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also, photos/articles. Also send me any updates such as reopening, sold, name changes, or whatsoever occurred with this rink or any rinks. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at Rink-History©. Before you email, please state this rink name AND THE CITY AND STATE (or COUNTRY) so I can know where or what rink you are talking about. Thank you. We welcome both active and defunct rinks.
Sources:
The Market Report - About Twin City Supermarket and its wealth of history and tons of photos!
USARSA - Twin City Arena page and AOW page.
Twin City Supermarket - Website.
Date of issue: 17 August 2023.
Updated:
For office use only: 17.
Worth to visit:
YES YOU CAN! You can see the exterior still in good shape. The hypermarket is still operational and the supermarket historian said you still can see evident of roller rink layout and design still there both inside and out. Hey, if you want to check it out but not to shop, go buy some soda, bottle water, or something and you can in fact be able to look around and take pics if it is okay with the owner of the hypermarket. He is the door greeter! And operator of this hypermarket!
DISCLAIMER:
International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© (formerly known as Dead-Rinks) and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. We do not endorse such illegal activities including breaking and entry of former rinks, malls, abandoned buildings, etc. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Dead Rinks is now International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© because many former names have become new names at the same rinks that are still active and due to much confusion, We have decided that International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© fits better for all rinks including defunct, closed, inactive, rebooted, and rinks that are still active today. For short on this site, it is International Roller Skating Rinks History© Bear with us as we change the entire site page by page each day. Thank you for understanding.
Second of all: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with different results between two (or more) sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
Rinks that are closed are considered dead. Rinks that are/were sold and with new management names new name(s), the former are considered dead. Previous operating rink that closed but came back years later, are considered dead because the reopening is considered rebooted, nothing to do with the former. Since we are rebooted to allow alive rinks, active rinks, we welcome those active rinks as well. It will be described.
As for “For Office Only” is for my reasoning and private legal reason for that.
Any music associated with any YouTube or any other videos provided on International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© are not the property of International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group and/or International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© therefore we do not own the rights to the music.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved become property of International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Disclaimer.
© Copyrighted by International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation©, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 17. Deut. 32:7.
The roller rink operated with a huge banner Grand Opening with drummers and actors Nutcracker style soldiers and Skate Girls and had drums as marching band to welcome in the brand new rink in 1941. It was quite over the top for such a grand opening. Not like today with a business have such grand opening of grand scale.
And the Skate Train. Train? Yes, it looks like a train engine rather than an automotive sized roller skate that many other rinks used. This was perhaps considered as "Gravy Train" like Soul Train was to a televised night club dancing similar to American Bandstand.
But the train was perhaps just promotional. They even had the females on the train. Reminded me of many Drive-In Restaurants that the carhops wore the majorette uniforms serving meals in postcards lined up or promotions, things like that. Some of the Drive-in Restaurants like the Sivils had that Marquette look which was similar to this rink and other America On Wheels Theater décor look arenas that most other rinks did not have. Ushers wore differently. They wore Doubled Breasted suits similar to ushers you still find in a fancy four or five star hotel in major cities today. Usually Maroon colored. They were also floor guards long before cheaper uniform with a sports refreee uniform. Time for a new next generation. Seen Baywatch? Yes, red again! This time Red top and pants similar to the once popular television series. Rinkwatch! Haha.
If you read TIME Magazine 26 February 1940 issue about the Sivils, it was sex sells as a requirement for the servers to be good fit and attractive. The very same I can see in the photo on their grand opening in 1941. And of course, the train photograph. The timing is very close to the TIME Magazine. They may have picked that up from seeing beautiful with high confident Josephine Powell, the Sivils Car Hop on the cover and read the article. Read all about it here.
The managers came and went. This was practical with AOW Corporation that they rotate or reassign managers. They were Don Victor, George Sticka (1946), Frank Morris (1952), and Joe Schneider (1964)
They had organ music and likely they used Hammond Organ like most of their AOW rinks had. The Organists were Peggy O'Leary in 1949 and perhaps worked until1969 followed by Vic Romano in 1969.
Since this was a flagship rink they assigned, they had headquarters upstairs of the roller rink. The front used to be facing the street. Now that front has been cut off and you enter on the side for the hypermarket.
They likely closed in 1983 because the final ad was on 20th of October 1983. This was the final AOW rink to close before the defunct of AOW due to family members not wanting to operate anymore.
Building now used by Twin City Supermarket which was opened in 1985 and still is operational today.
The Interior.
They likely had Hardwood Maple wood floor that was not painted any colors and likely raw wood floor. They appeared to be large thanks to bird view photograph from Google Maps.
The Exterior.
The theater-like front marquee really impressive like they did with other AOW roller rinks that they operated. Boulevard Arena comes to mind for example.
Since those photographs were Black-and-White, it is unknown what they were like in color. Anyone?
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-color, non-painted, Likely Maple Hardwood. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1941. Renovations: 1985 (grocery store). Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Steel - Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gabled.
Acres: N/A.
Architect: N/A.
Contractor: N/A.
Interior Designer: N/A.
Organ: Likely Hammond Organ.
Organist: Peggy O'Leary (1949 to ?) , Vic Romano (1969 to ?)
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Air Hockey Tables: N/A.
Foosball Table: N/A.
Basketball Speed: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: N/A.
Fascination: None.
Restaurant: None.
Cocktail lounge: None.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: None.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Swimming Pool: None.
Jungle Gym Playground: None.
Skate Park: None.
Theater (movie/stage): None.
Dance Center: None.
Picnic Grove: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1941 to 1980.
Twin City Arena: 1941 to 1980.
Twin City Supermarket: 1985 to present.
Reason for Closure:
Twin City Arena: N/A.
Twin City Supermarket: Still Operational.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also, photos/articles. Also send me any updates such as reopening, sold, name changes, or whatsoever occurred with this rink or any rinks. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at Rink-History©. Before you email, please state this rink name AND THE CITY AND STATE (or COUNTRY) so I can know where or what rink you are talking about. Thank you. We welcome both active and defunct rinks.
Sources:
The Market Report - About Twin City Supermarket and its wealth of history and tons of photos!
USARSA - Twin City Arena page and AOW page.
Twin City Supermarket - Website.
Date of issue: 17 August 2023.
Updated:
For office use only: 17.
Worth to visit:
YES YOU CAN! You can see the exterior still in good shape. The hypermarket is still operational and the supermarket historian said you still can see evident of roller rink layout and design still there both inside and out. Hey, if you want to check it out but not to shop, go buy some soda, bottle water, or something and you can in fact be able to look around and take pics if it is okay with the owner of the hypermarket. He is the door greeter! And operator of this hypermarket!
DISCLAIMER:
International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© (formerly known as Dead-Rinks) and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. We do not endorse such illegal activities including breaking and entry of former rinks, malls, abandoned buildings, etc. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Dead Rinks is now International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© because many former names have become new names at the same rinks that are still active and due to much confusion, We have decided that International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© fits better for all rinks including defunct, closed, inactive, rebooted, and rinks that are still active today. For short on this site, it is International Roller Skating Rinks History© Bear with us as we change the entire site page by page each day. Thank you for understanding.
Second of all: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with different results between two (or more) sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
Rinks that are closed are considered dead. Rinks that are/were sold and with new management names new name(s), the former are considered dead. Previous operating rink that closed but came back years later, are considered dead because the reopening is considered rebooted, nothing to do with the former. Since we are rebooted to allow alive rinks, active rinks, we welcome those active rinks as well. It will be described.
As for “For Office Only” is for my reasoning and private legal reason for that.
Any music associated with any YouTube or any other videos provided on International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© are not the property of International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group and/or International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© therefore we do not own the rights to the music.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved become property of International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Disclaimer.
© Copyrighted by International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation©, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 17. Deut. 32:7.