The moment walking through the front door you would take a deep breath. The aroma of the Italian meats and cheese was wonderful. Always enjoyed shopping at Bonelli’s. The painting on the side of the building was there in the 50s.
Hey Joey, my parents were really good friends with the owner (Richard) and his wife. Every year since 1969, when we went down to Wildwood, they would order me a box of baseball cards when we went down in June and also football cards when we went down in September. Great great people.
We were around the corner on Youngs Ave. Went into Bonnellis' all the time, Mr. Bonnelli worked in there everyday, rotating stock, filling the shelves, etc. Quiet but nice man. Sad when he passed & we lost the old time corner store.
that new honky tonky restaurant that we got on the floor level of the wildwood mall is living proof that this new wave of gentrification doesn't work. Our party of 6 walked out after looking through the menu and also seeing how empty the inside was. No body likes what is happening to wildwood, let alone NJ as a state in general. that's not even to mention how there's laughably a new dominos and multiple dunkin donuts and starbucks that are constantly empty and an eyesore at the same time on the boardwalk
I grew up in cape may County, I remember when wildwood was cool,there were multiple car dealership there ,one of the dealerships had a pet mountain loin as a mascot. The boardwalk had a lot of cool rides,like the golden nugget, (which is at knobels now ) the pirate ship,planet of the apes, wacky shack,the jungle ride,and many other types of attractions like thes
The saw , more than likely was used for butchering meat, Pork Chops, T-bone steaks , etc… Thanks for sharing It’s a shame there wasn’t more family to carry on the business it has good bones
I used to work directly across the street at Cape Publishing Company 1977-78. We used to walk across the street to Bonelli's to buy fresh squeezed orange juice.
My grandparents always got the cinnamon raisin bread they sold. You were truly stepping back in time when you walked in there. Sad to see the place go.
Reminds me of the Hitching Post in North Wildwood. While down for our yearlr summer vacation we would eat both breakfast & diner there several times and the owner & his wife used to greet us and often gave our son a free cookie. They replace it with yet snothet ugly condo.
Thank You for covering this wonderful treasure. Gee Wizzz times are a changing. Very sad to see this old staple finally go. I see that there is a wonderful, tong & grove wood floor. You wouldn't know if anyone is refurbishing that wood, would you? Oh a double word, I never did that before. Nice video and great documentation. Please let me know if you hear anything about the flooring. Thanks- Kathryn
For those of you lamenting the loss of old familiar places please remember that the only constant in life is change. Prior to buying a vacation home here, for thirty years my family vacationed here mostly staying at the Tangiers and later at the Port Royal. For all its ups and downs Wildwood is still the best shore town.
Great memories. My favorite sandwiches were a pressed Gaetano and the Cuban sandwich. It was sad to see it, sitting and deteriorating for so many years.
Another example of excluding the middle class of a vacation. Those condos cost a fortune to rent and the working class can’t afford it while trying to stretch their budget. It’s all about greed to some people and their condos are ruining what little joy the middle class had at one time.
It's sad, Cape May & The Wildwoods have been so developed, so homogenized.. makes me miss the slightly seedy, dilapidated charm of growing up in 1980s Cape May.
2 explanations for a saw like that: 1) Was abandoned there when they were rehabbingnthr the place 2) It was used for meat. Not deli slices but for cutting sides of beef or pork, or cutting the whole meat rolls in half/quarters Wildwood is nothing but condos now, it has almost completely lost it's magic. I almost bought in down there too. There is a small single family just behind the Shore Plaza. It was up for sale, late 90's - early 2000's. The agent took my wife and I on a tour, and we loved the place, the price was right and it was only half a block to the boardwalk... My insurance company refused to insure it because it was a "seasonal home." After the Shore Plaza burned down I was glad I didn't buy it. The house survives to this day, but it did receive a fair amount of damage. Looking at how they pushed all of the old motels and locals out for a condo on every block, I don't regret it. It's a shame the deli didn't go on, especially since it will now be sacrificed for more condos nobody wants. But then again, the condo owners aren't interested in mom and pop stores...
Back in the day, Wildwood was known for its great meat markets. In addition to Bonelli's, we also used to go to Taylor's down in the Crest. The best roast beef in town! Ah, how times have changed.....
Hey Joey. Is there any way to bring the Wildwood Seafood Festival back to Atlantic Ave? My wife and I went to the festival from 2009-2019. We always had a good time and there was always good crowds. Not Irish Festival crowds, but nice.
Sad I was born in 1970 been going to Wildwood my whole life when I was old enough to go on my own they were opened and always wanted to stop in never did sorry I didn’t just hate to see a piece of history in tie Wildwoods go thanks for covering great video
Stayed at the Maralboro apts on Robert's ave in the 60's and early 70's went to the market to buy are food being italian it was like being in our home town
The Marlboro was still there in 2002 when I bought my property on Youngs. The back side was on Youngs. They tore it down I guess around 2003 or 04 and built condos on the lot.
Hi Joey can you please do a video about the Aquarius motel I went to that motel every year from the time I was 5 years old until I was in my thirties my family knew the family that owns the Aquarius now it's the third generation of the family that runs the Aquarius can you please do a video on it and if you can document what used to be next to the Aquarius or used to be the Rio hotel that got demolished there might be condos there now and also is the seashell ice cream place still there
I used to go there will my mom and dad and grandparents I started going there in 1954 until they closed they had great Genoa salami and fantastic sandwiches isis day at the Melbourne which was a half a block away on Spencer it was an old roaming house
Pretty soon we won't be able to go to wildwood, prices keep going up and motels keep coming down. We can't afford to spend 2,000-3,000 a week for a condo. And then to spend money on the boardwalk, so the businesses will ultimately lose.
In all fairness, we gained more motels/hotels in the past 2 years. (The Cababa Hotel, the Waves Hotel, the Vibes Hotel(2 motels in 1), Madison Resorts (2 Motels in one) and now the soon to be Wild Resort) In that time frame we only saw the demolition of 1 motel and 3 became condos.
Places like this and others that are gone now are what made wildwood the doowop vacation spot it was with that small town feel. A step away from the city everyone tries to get away from. Now it’s just being turned into another metropolitan ocean city md. That’s what stinks. 😢
No. there was no damage or flooding there on Pacific from Sandy. After Richard passed the son worked the place for a short while and I think one of the employees tried to run it also but then it just shut down.
Once they quit spending millions every month to replenish the beaches it's all going to be gone. Place has done nothing but deteriorate for the last 10 plus years.
Shows how little you know about Wildwood. The beach is hugeeeee ! The need to bring the water in to save people from walking to it. And in the past 10 years the real estate market has exploded in Wildwood. I bought there in 02 and sold in 22 for 10 times what I paid in 02. Yea it really went down hill 🤣
@@WildwoodVideoArchive let's be real it's never all removed... I work for local 14: Philadelphia and you should have seen the so called remediations I was on... They usually just get a heavy loader and shoot a fire hose on the ruble to keep the dust down... Asbestos and led lol that's Wildwood lol... Port led asbestos lol I'm renaming wildwood lol
John Bonelli was my mother’s brother. Richard Bonelli was a first cousin. Prior to this market my grandfather George Bonelli had a previous market in Philadelphia. The family had a summer house in Wildwood and moved the business from Philly to Wildwood with my Uncle John as the owner by 1929. On the side of the market there was sign stating that the establishment of the family business was in the 17 hundreds (in Formia, Italy). In the video, that important information was coved by a parking sign. The Bonelli family I was told had been in the business for multiple generations since the 17 hundreds. If you look at the video towards the left you can a three story Victorian house on the corner. That was my Uncle John’s house and my cousin Richard was raised there. I remember my numerous visits to that house. My Uncle John’s wife was Aunt Zelda who was from an old Cape May County. My Uncle Philip Bonelli with its numerous famous entertainers. A third uncle, Uncle Albert, owned Bayside Beverage CO. My mother was Gloria Bonelli, the youngest sister (one of three Bonelli sisters). My father Jack Hegarty was born and raised in California (San Francisco and Los Angeles areas). His parents were born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. My parents met in a taxi cab in Wildwood during WW II. I was a Wildwood native for my childhood. George Hegarty.
The moment walking through the front door you would take a deep breath. The aroma of the Italian meats and cheese was wonderful.
Always enjoyed shopping at Bonelli’s. The painting on the side of the building was there in the 50s.
Wildwood has become Condo Wood, I barely recognize it anymore its changed so much.
Hey Joey, my parents were really good friends with the owner (Richard) and his wife. Every year since 1969, when we went down to Wildwood, they would order me a box of baseball cards when we went down in June and also football cards when we went down in September. Great great people.
We were around the corner on Youngs Ave. Went into Bonnellis' all the time, Mr. Bonnelli worked in there everyday, rotating stock, filling the shelves, etc. Quiet but nice man. Sad when he passed & we lost the old time corner store.
Used to shop at Bonelli's every time we went to Wildwood. What a gem. They should put the pickle bucket in the museum 🙂
Me too.
I remember the "old world hoagie". And you said it, the pastrami was fantastic. I went thru that front door for take out hoagies and sandwiches.
that new honky tonky restaurant that we got on the floor level of the wildwood mall is living proof that this new wave of gentrification doesn't work. Our party of 6 walked out after looking through the menu and also seeing how empty the inside was. No body likes what is happening to wildwood, let alone NJ as a state in general. that's not even to mention how there's laughably a new dominos and multiple dunkin donuts and starbucks that are constantly empty and an eyesore at the same time on the boardwalk
These videos are depressing. I was born and raised in CMC and watching the Wildwood I grew up in slowly disappear, saddens me.
Same 🫶
The band saw used for cutting meat hunks a steak beef
Also veal and pork chops.
Phil Bonelli of Phil & Eddies .. I miss him and Eddie Rossi, both were good friends, the two were Wildwood legends and both WWII Combat Veterans
I grew up in cape may County, I remember when wildwood was cool,there were multiple car dealership there ,one of the dealerships had a pet mountain loin as a mascot. The boardwalk had a lot of cool rides,like the golden nugget, (which is at knobels now ) the pirate ship,planet of the apes, wacky shack,the jungle ride,and many other types of attractions like thes
The saw , more than likely was used for butchering meat,
Pork Chops, T-bone steaks , etc…
Thanks for sharing
It’s a shame there wasn’t more family to carry on the business it has good bones
I used to work directly across the street at Cape Publishing Company 1977-78. We used to walk across the street to Bonelli's to buy fresh squeezed orange juice.
Just what Wildwood needs, more condos.
My grandparents always got the cinnamon raisin bread they sold. You were truly stepping back in time when you walked in there. Sad to see the place go.
Reminds me of the Hitching Post in North Wildwood. While down for our yearlr summer vacation we would eat both breakfast & diner there several times and the owner & his wife used to greet us and often gave our son a free cookie. They replace it with yet snothet ugly condo.
Thanks for this video. Drove past there on Sunday and always remembered the food and old world hoagies. The best.
Condos!! What a surprise 🤦♂️
I understand progress but in my opinion Wildwood is losing it charm with so many condo’s
its the entirety of Nj. Where did you think we were going to fit the over 13 million ILLEGAL immigrants
They are building on every square foot of available dirt in Burlington county. I cant believe how many new apartment developments there are there.
Thank You for covering this wonderful treasure. Gee Wizzz times are a changing. Very sad to see this old staple finally go. I see that there is a wonderful, tong & grove wood floor. You wouldn't know if anyone is refurbishing that wood, would you? Oh a double word, I never did that before. Nice video and great documentation. Please let me know if you hear anything about the flooring. Thanks- Kathryn
For those of you lamenting the loss of old familiar places please remember that the only constant in life is change. Prior to buying a vacation home here, for thirty years my family vacationed here mostly staying at the Tangiers and later at the Port Royal. For all its ups and downs Wildwood is still the best shore town.
It's very sad to see that look that way I remember it when it was a great mom and pop store
More condos= fewer businesses and fewer families-up and down the coast of Cape May County. Soon island schools will be replaced by condos.
Great memories. My favorite sandwiches were a pressed Gaetano and the Cuban sandwich. It was sad to see it, sitting and deteriorating for so many years.
Another example of excluding the middle class of a vacation. Those condos cost a fortune to rent and the working class can’t afford it while trying to stretch their budget. It’s all about greed to some people and their condos are ruining what little joy the middle class had at one time.
Right. We are now doing a week away at an all inclusive
I would trade my Bonelli's Market key chain for an Old World hoagie right now.
tons of empty condos when I went down in August. and yet, they want to continue to build more. makes no sense.
It's sad, Cape May & The Wildwoods have been so developed, so homogenized.. makes me miss the slightly seedy, dilapidated charm of growing up in 1980s Cape May.
I used go there when come to Wildwood to get things from young Ave where we stay at seven stars apts
2 explanations for a saw like that:
1) Was abandoned there when they were rehabbingnthr the place
2) It was used for meat. Not deli slices but for cutting sides of beef or pork, or cutting the whole meat rolls in half/quarters
Wildwood is nothing but condos now, it has almost completely lost it's magic.
I almost bought in down there too. There is a small single family just behind the Shore Plaza. It was up for sale, late 90's - early 2000's.
The agent took my wife and I on a tour, and we loved the place, the price was right and it was only half a block to the boardwalk...
My insurance company refused to insure it because it was a "seasonal home."
After the Shore Plaza burned down I was glad I didn't buy it. The house survives to this day, but it did receive a fair amount of damage.
Looking at how they pushed all of the old motels and locals out for a condo on every block, I don't regret it.
It's a shame the deli didn't go on, especially since it will now be sacrificed for more condos nobody wants. But then again, the condo owners aren't interested in mom and pop stores...
When I was younger, we stayed in north Wildwood & used to stop in Bonellii’s. Do sad but what can you do?
😢that so sad
Back in the day, Wildwood was known for its great meat markets. In addition to Bonelli's, we also used to go to Taylor's down in the Crest. The best roast beef in town! Ah, how times have changed.....
Do you remember Taylor's Pork Roll on the Cape May boardwalk?
@@bamboozled1668 I remember getting the pork roll at the store but not in Cape May! That was good stuff!
Lat time I was in Wildwood was probably 1994... sorry to see Bonelli's leaving.
I have never been there before Joey.
I'm sorry I didn't make it over there
It would of been kool to insert pictures of the inside to see what it looked like back in the day
I don’t have any photos of what it looked like back then besides outside shots
The store closed the year. We started doing the archive and I didn’t find any at the historical Society.
Nothing like the old days😂
Hey Joey. Is there any way to bring the Wildwood Seafood Festival back to Atlantic Ave? My wife and I went to the festival from 2009-2019. We always had a good time and there was always good crowds. Not Irish Festival crowds, but nice.
That was always a fun weekend. Morey’s piers used to do the chowder festival that weekend as well.
Is there a pic of the inside when they were open?
Sad I was born in 1970 been going to Wildwood my whole life when I was old enough to go on my own they were opened and always wanted to stop in never did sorry I didn’t just hate to see a piece of history in tie Wildwoods go thanks for covering great video
They made the best fresh Italian sausage. I miss my Old World hoagies there. So sad.
So sad
Why more condos???
because someone's gonna make a ton of money...that's why
Stayed at the Maralboro apts on Robert's ave in the 60's and early 70's went to the market to buy are food being italian it was like being in our home town
The Marlboro was still there in 2002 when I bought my property on Youngs. The back side was on Youngs. They tore it down I guess around 2003 or 04 and built condos on the lot.
I stopped going to Wildwood after they tore down Lurae hotel. I can't afford to go now.
Hi Joey can you please do a video about the Aquarius motel I went to that motel every year from the time I was 5 years old until I was in my thirties my family knew the family that owns the Aquarius now it's the third generation of the family that runs the Aquarius can you please do a video on it and if you can document what used to be next to the Aquarius or used to be the Rio hotel that got demolished there might be condos there now and also is the seashell ice cream place still there
I used to go there will my mom and dad and grandparents I started going there in 1954 until they closed they had great Genoa salami and fantastic sandwiches isis day at the Melbourne which was a half a block away on Spencer it was an old roaming house
more condos
Just what WW needs....more cookie-cutter condos....
Thank you very much for showing this brings back great memories please try to contact me
That saw was used to cut steaks
Pretty soon we won't be able to go to wildwood, prices keep going up and motels keep coming down. We can't afford to spend 2,000-3,000 a week for a condo. And then to spend money on the boardwalk, so the businesses will ultimately lose.
In all fairness, we gained more motels/hotels in the past 2 years. (The Cababa Hotel, the Waves Hotel, the Vibes Hotel(2 motels in 1), Madison Resorts (2 Motels in one) and now the soon to be Wild Resort)
In that time frame we only saw the demolition of 1 motel and 3 became condos.
Places like this and others that are gone now are what made wildwood the doowop vacation spot it was with that small town feel. A step away from the city everyone tries to get away from. Now it’s just being turned into another metropolitan ocean city md. That’s what stinks. 😢
Did disclose because of after hurricane Sandy or what?
No. there was no damage or flooding there on Pacific from Sandy. After Richard passed the son worked the place for a short while and I think one of the employees tried to run it also but then it just shut down.
Hi
Once they quit spending millions every month to replenish the beaches it's all going to be gone. Place has done nothing but deteriorate for the last 10 plus years.
Shows how little you know about Wildwood. The beach is hugeeeee ! The need to bring the water in to save people from walking to it. And in the past 10 years the real estate market has exploded in Wildwood. I bought there in 02 and sold in 22 for 10 times what I paid in 02. Yea it really went down hill 🤣
I remember the gentleman that owned it had throat cancer his wife had red hair
❤
The saw looks like a meat saw... to cuts the bones and things.
I used to have great pickles
i'll bet you did
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I like your videos but enough of the condos.
Lol can I say asbestos lol
It was already removed
@@WildwoodVideoArchive let's be real it's never all removed... I work for local 14: Philadelphia and you should have seen the so called remediations I was on... They usually just get a heavy loader and shoot a fire hose on the ruble to keep the dust down... Asbestos and led lol that's Wildwood lol... Port led asbestos lol I'm renaming wildwood lol
John Bonelli was my mother’s brother. Richard Bonelli was a first cousin. Prior to this market my grandfather George Bonelli had a previous market in Philadelphia. The family had a summer house in Wildwood and moved the business from Philly to Wildwood with my Uncle John as the owner by 1929. On the side of the market there was sign stating that the establishment of the family business was in the 17 hundreds (in Formia, Italy). In the video, that important information was coved by a parking sign. The Bonelli family I was told had been in the business for multiple generations since the 17 hundreds. If you look at the video towards the left you can a three story Victorian house on the corner. That was my Uncle John’s house and my cousin Richard was raised there. I remember my numerous visits to that house. My Uncle John’s wife was Aunt Zelda who was from an old Cape May County. My Uncle Philip Bonelli with its numerous famous entertainers. A third uncle, Uncle Albert, owned Bayside Beverage CO. My mother was Gloria Bonelli, the youngest sister (one of three Bonelli sisters). My father Jack Hegarty was born and raised in California (San Francisco and Los Angeles areas). His parents were born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. My parents met in a taxi cab in Wildwood during WW II. I was a Wildwood native for my childhood. George Hegarty.
Uncle Philip ci-owned the Surf Club and Phil and Eddies.
It’s sad for me to see the end of a long family history of Bonelli Markets!
I will miss The Old World Hoagie! Thank God for White House. They have the number one sub. It's the Atlantic City bread!
WhiteHouse sucks !!! FACT
It is for cutting up meat meat head
Wildwood, reminds me of dirty myrtle