Fritz Behnke Historical Museum
330 Paramus Road
Paramus, NJ 07652
For directions, please
click herePARAMUS MEMORIES
Close your eyes and imagine for a moment a farm community nestled in the heart of Bergen County. Picture a peaceful community
comprised of black dirt (muck) and upland farms with acres of celery, corn, tomatoes, spinach, eggplant, peppers and a variety
of vegetables as far as the eye can see. There are greenhouses and barns, trucks and tractors dotting the landscape along with
chicken and dairy farms. This is Paramus eighty years ago, one of the best areas to live and work, even in 1923.
Always a warm, welcoming community, known for its friendliness and lush locale. If you were born in Paramus you stayed, and if
you visited you did not want to leave.
Today as you reminisce with us in the Paramus Fritz Behnke Historical Museum, we hope you will get a glimpse of how we lived,
and the tools they used to make Paramus their home.
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As you walk through the first floor of the museum, take the time to inspect the furnishings of the farmhouse, the utensils used
for washing and ironing, cooking, cleaning, and sewing, all part of a housewife's daily chores. Notice the toys that children
played with from dollhouses and scooters to tractors and board games.
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Farmers worked dawn to dusk six days a week, but on Sunday they rested, attending church and often visiting with friends and family
in the "parlor". Notice the radios on display, the real contact with the outside world!
Be sure to spend some time looking at all the 8x10 photos of those early days of the 20th century. There are displays by the Paramus
Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. The history of Paramus Police and Volunteer Fire Departments is evident with uniforms and
early equipment on display, as well as memorabilia from past wars.
Reminisce with us back to a time when farming developed the land. The downstairs portion of the Museum is the real heart of the hard
work required to survive on a farm. Hand and horse drawn equipment, later replaced with tractors, was used to cultivate the soil.
Tools for harvesting the crops, a blacksmiths anvil, a machine for candling eggs and woodworking tools are all on display. Notice the
mural on the wall, depicting the two types of farming, separated by the Sprout Brook.
As you walk through the Museum, reflect on the transitions of life that surrounded the community of Paramus as it grew to meet the needs
of the day. Think about how a small, rural New Jersey Borough changed into a bustling residential and shopping center haven. Catch a
glimpse of life as it was in yesteryears, and trace the many adjustments rural America made to keep up with the growth of its people.
Fritz Behnke's family lived in Paramus, New Jersey since 1886. Born in 1919, Fritz grew up on his father's vegetable farm and worked with
his father until it was sold in 1951. With his brothers, he started a retail lumberyard, known as Paramus Building Supply. Now retired,
Fritz is an avid historian of his hometown, and the driving force behind the creation of this museum.
IF YOU LIVED BEFORE 1945
Just think, if your grandparents or parents were born before or around 1945, they were born before television, penicillin, polio shots,
frozen foods, Xerox machines, contact lenses and Frisbees; before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ballpoint pens; before
panty hose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip dry clothing -- AND -- before man went into space, orbited
the earth and walked on the moon. They were born before day-care centers, group therapy and nursing homes; they never heard of FM radio, tape
decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt and guys wearing earrings. For them "timesharing" meant togetherness-
not computers, or condominiums; a CHIP meant a piece of wood; HARDWARE meant hardware and SOFTWARE was not even a word; and "fast food"
was what you ate during Lent.
McDonalds and instant coffee were unheard of. When they were young, they could buy things at the 5 & 10 cent store for five and ten cents!
The corner drug store sold ice cream cones for a nickel or a dime; and for one nickel, you could ride a street car ("what's a street car"),
make a phone call, buy a Pepsi or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. They could buy a new Chevy coupe for $600, but who
could afford one? A pity too, because gas was only 11 cents a gallon! They saw the United Nations established, the invention of the Polaroid
Camera, the Statehood of Alaska and Hawaii, and the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Just think of all the other things they saw happen
that aren't mentioned! I'll bet they could tell you about those other inventions or happenings. WHY NOT ASK THEM!
330 Paramus Road
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