StoryCorps: Van and Shirley Harris

From: StoryCorps
Series: StoryCorps
Length: 02:17

Van Harris and his wife, Shirley, remember being young in Brooklyn during the 1940s. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: StoryCorps: Van and Shirley Harris
From: StoryCorps

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Van Harris and his wife, Shirley, grew up a block away from each other in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.

They met in the late 1930s, and at StoryCorps, they looked back on their old neighborhood and the characters who congregated at Dubrow’s Cafeteria on Eastern Parkway.

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Piece Description

Van Harris and his wife, Shirley, grew up a block away from each other in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.

They met in the late 1930s, and at StoryCorps, they looked back on their old neighborhood and the characters who congregated at Dubrow’s Cafeteria on Eastern Parkway.

Broadcast History

NPR's Morning Edition 5/18/12

Transcript

VH: I met her when she was about 10 years old. And she was beating up a couple of guys. The boys had taken her hat off her head and they were tossing it around. She says, “Gimme back my hat.” They wouldn’t. So one by one she punched out every boy. I said, “Geez, I’d like to meet a girl like that.” (Laughs)

Later on, I used to take you with me when we’d go to our hangout which was Dubrow’s Cafeteria.

SH: We’d come in late at night. We’d have a cup of coffee. And then, who was our friend who would have dinner and…

VH: Oh, Herbie the Nibbler. (Laughs) He ate so much…

SH: And they gave him a discount on his food.

VH: They sure did. At Dubrow’s… Here comes Herbie, so they’d give him a table and he’d sit all by himself. And we’d gather around and watch Herbie the Nibbler eat. We used to say…

SH: He had a tapeworm.

VH: He didn’t have a tape worm. We used to say he has a snake.

And we ha...
Read the full transcript