Back in the '50s and '60s, Palisades Park was a hotspot of fun and excitement for everyone, both young and old. It was the subject of a hit song written by later Gong Show host Chuck Barris and sung by Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon. The park's jingle was featured on all the popular AM music radio stations of the time.
"Everyone wanted to go there," Gargiulo said. "I was lucky because I could walk there. It was a very important part of my growing up."
So when Palisades Amusement Park met its demise after the summer of 1971, Gargiulo felt a sense of sadness. A huge slice of his childhood was gone forever.
Or so he thought.
Not gone forever "In 1978, I was sitting with a friend, discussing what Palisades Amusement Park was like for a lot of people," Gargiulo said. "We were reminiscing about the park and the conversation led to where everything was in the park, like when you walked through the front gate on Palisade Avenue, the boat ride was on the right, and the Kiddie Land and miniature golf course were on the left. So we decided to put it all down on paper and drew a map."
Gargiulo didn't know how accurate his map was.
"We were drawing it with pencil on paper, so I figured that I wanted it to be as close as possible," Gargiulo said. "So I went to the Cliffside Park library and they didn't have a single thing on the park. I went to the Fort Lee library and they had three newspaper articles on the closing. That was it. Here were the two towns (Cliffside Park and Fort Lee) where the park was located and they didn't have anything."
It inspired Gargiulo.
"I decided to do research about the park," Gargiulo said. "I started from 1971, when the park closed, and went backwards. I started to wonder how old the park was. I had no idea. I figured that it had to have been built in the '40s, because my parents talked about it."
Built in 1898 In fact, Palisades Amusement Park was built in 1898 and remained there until 1971, which meant that Gargiulo had nearly 75 years of nostalgia and memories to collect.
"As I stared to see how much information there was, I knew that I had to do something with it," Gargiulo said. "I first wanted to do a film, a documentary. But the more I got into it, I realized how costly it would be."
But Gargiulo, now a resident of Little Ferry, said that he knew he could put together a book.
"I'm a desktop publisher by trade, so I knew that I could self-publish a book," Gargiulo said. "But I didn't realize Rutgers University Press would be interested. They thought it was a great project, so we did it."
The result was "Palisades Amusement Park: A Century of Fond Memories," which was first published in 1995 and went through three printings. In the book, Gargiulo writes about how such popular acts from Benny Goodman to the Jackson Five performed at the park, how the park had such popular attractions as the world's largest salt water pool and the gigantic Cyclone rollercoaster. The Little Miss America beauty pageant was held there, and more than 300 million people visited the park from its opening until its closing.
Gargiulo recently made a presentation about his book at the North Bergen Free Public Library.
Fond recollections While many of the patrons of the library fondly recall the amusement park as being a summer haven of fun and frolic, the executive director, Sai Rao, didn't know anything about the park, because she is a native of India. And librarian and event coordinator Stephanie Burke didn't know, because Burke wasn't born when it closed.
"Neither one of us had a clue," Rao said. "But our board members would frequently talk about it and tell stories of how they all spent weekends there. So we contacted him and asked if he would make a presentation for our patrons. Mr. Gargiulo is a great gentleman and he was wonderful, bringing video clips in for his presentation.
The program was well received and attended. The place was packed, standing room only."
In honor of Gargiulo's presentation, the library was decorated in a carnival-like motif, with an impromptu roller coaster and merry-go-round constructed for the festivities.
"We had the whole carnival theme set up," Rao said. "We really tried to liven the place up."
Gargiulo was very appreciative of the North Bergen hospitality.
"They really did it up better than any other place I'd been to," Gargiulo said. "It was a great presentation and a lot of fun. I think a lot of people are like me. They have a lot of memories about the park that make you smile."
Another one planned Gargiulo has written a second book about the park that will come out in October. He also has a similar presentation planned for the Secaucus Library on March 22.
"I think it's turned out to be a worthwhile project for me," Gargiulo said. "The memories remain."
Even if gigantic housing complexes like the Winston Towers, the Buckingham Towers and the Carling Towers now reside where Palisades Amusement Park was once located. With people like Vin Gargiulo around, the sounds of that famous jingle, Cousin Brucie and Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon will live on forever.
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