slider/Slyder(R), Gut-bo

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated  Fri, 13 Feb 2004 09:20:53 -0500,  "Kathleen E. Miller"
<millerk at NYTIMES.COM> writes:

>  There is a White Castle on the Black Horse Pike going down the shore in NJ.
>  Having grown-up in Indiana it was a new experience for me in the early
>  80's. Dad, however, had recollection of the place going back to the
>  mid-40's when he would go down the shore with Pop-Pop and Nana.

There used to be a White Castle on the corner of the Black Horse Pike and
Noah's Road in Pleasantville, but it closed down maybe ten years ago and was
replaced by a Goodyear store.  Currently there is NO White Castle on the Black
Horse Pike east of Sicklerville (where the BHP meets the Expressway), nor on US
40 nor on US 322 anywhere in New Jersey.  The only White Castle in New Jersey
that I know of is on NJ 27 between New Brunswick and Princeton.

What the White Horse Pike is noted for is go-go danceries, including the one
whose marquee reads
     SEXY SENSUOUS GIRLS
     now serving lunch

If in the 1950's a White Castle hamburger was a "slider", did the term derive
from the baseball pitch (which did not become common in the major leagures
until circa 1950)?

For what it's worth, I have no recollection of coming across the name
"Pop-Pop" until after I moved to New Jersey in 1986.

For the benefit of those not familiar with South Jersey, there are two roads
running from Camden to Atlantic City.  The White Horse Pike (US 30) runs from
the Ben Franklin Bridge to the "Inlet" (northern) section of Atlantic City.
The Black Horse Pike runs from the Walt Whitman Bridge to the "Downbeach"
(southern) section of Atlantic City, and various portions of it are numbered as US
40, US 322, NJ 42, and NJ 168.  I am told that the name "White Horse Pike"
came first and is from the name of a tavern on the road.

     - Jim Landau