Ridgewood and Perdue's Sport Shop

Above is "Perdue's Sport Shop" - what memories from this simple photo! Photo was from the Ridgewood High School Class of 1977 blog.

I know I'm not the only one with fond memroies of Perdue's Sport Shop. It was a place in one's town that stands out - so much so, that it is sorely missed. I would place it in the ranks of  T & W Ice Cream, Mac Hugh's, Renatos Pizza (still there - yay!) and Sealfon's to name a few.

It was a friendly place that seemed much bigger than it was. It seemed to carry everything and it was one of Ridgewood High School's biggest supporters!

I remember buying fishing stuff there, baseball equipment and a football.

When I was in elementary school - Glen School - we had our fathers come to our class to tell us about their professions - my dad included. The fathers always brought cool things: films, pins, etc. One of the dads that also came was Walter Perdue - his daughter Beth had recently jogged my memory helping me recall that he had brought each one of us a tennis ball as a keepsake! To this day, I can see Mr. Perdue driving around in his 1931 Model A Ford woody that advertised his shop (the Perdue's lived nearby).

Paul McCubbin who has the Ridgewood High School Class of 1977 blog wrote a nice piece on Perdue's Sport Shop and I will simply reprint it here. I have been searching forever for a picture of Perdue's and finally found it on Paul's blog - I include here for sentimental reasons and know it will bring good memories to all.

Below are Paul's memories as he wrote them:

"Never forget the first time I went to Perdue's Sport Shop. It was simply known as Perdue's when I was growing up in Ridgewood. I was all of seven years old and I drove there with my Dad and my entire life savings of ten cents. I believe my allowance at the time was five cents so this was a long anticipated day.

I was in Perdue's to purchase a red rubber ball, the kind you throw against a wall to practice your pitching or to play the game "Baseball Off the Wall."

On this particular Saturday I was assisted by Mr. Perdue. You would think that the man might have had better things to do than help a 2nd grader buy a ball but that was Mr. Perdue. He was filled with patience and saw immediately how much this meant to me.

My father had been there many times before and he recognized him well enough to give him a hearty hello. We were only there to make this one purchase though instinctively Mr. Perdue knew he had a new customer and that I might come back every year until I went to college to buy sporting goods from him. It wasn't a cold calculation on his part, only common sense. I handed over my ten cents to Mr. Perdue and I left the store the happiest kid in town. On this particular day I had been out, just me and my Dad on a beautiful Saturday morning in early Spring, and had been to Perdue's, where the nicest shopkeeper in town had personally made certain my simple purchase was completed with the utmost dignity.

Perdue's Sport Shop is now a parking lot. Though if you stare at it and squint your eyes you can see it, and the old wood paneled truck with the Perdue's name emblazoned on the side. Mr. Perdue had a commute to work that most men who lived in Ridgewood would have taken in a heartbeat. And he had a job I bet most men also admired. Not just because it involved selling all types of sporting goods, but because he did it with such aplomb and assurance of manner that people were drawn back as often as they could find a reason to shop there. Even if it only meant a ten cent rubber ball for your son."

Above is one of the many Fall, Winter & Spring sports schedules Perdue's sponsored for Ridgewood High School. Walter himself was inducted to the Ridgewood High School sports Hall of Fame as a star athlete.