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An individual doing research on their family history emailed us asking what we knew about “Progress Radio,” a local record store and electronics shop. This person mentioned that her grandfather opened the store at 5591 Broadway and that it moved in 1953 to 5601 Broadway. Her grandfather, Emmanuel Jacobsen, was an immigrant from Palestine in 1920 and his family lived in the “Kingsbridge Castle” at 2744 Kingsbridge Terrace. She sent along these photos:
Family photos on the long staircase leading to the “Kingsbridge Castle:”
I thought this one with the cannon was interesting since the site is so close the numerous Revolutionary forts and redoubts.The person who emailed us is asking for any information about Progress Radio so I thought I would crowdsource this inquiry to the membership. Does anyone remember the store?
Incidentally, the Kingsbridge Castle, pictured below, sold last year for $1.4mil.
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My parents bought our first television at Progress. It was a Hoffman, and it had a green screen. I’m not sure of the year, but it was no later than 1953, because neighbors who had no tvs watched the coronation of Queen Elizabeth at our apartment. The owner at the time was a family friend, Irving Schilian. When he sold the store, he became the advertising manager of The Riverdale Press, a position he filled with distinction for decades. When I was the editor of The Press, the store’s owner was Tom Travis. A founder, I believe, and certainly the leader, of the Kingsbridge Chamber of Commerce, he was one of the leaders of the boycott and picket lines at the Dale Theater on W. 231st St. when the movie house began showing porn. Tom was a zealous advocate for the neighborhood and its businesses–an overzealous one, I often thought, as I fended off his demands for favorable coverage, accompanied by threats of withholding advertising. I’m not sure any of this is helpful to the person who made the inquiry about her family history, but perhaps it will stir other memories from old-timers.
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We also had a Hoffman TV that was purchased probably in 1953. It was a nice console with doors enclosing the 13 inch screen and a large grilled speaker beneath…cherry wood I believe. The yellow-green tint set it apart from the other available TVs. I don’t know if it was purchased from Progress Radio & TV, but given that we lived blocks away, it probably was. I wonder if free delivery was offered. I can still remember coming home from DeWitt Clinton HS in the afternoons and watching the baseball games…instead of doing my homework, lol. Does anyone remember the DuMont station, channel 5 I think. Watching the Jackie Gleason show was a blast.
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I used to shop all the time for records at Progressive on Broadway. If you bought 10 singles, you got one free. It was a club. Great people worked. My first album was the Monkees premiere one. My gran bought her first color TV there, she got to pay for it monthly. Lucky for her. It was so long ago, good memories.
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Hi! Thank you so much for the information – it was helpful! I am not from the Bronx and have never been – and this was a super helpful boost for learning about my grandfather’s experience in Kingsbridge. He immigrated to the US in 1920 – and his first residence was the Kingsbridge castle. I assume his relative set the family up there. He later operated the radio repair shop called Progress Radio until around 1953 when he sold it and retired for health reasons. I did not know it opened in 1934 so that is new to me! I appreciate the help and look forward to sharing anything I learn.
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This page is such a cool find and I hope the person doing research on Progress Radio will contact me. My father and mother Uriel and Lois Bergert owned Progress Radio at the end of WWII. Uriel became sick shortly after and Lois ran the store. They lived in an apartment nearby with son, Byron. Uriel died in 1955, but not before fathering 3 girls (of which I am one) and moving to 7 Hearthstone Rd in Yonkers. The children in the photos on the steps of the castle are (L to R) Uriel Bergert, Ruth Bergert (m. Ettinger) and Aida Bergert (m.Warner). Uriel was 12 when he was brought to the US to live in the castle with several other relatives, sponsored by my great uncle Emmanuel Jacobsohn. They each had apartments and occupied at least 4 of the apartments in the building at various times. Uriel and the two sisters mentioned above came to the US in 1924 after his father (a physician who graduated from the American University in Aleppo) was killed fighting for the Ottoman Empire. Uriel was born in 1912. He sold Progress Radio but the name was kept. It was likely sold around 1952 when Uriel and Lois moved to Florida for Uriel’s health.
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sold for over $100. I think this was from appx 1930.
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