Princeton Antiques: The Aroma of History

NEWS & VIEWS > COASTING

Plus RNS celebrates 50 years, the Album of the Week (U2) and Drew Toonz weekly comic

By ACW Staff

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Nov. 2, 2011

The Aroma of History 

There has been a lot of talk about the need for non-gaming attractions in Atlantic City to help draw more and diverse visitors to town. Well, you can find several non-gaming gems throughout the region, and Atlantic City has a few. One is on Atlantic Avenue, on the 2900 block, where it has been for 42 years. With its trademark “We Buy the Old” sign and shelves of books along the outer-front of its brick exterior, Princeton Antiques, run for more than four decades by the ever-knowledgeable and personable Robert E. Ruffolo Jr., offers the average visitor a multitude of options. The family operation, with Ruffolo’s wife and son on hand, not only carries a wealth of vintage books, many of them out of print, as well as a treasure trove of Atlantic City post cards, photographs, and other collectables, but also has an online presence (princetonantiques.com) offering an array of services, including a “Bookfinding Librarians” book service, literary procurement and research, locating out-of-print books, and more. Sure, there are other used book stores in the region, but nothing like Ruffolo’s place. And we certainly don’t have room here to get into the large storefront shops Ruffolo has jam-packed with shelves of antiques, original Atlantic City photos and posters, old maps, and other memorabilia, located down the street from the main store. However, Atlantic City Weekly had the privilege recently of browsing through Princeton’s immense collection (where we were able to photograph many of the images on this week’s cover and throughout this “Then & Now” issue — thanks Bob!), which could literally take an entire day if you had the inclination. According to Ruffolo’s son Danny, on any given day up to a dozen visitors check out Ruffolo’s huge collection of stuff. Aside from the Atlantic City Free Public Library’s Heston Collection, you’ll be hard pressed to find such a public group of varied and amazing photographs, books, sheet music, and other old Atlantic City ephemera. If you go, once you are able to leave the outside stacks of used books and walk through the front door of Princeton Antiques, quite possibly with your arms already full of extraordinary finds from the outer-regions of the place, you’ll smell the aroma of history. And it’s all painstakingly catalogued, available for your perusal and — in most cases — for sale. — JS 

50 Years Later, RNS Still Saving Lives 

When Rose Newman established the Ruth Newman Shapiro Cancer & Heart Fund (RNS) in memory of the daughter she lost to cancer in 1961, it is doubtful she could have envisioned just how far-reaching that “positive action to overcome personal grief” would extend. In the 50 years since RNS was formed, over $12 million has been raised and given back to the community through an all-volunteer staff. Funds have provided the finest facilities and equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and heart disease at several area hospitals, clinics and cancer-treatment centers, as well as for the RNS Mobile Mammography Unit that takes the early detection process on the road (it will visit the EHT Senior Center on Friday, Nov. 4). On Saturday, Nov. 5, as a tribute to all RNS has accomplished over five decades, the Golden Gala Celebration Ball will start at 7pm inside the Swan Ballroom at the Tropicana. Proceeds from the gala will benefit the RNS Regional Cancer Center and the Heart Institute at the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center as well as other area care centers. — Ray Schweibert

U2 ‘Achtung Baby’  20th Anniversary Deluxe Sets 

Hard to believe, but U2’s smash recording from the early ’90s, Achtung Baby, is 20 years old this year. (Has it really been that long since my high-school girlfriend and I broke up while the song “One” played on a boombox in the background?) For the occasion, one of U2’s most popular albums is getting the full reissue treatment with a 10-disc Super Deluxe version, including the full albums Achtung Baby, its follow-up Zooropa, a disc of acoustic/demo versions of the Achtung songs called Kindergarten, as well as discs featuring remixes, b-sides and previously unissued tracks. The four DVDs include videos and live performances from the 1990s, a hardcover book, art prints, as well as the insightful doc From the Sky Down. A 2-disc set features the original album, plus 14 tracks of rarities. The sets come in a variety of formats, from vinyl to digital. —Jeff Schwachter

Drew Toonz