1941 — Vincent Dicks

The Big Band sound swung in 1941. Glenn Miller’s Chattanooga Choo-choo was the #1 hit. But the song of WWII belonged to The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. by the Andrews Sisters.

“He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way
He had a boogie style that no one else could play
He was the top man at his craft
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft”.

The draft, reinstated in 1940, required men between 21 and 45 to register. After Pearl Harbor in December, it extended to all men of 18-64. Over 10 million men and women served during the war.

WWI vets like Chief Panz had to register for the draft

At 208 Brooklyn Blvd, the women of Sea Girt who were members of Fitkin Hospital Auxiliary, presented over 1,400 surgical dressings the members had sewn in their home. They were for the wounded in Europe, but the country knew their boys could be next. America was ready to enter the war. The Coast Guard occupied the lighthouse at Sea Girt.

At the end of a quiet summer, Governor Edison got the bill for the summer’s activity, and he was appalled. Over $8,000 was spent on food at the Little White House. It was about to become a scandal. The Guard Camp was no longer supporting the National Guard. The President called up the guard and everyone was called to serve in the US Army. There was no state allocation to the commissary, and the Army used the property for the Signal Corps. The state had no access to the Army’s mess. They had to acquire food at retail prices. And it appeared they spared no expense for the governor’s entertainments.

The Giunco Brothers Sea Girt location was their second

The Governor called for an inquiry, and his enemies were happy to pour over the details. The son of Thomas Edison was used to running companies, not politics. He made enemies by not playing the old city boss game of Democrat politics, so he was attacked by legislators on both sides.

The largess of the purchases during a time of war preparation seemed obscene. Mrs. Edison only served white meat, so when they bought turkeys, which was as expensive as steak in the 1940s, they threw half the bird away. Caviar, truffles, and expensive linens were part of the receipts.

They put Augustus Giunco in front of the Republican Committee. Giunco’s Sea Girt Market had provided most of the provisions since the commissary had closed. Giunco testified that a Mr. Milligan asked him to provide alcohol and asked that the receipts call it ‘provisions’.

Giunco kept his own records, proving the fraud. The fallout, plus the lack of guardsmen until well after the war, was the beginning of the end for the Little White House and elaborate summers for the Trenton political machine. Edison closed the Governor’s Summer house for his term.

Giuncos was a staple for three generations in Sea Girt. Augustus’ son Robert (Bob), grew up in town. His father and uncle opened the store in 1935, while Bob worked at Price Waterhouse. His father asked him to take over Giunco Brothers, although Bob had other business interests. He managed the store, but also did real estate and financial investments. Gus died in 1960 while at Sunday Mass at St. Denis.

Bob’s son, Bob Jr. took over the store for his father, and his father’s partner in the investment business, George McKelvy. The store was renamed The Beef and Bottle Shop, and Bob Jr. also owned Wemrock Orchards in Freehold. In 1994 they renovated the Giunco building with McKelvy’s offices and reduced retail space. Today it is Little Dom’s, Egans, and the Blonde Shallott. Giunco descendants own the 4Gs Winery in Colts Neck.