Perdue's Sport Shop

     The advertisement in the Yellow Pages I possess (circa September 1975) states the Perdue's Sport Shop, besides being Bergen's oldest Pro Shop, was also the place you could buy fishing gear, guns, and ammo. I only mention this because we did patronize Walt Perdue's shop and did in fact buy our guns and ammo from him. Not sure if a store like this still exists in Ridgewood but it wouldn't surprise if they didn't sell guns over at Bernard's, the folks who bought the Perdue name and business a while back. The guns in question were mostly BB guns and one rifle which my older brother and father used to take to the Ridgewood Rifle Club over at 209 Chestnut street.

      We also used to go to Perdue's for the different color baseball caps and iron on letters we required for whatever baseball team we were playing for in the RBA (Ridgewood Baseball Association) Spring league.  

      Perdue's was also famous for the old time car, I believe a Model A which was always parked in front of Perdue's store. Mr Perdue used to drive it in the 4th of July Parade and I believe used it to commute to work. The White Pages of the phone book I am consulting says he lived on Glen Avenue so he didn't have much of a commute. More than likely there wasn't much chance he was going to get stuck in traffic or have to drive the highway. I dare say most men in the community who took the train or bus to work would have gladly swapped rides with him anytime.

      Update 4 May 2010
      This is taken from the tribute paid to Walt Perdue as a member of the RHS Athletic Hall of Fame:

Walt Perdue - Class of 1949

The four-sport athlete was an all-state running back and team co-captain his senior year season when the Maroons had a 6-3 record. He also played defensive back. Perdue capped his career by accounting for 207 of Ridgewood’s 302 yards gained (including two runs of over 60 yards) in the 32-6 Thanksgiving Day victory over Fair Lawn. He scored three touchdowns in the Lodi win.

Perdue played basketball three years, earned two varsity letters in track and one in baseball. He was awarded the RHS Award for Excellence in Athletics in 1949 and also the 18th annual High Y Award. He was offered several scholarships. He sandwiched a stint in the Marine Corps in his college years at Lehigh, playing football in college. He owned Perdue’s Sport Shop in Ridgewood for a number of years.