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Linda, FNY's lovely ForgottenModel (photo right) was incredulous.

"You're going to an ice cream parlor in January?" Linda's natural habitat is poolside or at the beach, and at temperatures under fifty she turns into a Linda-sicle.®

Indeed we were. Hot fudge is on the menu at Eddie's Sweet Shop of Forest Hills. And besides, it was 45 degrees out. With Linda unswayed into joining us it was up to ForgottenFans Vicki, Gerry and Andrew to brave these "arctic" conditions and stroll through Forest Hills from the 71st Avenue station on the E/F/R to Metropolitan Avenue and 72nd Road, where gallons of ice cream and tons of fudge and schlag were awaiting us.

Ascertaining the exact age of Eddie's Sweet Shop is problematic -- I've seen 1909 and 1913 as two opinions -- and I am not sure if this is the original location. As we'll see it has been here on Met Ave for eons, in any case, and features many of the interiors it must have had when it did move in here.

Wood paneled and mirrored walls, as well as oak tables and wrought iron-backed seats, greet dessert fans. I read the banquette seats were originally church pews, but I don't have documentation about that. The huge glass candy counter reminded me of the one at Hinsch's in Bay Ridge, another venerable ice cream and candy place that has been there since the Pleistocene.

Your webmaster is a traditionalist; I had a 2-scoop hot fudge sundae with one chocolate and one vanilla, with a heap of schlag (whipped cream) and a cherry on top. The hot fudge splashes over the edge of the parfait glass and drips down on the metal plate below it -- technique is the key. Scoop up the hot fudge from the metal and drizzle it over the schlag and it eventually makes its way to the cold ice cream. After you finish the sundae, scrape the fudge off the glass and the plate! Vicki had the butterscotch fudge, which doesn't come heated.

There are a couple of refrigerators -- ForgottenFan Joanna found one overflowing with schlag and quickly snapped it. There's a vintage cold box behind the marble and wood counter.

At Eddie's all ingredients in their ice cream treats are prepared in house, from the ice cream to the fudges to the schlag.

Meanwhile, on the NE corner of 71st Avenue and Metropolitan Avenue is Continental Hardware, which has been there since 1922. There are layers and hints of ancient signage here and there, giving away its age. In Forest Hills Gardens, 71st Avenue is called Continental Avenue and the Queens Boulevard line subway stop still has that subtitle.

At the NW corner of 71st Avenue and Met Ave is Jones Surgical Supplies so, casts, wheelchairs, that kind of thing. The classic green and white sign has been there since the Mesozoic. Once again I call on telephone exchange mavens as BO stood for BOulevard or BOwling Green. (Bowling Green is the ancient plaza at the foot of Broadway at the Battery. It is also an Everly Brothers hit.)

RIGHT: storefronts, Met Ave. I'll likely be doing a Met Ave Middle Village-Forest Hills walk soon.

erpietri@earthlink.net

photographed January 23, 2010; page completed January 27