1199 Chase Street
The building at 1199 Chase Street, in the heart of what was the predominantly Polish Whitman Park section of Camden, was the home of a saloon as early as 1918. Joseph Brzozowski was the proprietor then, and remained as such through 1921. City Directories from 1924 through 1928 list Simon Sochanski as running the establishment, which then would have been operating under a “soft-drink” license, selling near beer.
By 1939 Stanley “Zibby” Zbikowski owned the bar, which was known as Stanley’s Cafe through at least 1967. In that year Stella Zbikowski was the liquor license holder. When Stanley passed away his son Edmund, who, like his father, was also known as “Zibby,” ran the bar. The family sold the establishment in 1973.
My grandfather, Stanley Zbikowski, purchased the bar located at 1199 Chase known as Stanley’s Café. After his death it went into my grandmothers name Stella, and later it went to my father, Edmund Zbikowski. The name was changed to Zibby’s, short for Zbikowski. It was in our family till 1973 when it was sold to the Tureck family.
During my fathers reign he sponsored several sports teams consisting of bowling, golf, fishing, softball, pool, shuffle board and darts. We were one of the first bars to have television. My dad said people would be lined up outside trying to get a peak of a ball game or fight. Later we had a large antenna which would get NY channels. We would have different excursions to Phillies and NY ball games and NY Worlds Fare. We would also have a movie night once a week using a 16mm projector. To keep up with the times we were one of the first to have color TV. We were told that we had one of the cleanest bars in our area. My dad would close on Sunday morning wash, strip and rewax the bar floors. Every morning the floors would be washed and then buffed to bring up the shine from Sundays wax job. We put all the glasses in the dishwasher and wipe down all the whisky bottles. It wasn’t any easy job to stay competitive with so many bars in the area.
Jim Zbikowski, grandson of Stanley Zbikowski, Sept. 2012
John S. Tureck was at the bar through at least the fall of 1977, according to the New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory for that year. By 1981 he had moved his residence to Oaklyn, NJ. It is not known as of this writing if he was still involved with the bar.
During the 1980s the ethnic make-up of the neighborhood changed. A Hispanic family owned the bar, which was known as La Copa Del Oro, which translates at The Cup of Gold, in the 1980s. By the late 1980s they had leased the bar to Robert and Barbara Joiner, who renamed the establishment as The Time & Place Lounge. After the Joiner’s marriage broke up, Bob Joiner continued operating the bar until it finally closed for good in the late 1990s.
During this time the bar featured some of Camden’s best known club disc jockeys, including Willie “Bounty Hunter” Smith and Phil Casden, aka “The Funky White Boy.” The Time and Place was a favorite hangout for many employees of Chubby’s Hearth restaurant, a famed establishment for many years that stood at Mount Ephraim Avenue and Collings Road in Haddon Township.
Unfortunately, during this time crack cocaine came to Camden, and the corner of Louis and Chase became a major drug corner. Phil Casden recalls that during the fall of 1990 bullets from a gunfight outside the bar came through the window while he was performing, and that shortly after his tenure there ended. In January of 1991, a man was murdered just outside the bar. There would be many more arrests and shootings at Louis and Chase over the ensuing years, and the corner remains one of Camden’s problem areas.
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Time and Place Lounge
1199 Chase Street The building at 1199 Chase Street, in the heart of what was the predominantly Polish Whitman Park section of Camden, was the home of a saloon as early as 1918. Joseph Brzozowski was the proprietor then, and remained as such through 1921. City Directories from 1924 through 1928 list Simon Sochanski as…
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