Bluntly Speaking by Robert J.L. Publicover

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It was quite a wonderful trip for a kid when his mother decided to take him along on her weekly shopping trip, usually on a Saturday afternoon. There were four big grocery stores full of fresh foods of every kind. Not much frozen food was around back then, except for a few vegetables.  She used to let him go down to the Star Market (where Central Bank’s loan office and an Accountant are now located) by himself when she need a few items in a hurry but he couldn’t cross the ‘big street‚Äù just yet.

“A few more years,” she told him.

That rule by mom kept him from visiting Stop & Shop (where The Burren and The Dollar Store are now located), the A & P and the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (where the building that houses the Porter Sq. Vet – behind Domino’s Pizza), and the First National Store, Mr. Cy’s Pet Emporium or the Kennedy Butter and Egg Store (all located where Citizens Bank is now).

If it was near Christmas, we would visit all the gaily-decorated department stores to shop for presents for the family. Woolworth’s (Starbucks and a bit more now) had a huge candy counter, which Olive Pye used to manage. She always made sure the kids got their money’s worth and then some. Olive is in a retirement home now, if you remember her and would like to send her a card, email me. Woolworths also had a very long lunch counter where you could get fries and a coke for 25 cents. Best of all, they had Manager Norman Rose, who may just have been the best whistler anybody would ever hear and he never stopped. When he retired he bought Fields Stationery Store (the building now houses Sessa’s, but the original burnt down a long time ago). The little turtles at Woolworths were 29 cents and the Parakeets were about $2.99.

Just down the street was Kresge’s – a Woolworths wanna be (where the Indian Diner is now, before Chester Street). Kresge’s had about the same stuff in smaller quantities, but you could cross the street and go into W.T. Grant’s Department Store (the Social Security office), where the smell of fresh popcorn (10 cents) always greeted you at the door, usually accompanied by the sound of the kernels popping.

Heading downstairs, you went right to the back of the store (if mom let you) and found “Toyland!” In Toyland you could ride on about 15 different rides for a nickel each Рthat kind of a day usually came near Christmas too, and was a rare treat. That was also the day you got to see Santa (and he got to see you) while sitting right there in the middle of the toys and the rides. You passed what seemed to be a thousand differentkinds of yarn skeins and a zillion kinds of buttons, along with lots of things for the kitchen, but it sure was worth it when you got there! Toys, and toys and toys. It was all enclosed in an old Western style fence. Ah, the fantasies that one lived there.

If mom wanted to get some nice things she would head to Parke Snow’s Department Store (now the CVS building) – the kid always headed right down stairs because Grandma (at age 75) still worked there and she always had a surprise for him. Boy, he loved those visits! The upper two floors were filled with fine clothing and many women’s goods. He always bought Grandma a hankie and Apple Blossom Powder for Christmas.

If they were buying for dad, the kid and mom went to Jack Korn’s Men’s Shop (part of what is now Mike’s), where they sold some very expensive but fine shirts, ties and suits as well as cuff links and beautiful tie clips. It was a store for the business man who needed good things to look smart. Or you could head down the street a few doors to the Army and Nay Store (Diesel Caf√©) and find some cheaper shirts where Phil or Nate might give you a slight break on the price if they liked you.

If you needed clothes for the kids, you could stop by the Children’s Shop run by Mr. and Mrs. Grossman (Anna’s Taqueria), or you could get a nice, expensive sweater and the Sweater Shop (corner of Citizens Bank) also owned by the Grossmans. That kid worked for them when he finally got to high school and ran between the shops doing many odd jobs. He never did figure out why the Sweater Shop had far more bikinis than sweaters. Mr. Grossman often encouraged him to be sure to ‚Äúgo on to college‚Äù like all his stock boys did.

There was plenty of jewelry in the square back then. Jack Derby and his wife Dot (Mexican restaurant) had a quality place where everybody got a discount. They had tons of rings for men and ladies as well as a great line of cameras and supplies. Henry Birkemose spent 40 years in a tiny shop down by the railroad tracks (taken for the T) and the Lucia Nordan’s store (around Mass Insurance) carried many fine gift items from Bone China to Hummels. If you bought some of those Hummels, they are worth a fortune today. The kid didn’t know much about all that fancy, expensive stuff – he was earning 25 cents an hour helping out at the College Avenue Variety (Bill’s Roast Beef, and now a sandwich shop).

The kid had no idea that when he grew up he would buy that grocery store – and hate the business.  He was destined to last about 6 months before Store 24 came along and killed his business – and that turned out to be a good thing.

CVS, Buy Rite, Dollar Stores didn’t exist back then. You had Reed’s Drug Store (now the Crepe Shop), which handled most of the local prescriptions. Or you could get ‚Äúcut rate‚Äù cosmetics and non-prescription meds at Carroll’s Cut Rate Store at the corner of Chester Street (now Dunkin’ Donuts).

We could go on a lot longer on this visit down Memory Lane, but we’ll finish for today with the things that tasted so good – the bakeries in Davis Square included Dorothy Muriel’s Bake Shop (about where McKinnon’s is now) which made the best hermits and cupcakes in the whole city.  There was Sara Ann’s Bake Shoppe over on the other side of the Square (possibly next to Garrett Lynch Insurance which has been there forever and is in at least the third generation of friendly Lynch’s), where they made fabulous pies and birthday cakes as well as a full line of cookies that one could drool over. But the best of them all was Mrs. Smith’s Bake Shop on College Avenue (next to the Chinese Laundry) – Mrs. Smith really did most of the baking with help from her all- ladies staff. Everything there tasted perfect and that kid has never had a better √âclair in his whole life. All the baking was done right there in the back kitchen. They had apple and blueberry pies and turnovers, filled cookies, sugar cookies, molasses cookies and amazing coffee rolls, if you could get there before they sold out. Mrs. Smith was the best.

Ah, well, enough for this column, I’m getting hungry. I sure loved those days back in the late 50s when I went shopping with mom. ‚ÄúJust one √©clair and a filled cookie mom, please?‚Äù