by David Evans

 

While never actually living in Eliot, I have been in and through Eliot many
times a week for 70+ years. One memory that stays with me dates to about
1945, 6  or 7 as near as I can remember.   I was about 7 or 8 years  old. My
sister was (is) 5 years older.  We lived in Kittery Point at  that time and
the war had just ended. Meat was still scarce and expensive.   Gasoline was
still in short supply and in our family money was also in short  supply.  As
a family we stayed very close to home with not many  “frills.”  But we did
have an occasional “treat” and perhaps a couple of  times a month would eat out.  We would get in the car and drive to Eliot  for supper.  We would go to the store on the corner of Farmer Rd. and State  Rd.  It has had several owners over the years but at the time to which I  refer it was owned by Mr. Linley Pease.  It had a lunch counter and a soda  fountain.  Linley Pease and my father were lodge brothers and  friends.

Since, as I said, money was tight, my sister and I had to choose whether we
wanted one hamburger or two hot dogs.  As I recall the price was the same:  $.50 for either one. In addition we each had a coke from the soda
fountain.  One of the girls who worked there asked me if I wanted a vanilla  coke?  I didn’t really know what that was so said “ok.”  I liked it  and for the next 3-4 trips I always had a vanilla coke.  But then my mother  decided I liked the vanilla part a little too much and I had to settle for the  plain stuff.  At the time I didn’t really know why.

Actually we were “poor” at the time but didn’t dwell on it.  Maybe we  (my
sister and I) didn’t even realize it, because many other families were no
better off.  But as I think back, times were a little tough but our trips  to
“Pease’s” were always pleasant and we looked forward to them.

David Evans