Looking at the calendar it says that Autumn begins next week. Well, it's still 100 degrees outside here in Florida as I write this. Ice cream is still on the agenda! I wish I could go downtown to the drugstore, sit at the counter, and order a sandwich and a chololate malt. Or maybe splurge and get a banana split....
Unfortunately those great lunch counters at the drug stores of years gone by are gone now. Dairy Queen and Baskin Robbins are still going strong, but it's not the same. I remember growing up in the Detroit area where even the local mall had a Sanders ice cream counter where you could go in and order a sandwich or Sanders ice cream puff or whatever suited your sweet tooth. The pictures here recall this time when these places were common.
Also posted here is a picture of me earlier this summer at a classic ice cream counter/parlor near Ironwood, Michigan. The owner actually got the entire counter and setup from a store that went out of business. It is inside his bed and breakfast now. He told me that he is fighting to keep the old style servings alive. Even the ice cream company he buys from told him to use syrofoam or paper cups.....He won't. Just like in the heyday of the soda fountain, the banana split I ordered was served in a glass dish.
And you might notice the really green drink on the counter....that is a specialty pop of the region. Can't remember the name, but it was sweet.
Who knows, maybe someone will get a bit retro and open up a lunch counter again. Sounds delicious to me...The only problem is where to find the Bing Crosby Valley Farms' Ice Cream....
Like your blog. Good stuff. I think we have a couple or so places like this here in Sarasota, FL. There's a place called, Steak n' Shake, for one. ~Jan (Moore) Fangboner
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