soda fountain memories
the drug store
Is it the drug store or is it the soda fountain? Is it a soda fountain in a drugstore?
In the early days, wall paper was almost always advertised. How does that fit in with drugs, or soda? How many drugstores have there been? There was one in 1882 -- although it didn't mention ice cream or soda. The "Gilt Edge" drugstore was in the adjacent store front when the opera house building opened in 1894. There were advertisements for two drugstores in 1916 and other years as well. In any event, the little store those of us living have referred to is in the opera house building, ground floor, south side. And it has a LOOOOOT of memories about it floating around. |
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joyce wopata newton ABOUT VISITING AT THE mADDEN DRUGSTORE
Ines Madden and my Grandma Tenk certainly loved to visit and yes gossip -- they were the go to people for info I think. Grandma and I used to walk to town to the drugstore -- grandma always had a strawberry soda and I had a butterscotch sundae. One of those tin holders they put a paper in wow-- those were some treats. Grandma and Ines talked the whole time. (4/12/17) |
Marilyn Wenzbauer Mccage shares memories of the madden drugstore, and junior karas's popcorn stand by the movie theater, too.
more about drugstores
& soda fountains!
quick! give us a memory! mildred slater-kaster:I was raised at PC which isn't that far from TR and I put peanuts in Coke, not Pepsi, and still do. My kids thought I was crazy first time they saw me do it, but I still enjoy it, so if I'm crazy, so be it!!! There were people who use to mix Pepsi and milk. I was never brave enough to try that one!! |
quick! Give us a memory! Historical society member larry layden:I remember adding peanuts to Pepsi back in the 50's. I wonder if that was a Table Rock Thing or more widespread. |
Historical society member larry laydenMy wife says she liked to drink "Green Rivers" at the drug store. Us guys considered that a sissy drink. |
quick! give US a memory!I asked Edward Tomek question that about the soda fountain. And here are some memories he shared!
The soda fountain--the root beer or strawberry floats or peanut medleys. A memory from the drug store when Ines Madden had it. I bought some notebook paper that was the wrong size. I took it back to exchange it and she weighed it in one hand with one from the store in the other hand and thought I had used some of the paper. Also, when I went on a diet in 1950, I bought a small book for a dime at the drug store. It had different kinds of food and how many calories each had. From that book, I lost 70 pounds. |
I already had this memory from Larry Layden, which was about Dr. McCrea. But it does double duty!
"I would have been 7 or 8. Us kids kind of looked forward to getting sick and having the doctor come to us because he always has a supply of Hershey candy bars in his doctors bag and he would give us one when he left. One time I was sick and he came out and as he was leaving he looked in his bag for a candy bar and discovered he was out! He said he would give me one the next time he saw me. A few weeks later I met him coming out of the drug store. Good manners met nothing to a 10 year old kid wanting a candy bar so I reminded him of his pledge to supply a candy bar at our next meeting. He laughed and said "come with me". He turned and reentered the drug store and told me to pick out a candy bar. That was the kind of man he was." |
larry layden, more memories -- buying comic books, redeeming pop bottles, dry ice
I remember buying comic books at the drug store when I was a kid. They had a stack in the back of comic books that were three for a dime. Regular price was one for a dime. These cheap ones had half the cover torn or cut off. They must have had an arrangement with the supplier that enabled them to sell at a discount the comics that were not sold after a certain amount of time on the rack. I remember setting on the floor and going through the stack looking for ones I had not read. |
I also remember walking along the road ditches for discarded pop bottles. When we found a few we would take them to the drug store and collect the two cent deposit. I remember Ines Madden cringing when we brought them in because she would have to wash them before returning them to the bottler. They would be covered with mud and sometimes contained a questionable liquid. She would have to check the bottle for nicks and cracks and turned down about a third for being defective. This took a lot of time but we were in no hurry. We would take our bottle profit and buy candy and peanuts that were displayed in big glass jars in the store. I think she was happy to see us leave but she knew we would be back in a week or so. |
open noon hour for the high school -- I NEED AN ERASER....
Christmas Eve Day 2015, about 11 a.m. Richard Binder and Milan Tomek are at the drugstore. Milan leans on the soda fountain counter and Richard is at a table, sharing some old family pictures.
Richard: "We came to the drugstore at noon hour. At noon hour, we could go downtown in those days. We had to ask Mrs. Rexroth. There was a formula for the question. "I need [insert here], may I go?" "I need an eraser, may I go?" "I need some paper, may I go?" then Mrs. Rexroth would say, "Yes, you may." Then down town we went.
Milan: We had an open noon hour then. We did a lot at noon that had nothing to do with school! We even went down to the Nemaha to go skinny dipping.
Richard: We went down to the Reno for a hamburger. 25 cents, I think they were. It was a full hour, we had, wasn't it?
Milan: It must have been. It took a long time to get to the river.
Milan added, "When they got rid of the open noon hour, they probably thought they were in prison." Milan and Richard figured that was in the mid-1960s.
Richard: "We came to the drugstore at noon hour. At noon hour, we could go downtown in those days. We had to ask Mrs. Rexroth. There was a formula for the question. "I need [insert here], may I go?" "I need an eraser, may I go?" "I need some paper, may I go?" then Mrs. Rexroth would say, "Yes, you may." Then down town we went.
Milan: We had an open noon hour then. We did a lot at noon that had nothing to do with school! We even went down to the Nemaha to go skinny dipping.
Richard: We went down to the Reno for a hamburger. 25 cents, I think they were. It was a full hour, we had, wasn't it?
Milan: It must have been. It took a long time to get to the river.
Milan added, "When they got rid of the open noon hour, they probably thought they were in prison." Milan and Richard figured that was in the mid-1960s.
BETHEL'S DRUG STORE OPENS IN 1961
quick! give me a memory!Give me a memory, quick! I asked Kathy Johnson-Wee Kait that. Gordon Bethel was her grandpa. She said, quickly:
Soda fountain syrups! Comic books with the cover tops torn off...cherrywood glass cabinet...rootbeer floats!" Then she added,
I spent two years of high school in Table Rock, Nebraska (graduated there), but almost every summer of my life before that was spent for a time in TR. I also met my first husband, Steve, there! Great memories! My grandpa owned the drug store for many years, and gave the citizens of TR more good times and memories--especially the school kids! |
then it was workman's
what did you order at the soda fountain?
milan tomekA Peanut Medley. Always. |
richard binderA cherry coke. It wasn't out of a bottle. You pumped syrup into the bottom and then added fizzy water from the spigot on the counter! |