THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

August 20, 1992

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            Business places come and go, some due to financial difficulties, while others move to a new and larger location, so as to increase the capacity of their showroom, where they can better display their merchandise for the convenience of their patrons.          

            The Hansen Appliance and Home Entertainment business that was located at 221 North Main Street until August 5, 1992, is a good example of this.

            The building that was left vacant at 221 North Main was at one time the location of several different businesses, each operating independently from each other for many years – the Automotive Supply, the Faultless Dry Cleaners, the Fisher Dairy and the Zwicker Knitting Company, only to name a few.

            The other side of the coin is the little building at 117 West Fulton St., which is now the office of Barg’s Real Estate and Auction Service.  This was the Midget Restaurant in the late 1920s and early 1930s.  This little restaurant ceased to operate, not for the lack of good food, but for space and the hard times of the Great Depression.

            According to the February 5, 1931, newspaper, Clyde Holmes bought the Midget Restaurant business from Eugene Rasmussen. Mr. Holmes had operated a business for a year previous to buying in 1931.

            I learned that Harley Darrow had worked for Clyde Holmes for some years before Mr. Holmes closed out.  I had a couple of nice visits with Mr. Darrow at his apartment on West Union Street.  Mr. Darrow explained that there was a grill, a refrigerator, a sink and a small cupboard that held the cups, small plates, silverware and the homemade pies along one wall. In the corner was a water fountain and on the south wall Christoph’s had an ice cream freezer, but there were no restroom facilities.

            As Mr. Darrow remembered, there were nine or 11 stools with a counter where the patrons faced the wall.  They served only one hot meal at non.  This consisted of meat, potatoes, vegetables, bread and coffee for 35¢, with pie 10¢ extra.

            You may wonder, as I did, where they prepared the food.  Mr. Darrow told me that Clyde Holmes lived upstairs in the large house on Harrison and West Fulton streets, and it was here that the food was prepared and delivered hot to the restaurant by mid-morning.  After the noon meal, the dirty dishes were returned to their home and were washed for another day.

            You could get short orders from the grill all day, and they were noted for their hamburgers and pickles.

            Harley Darrow told me about the time that he was held up at 5 o’clock in the morning. Two men came in and ordered a hamburger and coffee.  There was another patron in the place at the time.  The first thing that he knew the two gunmen had a pistol pointed at them while they rifled the cash register.  Mr. Darrow said that “the longer he had to look at the pistols the larger the barrels looked.”

            Amos the crow became a pet and a pest around town.  When they took the Courthouse tower down, they found many articles that Amos had stolen and stashed away in the old tower.

            Amos used to come to a window ledge of the Midget Restaurant for his daily handout of hamburger from Mr. Darrow.

            Mr. Darrow told me about the fun George Wilson, who was running a gasoline station, had with Amos the crow.  It seems as if Amos could pick up a nickel from a smooth surface, but could not pick up a dime, so they had their fun watching Amos try to pick up a shiny dime.

            Maybe some of you remember having one of the delicious hamburgers and a pickle at the Midget Restaurant across from the Palace Theatre, or having something stolen by the mischievous crow.

            How many of you senior citizens patronized the Comet Canteen or the Ranch House Restaurant back in the 1940s and 1950s, both being located on North Main Street?

            Taken from a newspaper article:  “Saturday evening, October 30, 1943, was the opening night for the new Comet Canteen located at 207 North Main Street.”

            The Comet Club was organized by the students of the Waupaca High School.  Membership was available to all students of the 7^th and 8^th grades, high school and first year high school alumni.  Club dues were 25¢ per month.

            Mrs. E. M. Atkinson was appointed counselor and Rev. C.B. Maddock adviser, chaperones were selected by civic clubs and the hostess committee.  The plans started out to have a ping-pong table, a pool table, a jukebox and a place for dancing and serving Coke and candy bars.

            The club asked for contributions for furniture, among the items needed were two lounge chairs and floor lamps, also a piano, and phonograph case.  Some civic clubs made cash donations for mainten-ance.

            The Ranch House, advertised as Waupaca’s newest and most modern restaurant and dairy bar for youngsters from one to 99, opened for business at 205 North Main Street, May 24, 1956. This location was formerly Abrahams Radio Service and Appliance Store.

            Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Abrahamson and son, Leland, invited all of the community to see and visit the new place of business.

            The Ranch House staff was prepared to serve sandwiches of all kinds, malts and ice cream, and would eventually serve complete dinners and plate lunches.

            The Ranch House included a recreation room in the rear, a Corral dining room in the front, and  a horseshoe-shaped counter in the center with 24 stools.