Sunset Restaurant Closing

 I have written a number of times about restaurants in the area, how it is rare for one to last more than two years, and some of the problems they face.  The Sunset restaurant in Glen Burnie is closing after 60 years.  It is not in our local area but I thought the reasons given for it's closing were interesting.  The article in The Capital Gazette  newspaper is located here     https://www.capitalgazette.com/business/ac-cn-sunset-closes-20200830-kjfolyyozrhx3ah77ymi5qiehq-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1IsGfF3ZiZaYZb9FsMkfKEME2T7w87LQCS0BlYR_ywAY38eBFt-fQNf70

Lee Samuel Baker

 

Lee Samuel Baker (1894-1962) Photo from the Salisbury Times 1959 at time of his retirement

Lee Baker was born in Snow Hill, Maryland to Seth and Angie Baker in 1894.  In 1915 he was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad in Delmar.  He was a Fireman for the Delaware division and ran between Wilmington and Delmar.  In 1917 he married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Hester Phillips (1895-1971).  She was the daughter of Emory and Leah Katherine Ellis Phillips.  Shortly after marriage he went off to serve his country in World War One.  In December 1917 he sailed for France on board the "President Grant" with the 21st Engineer .  He left his wife pregnant.  Lizzie would give birth to Lee Phillips baker in june of 1918.  Private Lee Baker would see action in France and after the armistice he was assigned to help operate a railroad that ran from Le Harve to Metz Germany.  When he came back to the USA he got his old job back with the railroad in Delmar.  In 1942 he became a Traveling engineer.  He retired in 1959 with 44 years of service.  The Bakers lived at 800 State street.  His son Lee P Baker would die of a heartattack in January of 1962, two months later Lee S Baker would die.  His wife, Lizzie, would die in 1971.

1953 Culvers Men Shop

 

1953

17 June 1953

1950s Ad Whayland Drug Co and the Five Tube Superheterodyne Radio

 

Whaylands sold a lot of things other than drugs. The ten dollar AM radio was a classic of the 1950s.  Almost all homes had at least one of these radios and probably several. The Five tube Superhetrodyne radio was a shinning example of American Manufacturing.  Mass produced and using a circuit design that only used five tubes it was cheap and it worked. 

Sometimes call the "all american 5" (AA5) it was manufactured from the 1930s on into the 1960s when the transistor replaced tube radios.  The circuit design was such that if one tube burn out all the other tubes would fail to work.  At the time in many drug stores was a tube tester and you would remove the five tubes from your radio and test all five to find the bad one then buy a new tube (usually a dollar or less per tube) and reinstall the tubes in the radio and it would work. 

Another unique item about this type of radio was you could get an electrical shock from them easily.  In this time period electrical wiring was not grounded nor were there GFIs, most old farm houses in this area had maybe two electrical outlets per room and if it was a kitchen or bathroom there was a good chance the outlet was next to the sink and the radio was plugged into that outlet.  Simply trying to tune the radio to a station with one hand and turning the water on in the sink with the other would produced what today is called a life lesson  and back in the 1950s was called "I am never doing that again."

1917 Western Union

 

2008 Finalists Delmar Geography Bee

 

Jan 10 2008 the Laurel Star Newspaper 

Melody's Family Restaurant 1986

 

Melody's Family Restaurant in Willards lasted a couple of years.  Run by Wallace and Melody West Cooper.  It was not open on Sunday. Later run by Rich and Norma Tonelli,  Prior to Melody's I think it was Jr's Family Restaurant.  

It is a building that usually has a restaurant or Pizza place in it, just the name changes.

It would later become Compton's Family Restaurant

Railroad Ties 1887

 Wanted - 100,000 railroad ties. Must be either white or red oak, 7 inches face, 7 inches through, 8 1/2 feet long  or 6 inches face, 6 inches through, 8 1/2 feet long, sawed off square at both ends. For which will pay 40 cents apiece for white oak and 80 cents for red oak. Will buy any number.   Kent & Wilson. Parksley,Va.

---------Above from The Peninsular Enterprise Accomac Va.  29 Oct 1887-------------

Remember "Permanent" Anti-Freeze

 

Hard to believe back in the 1950's we were so cost conscious we use to think it was a big deal if we bought "Permanent" anti freeze. Anyone under 50 of course will have no ideal what I am talking about. The non-"Permanent" anti-freeze was an alcohol based antifreeze (desperate people tried to drink it) and was a lot cheaper than the Ethylene glycol antifreeze which was considered permanent. As the higher powered cars came on the market the engine thermostats temperature went up to 180 degrees so the alcohol based antifreeze would boil away, since they were best down around 140 degrees.

Sunday Dinner At The Shoreman Restaurant Salisbury MD 1957

 

In 1957 The Shoreman Restaurant opened.  Located on RT13 south Salisbury opposite Horner Motors and in front of Salisbury State Teacher College It was owned by Herbert "Chan" Chandler and his wife Mabel Jones Chandler and his brother-in-law Jack Jones.   

Chan Chandler had over 20 years experience at this time in the restaurant business.  His wife and him were also operating the Texaco Diner in Westover Maryland.  Within a year the Shoreman had failed and they closed it up.  Chan went to work for Johnny and Sammy's restaurant in 1967 he died of a heart attack.

Salisbury State Teacher College purchased the building in the early 1960s and in 1965 turned it into the Musical Arts Center building Above photo from Nabb Center SUA000169

The Musical Arts Building (Nabb center Photo SUA001022) was demolished in 2006

Downtown Salisbury 1950s

 Joe Long sent me this comment back a few years ago, about main street in downtown Salisbury in the 1950s

On Saturday everyone in Salisbury that owned a car used to drive uptown and park their cars on Main St. Then they would walk home, eat dinner, and walk back to sit and watch people walk back and forth on Main St. All the stores stayed open late and it was the place to be seen that evening. I have a lot of beautiful memories of the old Salisbury and it is sad to see what so-called progress has done to the town.

To a teenager now day it may sound hokey but it really was no different than going to the mall or beach boardwalk today. It seems to be a basic human desire to see other people or be seen by other people.

1954 Night School

 

Night Class

From the Salisbury Times Oct 1954

DELMAR NIGHT SCHOOL TO HAVE REGISTRATION

DELMAR- Between 7 and 8 p.m. Monday there will be registration at the Delmar High School for the evening classes in typing, shorthand or bookkeeping.

It is not certain that all three subjects will be offered. It will depend upon the nature of the requests at the time of registration.

1944 Delmar Auction Block

 

Delmar Auction Block - 1944

From the State Register June 20, 1944

DELMAR TO OPEN NEW AUCTION BLOCK MONDAY

The Delmar Auction Block will open for competitive buying next Monday, June 26, handling all farm produce. The block which has recently been completed is owned and will be operated by The Delmar Farmers co-Op, Auction Market Inc. It is located at Walnut and Railroad Avenue.

Souse

 

About every ten years I will have a taste for souse. Now the nice thing about souse is it reminds me how grateful I am to have other things to eat. My wife’s grandparents use to eat it every week or so and I was always amazed that they seem to like it. Usually served cold as part of a sandwich or on a cracker.  It has similar ingredients to scrapple. In our area the main producer of souse that is available in stores is made by Gwaltney.

Souse, of course, made from a pig's head cooked down until the meat falls off, than the meat is separated from the head, mashed up fine and vinegar or a brine, pickle, red and green peppers is added. Since a pig's head is mostly bone there will be a great deal of gelatin mass in with the meat.  The whole mess is poured into a loaf pan and refrigerated until it forms a terrine-like product usually in the shape of a loaf.  It is then sliced.   Like scrapple the taste will vary with the maker.  Unlike scrapple, souse is just pig cooked down to a gelatin mass with no corn meal binder added.

above ad from 1944 Salisbury Times

During WW2 the popularity of souse increased because it was not rationed. You will notice that it is the most expensive item among the bologna, scrapple and liver pudding selection. 

1937 iNTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS

 

above 1937 ad - Harry J Hoffman was the sales representative for the International Correspondence school.  He lived in Delmar and was also an accountant.   

The International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania (ICS) was founded in 1891 in the pages of Colliery Engineer and Metal Miner, a mining journal published in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Due to an excessive amount of mining accidents, Thomas J. Foster, publisher of the journal, insisted that miners be educated in mine safety beyond what they learned from their apprenticeships. Therefore, the state of Pennsylvania passed the Mine Safety Act of 1885, requiring miners and inspectors to pass examinations on mine safety.] The test was exhaustive and the language was incredibly confusing, especially for miners who spoke little or no English.

ICS was learning by mail and today we have colleges going to learning by the internet.

Harry Hoffman lived at 207 East Jewell St in Delmar in 1971.  He was married to Hazel Bair who died in 1971 the same year he died.  Their children were Jack, Alvin, Jo-Ann and Isabel.

above Harry Hoffman

1975 THE HI WAY INN

 

Maryland State Police 1930s Poster

 

A Mother's Prayer

 

1952 The New Modern Dashiell Hardware Store

 

located on Grove street after it was a hardware store it became a drug store, restaurant and finally a drug store.  It now is empty. 

1944 Job Opportunities

 

Webb Packing Company was located in Salisbury Maryland. 1944 ad

Sunday Dinner At The Diamond State Inn

 

above 1932 AdThe Diamond State Inn shared a building with the Standard Service Station.  It operated in the early 1930s .  The 24 hour a day restaurant was run by Thelma Powell.  Miss Powell was about 18 years old when she ran the restaurant. She had graduated the Delmar Maryland High School in 1930.   She had Dalima Hearn helping her run the restaurant.  Thelma Powell was the daughter of William R. Powell and Blanche Marie Hewes Powell.  She would marry in 1940, to William Henry Tilghman (1912-1966).  They would live on Ocean City Road in Salisbury until his death in 1966 and then Thelma would live in the house on the corner of Jewell St and Bi-State Blvd that was owned by her parents.  She would run the Delmarva Beauty Academy and other beauty salons. Her father worked for the railroad as a carpenter.

Government Bonded Warehouse.1892

 Government Bonded Warehouse.

 Special Correspondence The Morning News

Georgetown, Del., Feb. 19. --  The new government bonded warehouse for the storage of brandy, etc., located here, was opened the early part of this week and already there are a number of barrels of peach brandy in it for storage. Ira H. Melvin of Laurel has bonded fifteen barrels of peach brandy and L. A. Levy twenty-five barrels. The new warehouse is complete in its furnishings and is well adapted for its purpose. It has a capacity of many hundreds of barrels. Applications have been received from numerous other distillers and it is supposed that by the middle of March the warehouse will be filled.

Above from The Wilmington Morning News 20 Feb 1892

Iron Hill Distillery - 1905

 From the State Register January 7, 1905

For Sale.- "The Iron Hill Distillery" offers for sale its entire outfit for distilling, which is the best equipped in the District of Maryland, outside of Baltimore city. Will also close out entire stock of pure old apple, peach and grape brandies. These goods are strictly pure and have been in the Government Bonded Warehouse for five years. Anyone wishing pure old brandy for medicinal purposes can secure the right thing by addressing, T. A. Veasey, Proprietor, Iron Hill Distillery, Delmar, Del.

Jackie Lovett Dies At 71 Years of Age

From First State Update

https://firststateupdate.com/2020/08/two-bodies-found-floating-in-maryland-river-38-years-later-their-killer-dies-in-delaware-prison/

As I recall Jackie Lovett was living is what is usually referred to as the nero's apartments at the time of the murders. My view on it at the time is here; https://delmardustpan.blogspot.com/2008/07/jackie-lovett-manhunt-1982.html

A Delaware inmate serving two life sentences for murder died Wednesday.

The Delaware Department of Correction (DOC) today announced that 71-year-old Jackie R. Lovett, suffering underlying health conditions, died on Wednesday, August 5 at Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus from complications from hypothyroidism and COVID.

Lovett was serving his sentence in the Sussex Correctional Institution for the murders of Lori Todd and Richard Bull. On June 24, 1982, the Todd and Bull’s bodies were found floating in a tributary of the Pocomoke River in Maryland. Autopsies revealed that each had died from a bullet wound to the head. A subsequent joint investigation by Maryland and Delaware State Police indicated that the victims may have been killed in Delaware and their bodies dumped in nearby Maryland.

On each of the next four days, police talked to Charles Bower, a relative of Lovett, about the murders. Bower initially denied any knowledge of them, but on June 28, gave police a statement in which he claimed he was in a farmhouse near Delmar, Delaware, when Lovett took both Todd and Bull in back of the farmhouse and murdered them. He was later convicted of the murders at trial.

Lovett was tested for COVID-19 on July 5, 2020 and tested positive as DOC initiated proactive testing of all inmates as part of its aggressive COVID-19 mitigation efforts after a cluster of cases was identified through proactive monitoring and testing.

After his positive COVID-19 test result was returned, Lovett was transferred to James T. Vaughn Correctional Center where he initially received treatment in the facility’s COVID-19 Treatment Center. As symptoms developed he was admitted to Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus for treatment on July 14, where his family was engaged in treatment decision-making. In recent days Lovett’s condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead by hospital staff at 3:21 a.m. today.

Lovett’s body was released to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science to determine cause of death.

Lovett, from Salisbury, MD, has been in DOC custody since 1982 and was serving two life sentences for two counts of 1st Degree Murder and Possession of a Deadly Weapon.

This week DOC announced that 350 inmates who tested positive last month for COVID-19 at two facilities have recovered from the illness. As of August 5, only 7 of the remaining inmates with active COVID-19 infection are symptomatic, including 2 inmates who are hospitalized. No inmates with COVID-19 infection remain on a ventilator.

Corned Shad

above 1939 ad

The great Shad runs of the spring gave people a chance to accumulate protein in a large quantity after a winter of near starvation.  As food became more plentiful the Shad was still a major inexpensive fish in the spring.  Either your relatives went to a fresh water stream and netted the fish when they came into spawn or you had a friend who did and who would gave you a few dozen.  Worst case you simply purchased the fish from the fish dealer. 

above 1915 ad for corned shad

The Shad is about a three to five pound fish.  It has a little over 700 bones per fish.  The name Shad comes from the old English word “sceadd” which means herring. The shad spends it’s time in the ocean but comes in to freshwater streams to spawn.  Locally in Maryland it had an impact and gave it’s name to such places as Shad Landing and Shad Point. 

 

above 1940 ad

The Shad were caught in such large numbers over a short spawning period that what to do with the excess became a problem.  The age old method of salting the fish was the answer.  In the Mid-Atlantic area from North Carolina to New Jersey a salted shad was called a Corned shad. 

 

above 1910 ad - Corned Shad 10 cents  pound

To corn a shad; the shad would be scaled, split, salted  and then dried in the sun.  The dried fish would be in every ones yard stuck on sticks away from rodents etc but the flies were just ignored.  After a couple days of drying the shad was washed off and salted again, heavily.  The corned shad was placed in a box or barrel and it would keep from three to eight months. 

 

above 1932 ad

When it came time to cook the shad it was handled like any other salted fish, Usually boiled to get the salt off and then fried.

Rowdy Delmar People In Laurel - 1940

From The State Register - November 8, 1940

Four arrests for traffic violations prevented a fist-fight from materializing Saturday night. Following an altercation between two young men on the street here, it was decided to go out of town and stage a fight between the two. Four carloads of young men, who were rushed to the scene of the proposed fight, were picked up by Town (Laurel) Officer Harry R. Mitchell on charges of reckless driving. The would-be fighters returned to the scene of the arrests to see what was the matter and the arrests cooled their blood to the point that they decided not to fight at all.

The four traffic violators included Albert Joseph, James Truitt, Riley Watson, Jr., and Larry Perry, all of Delmar, were summoned to appear before Alderman Marvel Lynch Monday morning, and each was fined $5.50, all fines being paid.

1951 Delmar High School Grads

1951 June 8 Bi-State Weekly

Sunday Dinner At McDonalds

November 8th, 2008 at 1:30 P.M. fine dining came to Delmar Delaware.  The rain stopped long enough for the Delmar McDonalds to have their Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting. The place was packed. Both Delmar mayors, the bankers, McDonald owner and staff, Chamber Of Commerce people, Town manager, etc but most important of all; Ronald McDonald was there for the cutting.

The Chocolate Zip and the Bob Bon

above 1932 ad Salisbury Maryland Soda Fountain treats - Two sizes for the Chocolate Milk Zip

There were two soda fountain treats back when that seem to just Eastern Shore items. One was the Chocolate (or Vanilla) Zip and the other was a Bob-Bon. The last time I had a Chocolate Zip was when at L & F Sub Shop opposite the Hospital in the late 1980's(?) and you could get them there. My recollection of a Zip was it was similar to a New York egg cream (about one inch of chocolate syrup, about one inch of milk, ice, and carbonated water filling an 8 oz glass and being  stirred as it goes in so it is frothy). The late Dick Dykes, who ran a Drive In and worked at Watson Smoke House, says I am wrong. The Zip was just flavored milk with ice. You can also tell it is time dated, as in my recipe, I refer to an 8 oz glass - no one uses 8 oz glasses anyone, everyone is supersized and uses at least a 12 oz or 16 oz glass.

The Bob-Bon (Recipe again from Dick Dykes) consisted of a layer of ice, a dip of ice cream, another layer of ice and whipped creame with a cherry on top.

Oct 15 1954 the Opening of the Dual Highway

At noon on October 15, 1954 officials from both Maryland and Delaware cut two sets of ribbons, in ceremonies held at the State line on the new US Route 13 (Ocean Highway) . The state of Maryland had paved 6 miles of dual road from Leonard Mill Pond to Delmar. The State of Delaware had paved a dual highway from Wilmington to Delmar, with the exception of a 10 mile stretch between Harrington and Greenwood. 

The opening of the dual highway caused traffic to divert from the old US13 on Bi-State Blvd and it started the closure of the businesses that were on old RT13.  As an example in 1942 the Bi-State Weekly reported "Delmar has been nicknamed the town of gas stations. There are ten stations on U. S. Route 13 within the city limits which is approximately a one and one-half mile stretch". 

So why are these speakers on ribbon cutting day in raincoats and holding on to their hats. In just a few hours Hurricane Hazel will hit Delmarva and the wind and rain shown here at the time of the ribbon cutting were just the opening blows at noon that day. It seems appropriate that a natural disaster would be on the same day that the opening of a State constructed highway would start the decline of Delmar.

In November 1954 the old Delmar Railroad Round-House, built about 1914, suffered extensive damage from the earlier Hurricane Hazel and it was decided to tear the building down.