A&p

Stories set here

Daddy’s Lap, Garden, and Backyard WorkshopBarbara warmly remembers curling up in Daddy's lap and describes his old-time remedies, including cigarette smoke for earaches, hot lemonade with booze, Samon Salve, and an overpowering experiment with menthol crystals in a furnace-connected vaporizer. Family activities included drag races, wrestling, golf, gathering nuts and grapes, and working hard in the garden and orchard. She recalls reading in an apple tree, his embarrassment-inducing old cars, his objections to girls attending college, Friday grocery and library trips, Christmas gifts, singing, trading, and inventive repairs. She also remembers helping him adjust and repair the television and his name for homes south of Coal Town Road: “Frogtown.”
Saturday Chores and a Sack of CandyCarol recalls the girls helping Mom clean every Saturday morning, including changing sheets, cleaning rooms, and washing the insides of windows. Carol disliked dusting Mom’s foot-treadle sewing machine but did it anyway. After sponge baths and dressing up, they shopped downtown, enjoying the New York Store elevator and visiting Penney’s and Block and Kuhls. At Kresge’s dime store they received a small toy and candy to share and savor. Grocery shopping at the A&P or Shinner’s Meat Market finished the day. Carol also recalls a scandal over Shinner’s selling horse-meat just after the war, when good meat was scarce.
Cocoa-Dunked Sandwiches and Saturday CandyBob lists favorite foods from childhood, tentatively recalling milk at ages 0–5, daily peanut butter sandwiches dunked in cocoa at ages 5–10, and macaroni and cheese with double cheese at ages 10–15. Weekly Saturday A&P grocery trips included one bag of candy to share; his favorites were Orange Slices and Circus Peanuts. He also remembers the PX restaurant's chili and French fries as the world's best and refers readers to Chris Bonney’s Ethel Guild family cookbook.

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