These are from the Millie Aikenhead photo group from the 50s. There are two parts to this. The photos were very very curly but did the best I can. Green Acres was outside Almonte, Ontario.
Brian Janet and Stephen Ardley and Ian McKechnie at Green Acres
Elise Ardley and Millie Aitkenhead
Janet Brian and Steven Ardley at Green Acres
Lynn and Ian McKechnie at Green Acres
Brian Ardley at Green Acres
Dad Heather Sheldrick and boyfriend playing volleyball at Green Acres
Someone looks like they are in trouble with their ars behind their back here
Millie Aikenhead Buzz LaBute and Glora Burnside at Green Acres
Tammy Marion emailed me on Saturday wondering if I knew our family’s Storyland Bunny had once been beheaded. Yes, I knew well that the rabbit sitting in my yard had been ‘Marie Antoinetted” ….
Apparently the white water rafting ‘kids’ down the road from Storyland on Storyland Road sometimes created acts of sabotage, including at least one beheading suffered by the five-metre-high fibreglass rabbit that welcomed visitors to the park. Storyland was the first man-made major tourist attraction in Renfrew County. The only other major attraction at that time was the Bonnechere Caves.
Storyland was founded in 1966 by Durk and Bonnie Heyda, immigrants from the Netherlands. The first figures were built in their basement; later ones were made by an artist. Berkhout bought Storyland in 1975 when his friend, Durk, grew ill: Raised in Holland during the Second World War, Berkhout had a difficult childhood. He visited the park and fell in love.
But in 1978, tragedy struck when his wife, Maria, was killed in a car accident, leaving him with five children. The business suffered until he remarried in 1983. Together, with a brood of nine children, he and Nancy rebuilt. By 1989, attendance was up to 40,000. When Berkhout retired in 2008, he sold the park to Todd Mattila-Hamilton, an Ottawa businessman who intended to inject new life into it “I saw potential,” says Mattila-Hamilton, 37. “That’s a classic attraction that has a built-in following.” Then the global economy collapsed, investment dollars dried up and he got cancer. “I haven’t had the strength to run the business. Storyland closed at the end of the 2011 season, which saw about 20,000 visitors. He put it on the market but was unsuccessful in finding a buyer interested in storytelling.
Dick Heyda had heard the “legend” of the monster of Muskrat Lake, near Renfrew, and worked all winter making a fibre glass “replica” of it according to a description (second or third hand) given by a Cobden man who claimed to have seen it. The 28-foot Hapyxelor, as he called it, was put on display in a prime spot in Storyland 40 acres of bush laced with trails and huge hand-made fairy tale characters overlooking the Ottawa River at Champlain Point, near Renfrew. read– Lake Monsters–Hapyxelor, Nessie, the Monster of Muskrat Lake
If Hapyxelor was largely a figment of many imaginations, no one seemed to mind. Heyda and his wife Bonnie worked long and hard to make it that way. They made the woods come alive with fairy tales. The fibre glass characters in clusters represented 30 different stories and in the middle of it all is Heyda’s own brainchild, Dr. Goodkind, who cared for all the Storyland inhabitants in Goodkind hospital. Many of the characters talked in both French and English and some, like the Pied Piper, come with sound effects.
In 1990 there were over 200 figures and 40 storyland settings including the wicked witch’s house, Mary’s growing garden, the Madhatter’s tea party and the old lady living in a shoe. Many of the settings had moving parts, activated by pressing a button.
John Berkhout, who died on May 30, 2022 at the age of 81, owned and operated the Storyland theme park near Renfrew for more than three decades, from 1975 until he sold it in 2008. There, more than one million visitors and generations of families came to walk its fairytale paths.
All stories come to an end. After 45 years of delight and imagination, the three-dimensional figures were dispersed at an auction that my son and I attended in the pouring rain. The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe, Little Miss Muffet and the Pied Piper were are now “chattels” sold to the highest bidder, along with the candy floss machine, picnic tables and inflatable slides. On the auction block: Two 12-foot-high fibre-glass rabbits, Porky’s Bandstand, the Cow Who Jumped Over The Moon, Storyland Windmill, Crooked Man and Crooked House, the Lion and the Mouse and more.
Every day I look out the window and remember that Storyland belonged to children and those that were young at heart like myself. It was the world of books, of summer, of Sunday drives, the family together for a special trip. Anticipation would build during the drive, along a twisting road off Highway 17 west of Ottawa. Giant ice cream cones with child-size alcoves stood as sentry boxes by the path from the parking lot. Once the kids and I got there we never wanted to leave, even though we went there many times. I am sad that my grandchildren will never experience Storyland, but one of the remains still lives in my yard.
The Balderson Cheese Cow- that stood beside the old Balderson Cheese place on HIghway 7 for years in my yard..
As you know the Balderson Cow is nicknamed Baldy Welsh after Carleton Place’s iconic paddler from the Canoe Club. The Storyland Bunny is now named the Storyland Ballygiblin Bunny now he is residing in Carleton Plac
Nicki LaFramboise has the second bunny at the first ‘glamping’ site in Eastern Ontario. ELEMENTS LUXURY TENT CAMPING is located on the former STORYLAND site, about a hour west of Ottawa– so no one need to worry–the bunnies are in good hands–
Angie BallantyneMy grandparents Naomi Loton and Gordon Langtry used to run that dairy and lived upstairs. I have an old milk bottle!
The question was: Go back in time.. What are you going to buy at the Dairy today on Bridge Street?
Kevin St JeanI believe paul dulmages dog shopped there
Jo-Anne Drader NelsonWas the dog a black lab ? I remember seeing him all over town when I was young. He just went wherever he wanted. Very nice dog.
Terry LathamCould have been Duke he used to wander all over town. Stop in for a visit at some places. All I had to do is stop and ask if he wanted a drive home and he would jump in my truck if he did. Or just walk away if not.
Cathy DulmageHe stopped there every day for a treat from Mr Veenstra. Also he stopped at the bottom of Argyle St to drink from the stream every day and many other places
Paul HodginsI remember Duke in the water going after orange balls that sank but he would dive down and get them every time Amazing dog Duke was
Gail Sheen-MacDonaldMilkshake for my bother, sister and me, an ice cream cone for my mom and a quart of buttermilk (uggh!) for my dad.
Kathy DevlinA bag of penny candy or maybe be a popsicle
Mark Pyegrade 7 Carambeck,walk down and buy sweet tarts…
Linda; from Gord Cross—More Memories of the Maple Leaf Dairy–Ray Paquette2 hours A lot of your younger followers would probably be unable to identify the people pictured on the steps, I can only name three: Ray Morrell, Isobel (Nesbit) Bryce and Joann (Waugh) Cullen….
Jo-Anne Drader NelsonIn line on a Friday night to buy a bag of mixed candy. Fred must of had a lot of patience. Every kid picking out each candy. 4 mojos ,2 blue whales etc …. Lol
Toby RandellGrowing up, as soon as you walked in on the right was a wall of penny candies. That was the go to, but a close second would have been an ice cream cone.
Jane ChurchillPenny candy and chocolate milkshakes; picking up smokes and Coca Cola for my mom when I was only about 5 or six years old
Karen Frances RintoulJane Churchill I remember going and getting Velveeta mac & cheese and the popcorn you shake on top of the stove and then going to your place. I don’t even know how old I was.
Heather DormanFuzzy peaches from the 5cent candies because I’m a high roller I once tried to buy candies with my moms silver dollar and he called my mom
Yvonne RobillardOmg, moved here 1983 but visited from 1980,didn’t recognize the dairy, but did get ice cream there from fred veenstra!
Sandra DakersYou’d be surprised what a big bag of candy you could get for 10 cents
Beth NolanMy grandparents lived o Heriotte Street..my grandfather and I went to the Dairy after supper and got ice cream cones for each of us, for my grandmother and Uncle Allan….I use to run down to buy milk if my grandmother needed some…..then I’d go to Millers stable on the back street to see the horses
Carly DrummondWe used to rent Super Nintendo games from here & get their cheap candies!
Keith DrummondI grew up living a block away from the Dairy since I was 2 (1965). I don’t recall seeing all of you there but Fred was the only owner I knew of. Twenty five cents did go a long way back then.
Wesley ParsonsFlavored toothpicks and 10cent chocolate popsicles
Rebecca ChampagneAs a child I would go here countless amount of times. I remember buying Garbage Pail Kids cards. They all came with a stick of gum. I would also rent Nintendo games there as well.
Alana FlintMaple Walnut Ice Cream and Salt ‘n Vinegar Chips for dipping in the ice cream!
Cody Smithson$1.00 pepperoni stick and a $1.00 can of pizza pringles. Fred never charged me tax and would always have a fresh news paper for me to take back to my grandfather.
Lyann LockhartAny candies that were 2 for 1cent and 3 for 1 cent. Mojos , green leaves , gum balls and caramels but they were 2 cents.
Allison VaughanDidn’t go there often but recall getting candies there
Laurie Stearns-SmithA little brown bag filled with as many candies as a quarter would get me. It was surprising how much you could buy.
Bill LemayMy dad smoked Buckingham cigarette s choke a horse
Zoe Whitney-HandI used to buy .25 cent candies and milk for my parents, it was recently renovated into two newer apartments on the bottom where the store was and the original two up top
Spring/summer 1956 school is over for most of us and those of us that were still around still did the patrol, again, starting at Brundage’s-fuelling up just prior to closing. As we pulled out Cecil would come to the door and admonish; “no spinning tires” which sound would be partially drowned out by noise of the tires leaving a streak on the pavement.
Up and down, over and across, killing time until one o’clock in the morning, when Cecil would be long at home and we could safely park on his lot, facing up Bridge St. Tune the radio to WWVA, Wheeling West Virginia and listen for Johnny Cash to sing “I Walk the Line” We never got bored of it, listened night after night. That is until the boys disappeared one by one, two by one and soon it was my turn.
NK & RW joined the RCMP, but not before NK sold me his Chev Fleetwood (he had had a small accident and the driver’s door was wired shut, which was a small problem-now a one door) but all I had to do to possess it was to take over the payments (wowser). GG went off to Labrador and later joined the airforce. The rest scattered as well-I had enlisted and was soon off to London/Centralia and beyond, not returning –only briefly for 8 years.
1956 Carleton Place
On January 26, 2019 we had the Carleton Place Winter Carnival and in January of 1956 the Ottawa Citizen reported that the ‘glamourous’ Miss Carole Mcintyre daughter of G. E. McIntyre of Lake Ave West won Miss Eastern Ontario at the Perth Winter Carnival. Some were worried there might be shenanigans afoot as yet another Carleton Place gal Joan Hendry was crowned Miss Eastern Ontario the next year in 1957. In 1960 the Carleton Place Chamber of Commerce, assisted by the Ladies Auxiliary, agreed to sponsor and select the town’s representative for the Eastern Ontario Snow Queen contest to be held in Perth on February 20,1960. It was noted that a Carleton Place girl did not win that year.
In July 28 of 2019 we had the first Carleton Place Amazing Race held at the Market Square and in the same month in 1956 the Carleton Place Canoe Club had the first annual 7 mile race from Almonte to the Carleton Place Town Hall. The only notable person from Carleton Place to ever come near the top every year during those races was Dave Findlay. In 1959 the Chamber of Commerce took over and in 1963– the Annual Seven-Mile Road Race ran under the sponsorship of the Carleton Place Chamber of Commerce. That year, three additional events were added. The top award given out was the Queens Hotel Trophy which was allegedly filled with beer.
Oh sweet childhood, with just so many memories, one wonders if anyone else out there has them.
Adventures at Dalhousie Lake at the Duncan’s Cottages
From Left to Right Back Row, Brothers Brian and Jack, Patsy Noreen Regan, children in front Row Kenneth and Janet Lahey
You have followed me on some of my little happenings at Richard’s Castle in Snow Road, but did you know I had another spot that held so many fun memories. The place was close to Snow Road, just down the road, or come to think of it maybe up the road. We also spent holidays at Dalhousie Lake, and the Duncan’s Cottages.
Noreen Tyers—Grandparents in front of Richards Castle, in Snow Road around the 1940’s John and Charlotte (Mavis) Lahey Summer holidays at the Stone House.
As with Snow Road, it seems to me our extended family was never very far away, just next door or down the path at another cottage. I am sure in some ways it was more of a holiday for the grown ups as there were always load of kids to chum with. This left our parents, aunts, uncles, and of course the matriarch of the family Grandma and Grandpa, time to do as they please without so many children underfoot. Oh they must have been tired with all the questions, as we were city kids, and here we were at the cottage and a stones throw to a real live working farm, cows and all.
Mr and Mrs. Lindsay Duncan were just wonderful people, and like my own grandparents always there to show you how something worked. In a way they must have been overwhelmed with our questions. Our parents did not seem to worry when we went to the farm as they knew someone would keep an eye on us, and give us direction should we need it good or bad. While at the Lake not only did we have the opportunity to swim and fish but there were just so many more things going on. During the day you could watch the eggs being gathered or the cattle being milked. As children we were shown and had the opportunity to experience these tasks. I can say that my best times were on the hay wagons, the Duncan boys would be throwing the bales of hay from the ground onto the wagon. Yes this girl did try and I do not think the bale was even pulled out of place, Most of the time I was a dreamer thinking I could pick it up and then put it on the wagon. We were allowed on the wagon but you were directed where to stand. Now when the Wagon was empty, we were allowed to jump into the pile of hay from the second floor of the Barn. Poor Mr. Duncan by the time we would go back to the cottage I am sure he would be worn out. Just think of it a bunch of scrawny little city kids thinking they could keep up with Farm Chores.
I am sure he would have a headache from the questions and keeping an eye on us to keep us safe. The first time we went to get the milk, and cream my mother took us, from then on if you were at the farm you would bring it home with you. If it was too early you would come back and Mrs. Duncan would give you what you needed and back to the cottage you would go. Sometimes we would go gather up some wild berries and we would be treated to some berries and whipped cream.
This was a treat as Mom would make sure she packed her hand whipper to whip up the cream. That was my Mom always thinking what would make our life enjoyable. I don’t know if you know how small wild strawberries are, but it sure took some hunting and picking to get a small cup. That was fine for it was just the experience of doing it that mattered and it kept us busy.
On most evenings there would be a baseball game. There would be two teams, City kids against the farm kids. I do not think I need to tell you who won most of the games. I am sure any game we would win was not skill but a matter of being let win, to keep us interested. The men folk did enjoy their fishing expeditions, and everyone enjoyed the meal after. I do believe that there was more freedom for our parents as the cottages were well maintained and looked after and should a problem arise there was always someone to fix it, grandpa didn’t have to.
I feel as a child I was so fortunate to have family that felt it was important to make memories. I can now bring back some of them and hopefully members of our younger generations will also be able to enjoy these lines I have penned. I do them just for YOU! This time it’s the Duncan’s I thank for helping create another Memory and just so much Fun From the Pen of Noreen July 22,2018
Author’s Note.. I put this photo below from the same area from a postcard from the 40s
Interesting..
The family at Dalhousie Lake- Photo-LCGS acquisition from Chris Allen
Dalhousie Lake –Photo-LCGS acquisition from Chris Allen-“First Camp” 1890
Attendees: (in no particular order) Mrs. Wallace, AC Caldwell. Miss Robertson, Miss M. Wallace, N. Young, Ed Cooper, Miss N. Robertson, R. Robertson, Miss L. Drysdale, Lloyd Robertson, Miss Barrie, Mrs. R. Drysdale, Dr. Lyle
A trio of young men from Almonte attracted by the bright illumination’
in the sky on Tuesday evening, the night the car shops were burned in
Carleton Place, drove over to watch the fire, but when they got there the
fire was all out and the streets deserted. They felt greatly disappointed,
and were going to interview the mayor about it had they not been assured that it was altogether an oversight on the part of the C.P .R. officials in not notifying them in time.
On Tuesday last a severe thunderstorm passed over a portion of Darling
township. Mr. D. Barr was busy in the hay field coiling up hay when the storm came, and two or three minutes after he left the field and at the last coil he put up was struck with lightning and burned.
A number of Almonte’s young men have established a camp on the shore of the Mississippi below “Wylie’s Dam,” where they will spend the hot season. They are said to be great entertainers, and are showing hospitality to numerous visitors from town.
With fine weather on Saturday Almonte will show its sympathy with the plan to give telephone connection with Clayton by sending out a crowd for the “ telephone picnic.” An interesting feature will be a baseball match between the Almonte and Lanark nines.
A few local nimrods made an expedition up the river last week to try their luck among the finnies, and many and lengthy are the stories now told. One party, after being on the river a short while, suddenly remembered that they had no bait. They rowed back and dropped their anchor—a 16-pounder—and proceeded to catch minnows. When they had caught sufficient for their trip the strongest man of the party was put at the oars so that they might catch up with the rest of the crowd. He pulled a good stroke and did not spare himself any, but progress was very slow, and it was not until they reached Gleason’s Bay that they noticed they had forgotten to pull in the anchor!
Word comes that Mr. Thomas Haley’s buildings, near Ferguson’s Falls, were struck by the great storm of Tuesday and consumed. The Hawthorne Factory in Carleton Place was nipped at the roof.
Burglars last Sunday night entered the residence of Mr. J. H. Spencer, stole $33 from his pant’s pockets in his bedroom, and set fire to his woodshed.
The Ladies’ Aid of St. James will hold a social on July 5th.
Miss Ray Scott, of Fallbrook, spent Saturday and Sunday at home.
Mr. James Fair is shipping a few loads of sheep and pigs this week.
Miss M. Reid, of McDonald’s Corners, spent Saturday and Sunday at
home.
Rev. J. A. and Mrs. Leitch have gone to Renfrew for a couple of
weeks.
Miss A. Fife, of McDonald’s Corners, spent a few days with friends in
our village.
Mr. Henry Barrie has gone to Lanark to undergo an operation on one
of his eyes.
Mr. and Mrs. C. Donaldson paid a visit to Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Craig on
Saturday last.
The weather is warm though the nights continue cool. Quite a refreshing
shower fell on Thursday forenoon last.
Mrs. J. Borrowman and her sister, Miss A. Dick, of Drummond, paid a
visit to their sister, Mrs. Wm. McChesney, last week.
The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was dispensed in St. James church on
Sabbath last. The church was crowded. Rev. J. A. Leitch preached an
impressive sermon from 1 Peter 4:13.
A baptismal service was held at the home of Mr. Stephen Park on Friday
afternoon last, when Rev. J. A, Leitch baptized 21 children and
adults. Elders Barr and Paul were present, besides a number of the parents
and others, there being between forty and fifty at the service.
A school children’s picnic will be held at Dalhousie Lake on Wednesday
of this week. By the way, the lake is getting to be a popular resort,
and deservedly so. Its beautiful scenery cannot easily be surpassed.
Take a day or more and go to Dalhousie Lake to admire the beauties of
nature and be lifted nearer to nature’s God.
It’s so hot that I went to Beckers and the Mr. Freeze became Mr. Damp in seconds. I also bought some Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups and they turned quickly into Reece’s Peanut Butter shooters. We were supposed to get some rain today, but the weather man told us the clouds went to the hospital for dehydration.
Many years ago I used to hang out at a grocery store that was across the street from where I lived on Bronson Ave in Ottawa. They not only had the best fresh feta cheese, but it was the coolest place to be when the temperature rose to hot and steamy. Usually there were no disagreements in their grocery store over the regular issues, but when the temperature rose, so did people’s personalities and their behaviour.
Photo by Linda Seccaspina- Brick Street Carleton Place-2013
Regulars would come in after work and buy steaks, baking potatoes, fresh bread and cheese. Or, there were some that would look at the fruit on sale and their heated minds would ask if there was more elsewhere, and my friend would dryly say,
“No, actually we keep all the good stuff all in the back” and roll her eyes.
The store fans would whir constantly as the regulars would drop in seeking relief from the outside temperatures. One man who came in every single day would suddenly refuse to buy anything with bar codes on it during heatwaves as he said the government would know where he was. A small timid bespectacled man who was a regular lotto player said he was playing extra numbers during the heatwave because Jesus told him he was going to win.
Sometimes I wondered why people did not wear extra deodorant on steamy days, and I wanted to tell the old Italian lady next door that the Chanel perfume she seemed to pour on herself did not come in the garlic scent she appeared to be wearing.
There was also the woman who constantly wore tube tops and daisy dukes and fancied herself a Marilyn Monroe look-alike. She said she kept cool by storing her underwear like Monroe did, in the freezer next to her frozen french-fries. Her waiting beau would always sit in his truck outside, which had a small fan whirring above his rear-view mirror, and I used to joke that his name was either Jim-Bob or Skeeter.
I hate heat, and heat hates me–and as Steven Wright once asked,
Today is Part 2 in a new series called Armchair Tourism in Carleton Place. We have a great town and we need to explore it. What if somebody comes from out of town and asks you what they can do in Carleton Place? We, as a collective group of Citizens, need to keep on top of this and spread the history about the folks and our beautiful locations in our town that keep the wheels going round.
If you have anything to add, or places that should be in this series, then please tell me so we can write about it.
Today, let’s bring our family, friends and tourists to Riverside Park
On your way to Riverside Park at the end of Lake Ave West drop into The Old Towne Bakery at 73 Lake Ave West to buy freshly made sandwiches, and big cookies. Or choose from one of their many special sweet treats, or buy some fresh bread to make sandwiches.
You can hear the call of the wild already from Cathy on your way to Riverside Park.
Once upon a time Riverside Park at the end of Lake Ave West was an iconic Carleton Place waterfront location that was once the home to the Caldwell Sawmill and then horse shows that people from all over Lanark County came to participate in. It once housed a grandstand for the visiting circuses and it was THE place to be.
Now the Riverside Park is a tranquil place where the air is cooler, and the beams of sunlight peak through the trees. On the weekends you can hear the laughter of small children running about on the play structures, the bark of a dog in the distance, and the scraping sound of a jogger’s sneakers. There young and older couples and families are having a picnic under a shady tree, and it is great park to spend time with the family near the rivers edge.
Did you know you can “dock & walk” in Downtown Carleton Place?
You can travel by water to Carleton Place’s downtown from the public boat launch at the west end of Lake Avenue, public docking at Riverside Park OR across from the Town Hall on Bridge Street.—-Downtown Carleton Place BIA
Do you remember? The A&P grocery store and the famous SPANISH BAR CAKE? The Great American Tea Co. was founded in 1859. Later the name changed to A&P. In 1937 A&P published The Womans Day magazine! From 1972to1974, 800 hundred stores were closed Then in 1979 A&P was sold.
As I sat in the car waiting to be driven home I watched family after family exit the local Walmart. Laden with school supplies and aggravated faces I remembered this time of year as a child. The books from the bookmobile had been read and the church summer camps were over. The suntanned arms and remnants of summer injuries were still there, but the thought of losing my freedom to school made me frown. I loved getting up late and watching television shows such as Lassie and Fury without being reminded about school work that had to be done.
Every single day I worshiped the 3 Musketeers sing-along commercial on the Howdy Doody Show. Gentle hands would pick up the candy bar and snap it carefully in half with dark chocolate on the outside and wonderful soft nougat on the inside. It was marketed as the candy bar that was so big it could be enjoyed by two friends. In my mind there would be no sharing and come the weekend that candy bar (not available in Canada) would be mine, as we were taking a day-trip to Richford, Vermont to buy school supplies. Saturday finally came and I was told to put on a brand new pink dress my mother had worked on all week. Clutching my ten sweaty American pennies we headed across the border and my heart did a flip flop when I told the American customs agent what I was going to buy. That Saturday it was a hot summer day my friends and it was the kind of heat that would allow your body to stick to your grandmother’s couch covered in clear plastic.
I sat at the Rexall Drugstore counter with my father and slowly sipped an icy root beer float while my mother went to the A & P across the street. My Dad, like his daughter was obsessive about food and needed his fix of *A& P Spice Bars at least once a month. The Spice Bar was an oblong cake made of “the most delicate spices from the Orient” and covered in a buttercream frosting. For my father, 29 cents would buy him a piece of heaven.
My mother suddenly waved her hands and that was my signal to run to the candy counter and purchase the 3 Musketeers bar as my father yelled at her to hurry up before the Spice Bars melted. As my Mum and Dad loaded up the trunk I wasted not one second getting into the back of the car.
As I got in I continued the summer ritual of fanning the hot vinyl seats quickly so I wouldn’t burn my legs and as soon as the seat was bearable I ripped the wrapper off the candy bar like a maniac. One does not need to tell you what that thing looked like after sitting on the Rexall shelves for a few days in the heat. A huge puddle of liquid chocolate with a nougat filling proceeded to run down the dress that my mother had spent days hand smocking. As I attempted to stop the chocolate river with my hands it only seemed to get worse, so I quickly shoved what was left of it into my mouth. The trunk slam shut, the car doors opened and a huge scream came out of my mother’s mouth as she looked at me. There I was sitting in the back seat with a huge chocolate face smile, and the cherished pink dress was now covered with brown hand prints and I was singing: “1-2-3 big big big 1-2-3 big big big It’s the candy treat that can’t be beat Let’s give three big cheers For the 3 big Musketeers!”
My parents never said another word on the way home, nor did the Canadian customs agent as he looked at me in shock while my father handed him an A & P Spice Bar. Today, I realize that my father hoped that “the delicate spices of the Orient” would forever banish whatever story the custom agent was going to tell his colleagues after we left.
Forced back to reality I sighed as I remembered. The innocence of childhood was such a short season, but there always seems to be a moment, even in the Walmart parking lot, where we let it back in.
*Cathy said that is was also available in Steinbergs and more likely a buttercream frosting then.
A&P’s SPANISH BAR CAKE
Ingredients
2 c flour 1-1/2 c sugar 1-1/2 tsp baking soda 1 Tbsp cocoa powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp salt 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp allspice, ground 1/2 c vegetable oil 2 c applesauce 2 medium eggs…slightly beaten 1 c raisins…..plump them in warm water,drain and use. .(add these last, after everything else is mixed) ………..frosting……. 8 oz cream cheese …softened 4 Tbsp butter, softened 2 tsp vanilla extract 1-1/2 c confections sugar 1/3 c milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice, fresh
walnuts are an option…your choice 1 Gather your spices and the other ingredients together. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and baking soda. Then add the cocoa,cinnamon,salt,nutmeg and allspice. Mix well.
2 Next add the vegetable oil,applesauce,and the beaten eggs. When all of the above is mixed, Add the plumped raisins. Put in a greased and floured 9×13 cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30to35 minutes In a pre-heated oven.
3 FROSTING: Mix the cream cheese,butter,vanilla, confectioners sugar, milk and lemon juice together. Spread on the cake. ****YOUR OPTION: To make a layer cake, just like the original Spanish Bar Cake (see main foto) cut the cake into 2 pieces, then spread the frosting between the layers and on the top. Step back in time and enjoy this great cake
I once tried to buy candies with my moms silver dollar and he called my mom 
but Fred was the only owner I knew of. Twenty five cents did go a long way back then.
—
lindaseccaspina 