Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Root Beer Display in Grocery Store from 1960

I belong to a Facebook group called "Old St. Paul" about St. Paul's history. Someone named Jean posted this of a root beer display from St. Clair and Syndicate Ave in St. Paul in 1960:

Root Beer Display, St. Paul, 1960


Her caption:

"Root beer has been a long standing tradition in our family. On both sides of my parents.

Our go to was Dad’s Root Beer on occasion, but most times probably cause of 7 kids and it being far cheaper than single servings...our dad drove out Rice Street to the A & W stand just past Little Canada Road and brought the refillable gallon glass jug with him. Hauled home that ice cold frosty jug with its rivulets of water running down its sides and we’d enjoy Root Beer Floats.

For years, my widowed maternal grandfather would come to dinner every other week after my dad passed away. He’d either request my mom finish the meal with Root Beer Floats or Strawberry Shortcake made with those molded cakes one got at the store. (I got so I could not eat the later ever again).

But after dad died, my brother’s got inventive as mom did not continue most of our dad’s fun times. They started making their own root beer in the basement in a kind of still type contraption. Calling it 1919 Sewer Water. It had the strongest flavor of yeast. After it was made, it needed a dark shelf time. So, they put it into the cabinets that had previously been our kitchen in our basement home. My mother still did the wash down there, and was none to happy to find a number of the bottles had exploded and poured syrupy goo down the cabinets, to the counter and then the floor. Dark BROWN goo. That ended that.

But my first time ever eating pizza at Mama’s Pizza while still in High School, I ordered a root beer with it. Now, I seldom drink any pop, but if I’m going to have pizza, I yearn for Root Beer, and if its available- it becomes a throw back memory meal. 

May your Memorial Day 2018 weekend be one of joy and memories of OSP."

I wanted to share that here.  :)

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