All I Said Was...

         Larsen Photo from
Rockland History Facebook Page

When people are passionate about warm memories, they like to talk about those memories, to reminisce. The older we get, the more we want to talk. Case in point: I recently posted these three simple questions on the Rockland History Facebook page. To wit:

“Anyone remember the French Fry stand that used to stand by Mrytle and S. Main Streets in the summer? Pictures? Can’t remember the name of it.”

“Anyone have a picture of Humptey’s which used to be on the corner of Park and Broadway they’d like to share?”

“What was your favorite soda fountain when you were growing up?”

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Following is the response I got. Imagine these people all sitting around a table at the Brown Cow having coffee and a muffin and discussing the old days and the subjects I introduced. Let me say to begin with that I thank you all in advance for practically writing this story for me. By the way, some of these comments were added under a picture of Louie’s Hot Dog Stand as it appears in the above picture on the Rockland History Facebook page. I added comments found there to my own. The official name of that stand was “Barney’s Hot Dog Stand.”

Janice Kangas: Better known as Louie’s.

Arnold Brewer: Yep, that was the name we called it. Later on, my Dad competed with Louie’s with his hot dog stand located at the corner of Main and Park Streets where the Hotel Rockland once stood.

Algie Mazzeo: Yes. Louie’s hot dog stand. They were the best and the first place we stopped when going back to Rockland.

Jean Rowling Monroe: Great memories! The best hot dogs!!

Lorraine Coakley: Yes they were the best hot dogs ever…

Me: Louie’s was my lunch time food when working at Newberry’s. Both gone now.

Lisa Marie Lawrence: wow Newberry’s!! There’s a name I haven’t heard in forever!

Violet Karl: I loved Louie’s hot dogs. They were the best. That was my treat Friday night. A sundae at Woolworth’s, a book of paper dolls, and Louie’s hot dogs.

James Widdecombe: G.I. Joe’s was the name and it was owned by Romeo and Luch Vartier…They spent their winters in Naples, Fl. If you can remember the name of the dog they had, his name was Chico.”

James again: But before they moved to Myrtle Street they were directly across from Sears.

Amy Milliken: I used to work at Human Services when it shared a building with the Courier Gazette and every day I would eat fries for lunch and feed the pigeons at GI Mom’s…until it got so the pigeons were so used to me they wouldn’t let me have any fries…then I had to find a new place to eat my fries.

Laurie Cormier-Cole: I’m not positive, but wasn’t also called m&m’s for awhile?

William Staples Jr.: It was also called GI Mums at one time.

Ron Dyer: GI Joe’s and then it became GI Mom’s when the owner died and his wife took over the business. The Humptey Dumpty restaurant had great French fries but they were best known for their fried clams. “Where Good Eggs Meet!” It was owned by Ray Cross, who also worked as City Clerk.”

Jeffrey P. Parker: Back when we were dating, Terry and I would get fries at GI Joe’s and dogs and chocolate milk at Wasses then sit at the public landing to eat and watch the harbor. We still talk about that often.

Walter Guptill: GI Joe’s…no pictures…but they had the best FF! :-)

I don’t know how old Jeffrey is, but I wonder if he confused Wasses for Louie’s. Of course my second cousin, Keith Wass, was the heir apparent for the Louie’s recipe. He went into business with his first wagon after Louie retired. He still cooks them the same way today that Louie’s did back in the day. Still delicious and one of my favorite treats to myself when I come home.

Now the conversation shifts to favorite soda fountains. Here’s what you had to say:

Mary Glover Harjula-Lowell: Chisholms – first pistachio ice cream.

Laurie Cormier-Cole. I only remember Goodnows and Newberry’s. Goodnow’s for ice cream/frappes, Newberry’s for a quick lunch.

Wayne Curtis: Naum and Adams. Cherry cokes.

Laurie again: Goodnow’s would be #1 but Newberry’s was right up there.

Thanks again, everyone, for doing most of my research for me for this story. The soda fountains I remember were Naum and Adams, who had great old-fashioned ice cream tables and chairs to sit at and enjoy your ice-cream soda. It was a South End institution.

I also liked Goodnow’s and Chisolms further down on Main Street. Lynda Goodnow worked at her family store. She was a classmate of mine. Judy Carver Post worked at Chisolms. She was also a classmate. I used to like their cherry cokes. Who also remembers the old Paramount Hotel which also had a soda fountain?  Of course Goodnow’s was the last original store on Main Street when I was growing up to finally be sold to Camden Bank. They relocated up the street but it just doesn’t feel the same somehow.

As far as Humptey’s goes, your life was in jeopardy if you were over 18 and entered its doors on a Friday night after a Rockland High School basketball game at the Community Center. We teenagers owned that place at that time. And yes, I agree, their fried clams were the best. I would get them from the window on many a summer night when I was upstreet.

I still did not get the pictures I wanted for this story. I was able to scrounge up a few to share with you. If you have any pictures of the following to share, please send them in an attachment in an email and I will share them with everyone else.

The old Goodnow’s store on the corner of Park and Main.

Humptey’s

GI Joe’s

The Paramount Hotel

To paraphrase what the type says under the Louie's hot dog stand picture:


"Barney's Hot Dog Stand, operated by the Benovitch brothers on Orient Street, Rockland, for nearly 50 years, has been sold to a Waldoboro man. The family of Ernest McLain, a supervisor at the Waldoboro Sylvania plant, will operate the stand on Rt. 32 there. He peers from the window of the stand Thursday noon just before the landmark was trailered off to its new home. Lewis Bonovitch, who died about three years ago, opened the stand in the 1920's, and brother Barney took it over until his death only last May. "You knew you could buy a good hot dog here anytime," McLain said..."

I never knew  there were two brothers who ran that stand. I only remember Louie. As I remember, the rumor was that Louie played the horses and when he ran out of money he opened the stand to catch up. If you remember, the stand wasn’t always open when you wanted a dog.

I remember reading about this event in the paper, but can't remember what year it was. Does anyone know if the McLain family made a go of it with the stand over in Waldoboro?

"The Moffit Block in Rockland - current location of part of the Farnsworth Museum - photo ERC Moffit - 1937 -1967. JJNewberry opened its Rockland store in 1924. Burned in 1943 and was rebuilt. Submitted by ED Moffit." ( From the Rockland History Facebook page)

Notice the cars parked the wrong way. Main St. was still two-way then. I worked there in the 50s. I ate at that lunch counter many times. How many of you who ate there ever saw our resident bat who used to poke its head up in a space behind the stove I believe. He lived in our basement storage area, which always made it scary for us to enter it.

This photo also comes from the Rockland History Facebook page. Even though this looks like a dirt road, it was actually cobblestone. Along with the cobblestones and the trolley track running up the middle, it must have been fun trying to cross the street. This is the corner of Park and Main looking North. Goodnow's would later occupy the store on the corner, on the left side of this photo. It was open there for 70 years.

This is where Naum and Adams stood in the South End at the corner of South Main where Water Street enters the South End. This photo was given to me by Julie Mclure, who now operates Sweets and Meats in that location. The offices of Maine Boats, Homes, & Harbors is up over the store. Under that awing is where they used to display their fresh fruits and vegetables for sale in an outside bin attached to the building.

We believe this is a photo of Vascar Naum. It comes from the same Facebook page from Carolyn Meserve Philbrook.  Here's what you said:

Beverly Fowles: Spiro? (or Vascar) Naum, from Naum & Adams on South Main St. where Sweets & Meats is now.

Arnold Brewer: I believe that was Vascar. Used to stop in the store or walk by just about every day. Spiro would be putting out the produce outside the open window early every morning.

(Arnold lived just up the street from the store on South Main Street.)

Ron Dyer: Mr. Naum lived on the corner of Broadway and Talbot Avenue in what used to be the Leighton Estate. Mr. Naum used to peddle fruits and vegetables to the back door and vowed that before he died he would own the house and he eventually did.

So we got quite a story out of my three questions didn't we? 

Thanks for listening.