Mom and Pop Stores Offer Fond Memories in Essex-Middle River

They could be found in just about every small neighborhood community throughout the Essex-Middle River area.

Oliver Beach, Wilson Point, Chase, Cedar Beach, Evergreen Park, Rockaway Beach, Holly Neck and more. It seemed that every little hamlet had that neighborhood store where grown-ups could go to in between trips to the supermarket to purchase essentials such as bread and milk.

As kids, we loved them because they were just a short bicycle ride away where we could get a quick Coke and some penny candy. In the 1940’s, 1950’s and early 1960’s they were the forerunners to 7-11, Royal Farms, Wawa, and High’s. We knew them as mom & pop stores

In Cedar Beach, where I grew up, we had four such stores to chose from. The two closest were Schnader’s at the corner of Marsh and Lourdes roads and Alte’s at the corner of Silver Lane  and River Road. Both of these stores were actually just rooms in one-story houses.

The owners resided in the remainder of the home. As you entered the door to the store portion, a bell would ring and the owner would come out and wait on you. The inventories were not large, but it was a great place in the summer time to get an ice-cold soda and bag of chips to snack on.

Schnader’s closed sometime in the early 1960’s, although Mr. Schnader’s daughter reopened the store for a brief period in the 1970’s. Alte’s survived until the late 1960’s. I remember as a kid it was the place all the neighborhood kids hung out all the time. A huge tree stood on the side of the building where we would all carve out initials. Both buildings are now private residences.

A little farther away, on Back River Neck Road, stood Fuller’s Grocery. Fuller’s was also part of a residence. I can still recall the dark green building. One would enter the front door and pass through a small hallway that displayed fresh produce.

From there you would enter the main larger portion of the store where Mr. Fuller or his wife would be waiting on you. Again, ice-cold soft drinks and snacks were the mainstay. Lighting was on the sparse side so it was somewhat hard to see.

One of the highlights of my visits to Fuller’s was a little counter-top game he had. It was a much smaller version of the game ”Plinko” now played on the TV game show “The Price Is Right." In Fuller’s version, you would drop a penny in the top and watch it bounce around until it reached the bottom.

If the penny landed in the special marked center at the bottom, you would win a prize. I cannot remember how many pennies I dropped in that machine.

Finally, at the corner of Back River Neck and Holly Neck roads stood the much larger Parrott’s Grocery. Founded by Robert and Mary Parrott in the late 1940’s, Parrott’s actually began as Mr. Parrott started selling his homegrown vegetables off the front porch of his home.

As the produce business grew, the Parrotts recognized the potential of the area so they constructed a large block building next to the home and officially opened Parrott’s Grocery. As the last stop shop before city dwellers and urbanites reached their rural waterfront destinations such as Porter’s Beach, Breezy Point Beach, and Beyer’s Grove, Parrott’s grew rapidly.

Customers would more than likely purchase a block of ice from the icehouse. They would then chop it up into their Coleman coolers. Next would come the canned soft drinks and then fresh cut lunchmeats from the deli. Add a loaf of bread, some condiments and chips and you would be set for a day of relaxation on the beach or in your boat.

One of the first sites you would see upon entering the store (other than Bob or Mary Parrott) was Mrs. Alma Jennings (who live in the house across the street) standing there ready to serve you. Parrott’s also had a gas pump outside that was very convenient for local boaters.

My personal memories of Parrott’s include the candy counter, where most of the candy such as those little dots on white paper, pixie sticks or those little coin shaped red gummy candies sold for the amazing price of five for a penny.

With just a nickel in your pocket, you could walk out of Parrott’s with a brown lunch sized paper bag full of candy. With a dime, you could get that candy and a 7 ounce bottle of Coke to wash it down.

If you were lucky enough to have 15 cents, well you were just in Heaven. You not only got the candy and the Coke, but you could also get a large single scoop ice cream cone of your favorite flavor.

On the down side were the Saturdays when your dad would give you a quarter and an empty gas can and tell you to ride your bike up and get a gallon of gas so you could come home and mow the lawn. What a bummer, but at least you had two cents left over from the gas to buy candy.

They may call 7-11 and Royal Farm “convenience stores” but give me the old-fashioned mom and pop store any day.