Growing Up In Small Town America Part 11

 RESTAURANTS

We didn’t eat out much because there were not many restaurants, and I certainly didn’t eat much fast food, at least not until I got my driver’s license. Fast food arrived at the end of the 60s with the A&W Root Beer stand, and the Dairy Queen. There were many good mom & pop hamburger stands where they made old fashioned hamburgers on the griddle. The Canton Café was a special place to eat on some Saturday nights.  It was on the outskirt of town and I especially loved the fried shrimp, egg drop soup and their salad dressing. Many times we would see other families; it was the place to go and dine. 

Sands Motel - Canton Cafe Vernon, TX Postcard (cardcow.com)

I also remember going to a b-b-q place that had sawdust floors and individual wooden seats attached to the wall.  There was another small restaurant that served American food (I can’t remember the name, but it was near the Canton) and it was the place that would serve the football team on Friday nights after the game. Other than those places, our choices to ‘eat out’ were limited. When I was a little older, we would sometimes go the the Country Club to eat.

 A special place downtown worthy of a mention was Johnny’s Pharmacy on a downtown corner front. I didn’t go in there often, but it had an old timey soda fountain, complete with the stools. They served ice cream, sodas, milkshakes, etc. Back in Mother’s day, they called the man behind the counter a soda jerk. When Johnny’s shut down their soda bar, Daddy purchased one of their milkshake dispensers.

 The other drug store, the one we used, Vernon Rexall Drug Store, I believe also had a soda fountain, but they must have shut it down before my memory of going to town on my own.  It was probably a sad time for the old timers to see these soda fountains disappear.