Ask Joan: Murder mystery edition
Nope, no real York County murder mystery here! But I did have a blast last weekend taking part in the first murder mystery at Escape Games Live in York, and laughed when I found FlipSidePA.com reporter Abbey Zelko there taking part for this article!
My character was a hula dancer with a particular talent for … falling asleep. I think anyone who knows me can agree that it was a good casting choice.
Anyway, I’ve woken up long enough to share some Ask Joan questions today!
What’s inside
1. Where was the Menu-Ette restaurant?
2. Seeking memories of the White Roses
3. Information on Bear’s teddy bear
4. Memories on various York locations
1. Robert Lartz Sr. purchased this postcard showing the Menu-Ette restaurant, described as four miles east of York on Route 30. Lartz is trying to find the exact location of the business and what is in that location today.
He’d originally thought it might be what is now the Stonybrook Family Restaurant at 3560 E. Market St., but was told that wasn’t it! Any other ideas?
(Meanwhile, a side note of interest to me; I noticed that this image was drawn by local artist Cliff Satterthwaite, whose documentary drawings of the York area often appeared in the York Daily Record and its predecessor, The Gazette and Daily, from the 1950s to the 1970s.)
2. My question is fairly broad but for specific year in York. My father (Russ Gibson) played baseball for the White Roses in 1962. I was wondering if anyone had any interesting info about that team, or what was going on in York at that time.
– Chris Gibson
Chris, I’ve often wanted to do more to gather memories about the White Roses, and this seems a great place to start! Would love to hear any memories of the ’62 Roses in particular, but am also glad to hear about anything else of note from that year.
A few York highlights from 1962 that I’m aware of: That’s the year the York Rescue Mission opened its doors; and, if I understand correctly, that’s the year (the only season) that the White Roses were a minor-league affiliate of the Red Sox! It’s also the year that Eastminster Presbyterian Church’s then-new sanctuary was built, and the year the York Valley Inn was demolished. AND, in a great tie-in, if you check out Jim McClure’s post from last month about the York Valley Inn, you’ll see… Cliff Satterthwaite drawings!
3. I … thought maybe you would know the answer to a question I have been trying to find out for years. Did the Bear’s Department Store in York, PA, sell brown teddy bears in their name in the 1940s? I have one that my mother bought for my grandmother back then and we can’t find anyone that would know anything about it. Since my mother worked at Jack’s in York after school we were thinking that maybe she did buy it at Bear’s. Any help would be appreciated.
– Marcha
As a HUGE fan of stuffed animals, I was particularly interested in Marcha’s question. Does anyone have any information on a “Bear’s bear”? We’ve talked about various memories of the Bear’s store itself and of the Bear’s cafeteria in the past, but not much about its merchandise!
4. Sometimes, I get formal questions like the ones above; other times, though, readers simply present me with ideas of businesses or places in York County’s past they’d like to see other readers share memories of. Today, I have a few of those to share, and if you have memories of any of these, please do drop me an email, a blog post comment or a mailed letter!
Micah Neff wants to hear about Schmuck’s Dry Cleaners.
Judy Welsh is interested in memories of B&B Garage in Dover.
Donald Hinkle is seeking photos of West York in 1965.
Larry wonders who remembers the former U.S. Route 30 “Drag-O-Way,” where he raced his car.
And Susan Bachant is looking for a photo of the former Huntley’s burger shop on Memory Lane (we’ve shared many Memory Lane photos, but none of that location!)
Can anyone share information on these topics? I’d certainly love to feature them in future posts!
Have questions or memories to share? Ask (or Tell) Joan using the form at right. I’ll attempt to answer or share them in a future “Ask Joan” column on this blog. I get a large volume, but I will feature three each week and answer as many as possible!
