Some memories of York County bakeries of the past
I’m writing this post while I’m hungry, so when I was trying to narrow down what topic to share memories of next, FOOD won out.
Today, I have some reader memories about former York County bakeries to share! I hope you’ll read on to hear more about the Patty Cake, De Luxe Pastry Shop and more!
From reader Marilou Yingling, I received a nice note saying that my column often reminds her of her mother, Frances Wolfgang Mackison, who always had great stories about York. That makes me happy, because one of the things I love most is when I write about something that reminds me of my father, as many of my columns do!
Anyway, Marilou wrote to me after seeing a detailed set of memories from Richard Staub. Marilou said she grew up just up the street from Richard’s family, yet another of the cool connections I love about York County.
She noted, “Richard mentioned meeting his sister, eating and going to the movies, and then walking home. He mentioned a few places farther out E. Market St. closer to his home on Wayne Ave. He mentioned that the York Bank was in the 700 block of E. Market St. (now Paolo’s Pizza). There is now a driveway next to the building. There used to be a bakery where the driveway is. It burned down in the early 1960s. The name of the bakery was the De Luxe Pastry Shop. The address was 723 E. Market St. My mother worked for the bakery from the time she was in high school (she graduated from York High in 1936) until, I believe, about the time that the York County Shopping Center opened. At one time the owners of the bakery were Mr. and Mrs. Winston, and they were Welsh.”
She then added, “My mother went to work for Joe and Jeanette Arculin, who opened the Patty Cake bakery in the York County Shopping Center. It was located in the middle of the ‘L’ next to a bank. I was born in 1958, so I don’t remember the bakery on E. Market St., but I do remember the Patty Cake Bakery in the shopping center. I remember that at a young age, probably about 4 or 5, I was allowed to fold cake boxes. My mother only worked part time, usually on Fridays. Friday was grocery day. My Grandma, Pap and I would go to the grocery store and Eastern Market and wait for the 3 PM bell to ring. You couldn’t buy anything before the bell rang.”
Marilou concluded, “I wonder if there is anyone else out there who remembers the bakeries.”
I would certainly love to hear more bakery memories myself! We’ve talked very briefly before about Knaub’s, Gem’s and Gruver’s bakeries, among others, and I’d love to both add depth to the memories of the ones we’ve named thus far and add to the list itself!
