It was a weekend, in Margaretsville, and the attraction was ice cream. Homemade, Handmade, Fresh Ice Cream.

There were three places in Margaretsville where ice cream could be bought and eaten; The SurfSide, run by Winnie and Gordon Aldred; Clarice & Abard Hutchins’ Ice Cream Parlour, and Merry’s Ice Cream Parlour, run by Lou and Lizzie Merry; the one of the three without a dance hall attached.

At Hutchins’ Ice Cream Parlour, there were big swings. “They had great big heavy ropes like on boats and the framing was made of telephone poles; adults, heavy people could be on them safely,” says a resident. “We used them everyday,” says Gladys. “We would gather there; the wharf, the parlours, and the swings. There wasn’t much ‘hanging out’ though. There were too many chores to be done at home.”

On weekends through the summer, people travelled to Margaretsville from Middleton, Kingston, and points in between. “On picnic days the traffic would start at 7 a.m. There would be horses and wagons from North Kingston, and crowds from the valley,” recalls Dorothy, who worked with the Merrys, for 4 summers in the 1930s. “On a picnic day Margaretsville was crawling with people.”

All three parlours made their ice cream on the premises. At SurfSide, Gordon Aldred spent four days a week mixing and freezing ice cream. And still, by the end of Sunday business, it was all sold out, along with the box of 1,000 cones that had been opened for the weekend. At Merry’s, Lou and Liz would arrive in the morning with big milk cans filled with ‘formula.’ Formula was the mixture of eggs and cream that formed the basis of all the ice cream they sold. The cream came from the MacKenzie Creamery in Middleton, the eggs from local Margaretsville hens. In the parlour, Lizzie made the flavourings, and Lou would crank the ice cream machine, and freeze the final product, a job that often lasted all day, as he tried to keep stock ahead of the sales.

At Merry’s, there were at least 6 flavours everyday. Vanilla, maple-walnut, and orange-pineapple were added from big glass jars that were bought ready-made, and delivered on Ritcey’s truck. There was strawberry, made with fruit Lou had preserved herself; grapenut; and caramel, made on the stove from brown sugar. “It would smoke, and even burn,” Dorothy remembers, “But it was famous, Lizzie’s caramel.” 

At the SurfSide, there were sometimes eight flavours, with butterscotch and chocolate added to the menu. It was a standing joke, that customers would ask for the list of flavours, and after hearing them all, would opt for the first one named.
The price sounds low, 5 cents for a cone, holding all the ice cream that would fit. For 20 cents you could treat yourself to a Banana Royal. 

“Banana Royals,” sighs Gladys. “In a boat shaped dish. There was a split banana, 3 scoops ice cream, of different kinds, maybe even 2 more on top, then sauce on top and nuts; peanuts usually,” Dorothy adds that there were all kinds of sauces; fruit, and marshmallow, chocolate and caramel. And it was all topped off with whipped cream, walnuts, and a cherry.

Betty, a niece of the Aldreds, remembers that on Sunday afternoons when Merrys was closed, and the SurfSide was really busy, the front door was open to let customers in, and the back door opened to let them out, to avoid congestion at the counter.

On dance nights; Winnie Aldred would spend time waxing the floor, and moving all the tables out of the way. At the 12 o’clock, when the musicians had an intermission, dancers would swarm to Merry’s, and put tables together for pop and banana royals. The Merrys and Dorothy were lucky to finish their workday by 2 a.m.

“It would be fun to have one of those days again,” says Dorothy, “Just one.”