A Little Bit of the Past

The interior of Fred's News evolved slowly during its sixty plus years as a restaurant. Depending on what generation you are speaking to, the descriptions vary greatly. However there are a few pieces of nostalgic memorabilia everyone remembers. The beautiful cherry wood cabinets that lined the front wall as you entered. These housed a number of products over the years. They will be remembered for their false front shelves that pulled out only to reveal what our small guests called "secret cubby spaces." At one time, they displayed the nummerous tobacco products, on sale at Fred's News. Since they we located so close to the ice cream counter, we decided to use them for all the beautiful sundae glasses, that had become a Fred's News standard. Among those ornate bowls were some of the most beautiful ice cream soda glasses around. Many were trademark elegant glasses, long sought after by collectors. The bottom half of the cabinet was used strictly for storage of off season items, particulary Halloween decorations. The papier mache pumpkins, black cats and our all time favorite witches, Lucille and her sister witch "Loose Wheel"

At the far end of the restaurant was another large cherry cabinet, not quite so ornate. At one time it was known as the pharmacy cabinet. Appropriately named for the merchandise it stored. Every nook and cranny of that cabinet was filled with a product that could cure any ailment known to man. There was castor oil(yuk!), witch hazel( the colonel said "it would produce a good buzz if it was all you had to drink"...omg!)gold bond powder, hairnets, bobby pins(does anybody remember these?)cod liver oil(double yuk!),ancient bottles of Phillips Milk of Magnesia and Bromo-seltzer(the last two were for all that oil crap or witch hazel you drank!) There were many more items, some of which I never heard of and please don't forget the "fleet enemas" guaranteed to do the job, just in case the oils, Phillips or Bromo failed. It didn't take us long to find a better use for the cabinet.

One of the larger items from the earlier days of Fred's News, and still used through our ownership as well, was the old red COKE machine. It was loved by all and would bring back memories to everyone who ever step inside Fred's News. This huge COKE machine, with its' double door top, was sought after by many. Even the Coca-Cola Company offered to purchase it from us and give us a more modern version. We never thought twice about the offer. That COKE machine was Fred's News! Coca-Cola Bottling of New London always provided us with the small glass returnable bottles. Caps were manually removed by the bottle opener located on the side of the machine. The cap then fell into the bin inside the machine. To get all the caps out, the small drawer at the bottom of the machine had to be pulled out. This was a source of fascination to many of the younger generation. Many times visitors would return to that small Town and always stop at Fred's News. "My how the place has changed, but look, its' our COKE machine!" Oh how I wish that machine could talk!