Ellen Fairchild Martyn
BRATTLEBORO — “I have so many memories from the meat counter at the First National, to getting my hair cut up in the cupola when Bill McInerney had his place up there, and getting ice cream sodas at the fountain after ballroom dance classes. Mom had offices there for a while where they had little Frisbees to throw through the connecting doors, fresh cookies with the kids at the Upper Crust Bakery, and years of buying books at the Book Cellar. The memories go on and on.”
Tim O'Connor
“On a special occasion, a birthday or sometimes Easter dinner, my father would take our family in the 1940s to the restaurant [The Pickwick House, where the hair salon on High Street is now located], which was quite a treat. I remember always ordering a turkey dinner, as this was a time when that particular meal was only cooked at Thanksgiving, making it a very special meal. The Oak Room [which now houses The Mole's Eye Cafe] was the tavern for the restaurant at that time, and the restaurant was upstairs. In those days, very few people ate out, and those were wonderful memories.”
Lisa Lucius
“I used to love going with my parents to the Burlington Savings Bank main branch that was in there. This was in the late 1970s. Mr. Randall was always so nice and friendly. And, of course, who could forget walking in to the Brooks House Mall when the entire hallway was permeated with the smell of baking bread from the Upper Crust?”
Raechel Bennett
“Llama, Toucan and Crow, the health food store [where the Wasteland Gift Shop is now] was the best food store ever. This was before the Food Co-op became an actual grocery store. (It was a buying club at that time.) I went in there every day after middle school.”
Theresa Bessette
“Lady Lynn was a women's clothing store there in the 1970s for many years.” It occupied the space where the tailor now resides.
Kevin Graves
“My first real job that I had was in the mid 1960s. It was working for Ray Elliot, who owned and operated the Hotel Pharmacy located where Dragonfly Dry Goods is, at the corner of Main and High streets. One of the more enjoyable tasks my job entailed was making ice cream sundaes, milk shakes, etc. at the soda fountain for the many regulars.”
Marie Lawrence
“I think the Hotel Pharmacy was the first place I had flavored cola. Ray Elliot kept race horses in a small barn just up the road from our house when I was in high school. One winter day, we heard a noise at the side window and discovered a horse with his head stuck in our bird feeder, gobbling away at the bird seed!"
Betty Henry
“There was a girl who worked at Llama, Toucan and Crow who made the best mocha cream filled cakes. I had her make one for one of my Mom's birthdays. I worked at the Burlington Savings Bank with Bob Randall and Clarence “Danny” Daniels; I think Les Switzer worked there, too. Upper Crust bread was the best. We used to have a midnight visitor - Graeme Underhill - who visited the bread in our bread box more often than he visited us!
“Eiko Goldthwaite was a wonderful seamstress, and she had a shop across the hall from the bakery. That spot also served as the Republican Headquarters when Richard Nixon was running for his first term [as president, in 1968] and Helene and Mike Broutsas were active in politics. I remember Ted and Sue Press sitting outside Lady Lynn on nice days."
Fran Renaud
“I remember going down the stairs of the Brooks House to a quiet little luncheon place where one could have a sandwich with a cup of coffee or tea around 1958. That was in the space where the Mole's Eye is now.”
Patrick Brown
“The Brooks House was home to the beginnings of Brown Computer Solutions. From 1999 through 2001, I leased the space between Upper Crust Bakery and the audio store. As an 18-year-old, I had some troubles obtaining credit and the necessary relationships to get the retail store off the ground, so I focused mostly on my consulting business until opening for retail at our Putney Road location. At that time, the parking garage had not been built and the Harmony lot was always full. Computers were also bigger and heavier, so lack of parking was a big issue.”