Posted: 1/15/03

Step back-to-the í50s: a walk down Lake Street

(Editorís Note: The following Reflections column was first published February 9, 1988 and is reprinted here as part of the newspaperís on-going coverage during its 100th year.)

Elsie Vogel
Times Correspondent

Many newcomers to Forest Lake are genuinely interested in learning of the earlier times, especially when we were just a village and resort town.

Preserving the past by capturing once again, the good times and the bad times has made writing bits and pieces of our city history a pleasure and a challenge.

These historical stories also bring back memories for our older residents, memories which eventually will be part of their family folklore.

Christmas Gift is

Idea for Column

This past Christmas, Mrs. Bernie Morehead received a large framed picture from her family, it was a picture of the north section of Forest Lakeís business district taken in 1951. It was of great interest to the Morehead family because it showed a picture of the first Red Owl store in Forest Lake. The store was started by Bernie and her husband, the late Lyle Morehead.

Walking Tour in 1951

Today I would like to have you join me in a ìwalking tourî of our main business street. We will stop in the stores, meet the owners, maybe we will even do a little shopping and we will try to recapture ìthe way it was.î Let us start with the Red Owl store.

Red Owl Store

The store is twice the size of the original store the Moreheads started May 1, 1946.

At that time, the building, owned by J. Ed Johnson, consisted of three small stores, but only one was available when the Moreheads were looking for store space to rent.

Bernie chuckles as she recalls how the merchandise was even piled in the aisles, you had to walk sideways sometimes in the small store, I suppose if you stumbled over it, it was just what you needed. (No shopping carts at this time).

On freezing, cold, fall and winter days it was not unusual to see sidewalk displays of boxes of dried lutefisk, frozen herring and other fish in front of meat markets and grocery stores. (The lutefisk was stiff as a board). Moreheads used this method of merchandising also.

Bernie had a coffee pot going all the time for customers and there were big bismarks to be bought for snacks.

Double the Space

Eventually, the store next door was available and remodeled to double their space. They added a meat counter with Ed Zoudtke in charge, and they were the first store to add frozen foods to their inventory. Now the aisles were large enough for shopping carts.

Rear Parking Lot

In the early days, parking behind the west block of stores was not the best place in town to be. When the frost was coming out of the ground and the spring rains came, the area was almost impassable. Cars would be mired in mud up to their hubcaps (there were even cattails growing back there). There were also some storage sheds here and there, practical but not attractive.

Lyle was instrumental in getting the other merchants to band together to have the area graded and gravel hauled in, and this, in turn, formed the foundation for our rear parking area today.

With a good parking lot the Red Owl now had a checkout counter by the rear door as well as the front.

Moreheads had four children and the two older boys, Bob and Bill, were soon working in the store and learning the business. Bob is the only family member that continued in the food business; he is at present the manager of the meat department at Johnsonís Super Valu, Forest Lake.

Business Sold

In 1953, Clarence Dick became the new owner of the Red Owl store. Bernie went back to teaching fifth grade in our school system, and Lyle went on to a variety of things; one was a job as school bus driver.

Dairy Store

The little store next to the Red Owl is a dairy store, and I think it would be a good idea to buy an ice cream cone while we visit with the owners, Ed Van Arnam and his wife, Carolyne.

Van Arnams bought the store from Peggy Smith, and they are doing real good. Chocolate and strawberry are probably the favorite ice cream toppings dispensed from the chrome soda fountain and malted milks and sodas are popular, too.

There are two signs in the window, one advertises milk for 17 cents a quart, and the other sign says they sell the new Vitamin D milk.

Van Arnams next business move was to the corner of Lake and Broadway where, at the present time, we find the Lakeside TV store. They named their new place the Cara-Van Dairy, and they also added a restaurant menu to their dairy products. Ed Van Arnam was on the village council at one time.

Forest Lake Dry Cleaners

We donít have any dry cleaning to drop off today, but Iíd like to have you meet the owners, Mr. Elliot and his red-haired wife, Martha. To my knowledge this gentleman was always called Mister Elliot; I did not find anybody that ever knew his first name. Do any of the readers know?

Corbettís Variety Store

This business, started in 1951 by Jim and Margaret Corbett, also is known as the ìDime store.î This is a fun store to browse around in; it is packed with so many different items.

As we enter, the first thing that attracts our attention on the right hand side is the eight-bin bulk candy case. As we walk along the candy case, we notice jelly beans cost 25 cents a pound, and the bridge mix is a little more expensive at 69 cents a pound. It is hard to make a decision, but I think Iíll buy some of my favorite chocolate covered peanuts. I think Iíll buy some baseball cards for our son, too.

There really are a number of things for 5 and 10 cents, for example, the greeting cards and stationery items. Many dishes and some glassware sell for 10, 29 and 49 cents, and many of these will become collector items, especially the depression glass. The souvenir section is a good one. Games for children sell for about two dollars, and there is a big selection of toys and gifts. School supplies are seasonal, but, sewing supplies are popular all year around. Margaret is developing a big interest in this department.

One summer they had a guest book, and there were signatures from all over the country, especially people stopping for a vacation or passing through Forest Lake on their way to the North Shore and Canada. We are truly a resort town at this point in time. Jim Corbett, like many civic-minded business men, also served on the village council.

In 1960, Corbetts started a new business known as Corbettís Sewing Center, located where we find the present Napa Auto Parts store.

Wagnerís Hamburger Shop

Now we are standing in front of Wagnerís Hamburger Shop, and we should go in for awhile. It is really the wrong time of the day to eat a hamburger, but who can resist the tantalizing aroma of hamburgers and onions sizzling on the well-seasoned grill.

We will slide into the front booth, place our order, and while weíre drinking coffee, we will look around a little. The back booth is filled with local businessmen taking their ìcoffee breakî and settling the affairs of the world; or maybe they are planning a fishing trip to Mille Lacs Lake.

George Simmons and Rueb Engler are sitting on stools by the long counter, the rest of the customers are strangers.

The Hamburger Shop, owned by Frank and Eva Wagner, is well-known, yes, even famous to most travelers on Highway 61. They are open 24 hours a day, and the lit sign in the wee small hours is a welcome beacon of light to travelers, especially the truckers.

It is always the place to come to after dances, celebrations and parties. I think in summing it up ìit is everybodyís placeî because of the friendly hospitality and good food.

(I wrote a complete story about the Hamburger Shop in an August 17, 1978 column, it was about the time of the five cent hamburger, five cent coffee and 10 cent pie. For the newcomers who missed coming to the Hamburger Shop, I must explain the restaurant was a casualty of I-35.

Bakery

Customers have been coming to the bakery since before 1921, when Joe Boehm and Ed Schmidt bought out Heine Schluter. (A complete bakery story was written in 1981.)

Sonny Koester is now the owner, and he is following the tradition of former owners; he fills the showcases with delicious cakes, cookies and the square coffee ìKuchenî cakes, big fat raised 5î donuts and huge cream puffs filled with real cream. The good bread and rolls will disappear by closing time.

In the future there will be new equipment, new recipes, new owners and even the name will be changed. It will soon be known as the Country Home Bakery. Helen Olson, now retired, was an employee at the bakery for 26 years. She saw many changes, but good customers and quality baked goods remained the same.

Later the Country Home Bakery would find a larger home at Town Square.

H. A. Anderson, Insurance

We glance in the window as we pass the next small building. We give a wave to Sharkey Anderson seated at his desk. Sharkey (Harold) returns the wave with a smile. He has an insurance agency and at income tax time, he is busy with local clients. He is also a former village councilman.

Halbohnís

Originally the next store was a used furniture store. In addition to their other business, Mattson Funeral Home, Charles and Mary Mattson bought the furniture store and changed it to a ìgeneral store.î They stocked oilcloth, towels, dishes, mens overalls, ladies dresses and so on, everything but shoes and groceries, according to Mildred Mattson.

In 1943, Len and Edith Halbohn purchased the store and slowly phased out the general store items and added more ready-to-wear clothing.

Today, on our walking tour, we notice the window displays; there are ladies dresses, hats and mens work clothing and accessories such as ties and belts.

A few years later Halbohns daughter, Charlotte and her husband, the late Dale Moen, purchased the store, and it soon became a fashionable clothing store for men and women.

(Now in 1989, one of the most attractive ladies clothing store in our city is called Charlottes. She is continuing a family business that was started 46 years ago.)

Times Building

New we find a cluster of small stores. The first window has a display of paint and varnish. Lloyd and Lois Dietz originated the Paint Store, and Chris and Mary Mortinson are the present owners. Chris is a house painter and Mary minds the store.

In the rear half of the store, George Koester has his shoemaker shop, and today he is busy putting new soles and heels on a pair of well-worn shoes. The little shop smells of shoe polish and leather, and itís a noisy place with Koester pounding and the sanding and polishing machines whirring. (Koester was the subject of a full column in Jan. 1980.)

Next door Celís Beauty Shop, owned by Cel Daninger, has three chairs, and it is an attractive little shop. The customer just leaving is paying $2.50 for her shampoo and set. Sis Peloquin and Elaine Symen also are beauty operators at the shop. (In the future there would be a succession of owners in this shop: Tommy Bumont, Marge Osterbauer and Tony and Ruth Marchetti.)

Whitneyís Jewelry

Entering the third door we see showcases filled with sparkling diamond rings, men and ladies watches and other gold and silver jewelry.

Phil and Dorothy Whitney, owners of the store, help their customers make wise selections, especially the newly engaged couples looking at engagement and wedding rings, or parents interested in watches for graduation gifts and the sentimental gifts for no reason at all. When Dorothy isnít busy with customers she does proof reading for her neighbor, the Forest Lake Times.

The last door: Forest Lake Times

All the employees are under pressure to meet the deadline to get the weekly paper out on time. Would you like to go up the steep stairs to the second floor with me? This is the heart of the paper, we will look in Earl Lellmanís office where he writes his editorials and news items, and we find his wife Doris is busy calling local residents for her ìComings and Goingsî column.

The historical story of the Times was written in 1984. At this point in time (1951), nobody could foresee the destruction of these four stores by fire on Thanksgiving day 1969.

The gravel parking lot south of the Times was similar to the parking lot behind the stores - it had the same axel-breaking effect on cars after the rainy season.

Town Square - 1983

Note to the newcomers of our area - the White Weisser Lumber Yard buildings you see in the picture, would in the future be destroyed by fire, and the Orrel Stokes Oil Station pictured, would be demolished by a wrecking ball. That area is the site of our present Town Square and parking area.

We have reached the end of the west side of the block, and I do have one more stop to make - I want to purchase an electric appliance for a gift. Letís retrace our steps and cross the street and go to Johnsonís Electric Company.

Johnson Electric

Electricity came to Forest Lake in 1917, and it would in time change the lifestyle of our townspeople as houses were being ìwiredî for electricity. Later the R.E.A. would bring ìlightî to the entire countryside.

As a young man J. Ed Johnson attended Dunwoody Institute to learn about electricity. In the early 1920s, in addition to being an electrician, he started an electric appliance store in Forest Lake. Housewives were eager to buy the new washing machines, refrigerators, stoves and all the other new appliances that made life a little easier. Soon Maytag, Westinghouse, Frigidaire and RCA radios became household names. (TVs were added late.)

Johnson Wedding

In 1942 Johnson married Johnson, that is Mable Johnson married Ed Johnson - no name change at all. Mable was also very much involved with the business.

Remodeling and Merchandising

As we enter the Johnson Electric store we see their new concept in merchandising. They have built a model kitchen in the store, featuring all the appliances they have for sale. Carl Levine has built a beautiful fireplace to add to the coziness of the display. We make our purchase and visit with Mable for awhile recalling store incidents past and present.

Christmas Season

Pedestrians could hear Christmas chimes and music as they hurried along Lake street. Johnsons had the music piped to the outside of the store for the listening enjoyment of the public.

Mable recalls one Christmas when a husband wanted to surprise his wife with a special gift. While the family attended Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, Johnson installed a shiny new electric stove in the kitchen. No doubt the wife really believed in Santa Claus after that Christmas.

Another sale that was made, still has Mable laughing. A farmer bought a vacuum cleaner with the brush attachments. He didnít have carpeting in the house, but he used the suction attachments to clean his cows!

Ed Johnson died in 1951, and Mable sold the business in 1952 to ìDocî Heuckendorf. There were several owners and businesses in succession, and today the remodeled building will soon have a new name, North Lake Center, formerly known as Emilyís Pamper Parlor.

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