Kenmar Food Market moves to 301

The lease on 238 South Stricker Street ran out in 1954. There was no intention to renew the lease. We had purchased the building at 301 South Stricker Street and had prepared for a move. The store was painted and a tile floor laid. A freezer, a refrigerated vegetable case and a refrigerated reach-in box were added. Completely new shelving was in place. A window air conditioner was installed over the entrance door. All that was left to do was move the meat display case and the inventory. This was accomplished in one day and we were open for business. And remember, I was 29, Momma was 27 and we had five children all five years old or less.

Meanwhile, the children were getting older (as is usually the case) and Risa was ready to start school. The public schools in the area were bad, very bad and we needed a good school for our children. She was enrolled in the Louisa May Alcott Elementary School at Reisterstown and Keyworth Avenues. We gave our home address as the home address of Momma’s parents on Park Heights Terrace. Momma’s paternal grandmother, whom we know as Super Bubbe, lived across Keyworth Avenue from the school. I would drive Risa to school each morning and pick her up most afternoons. There were times when Momma’s mother, Grandma Esther Hoffman would pick her up and we would retrieve Risa after the store was closed. When it was time for Larry and Arnold to go to school, we chose the Talmudical Academy on Cottage Avenue. I would drop off the three of them in the morning and the School Bus would deliver the boys in the afternoon.

The boys began to work in the store in the afternoon. They would wait on the children who came in to buy penny candy. There were probably 30 kinds of penny candy like those little half balls of hard candy pasted on a strip of paper, sweet liquid juice in tiny wax bottles and giant licorice sticks; all a penny each. There were no throwaway soda bottles but there was a two cent deposit on the bottles. The children redeemed the bottles for penny candy. The boys probably ate as much candy as we sold but it kept them busy. Buzzy Berg would stop in with Richard and guess where Richard immediately went. That’s right, the candy case. Life was good; the store prospered and produced enough income for the seven of us to live a middle class life.

Problems arose but nothing serious and nothing out of the ordinary. Then two disastrous incidents struck. Larry ran out into McHenry Street and was struck by a vehicle. A visor over a headlight caught Larry in the mouth and tore open his upper lip and knocked out his two front teeth. At first we thought that his entire lip had been torn off, but it was only split. A good plastic surgeon made repairs but left a scar. This is probably one of the reasons that Larry has always had a mustache. Arnold was different. His philosophy was, “You go along with the program.”

Several years later, when Marc and Phyllis were about three years old, Phyllis found some matches and gave them to Marc. He crawled under our bed and lit one. As the smoke billowed out of our second floor bedroom windows, neighbors called the Fire Department and ran to tell us at the store. I ran to the house. It was only a half block away. It has been said that my first action was to call the insurance company. That is not true! My first action was to see that Marc and Phyllis and anyone else were out of the house and safe. My SECOND call was to the insurance company. The room was completely gutted but the insurance covered the costs of refurbishing the room.

Vehicles were important in our lives. Our first vehicle was a 1939 Plymouth which we purchased from Momma’s Uncle Lou Music. That’s the one that we pushed more than we drove. In 1950, we bought a 1948 Dodge from a salesman, Bob Hoenes who worked with my father at the Independent Lock Company. Our next vehicle was a used 1950 Chrysler nine passenger station wagon. We needed the size because everyone wanted to sit near a window. Our first new vehicle was a 1952 Plymouth station wagon, then a new 1955 Plymouth station wagon. When we moved to Merville Avenue in 1959 we needed a second vehicle because Momma learned to drive. We spent $20.00 on a two door 1952 Plymouth from Sam Berg’s junk yard. We called it the “tired monster” because the shocks in the front were bad and the vehicle tilted low in the front. But it ran and ran and ran. And guess who drove it; and it wasn’t Momma. We had a 1959 Rambler and then another Rambler. We had a 1968 Dodge Dart and a 1973 Dodge Dart. We had a 1977 Pontiac which was a total disaster. Our next vehicle was a 1978 Volvo which became known as Mom Marcie’s little red bus. David worked at Michaelson Motors where there was a Mazda franchise. We thereafter bought Mazdas.