More on Tea Rooms

 Another Tea Room I remember was the "Lindens" in Centre Marshfield next to Centre Marshfield Garage, which was run by Fred Oxner. My Mom would go shopping at the A&P store down in Marshfield, run by the Houghtons (I remember the floor was always covered with sand and I could never understand why -- there would hell to pay if I tracked sand into our house!) Returning home, Mom would stop into Banners’ tearoom. It was just a small room next to the kitchen. Mom would get a cup of tea and a piece of pie, and I would have milk and a cookie. I think the total cost was 30 cents! I would sneak out back of Oxner’s Garage and look at the junk cars. Mom and Isabel Banner were friends for a long time.

The best tearoom I remember was the "Peacock" on Pleasant Street. On occasion, Dad, Mom and I would take a ride in his old Chevy just to gawk. This was before the war. When we came back through the Hills, Dad would stop at the "Peacock." Mom and I would go in to get ice creams -- they were the best, however I don’t remember any bad ice cream!

Not until I was older, a young teen, when I could ride my bike to places outside of Seaview, did I realize how special the "Peacock" was. A few of us kids would gather after school, and there were only a few kids in Seaview. We would have to push our bikes up the Pleasant Street hill, hoping Peggy was at the Peacock. Upon arrival we would dump our bikes along a stone wall that held a garden full of flowers, run up the walkway and knock on the back door. The door would swing open and there was Peggy. With her big smile, she would quietly say "Come on in children!"

I dreamed of Peggy's ice creams being this big!

 We would wait in line, girls first. When it was my turn, Peggy would ask, "Raymond, what flavor are you having today, coffee or chocolate?" Chocolate usually won out, with jimmies. Peggy’s idea of an ice cream cone was to fill the cone, then ask,"5 cents or 10 cents?" If 5, she put one scoop on top, if 10, 2 or sometimes 3 scoops on top. It sure was plenty for one small person. But my friend Aldo reminded me that two 5 cent cones were more than 1--10 cent cone. I never figured that one out! But then why should I have? I usually only had 1 nickel!

The war years passed and then the Peacock. Aldo told me he attended Peggy’s 100th birthday party. Our lives in Seaview were simple and fun.

The Peacock Tea Room, c.1940. courtesy of the Ventress Library.

by Ray Freden
Originally published in the Marshfield Mariner, June 18, 2008