Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

The Tip Top Market, formerly at the corner of Walnut and 211 Pearl Street, pops up quite a bit when people reminisce about the old days in East Somerville. We still have lots of corner stores in Somerville, but those neighborhood grocery, variety stores and meat markets of yesterday had a different feel. It was a warm welcoming and familiar feel. Back then a cuff wasn’t only on shirts and trousers, it was a way of getting by until payday.

I’ll ask my fellow Somerville High School chum and great musician Bob G to start us off with his vivid memory of The Tip Top Market: “There was a bit of a rivalry between the stores (Tip Top Market and Mac’s). Mac would call you out if he saw you going into the Tip Top market. I would walk around the block and sneak in the Tip Top when I had to go there for my mother.”

“Mac would sell bologna and cheese on a bulkie for twenty-five cents. He would cut the meat and the cheese while he was talking to you. He knew everyone in the neighborhood and underneath his gruff exterior was a heart of gold. That area of Walnut and Pearl had Mac’s, Tip Top, Means Pharmacy, Pearl St. Cleaners, John the Barber and a laundromat. It was a great neighborhood.” Thanks Bob.

Neil adds: “I worked at Tip-Top Market when I was 12 years old delivering groceries in the shopping cart.” “We grew up at 234 Pearl! Tip Top and Mac’s were our go to stores!”

A former neighbor adds: “Never went into Tip Top. Would be a traitor to Mac. Mac was a wonderful man. One of the best ever!”

Another friend adds: “I lived on Walnut and can’t imagine how often my mother would tell me to run down and pick something up. Sometimes snow was piled up taller than I was. Can you imagine sending children to the store today with cash? Shame, I don’t think it would be possible in our society today.”

Here are some more memories of Tip Top Market: “I used to deliver groceries on Saturdays with my red wagon for tips sometimes. Also, there was a store across the street and the guy used to cut meat there. Also forget the name (Macs).

“As a kid I remember going in there. Saw dust always on the floor.”

“Baloney and cheese sandwich for a quarter. We could go there from the Prescott School to get our lunch.”

“Benny, Arnie, Mr. Weiner, Dot and Bee. Ice cream chest in the corner. You had to reach way down to get Popsicles (real two-stick ones) and almost fall in!”

“Doing weekly shopping on Saturdays with my mom as a child and thinking the store was big.”

“Food order being delivered by hand pushed cart to our house.”

“I remember when I was a kid my grandmother would send me with a note to Tip Top to get cold cuts and you didn’t need money, they would just put you on the list. Then my grandmother would pay at the end of the week.”

I’d like to thank everyone that shared their memories with us.

A former neighborhood resident concludes: “I’ve gone through all the comments and have enjoyed them, and regret the loss to the community. There were so many wonderful small businesses.”

This story brought back memories of shopping with my mother. I recall the smell of fresh ground coffee in the Davis Square A&P. And I remember going in meat markets that had saw dust on the floor. Let’s support the small businesses of Somerville as we emerge from the pandemic and safely return to normal.

Photos include a shot with Tip Top Market in background, and the corner of Walnut and Pearl St. today.