Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

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This past Saturday, I had to retrieve one of my favorite scarves that I left at Burton’s Grill in Burlington. I decided since I was right there, I’d do a little shopping at the Market Basket in the same complex. (Thanks Burton’s for taking care of my scarf!)

As soon as I walked in the door of MB, the smell of newly popped popcorn hit me right in the face. I think many of us would agree that freshly popped popcorn is one of our favorite aromas. For me it reminded me of the old department stores that used to offer the warm, yummy treat. Zayre and JM Fields in Medford immediately came to mind. (I remembered how to spell Zayre because I recalled the commercial where they spelled it out in song!) There was a store in Fresh Pond also. You would get that tall paper bag, or sleeve as some called it, full of popcorn and boy was it tasty! My mother would buy a bag when we first went in the store and my brother and sister and I would share it as we followed her around. Of course, after about 15 minutes the butter would stain the bottom of the bag, but by that time all that was left were a few un-popped kernels. Sometimes when I get an idea for a story, I “pop” it onto Facebook to get other people’s thoughts on the subject. I can’t believe how many folks shared their memories about popcorn.

Back in the day almost all of the Zayre, Fields, Bradlees and Kresges type stores had a big old popcorn machine. In Davis Square we had both a Woolworths and Grants store.

When I was 16, I was hired as a stock boy at Woolworths and worked my way up to the lunch counter. I didn’t make popcorn but I made grilled cheese sandwiches and hot dogs and ice cream dishes. One of my jobs on the counter was to put the different price tags inside the balloons that you would pop to see what you paid. I think they were for banana splits and/or sundaes. But it was that popcorn smell that really stood out, until of course you walked down the pet aisle. My friend Lou F remembers when you could buy 6 baby chicks for 99 cents at Woolworths. (The same Lou F that was the drummer for the band The Wildcats!)

Many stores now offer fresh popcorn the way Market Basket does. Tags Hardware in Porter Square has it (I think it’s free) and also Home Depot in Somerville.

It’s funny how a smell can jump start your memory. I took my boys to the movies on Sunday and we got the ginormous size of popcorn. The same thing happens whenever I walk into The Somerville Theatre. I look around the lobby, grab a whiff of popcorn, and I start thinking back to all the Saturdays we spent at the movies when we were kids.

You could also get warm peanuts, cashews, and even chestnuts at some of those stores years ago. If you lived near the Davis Square area, you may recall Louds Candy store at Powder House Park. That place had a potpourri of delightful and mouthwatering smells because they made the candy right there. The guy who ran it wore an apron and round wire rim glasses and could have been in a Norman Rockwell painting called Old Fashioned Candy Store.

We all have a memento of some sort around our house from the old days. I still have a Kiwi Shoe Polish can that has a Bradlees price tag on it. I also have a coat check tag from The Jumbo Lounge, formerly in Teele Square. These items from the past help us recall days gone by, but isn’t it cool the way the smell of something as simple as popcorn can also get the mind thinking of happy times?