Lunch Carts

Today, food carts are popular in any towns, but back in earlier days they were referred to as lunch carts. Millinocket had its share through the early years.

An ad in the 1908 Labor Day Celebration program states that Allen & Morris Lunch Cart was open “all hours of the day and until twelve-thirty at night, your partronage solicited, Union Men.”

About 1912, a cart that would see many owners through the years opened beside the Millinocket fire station on Penobscot Avenue (now Municipal Bldg.) The original cart owner, William Hobbs, purchased the cart in Massachusetts. Mrs. Hobbs made pastries in her home and took them fresh to the diner every day. The Hobbs cart sold pastries, coffee, sandwiches and occasionally chicken stew. Hobbs told the writer of a story in a local 1940’s newspaper that he made about $20,000 a year!

Eventually Hobb’s cart (sometimes referred to as a diner) to Kenneth Reed. The diner was under the management of Bessie Sawyer and many referred to it as Bessie’s Diner. She served regular meals and people complimented her home cooking. Bessie eventually closed the diner. Susie Gee then purchased it from Mr. Reed and after about two years sold it to Sammy Lowell. When Lowell died, his wife sold it to Mrs. Josephine Jenkins who ran the lunch cart/diner until the late 1940’s when the old fire station was demolished to make room for the new Millinocket Municipal building.

Another name associated with a lunch cart/diner is Eddie Munson. His “establishment” was out near the railroad station. Also, near the station was Almon Reed’s lunch room. A photo of the building’s exterior is shown in Dorothy Laverty’s first book (available at the museum.). A sign above the door states: Ladies and Gents Lunch Room and shows several men and women standing outside. The museum has an original of that photo (donated by Linda (LePage) Boyd. Written on the back is: Building erected approx.1900. L-R: Mr. Knights (Boston), Edna Reed Dineen, Almon Reed, Mary & John (peddlers from Caribou), Mr. Emery (Boston), Andy Stackable. (I believe Reed was also the station master).

Another businessman in town was Geroge “Scotty” McLean. His story was shared with SHS alums at their 1995 reunion (copy at museum). Scotty got the machine in 1916, delivered to his dooryard, unassembled and he and his friends put it together. Half was a peanut machine and half produced popcorn. There is a detailed description of the machine and how it worked. Scotty appeared with his cart on Penobscot Avenue, at concerts and events in the park and at other events around town. He also could be found near the mill in the late afternoon when the 4 and 5 o’clock shift workers left the mill. Scotty and machine were always nearby at local baseball games etc.