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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Martha's Cafe...

Mr. B and I both worked hard all day in our writing caves and decided that dinner would be hamburgers from our local Sonic tonight. I do love an occasional hamburger with mustard, pickles, lettuce and tomatoes so there was no complaints from this department.

But it set me in a time machine that took me back to my growing up years in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. When I was a little girl it was a big treat for Mama to bring home a bag of burgers from Martha's Café when she went to town to "pay bills" once a month. Then when I got into high school and could walk to town for lunch rather than coming home (we lived across the street from the elementary school so that made it real convenient to go home every day for lunch) I could be found at Martha's Café most of the time.

Martha and her husband, Ed, ran that little café until they were both too old to make another hamburger. It was one of those shotgun places with booths along the side, a bar with stools on the other side, a soda pop machine at the front of the store and Martha made donuts every day. So it was hamburgers, soda pop and donuts or else the kids could go to the drug store up the street and eat potato chips and soda pop or an ice cream sundae for lunch.

The thing about Martha's was that the hamburgers were twenty cents each, water was free and donuts were a nickel so we could easily get filled up on a quarter a day. Soda pop was only for special days and it was a dime a bottle. Pretty expensive when you could get two extra donuts for that amount and drink water with your meal.

And it was where all the kids hung out during the lunch hour right up until the first soft ice cream joint came to town. It was close to the school, offered all kinds of extra things over and above burgers like steak sandwiches, like French fries, hot dogs, tacos (we'd never had anything like that in our little town) and soft ice cream cones in both chocolate and vanilla. But I still liked Martha's burgers better and besides they were a whole lot cheaper and I got donuts.

Tonight's hamburger wasn't nearly as good as I remember Martha's being and I didn't get a donut with it, either. AND it cost a whole lot more than a quarter but it sure brought back some good memories of all the fun we had at Martha's. I bet we solved more school problems, made more dates, broke up with more boys and flirted with even more at Martha's than we did at any other place in town.

Nostalgia...it's a good thing. So tell me what memories does a plain old burger supper bring back to you?

2 comments:

  1. I'm not a big meat eater. But, before I knew for sure I was pregnant, just suspected maybe so?....I craved a burger, with everything.... Husband knew something was going on. I ate more burgers while pregnant than ever had before. And, once she got old enough to express a preference, daughter's favorite food was....burgers. Didn't matter where we ate, fancy or common...the girl wanted a burger.

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  2. I never think of a hamburger but I remember my grandmother's. Fortunately, my mother and I lived with her mother, my grandmother, who was truly my main caregiver in so many ways (mainly in that she truly knew how to care for me in loving and respectful ways, unlike my mother). She cooked from scratch all the time, and she made the best burgers (In my world, anyway!) with LOTS of onion, some milk, and frying them in a skillet. Whenever I made those for others throughout the year they were always so impressed with the taste...different but good! My grandmama was the best!!

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