There was a place to fill it with
water. In a matter of minutes, the model train would have the added
feature of steam as it went around the 100-foot track.
During World War II my parents owned a coffee shop in the
University of Washington district. It was just off campus, next to the
Neptune Theater.
My father also worked in the shipyards, and my mother worked in
an egg factory. With the help of my older brother and three sisters,
they were able to keep the coffee shop open.
At one time the railroad tracks went down the full length of
the counter top, up and over the front door, down along the booths
next to the wall, and into the kitchen.
I only saw the flat cars of the model train deliver sandwiches,
coffee and cokes a couple of times, before my parents took the whole
thing down. My father and my older brother set the railroad tracks up
in the basement of the shop. When I came over on Saturdays, I got to
play with it.
The greatest event the little coffee shop ever had, happened
one Thanksgiving day. Early that morning my father told my mother he
was going over to the shop to cook two turkeys so that they could
offer hot turkey sandwiches the week following Thanksgiving. The shop
was closed for the holiday. It was around noon when my father called,
and told mother to bring the turkey from home over to the shop. We
arrived to find the shop filled with customers.
My father had opened the shop for coffee. However, the word
slipped out on campus that Ed's Place was serving hot turkey
sandwiches, and my father was overwhelmed with customers. After the
last customer left, my father locked the front door.
Our family then sat in a booth and celebrated Thanksgiving at
the coffee shop on what was left of the two turkeys that my father had
cooked and the one that my mother brought from home. That was
Thanksgiving Day 1945.
After fact: My parents lost the lease on the shop in 1948. The only
fixture I have from Ed's Place is the Coca Cola mirror that hung on
the wall next to coat rack. I also keep the memory of a wonderful
Thanksgiving with my family and the customers of Ed's Place.
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