Red Lion was immortalized (sort of) in H.L. Mencken's oft-anthologized story, "A Girl From Red Lion, Pa.", about a young lady who loses her virtue to her beau, Elmer, and ends up in Baltimore looking for a house of ill-fame, because. according to what's she's read, that's where ladies who lose their virtue always end up. (find the story here ). Mencken refers to Red Lion as "a burg;" the theme of the story is the city slickers' response to the girl's country-bumpkin innocence.
Well, Mencken was a notorious curmudgeon, and one of the joys of living in Red Lion has been the rediscovery of old-fashioned pleasures. Last Saturday was the annual town street fair, an eclectic mix of music, food, crafts, local church outreach, and sidewalk sale. It is the kind of event where kids can stuff themselves on funnel cake and cotton candy; throw baseballs at the dunking booth to raise money for the local police department; and buy themselves straw sombreros with their names spelled out on the brim in red yarn.
Wandering around, I noticed a sign on Loyer's Pharmacy window - "Banana Splits - $1.65." Can it be? I thought, and went inside. Yep - there it was - a real-live, marble-topped soda fountain complete with chrome-and-red-leather chairs.
According to Vicki (that's her behind the counter), the building dates from 1911 and has always been a drugstore; the family of the current owner, the Loyers, bought it in 1961. It has all the amenities of a modern pharmacy (up-to-date prescription service, small gifts and cards, etc.), but with the added charm of bygone days when the druggist knew your name -- and a free soda while you wait for your prescription, too. The marble fountain dates (they think) from the 1930s and serves sodas, floats, ice-cream sodas, sundaes, and milkshakes. Sorry, no whipped cream or cherries (too expensive - they don't sell enough goodies to cover the cost), but they also have jars of nickel candy (inflation, alas) that kids can pick from, then carry away their purchases in brown paper bags. Banana splits are only served during the street fair.
As a final test of authenticity, I asked Vicki to make me a black-and-white ice cream soda. (Quiz - what exactly is a black-and-white ice-cream soda?) Here it is -- a thing of beauty, even in a styrofoam cup and without whipped cream, which I don't need on my hips anyway.
Antique shelving behind the pharmacist's counter
By the way, the downtown parking meters still give you 30 minutes for your nickel.
-- L. O.
Black and white ice cream soday? Is it vanilla ice cream & milk and chocolate syrup w/soda? Now, what's an egg-cream?
Posted by: Stacey | August 12, 2008 at 07:14 PM
That's it! Yay! I knew I couldn't fool a New Yorker!
An egg cream is milk, selzer, and chocolate syrup - but it's only a real egg cream if you use Fox's U-Bet Chocolate Syrup.
Alas, you can't get them in this part of PA. You might be able to in Philly, though.
Posted by: Laura Orem | August 12, 2008 at 07:19 PM
I really enjoyed this post. The local color of a place can be a tremendous inspiration, not just for H.L. Mencken, but for poets and other artists. The pictures are classic too.
Posted by: Tara Betts | August 13, 2008 at 12:21 PM
That bookshelf fills me of nostalgia by nostalgia for nostalgia about that place.
Posted by: Mac Arthur | September 22, 2009 at 06:19 PM
In 1950 this was Strocks and they sold a peanut sundae for $.15 cent s. Detwilers was across the street in the Contino building . Who else can name the stores on North Main in 1950.?h
Posted by: Wayne Zarfos | July 21, 2020 at 01:07 PM