Do You Remember?

 I received a message yesterday asking if the cottage "Cum Sum Oar" that was owned by George L. Edson of Montpelier was still in existence. This is a cottage name that I don't remember ever seeing or hearing about - and I don't believe I have come across George L. Edson's name, either. I suspect his cottage was on the east shore of the big pond - perhaps in the upper North Shore area as he owned the place in the early 1920s when that was where most of the cottages were being built at about that time. That said, he could have been anywhere on the pond. 

I did find out that he bought the renowned Cross Baking Company - the company that made those big, puffy, bland crackers that were kept in big barrels in all the village grocery stores years ago. Well, actually, not THAT many years ago because I remember there was one of those barrels at Hastings Store in West Danville - but we called them "St. Johnsbury Crackers" because at that time there was a Cross Baking Company bakery on Railroad Street - somewhere near where the Caplan's Store is today, as I recall. I'm not sure why or when that bakery closed, but I do recall that after the company left St. Johnsbury, the crackers mysteriously got much smaller. I think they are still available in some "country stores" -  called "Vermont Common Crackers".  I just now found a history of them at the Vermont Country Store blog (link above). Finding that inspired me to look for more and sure enough, Peggy Pearl wrote about them, too, "Crackers & Milk".

So then I looked for more information and found this article written by Paul Heller in 2015 and updated in 2018 for the Times Argus, "Montpelier crackers are a staple of history," with a slightly different story. It seems to me I remember there was some sort of rivalry and lots of confusion about our St. Johnsbury Crackers when the company left to go to Montpelier. I do remember the crackers fondly, though. My Grandfather Bolton had them in milk before going to bed nearly every night. I used to like them split open and toasted on my grandmother's big old wood stove until just lightly browned but hot enough to melt the slathering of butter and then homemade strawberry or raspberry jam on each one. It didn't matter that by themselves they were bland and dry - they were meant to be complimented by sweet milk, butter, melted cheese, jams, peanut butter, honey or maple sugar. They were so good in soup, too. And unlike today's version, the originals were at least three inches  across and over an inch high so when they were split and dressed with a favorite condiment, they were the best "snack" ever.

However, I'm off the original subject, which is whether anyone remembers George Leslie Edson's camp. If you do, send me an email so I can respond to his grandson. So many of our cottages have been taken down and replaced with year around homes, it's fairly unlikely the original is still standing, but not totally out of the question. We still have plenty of the older, original camps in use. You can send a response to me at janebrowncabot@gmail.com. Thanks for putting on your thinking cap.