in other words
march21
2019
15
The Good Ol ’ Days
By Tobie Finzel
Vernonia Businesses, Part Two
Restaurants are a valued en-
terprise even in the smallest of towns.
They often serve as hubs of community
life and are a vital service to people trav-
eling for business or pleasure. Sadly,
we have no documentation of the first
Vernonia restaurants in the earliest de-
cades of the city’s history, but one can
assume that the first hotel in the early
1880s likely had meal service for its
guests and perhaps also accommodated
local residents. The logging camps, of
course, had dining halls for the resident
loggers and served abundant but simple,
hearty fare.
The coming of the big lumber
mill and the resulting explosion in popu-
lation from a few hundred to over 2,000
during the 1920s also saw an accompa-
nying growth in the number of restau-
rants. During the first year of publica-
tion, the Vernonia Eagle boasted that the
town had six restaurants in addition to
its many other new businesses. Owner-
ship of these establishments seemed to
change often. Among the named es-
tablishments in 1922 to 1923 were the
Lunch Box, located at the stage line
(bus) depot; the Fountain Lunch that
served fountain drinks, ices, candy, and
light lunches; the Blue Bird Café; Jol-
ley’s Restaurant that advertised short or-
ders and dinners; the Horseshoe Restau-
rant that touted a homemade pastry case;
White’s, formerly the Dew Drop Inn;
and Betty Jane’s. The newspaper article
that announced the pastry case addition
at the Horseshoe noted that “this will ap-
peal to the housewife who wants some-
thing in a hurry when it’s too hot or too
late in the day to bake.”
Due to the huge number of res-
taurants that have come and gone, we
will focus on a few for which we have
anecdotes from Vernonians past and
present. In the late 1930s, Gladys Dial
opened a restaurant, the Squeeze Inn, lo-
cated where part of the Cedar Side Res-
taurant is today. There were nine stools
in the Squeeze Inn; a sign in the restau-
rant read “We can serve 1,000 a day, 9
at a time.” The Inn was open nearly 24
hours per day most days to accommo-
date the loggers and mill shift workers.
Her daughter, the late Pauline Dial King,
worked long hours along with her moth-
er. Pauline, in an interview with the
Vernonia Pioneer Museum in 2006, was
asked about the menu. She especially
remembered her mother’s excellent
chili. Other menu items included turkey
dinners and a ham and eggs breakfast for
$1.95. Coffee was 5 cents a cup. Busi-
ness was brisk throughout the day with
the mill and all the logging camps active.
The railroad and logging crews came in
early to pick up lunches that were made
up for them in the wee hours of the morn-
ing. Gladys had a dog named Whizzer
who sat outside the Squeeze Inn while
she was working. Loggers would buy
him ice cream cones and put them in a
nearby flag stand so he could eat them at
dog height. Whizzer even got Christmas
cards from some of the logging camps.
Oscar Vike worked in the woods
as a timber topper and operated the first
skidder on the Pacific Coast. In the mid
to late 1930s, his wife, Ragena “Ma”
Vike, took in boarders to supplement
his income during the Depression years
when work in the woods was scarce. In
1942, she reopened the former Termi-
nal Café located at the bus station. It
later became the Palace Café. In 1945
she opened another café called Vike’s
next to what is now Grey Dawn Gal-
lery. From 1947 to 1948, she opened
the White House Restaurant in her own
home and served steak and chicken din-
ners. Her last restaurant, Ma Vike’s
Café, was located next to Hawkins Mo-
tors, the large brick building on Bridge
Street across from Mike Pihl’s office
and Spike Table food stand. By 1953,
Oscar retired from logging and became
Ma’s dishwasher at the restaurant. The
menu cover featured logging themes and
boasted that their milk came from the
Nehalem Dairy (on Rose Avenue) and
meats and food supplies were purchased
from Vernonia groceries. The slogan on
the menu front read “If your wife can’t
cook, keep her for a pet and eat with us.”
Coffee was a nickel and breakfasts were
all a dollar or less as were the burgers
and sandwiches. A large T-bone steak
was the priciest menu item at $2.25.
The Pal Shop was a favorite
hangout for teenagers in the 1940s and
1950s. Bob New, former resident and
spokesman for the Old Timers group,
worked there as a high school student in
the mid-1940s. He made the twenty-plus
flavors of ice cream, waited on custom-
ers, grilled hamburgers, and prepared ice
cream and fountain items. Because the
owner, Aaron Wagner, Pal Shop founder
Fred Hatcher’s nephew, was volunteer-
ing for the U.S. Navy during World War
II, Bob also helped Aaron’s wife, Marge,
with caring for their two children. He
made a dollar a day and worked after
school hours during the school year and
all day in summer. Besides the “Super
Creamed Ice Cream” used in the shakes
and sundaes and sold hand-packed in
pints, quarts, and five gallon containers,
the Pal Shop served coffee, sandwiches
and soup. The Pal Shop was first locat-
ed in the current dental office building
but later moved next door to the ground
floor of the Lusby Building.
Kate’s Café was located on
the north side of Bridge Street directly
across from the US Bank. Kate’s was in
business in the 1960s and closed in 1972
per the Vernonia High School annual,
the Memolog. In one of the restaurant’s
Jamboree ads, a patron’s verse was
quoted: “The food is good and nicely
served, the coffee is always hot. You can
read the news and chat with friends, and
friendship means a lot.” According to
a present-day Vernonian, Kate was also
famous for chain smoking and letting the
Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each
month on the 1 st and 3 rd Thursday.
Look for our next issue on April 4.
ash on her cigarettes grow long. Another
Vernonian who worked for Kate some-
times noticed a long ash dropping into
the pancake batter.
The City Café, used in some
scenes in the 1960 filming of Ring of
Fire, served breakfasts, lunches, and
dinners. They featured tacos, pizza, and
fountain service in their Jamboree ads
and noted their extended hours during
that weekend. The City Café was lo-
cated on the south side of Bridge Street
where the laundromat is today. Pat and
Darlene Knight established Lew’s Place
at the site of another restaurant. Later
purchased by George and Donna Tice
and renamed the Buckhorn Restaurant,
the establishments served full meals and
had a separate bar that was a popular
nighttime gathering place. We’re sure
that stories about Friday night at Lew’s
can be coaxed from some of our current
residents!
After the Eagle newspaper
ceased operations, the building in which
it was housed transformed to the Eagle
Office Restaurant. In later years, Mario
Leonetti moved his pizzeria from Bridge
Street to this location where it eventu-
ally became Mariolino’s, a full-service
restaurant. There are so many other res-
taurants that were part of people’s lives
in Vernonia, it’s difficult to cover them
all. In recent history, the long stand-
ing Spar Tree Restaurant in Pittsburg
became the first location for the Blue
House Café, and the Pine Cone, later the
Country Kitchen, was another popular
spot for pizza, breakfasts, burgers, and
sandwiches. Located next to the former
Senior Center, both buildings were badly
damaged by the 2007 flood and had to be
demolished. The site is now a parking
lot for Spencer Park, site of the former
grade, middle, and high school.
From Virgil Powell’s Diary
Virgil Powell (1887-1963) was a long-
time resident whose family had a farm in
the Upper Nehalem Valley between Na-
tal and Pittsburg. Each year from 1906
until 1955, he kept a regular diary of his
activities.
Thursday, March 11, 1909:
Plowed in the field below the
old barn. This is my first day’s
plowing this year. Got two
lands plowed. Very hot all day.
D.W. Keasey’s store burned at
Vernonia about 9 A.M.
Saturday, March 20: Plowed
in the lower end of field and
finished about 2 P.M. Started
for Vernonia at 3. Rained
hard all day. Stayed up for
the skating, had a big time
kicking the stove over and
after while took the stove
outside and made up a big fire
in it. Got home at 12.
Monday, March 22: Finished
up the plowing over in the field
that I left last fall. Finished
up at 12:15. This is all of my
plowing for grain. Hauled the
posts and rails that were left
from building the road fence
in the afternoon. Very warm
all day.
Wednesday, March 24: Done
some washing in the forenoon.
Started up to N. J. Parkers
about 12. We all walked up
to the skating at Vernonia in
the evening. Came back down
and stayed at Newt’s over
night. Pretty warm day.
Thursday, March 25: Walter
and I left Parkers about 7 A.M.
and came down here. Went on
up to the Cook slashing to go
bear hunting, but the dogs got
after some deer and ran two
into the river. I got some shots
at them but did not get either
one. Very warm day.
The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is locat-
ed at 511 E. Bridge Street and is open
from 1 – 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays
(excluding holidays) all year. From June
through mid-September, the museum
is also open on Fridays from 1 – 4 pm.
There is no charge for admission but do-
nations are always welcome. Become
a member of the museum for an annual
$5 fee to receive the periodic newsletter.
We now have a page on the Vernonia
Hands on Art website, www.vernonia-
handsonart.org If you are a Facebook
user, check out the Vernonia Pioneer
Museum page. The museum volunteers
are always pleased to enlist additional
volunteers to help hold the museum open
and assist in other ways. Please stop by
and let one of the volunteers know of
your interest in helping out.
Donʻt wait for the sun!
Get your MOWERS tuned up now!
Oil Change • Sharpen Blades
Filters • Cables • Pull Ropes
We pick up & deliver!
Family owned & operated for over 45 years
834 Bridge St., Vernonia (503) 429-6364