ge HE EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD, Sunday, May 13, 1962
He Has for 33 Years
, .W., 1
Stirring Buttermilk
Beats Bug Chasing J
fly BOB NEWCOMB
' Of The Relitr-Gur4
Emilo "Chris" Christenscn decided long ago
that "I'd rather stir buttermilk than be a bug
chaser." He's never regretted the decision.
For the past 33 years Christenscn has been
stirring buttermilk in his own one-man cream
cry in downtown Eugene. He is co-owner with
his wife, Alice, of Christensen's Dairy Store,
at 149 E. Broadway.
"We'r only a small creamery probably
thj only one of our size in the state," Christen
scn says. And he acknowledges that his busi
ness is something of an anachronism in to
day's business world where the trend is for
large consolidations. "But we're just too dog
gono bullhcaded to quit," he declares.
Today at 63, Chrislensen is a stout, vigorous
man with ruddy checks, an eager grin and a
head capped with wavy white hair. He recalls
he was just 12 years old when he decided to
go into the creamery business.
Christensen's father was a native of Norway
and was a methodist minister at Stanwood,
Wash., while Chrislensen was growing up.
"There wasn't much money in ministering,"
Christenscn reflects today, "but we had five
acres of land so I bought a cow, and then an
other, and sold milk to a creamery. And I saw
even then that my future was in manufacturing,
not in milking cows."
Christensen remembers that as a boy he
was impressed by the creamery in Stanwood,
and especially by the life of the bacteriologists
"bug-chasers" who worked there. To him
those specialists seemed to be leading "soft
lives," an impression that later proved false,
he says. But indirectly it started him on his
long career in Eugene one which he describes
today as "wonderful and rewarding."
. In 1917, Christenscn moved with his parents
to Portland, served a short time in the Navy
during the final months of V'orld War I, and
then entered Oregon Slate College at Corvallis
(then known as Oregon Agricultural College),
"They used to call it the 'Cow College,"'
Christenscn recalls with a smile. "But I've
never been insulted by it. Cows have treated
mo prelty good for a long time."
Chrislensen caught his first sight of Eugene
while still a student at Corvallis. "I thought
then, and I've always thought, Eugene was the
prettiest town I've ever seen. 1 knew then I
wanted to come back some day."
He came back in January, 1922, just one
month after graduating from OSC with a
bachelor of science degree in bacteriology. For
18 months he worked in a dairy plant here,
but then took a job as a chemist in the bacteri
ology department of the Carnation Milk Co.
in Portland, a position he held until 1927. It
was during those years, he confides, "I decided
bug-chasing was not for me."
Bacteriology, Christenscn says, Is the basis
for all creamery production, and his experience
In the field has been helpful to him. "But I
prefer stirring buttermilk," he says. In 1927 he
returned again to Eugene, and has called it
home ever since.
The years leading up to the depression of
1929 were hard ones, Christensen recalls. "I
soon found myself out of a job and I couldn't
find work for love nor money." At a time
when many businessmen were closing down,
Christenscn then 30 invested all his savings
($900) in the creamery and cafe that he still
operates today. . .
"I always wanted a creamery of my own
one where everything would bo under my own
fingers," he says. Sinco that time, his Eugene
creamery has become an integral part of his
life.
Dressed in white work clothes, rubber boots,
and standing in the tiny creamery where he has
labored almost constantly for more than three
decades, Christensen can reach in only a few
short strides all of his manufacturing equip
ment. There arc a dozen or more empty 10
gallon milk cans lining a rack, a small ice
cream freezer, a wooden vat where he makes
cottage cheese and more milk cans in a tub of
V
in
EMILE CHRISTENSEN
. . Too Buflheadcd to Quit'
water where he mixes bacteria and milk until
it becomes buttermilk.
"This is my whole life," he says. The cream
cry, which occupies no more than half of the
store area, is joined to the front portion of the
building, containing a lunch counter and grill
managed by Mrs. Christensen.
All of the dairy products he makes butter
milk, ice cream and cottage cheese arc sold
only to customers, cither to cafe patrons or
"over the counter."
Eugene has gone through tome dramatic
changes in the past 30 years, but Christensen's
business has remained an island of the past,
almost in the center of Eugene's fast-growing
downtown center. Almost all of the store's
equipment is the same as It was in 1929. Cafe
patrons can still drink all the buttermilk they
want for ten cents only a nickel more than
was charged during depression days.
Christenscn laments the bygone days when
a man could launch himself into a private
business with an investment of $900. Today,
he says, "to start a similar business would cost
a man from $80,000 to $75,000."
Christenscn says he has no plans for retire
ment. When the lease runs out on the cream
ory store building in several years . . . mtybc
then. Until then? "I'll keep right on stirring
buttermilk."
summer grooming
from top
to toe
( 7 " Y i' t
Beneficial and beautifying as the sun moy be . . . ap
proach it with respect! Elirabeth Arden arms you with
matchless lotions, oils ond creams that keep you beau
tiful under the sun ... a multi-purpose balm like
Eight Hour Creom, 1.25, Sleek, for removing unwonted
hair, 2.00 . . , Ardeno Skin Lotion and Cleansing Cream,
ond Volvo Moisture Film for thirsting skin, 5.00, 10.00,
1 8.50. All prices plus tax.
bon marcho russolls
I bon marcho russcfils
takes
oo yu
i mm mm- w Si p U
I summer
with the v mH'
smartness of ' J
safari mmuAi
BMR believes in the adventure ond 1 t ' If f-t''
excitement of SAFARI BROWN . . , tf
the once country-bred color that has v ' lSLLI'1 ' v fj jl
acquired city sophistication. I 1 ''t ' ' $ 4 f i
Great with your summer tan .. . I f j I ' i tJ'i p 'f
takes to white ond gold as sparkling C 1 I
accessories. Here, Safari Brown in f ifi 1
Mademoiselle Ricci's newest looking U B
silk dress, exclusively ours in Eugene, 'v"' f Ml
79.95. With it the gold shoe with I ' ffl
stacked heel by Life Stride, 14.99. I i 5 ft
Join the hunt for SAFARI BROWN I 'Sfcjf
... you'll love it! (. . IB'
AfW
see our stunning SAFARI L U
windows and interior f ' f-f'' V
dispioy, f
see SAFARI BROWN ' A , , ,
modeled in the big jf V V 2 f'i
cage on our second , t
floor tomorrow f J 1 1 y'L O L
I f' f
see SAFARI fashions jT 'V, f
modeled in our fj J Q J V '
Timber Room during i J t fy ft '1 8
luncheon on Tuesday if I $j jf'j N Oil
ond Thursday 1 i v j I
reporter
There's every Indica
tion that the second an
nual Northwest Charity
Horse and Fashion
Festival on June 8, 9
and 10 will be a com
plete sell-out. The two
sponsoring groups
Eugene Hunt Club and
the Eugene Welfare
League report a large
demand for tickets al
ready. They're on sale
at the Thrift and Gift
Shop, 2839 Willamette
St, or you may secure
ticket application
blanks in our store and
other Eugene business
houses. Specific infor
mation concerning
times and prices will be
given if you telephone
DI 3-4621.
The three-day af
fair will start on Fri
day with a cocktail
dance and fashion
show in the Fair pa
vilion before the Fri
day evening horse
show. We're doing
the fashions, and are
presenting a very
special "first." It's a
showing of American
Boutique Collection
which will be exclus
ively ours in Oregon.
Naturally, well be
telling you more
about this before the
show.
Saturday night's spec
tacular performance on
the lanbark will be fol
lowed by a champagne
supper and dance, with
a Sunday afternoon
horse show climaxing
the ambitious project to
benefit charity.
And now for our
newest love Safari
Brown. It's a "brown"
brown, an exciting
look for summer, re
placing the citified
"little black" dress
and much, much
smarter. You can tell
we've gone Safari-Brown-happy
when
you see our new store
decor and you'll have
all the thrills of a big
game hunter as you
follow our Safari
Brown fashion trail
through the Jungle.
Brown as the freshest
new color for summer
makes good sense and
is partly responsible for
bringing back the chic
ness of the while shoe.
Bone white accessories
with brown is an un
beatable combination
any place, any time.
Equally smart Is the use
of gold accessories
even for street wear.
Don't overdo it but give
your brown costume Im
pact with gold shoes
fashioned with slacked
leather heels or a
smashing gold hand
bag. Gold sandals or
thongs are terrific for
patio wear, too.
Brown, youll find,
will stimulate your
imagination. For ex
ample, Vogue Maga
zine shows a flawless
brown basic dress
topped by a sensa
tional pink hat. You'll
like the possibilities
of the orange and
yellow tones, too, to
paint your own fash
ion picture.
We're so enthusiastic
about Safari brown that
we've secured it in al
most every type of gar
ment sleek little
sheatiirf, casual voiles
and lawns (in a great
rejuvenation ol these
fabrics), floating chif
fons for crfter-five, crisp
blouses and shorls and
even swim suitsl
On the subject of
fashion, ts there a
woman who doesn't
yearn for a wig? We
think they're the
greatest and we've
found an inexpensive
version for only
SI 6.00. It takes very
little practice to ad
just them and you
can easily coax them
into almost any de
Mf.hncry, second floor.