The History of the Martha Washington Candies Company.

Mr. Elie Sheetz, a confectioner, and founder of the "Martha Washington Candies Company," was born in Pennsylvania, he began business in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in June of 1892, moved to Washington D.C., and continued doing business in serving each customer in such a way as to bring another customer. Generous to a fault in impulse and purpose, he soon understood how to cater, not only to the Sweet-tooth but to create a sweet and wholesome atmosphere in his store and among his customers.

His candy soon gained popularity because it was good candy, made of pure materials. It was christened by a happy circumstance; one of the boys selling his candy reported that a lady had jokingly asked for some more of that “Martha Washington” candy. To Mr. Sheetz, it was as tho the First Lady of the Land herself had spoken. He at once grasped the possibilities of making goods worthy of the name.

The business grew and grew but Elie Sheetz is not all business. He is first and last... just a real man. His factory and store are pervaded with the family spirit; all aglow with the suggestion of just buying the candy at home. On the walls are historical pictures, portraits of the various Presidents, and many rare prints and photographs of Lincoln and his times.

The collection of mirrors makes his home and office a veritable museum in itself. All this Elie Sheetz enjoys with his friends and his customers. He is the sort of man that I could not conceive of being anything but a friend to everybody.

The brand name "Martha Washington Candies" was trademarked in Washington DC on July 23, 1906.

79th Street and Halsted, Chicago, Illinois

Martha Washington Candies soon began selling ice cream along with their variety of candy confections.

A Fort Worth, Texas Store.

Elie Sheetz and E.M. Hunt sold their interests in the Martha Washington Candies Company on August 13, 1932. Both will retain their interest in the "Elie Sheetz Candies Company" of Maryland which operates in several eastern states. The chain has grown to control 15 factories and 200 retail shops. The Midwest business was founded by Mr. Hunt in 1911.

One of the company's factories, "kitchens and retail store" was located at 3823-29 North Broadway in Chicago. Elie Sheetz, died on November 11, 1932. By the end of 1936, almost all of the 150 nationwide stores were temperature-controlled.

Some of the Chicagoland store locations:

11 South Kedzie Avenue, Chicago

17 East Hubbard Place, Chicago

17 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago

24 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago

31 West Washington Street, Chicago

51 East Adams Street, Chicago

79th Street and Halsted, Chicago

180 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago 

505 12th Street, Chicago

844 East 63rd Street, Chicago

1016 Wilson Avenue, Chicago

3823-29 North Broadway, Chicago

4755 North Broadway, Chicago 

808 Hillgrove Avenue, Western Springs, Illinois

If you know of any other Chicagoland or Illinois locations, please comment below.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

April 26, 1951, General McArthur Day in Chicago, Illinois.

General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur, visits Chicago after his return from Korea in 1951. On April 26, 1951, 15 days after he was relieved as military commander in Korea by President Truman, he visited Chicago on his triumphal tour of the nation.

Chicago welcomes General MacArthur with a parade, State Street, April 26, 1951.

The city afforded "The Old Soldier" the greatest and most spontaneous welcome in its history. The Tribune reported: "Chicagoans never saw the equal of the welcome given Gen. Douglas MacArthur yesterday... The acclaim of the throngs was deafening." Police estimated that more than 3 million persons jammed the official parade route on State Street and Michigan Avenue in the downtown area. Hundreds of thousands more lined the motorcade route from Midway airport to the Loop. Crowds overwhelmed police ranks and surged into State street, cutting off the first 12 cars of the motorcade, as they cheered MacArthur.

Gov. Adlai Stevenson, Mayor Martin Kennelly, and Gen. Robert E. Wood, chairman of the welcoming committee, had greeted the general as he stepped from his four engine Constellation aircraft, the "Bataan," at Midway airport. A 17 gun salute by a field artillery battalion followed, and the motorcade from the airport to the Loop began.

One of the loudest receptions along the parade route occurred where railroads cross over 55th street. Locomotives which had been stationed there blew their whistles as Gen. MacArthur passed.

That night as 50,000 people assembled in Soldier Field in 40 degree temperatures, the hero of the Pacific made a fighting defense of his stand on the Korean war as he challenged the policies of President Truman and called for "a positive and realistic policy for Korea... one designed to bring the war to an early and honorable end." A fireworks display was presented at 8:50pm.

The next day, thousands of persons lined the north shore as he drove to Milwaukee to be honored.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The History of Bob Farrell and Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour Restaurants.

Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour opened for business on Friday, the 13th of September, 1963. The first parlour was located at 21st and W. Burnside in Portland, Oregon. Bob Farrell and Ken McCarthy were the founders and proprietors of this unique parlour restaurant. "When we opened our first store, we had 32 employees, $1,300 in the bank and owed $26,000," remarks Ken about that first day.

From the beginning, the concept was pretty much established, from the player piano in the corner of the dining room to the red-flocked wallpaper on the walls. Tiffany lamps adorn the dining room, while “cherub” fixtures hang on the walls.

The concept was so simple yet ingenious. Provide a wholesome, fun place for families, kids, couples, and school groups to come to celebrate their successes. Provide a simple menu of burgers, sandwiches, and creative ice cream treats. The menu was printed in a tabloid-style newspaper. The largest 50-scoop sundae, the "Zoo," was delivered with great fanfare by multiple employees carrying it wildly around the restaurant on a stretcher accompanied by the sound of ambulance sirens. 

Throw in a candy store for that old-fashioned effect, and make the place fun for everyone.

The ice cream parlour concept was based on the New York City parlours of old; the rest came from Bob Farrell’s upbringing in New York, with delicatessens and corner candy stores. Apparently, it worked - people came in droves.

Bob Farrell recollected the first day in his book: "We ran out of ice cream and bananas. We bought all the hamburgers the store above us could grind. We cleaned out every hamburger bun, head of lettuce and tomato we could get from area stores."

In 1970 a new retail growth industry had just begun to boom - the enclosed shopping center. From Farrell’s standpoint, this was a perfect vehicle for growth - a captive market of mall shoppers, less up-front capital costs to construct a parlour, and all exterior maintenance handled by the shopping mall in exchange for a nominally higher rent. It was a win-win situation for Farrell. A lease agreement was signed for Woodfield Mall.

In 2019, the World's last Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour closed.

The Illinois Locations:

• Ford City Shopping Center, 7451 S. Cicero Avenue , Chicago, IL.
• North Riverside Shopping Center, 7501 W. Cermak Rd., North Riverside, IL.
• Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, IL.
• Northwoods Mall, 126 Northwoods Mall, Peoria, IL.

VISIT OUR FARRELL'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR SOUVENIR SHOP

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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About Robert "Bob" Farrell
Robert "Bob" Farrell, who co-founded a popular chain of ice cream parlours that were the home of countless children's birthday parties, died Friday, August 14, 2015, in Vancouver after an extended illness.

His death was announced by Farrell's Ice Cream Parlours on its Facebook page late Friday. The company said Farrell passed away with his wife, Ramona, and family by his side. He was 87 years old.

Farrell, who was originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., opened the first Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour in Portland in 1963. By 1970, he had opened 55 shops throughout the West. The chain later expanded to more than 130 shops after it was sold to the Marriot Corp. in 1973, and Farrell remained the company's spokesman until just prior to its sale to an investment group in 1985. Several Farrells still operate in Southern California under a new company.

Later, Farrell became a part-owner of Pacific Coast Restaurants Inc. and helped build a string of Stanford's and Newport Bay restaurants in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California. In 1995, Farrell left the restaurant business and became a customer service consultant, speaking to employees of companies such as Nordstrom, Nike, and Safeway about putting customers' interests first.

And Farrell loved to talk about customer service, including an infamous anecdote about a diner who once was charged for an extra pickle at one of his restaurants. In the story, a regular customer had been receiving a free extra pickle whenever he asked for it, and was angered when a new waitress charged him a nickel for the extra pickle. The customer wrote Farrell, saying he would stop coming to the restaurant because of the charge. Farrell made amends with the customer by writing him a letter and offering a free ice cream sundae. The phrase "Give 'em the pickle" became a customer service motto for the company.

"The customer is the boss," Farrell said in 1989, recalling the incident. "There are three little words we always want them to say -- 'I'll be back.' There's not a better job in the world than making someone happy."

Farrell was born in 1927 in Brooklyn, New York, and joined the Air Force in 1945 after graduating from high school. After World War II ended, he served at radar stations in the Pacific Northwest. After completing his business degree, he worked as a salesman and manager for the Libby Foods company before opening his first ice cream parlour in Portland in 1963. Farrell made an appearance on TV's "The Merv Griffin Show," and in 1976, he received the Horatio Alger Award from Norman Vincent Peale. At one point, Farrell's held the record for the World's Largest Sundae in the Guinness Book of Records.

Farrell's ice cream shops had an old-fashioned feel to them and were a popular spot for birthday celebrations, which featured free sundaes and waiters singing "Happy Birthday."

One of the stories he would tell in his customer service presentations involved a birthday party gone awry not long after the first Farrell's opened. An upset customer came to pay his bill. Farrell learned that the man's son was celebrating his sixth birthday, but nobody had given him his free sundae or singing "Happy Birthday."

Farrell went straight to the fountain and made a sundae, topping it with a birthday candle. Then he asked the boy his name, stood up on a table, and yelled for everybody in the restaurant to be quiet.

"We made a mistake," Farrell said. "We didn't sing Happy Birthday to Alex, and I want all of you to help us sing it now."

The result was one ecstatic boy who became a loyal customer. Farrell said he continued to see Alex years later and that he still had the birthday photo taken at the restaurant.

"I didn't sell ice cream," Farrell said of his years with the ice cream parlour. "I sold a good time. The ice cream was the vehicle." 

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

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VIDEOS

The Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour Restaurants Story.

Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour Restaurants Commercial.

Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour Restaurants Crew Delivering Farrell's 'Zoo.'