Buying a cold, sweet treat at Keating’s Drug Store in Riverton on a hot, dusty summer day created lifelong memories.
We recently obtained a Keatings lunch and ice cream menu, from the time when Americans were coming out of the Great Depression and into the deprivations of World War II.
Keating’s Drug Store was an institution in Riverton for over 40 years, starting in the spring of 1923 until 1965. The first tenant of the Williams & Wright Building storefront on the upriver corner of Broad and Main, Keating’s was run by the husband and wife team of Blanche and Lawrence (“Chappy”) Keating.
See our more extensive blog piece about the Keatings and their beloved drugstore at this link.
Check out this remarkable menu. Click to enlarge the image for a look at what you could order … that strawberry ice cream soda on the cover was either 10 or 15 cents. A ham sandwich was 10 cents – plus a nickel to add cheese!
The ice cream companies printed one side in fancy color and then printed the specifics for each store on the other in just black ink.
Enjoying Coca-Colas in this photo in the HSR collection are Blanche and Chappy (seated at left) when the store was new. The police officer is Walter Miller and the two young men are Chick Seagrave and Harry Herman. Those who have seen the charming 1926 film Romance of Riverton will recall Officer Miller was the traffic cop in the middle of town. This photo is about the same era as that film.
The space today is, of course, the Revive coffee shop. Here’s Riverton history enthusiast Hal Feinstein examining our recently-acquired menu, undoubtedly the first time it was back in the shop since it was last used there 80+ years ago!
How old is the menu? Well, we can only get it down to the range of being between 1937 and 1947. We figure the 1937 date because that’s when the Supplee-Sealtest name first began to appear in regional newspapers. The telephone number Riverton 1540 appeared in ads during the same era until it changed to Riverton 9-1540 in 1947. So there you are, 1937-1947. Wish we could narrow it down further.
HSR is always on the lookout for items that capture what life was like “back then” and this recently acquired treasure does that vividly, doesn’t it?
What might you have squirrelled away in a drawer or closet that we could scan for HSR’s digital records and post here to help retell yet another Riverton story?
Keatings and Sharon’s Sweet Shop were my two favorite stores in the 1950s. Mr Keating knew everyone by name. He and Mrs Keating lived on the 2nd floor of a 2 story building across Main Street next to Klipple’s Bakery. On the ground floor he had a newspaper and magazine shop. In the back he had a pool hall. No kids allowed.
Very nice, Roger! Great find, and well-researched and well-described.
Hal
Keep up the great work!