The Superior Express -

I occasionally answer questions about Bob’s Popcorn Palace as people recall buying big bags of popcorn from the stand operated by the late Bob Oglevie. After his stand closed Bob rode his bicycle from his quarters in the Good Samaritan home at the north edge of Superior down to The Superior Express, a distance of about a mile. Here he helped with janitorial duties. He felt sorry for this editor and one day came in carrying a front basket for my bicycle. He thought a basket would help me carry things. He didn’t realize my long legs often collide with a basket mounted on the front of a bicycle. For a time a relative of Bob’s operated his popper in the west-side business known as the Lamp Post Mall. While some people when to the mall for a taste of Bob’s popcorn, I went there for the home baked cookies and candies that were offered for sale by one of the mall’s entrepreneurs.

While making my rounds in downtown Superior, I was attracted to the mall by the sidewalk sign board that advertised each day’s treat.

Don’t know if either business could survive in downtown Superior today as we don’t have as many pedestrians as we did when they were here.

` What I miss the most are the made in Superior Fudge Bars we occasionally had for sale in the Blauvelt Station ice cream case. The scrumptious fudge bars were the product of the Superior Ice Cream Company which was located in part of the West Fourth Street building now occupied by the Ideal Market.

Most of the time the local ice cream company sold treats manufactured elsewhere.

I suspect the local plant lost money on the fudge bars for they were made with real ice cream and sold for a nickel. But they were a way to minimize the company’s loss when a batch of ice cream didn’t pass the taste test. In my dairy science class at Kansas State, I learned the dairy industry uses chocolate to cover unwanted flavors. A regular example is chocolate milk. For example, if a dairy cow gets out and eats the wrong feed, that feed may change the flavor of the milk she produces. Rather than waste the milk, the off flavor is covered with chocolate.

The same was true with the fudge bars. If the ice cream didn’t meet the spec, it was turned into a chocolate bar. The hometown bars were larger than the ones produced by the big factory and very tasty, even if they did sometimes contain a nut.

Another hometown delicacy I miss is the pumpernickel bread baked by the Superior Bakery. I’ve tried to reproduce that delicacy in Rita’s kitchen but thus far my rendition falls short of that backed by John Pettigrew. But I haven’t given up. I continue to search for a pumpernickel bread recipe that will allow me to make a product similar to what I bought at the Superior Bakery.

But it has been so long since I had the “real thing” I may not recognize it.

As the years pass I think my tastes change.

As a youngster, I detested the taste of the canned plums a Superior cafe often served with their meals. Now the purple plums which are sometimes available at the local supermarket are my favorite store-bought canned fruit. They must be well liked as they are often not available.