Baltimore Shops Exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Industry

Poster included in the exhibit of Baltimore Shops at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

The Baltimore Museum of Industry on Key Highway has a terrific exhibit which runs through March 8, 2015. It features an assortment of shops and stores that many of us patronized before the big chains appeared in our city and suburbs. Among those locally owned stores is a known favorite of Baltimoreans who shopped at Edmondson Village and Eastpoint Shopping Center. Of course I'm talking about Hess Monkey Town.

"Hess Monkey Town" oil on canvas 

The painting that I did nearly 30 years ago one night as I tried to imagine what it looked like appears again here in this blog.  However my breath was nearly taken away when I saw a photograph of the interior of Hess Monkey Town's barbershop The Snippery. (I'm not sure if this photo below is Eastpoint or Edmondson because of the exterior landscape). It was the first time in my life that I saw a photo of this memorable shoe store/barbershop. I am happily surprised at how much I remembered about how Monkey Town looked. Even the spooky, fake monkeys on the wall seemed to leave an impression on me since the primates that I painted were just as crazed looking.

"The Snippery" at Hess Shoes in Edmondson Village or Eastpoint

I know the photo is a bit rough, after all I shot it with my iphone and it's behind glass. I highly recommend that you get yourselves to the museum to see this exhibit. You will feel a thrill as you enter this magical environment created by the BMI's dedicated employees and volunteers. And you will see the sign in this photograph that has a monkey menu which is impossible to read here.
The Baltimore Museum of Industry is open Tuesday through Sunday - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you have some additional thoughts after visiting please post your thoughts here. I'd be very pleased to hear from you.

EDMONDSON VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTER

"Edmondson Village at Christmastime" oil on board

Edmondson Village Shopping Center in west Baltimore, MD was our destination when the ride downtown to Howard and Lexington was not necessary. It was a grand complex built in the architectural style of Williamsburg. In fact my grandfather’s company, Sorensen Construction Corporation, laid most of the bricks for the entire plaza which opened in 1947.

The shopping center at night.

It had a tone of fun and amusement but there was also an air of elegance to the stores and so we had to dress up to shop there. Not quite wearing our crinolines, but no shorts or pants were permitted. We always parked in the rear of Hochschild’s because it was shady in the summertime and rarely congested like the front lots were. The escalator ride to the second floor toy department was a joyful ascent. They had the Tiny Tears doll that I coveted in 1957 and I would often visit her and dream of being her nurse. The Tommy Tucker Five and Dime was another favorite spot for children. They had all kinds of toys and novelties that were affordable for just about everyone. I wonder how many paddle-ball sets they sold in one year? Near Tommy Tucker there was a snazzy French restaurant called Mischanton’s where my school classmates would meet for Saturday lunch when we were old enough to dine without our parents. It had the hustle - bustle atmosphere of a Parisian Brasserie.
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Mischanton's Restaurant in Edmondson Village

Mishanton's kitchen seen from the outside window

At the other end of the stretch, in front of Hess Shoe Store, were the mechanical horses one could ride for five cents. If you yanked back on the reins, the horse would go faster. Of course just about everyone remembers Hess Monkey Town. I have written about it here before and so will include a link to that.click on the painting of "Hess Monkey Town" to read more

And of course the gorgeous movie theatre was where we saw so many first run Disney films among others. There were many merchants displaying their wares and clothing. Some of them included Gammerman’s, Whalen’s, Food Fair, Reamer’s and many more that I need help remembering.

Edmondson Village at Christmas (source unknown)

Christmastime at Edmondson Village was almost indescribably special. Every year on Thanksgiving night they would throw the switch to power lights strung across the rooftops and over the trees that grew near the brick wall by the busy Edmondson Avenue. Santa, as I recall, was driving his reindeer on the roof of Hochschild’s. What a splendid sight for everyone to see. It brought gawkers from everywhere in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The shopping center changed with the times. There was unbridled blockbusting which undermined the area beginning in the 1950’s. W. Edward Orser has written an excellent account of the history of the area his book “Blockbusting in Baltimore: The Edmondson Village Story."

HESS MONKEY TOWN

This little painting probably evokes, more than any other piece that I have done in my nostalgia series, responses from people of all ages. It's funny -- one night in 1988 I was sitting around trying to remember what that Hess Monkey Town window looked like and so I started to paint what was inside my head. I thought it would be a private painting just for me. I did not realize at the time how many people would need to see it, too. The painting and memory are based on a true story. The two little girls are myself and best friend Charlotte. We are wearing our school uniforms from Trinity Prep in Ilchester, MD where we spent our formative years side-by-side laughing at everything.

Crazy live monkeys provided the distraction barbers required to buzz the locks of junior while mother and daughter shopped in the adjoining Hess Shoes store. Located in Edmondson Village on Route 40 West in Baltimore, MD this store and barbershop made even buying saddle shoes for school entertaining. Children ascended carpeted steps to a ramp where salesman and parent observed at eye-level the little darling’s feet in motion. There was an X-ray machine (later rumored to cause poisonous radiation leakage) where you could view medical-like images of your feet inside new shoes.
One night after seeing “A Ticklish Affair” at the Edmondson Movie Theatre my girlfriend and I were waiting for one of our parents to pick us up and so we walked down to visit the monkeys in the window. We quickly realized that the monkeys were very interested in us and we began to taunt them. Before long we had them so stirred up that a lady, flashing a badge, warned us to move on. I will never forget the terror she instilled in us as she waved her wallet in our faces and promised to have us arrested if we persisted in laughing out loud and provoking the monkeys to hurl themselves at us. We meekly apologized walked back to stand in front of the theatre hoping that she would not pop out and and tell our parents about our bad behavior. I realized years later that she more than likely was not a detective or policewoman, but merely an animal lover who wanted the crazy monkeys to be calm. But from what I understand from the residents of the neighborhood, those monkeys were rarely peaceful.