Oh, what a great place it was for a young guy! “So’s Your Mother,” Boswell’s Select Foods, Reed’s Ice Cream, Smitty’s Donuts and (still there) Miller’s Hardware.
That neighborhood was my first playground but the gentrification slowly required more respect for the need for family housing. The bare land that once was home to Boswell restaurant, where the best Sunday morning hash browns were served, is now home to six low income town houses. We developed those as part of our 28 “rent to own” concept for the residents to eventually own their future homes. So our old playground is now a thriving neighborhood, again. Thanks for taking us down memory lane …
I lived in the same apartment building when it was brand new--had a cute little efficiency on the bottom level. I had moved to Des Moines after college and worked at Orchard Place as a social worker. I moved out of the neighborhood in August 1971, when I got married, so I just missed being your neighbor by several months, Chuck! I have some wonderful memories from that neighborhood too. Thanks for bringing them all back.
Thanks for the memories, Chuck. Love Miller Hardware. Our first house was an old one and Miller always had repair parts I couldn’t get elsewhere. Burned a lot of brain cells at Mother’s, but also heard great blues artists from Chicago like Luther Allison and Son Seals. Remember that big skylight they had upstairs? Had many affordable reporter lunches at Mustards, served up by Tony. Had way too many tequila shots one night at Uncle Sam’s. I swore off tequila for a long time after that. Boswells - Saturday morning breakfast was a combination of early risers sipping coffee and people who had been up all night sipping bottled Bud. Great hash browns.
Nice column. Knew the area in the sixties and seventies.
Motherskh has moved to madisoson W. Jeff's d ughter runs it.
Thanks, Chuck. I lived very near there from 1979-1981, and remember Miller’s Hardware and Mustard’s.
Don't forget Blind Munchies, Readers World or Music Factory.
I do remember So's Your Mother. Reeds had great loose meat sandwiches.
Chuck, I enjoyed your trip down memory lane. I arrived in DM in 1980 and recognized some of those businesses you named.
That neighborhood was my first playground but the gentrification slowly required more respect for the need for family housing. The bare land that once was home to Boswell restaurant, where the best Sunday morning hash browns were served, is now home to six low income town houses. We developed those as part of our 28 “rent to own” concept for the residents to eventually own their future homes. So our old playground is now a thriving neighborhood, again. Thanks for taking us down memory lane …
I lived in the same apartment building when it was brand new--had a cute little efficiency on the bottom level. I had moved to Des Moines after college and worked at Orchard Place as a social worker. I moved out of the neighborhood in August 1971, when I got married, so I just missed being your neighbor by several months, Chuck! I have some wonderful memories from that neighborhood too. Thanks for bringing them all back.
Thanks for the memories, Chuck. Love Miller Hardware. Our first house was an old one and Miller always had repair parts I couldn’t get elsewhere. Burned a lot of brain cells at Mother’s, but also heard great blues artists from Chicago like Luther Allison and Son Seals. Remember that big skylight they had upstairs? Had many affordable reporter lunches at Mustards, served up by Tony. Had way too many tequila shots one night at Uncle Sam’s. I swore off tequila for a long time after that. Boswells - Saturday morning breakfast was a combination of early risers sipping coffee and people who had been up all night sipping bottled Bud. Great hash browns.
Those were the days my friend! Millers, Mothers, Boswells…♥️