My sister, Erin, brother, Brian, and I (in snappy jacket and tie) pose in Amish hats in front of the grill inside The Guernsey Cow, Easter morning 1970. Every Easter after church at nearby Sts. Philip & James we would gather at The Cow for breakfast. An Easter basket hunt out behind The Cow among the large trees and bushes with Willie‘s help was always the main event.
The other benefit to being grandchildren of the owners was searching for loose change that fell on floor beneath the ice cream counter. In the photo below from 1973, my brother, Brian, and I are caught in the act.
Thanks to my sister for borrowing these photos from our grandmother, Gladys’, collection!
If you have photos inside or outside of The Guernsey Cow, email me copies to post on the site — we’d love to see them!
The Guernsey Cow, Exton, Pennsylvania 
Hey look at those rascals!
Oh the memories! Those pictures are exactly what I remember from 1977-79 when I worked there. I helped cook and eat many a #54 on that stainless grill before I would eat the delicious mocha chip ice cream ( I still consider it my favorite ice cream!) My sister Suzy and I both worked there as well as many of my high school friends ( Hi Erin!). I have a picture of Willie and my old boyfriend sitting at E3. Wiilie’s house out back was always so hot! and he couldn’t say my name. Just called me Yaddie. I had forgotten Mackie until I read the previous blog. This is awesome!!
claudia Hauck Daly
I worked at The Cow when I was 16 for about two years, ’70+’71, as did my sister Maureen a year earlier. In addition to working as a waiter, bus boy, dishwasher and counter person, I was asked by Pep to come in an extra day for four hours to help him make the ice cream. It was fun and he was (is?) a great guy. I remember he was a skier who told me about incredible 25 mile ski runs they had in Switzerland. He was also the resident mechanic as I recall and on the side had a automatic garage door opener business. Vince was a wonderful guy who had a great heart. Elmer and I never really got along but he was a good manager. One day I was scooping an ice cream cone for a woman with an easy going manner and quiet air of authority who was probably in her late 60’s or early 70’s. We had a very nice conversation for about five minutes and then she left. Elmer then came over and asked if I knew who she was and I said no. He said that was Mary C. Howse after whom the elementary school on Boot Road is named. Since I was raised in the neighbor directly behind the school’s athletic field and remember as a young boy when the school was built his telling me who she was meant a lot to me. I have a lot of good memories of working at The Cow. I was sad to see that Willie passed away some years ago. I not only knew him at The Cow but a couple of years later started to run in to him again when I got a job managing the Exton Drive-In Theater concession stand. He used to come into the theater on his wonderfully decorated bike, park it in one of the stalls and watch the movie. I don’t know for sure but I believe the cashiers let him in free. I think it would be hard for anyone who really knew Willie to take money from him. I remember at the concession stand we used to load him up with free popcorn. Good times.
Michael Helms