The Guernsey Cow, Exton, Pennsylvania

The Guernsey Cow From Above – New Photo

The Guernsey Cow from Above Late 1940s — The Guernsey Cow Property ca. late 1940s

Both the beauty and sometimes agony of going through my grandmother’s collection of things she’s saved over the years is that I often find nuggets of gold among things that I wonder why she saved. I know they all meant something to her and she had her reasons for saving either to look at later or to share with me and the rest of the family.

I found the negative for this photo with a few other negatives in a pile of Christmas photos from the 1970s. This is an aerial photo of The Guernsey Cow and Sleepy Hollow Hall (aka The Massey House) shot from the South side of the Lincoln Highway (Rte 30). I’m guessing that it’s late 1940s. Perhaps someone with a keener eye for cars can pinpoint it better.

If you click on the photo you can see a larger version and see the shadow of The Cow billboard at the bottom as it appeared at the time.

Note that The Cow billboard was built once World War II ended, so this could have been shot soon after The Cow was put in place. Also note the position of the sign. This was taken before the highway was widened and The Cow sign had to be moved. See the difference in position based on this photo from 1974.

For other aerial shots of Exton and The Cow see my previous post.

Making & Selling Famous Cream Caramels

In the mid to late 1930s, when The Guernsey Cow was still known as The Exton Dairy Grill, Larry Polite was already making a name for himself and his place with both his ice cream and his famous cream caramels. Of all the materials both my grandparents saved from The Cow the largest gap consists of the recipes for ice cream and caramels.

Cooked up in huge copper kettles, the caramels became truly world famous as tourists stopped, heading East or West along the Lincoln Highway, before turnpikes and bypasses. When they couldn’t bring ice cream home to places like Michigan, California and beyond, customers brought tubs of the caramels with them. Letters soon followed requesting delivery of caramels from all over. Flavors were chocolate, vanilla and black walnut which seemed to be a the most popular request in the letters we have.

This was an early card that was handed out to customers encouraging long distance orders of caramels and candy. Note the proprietors’ names, “Polite & John”. This was early on when my grandfather had partnered with Jimmy John who later went on to make a name for himself in the hot dog and sandwich business south of West Chester. The reverse side of the card reveals a typical request:

Caramel Request on back of Business Card — "June 17, 1935 - My wife just found this card in an old purse. Last summer we stopped at your place and found the best caramels we ever tasted. If you still make them please send me a dollar's worth. - Harold C. Brooks - Marshall, Mich."

In September of 1935, Polite had sent caramels to Frank B. Foster’s assistant, Sara Osborne, in Philadelphia. Osborne had been very helpful in the transactions that led to Polite purchasing the business from Foster and she stayed in close contact through the years. My grandfather routinely sent gifts and was also probably, in this case, showing off his new caramel product. Her letter began, “Your caramels are very good, and I presume you are now making these yourself. In fact they are bout the best I ever tasted.”

She then went on to suggest he improve his packaging since they “were received in rather bad condition…” and went on to say, “your paper was too thin and the string too light to carry them.” No doubt this led to the need to proper containers that would travel well and could be shipped as well.

Later, the caramels were sold in waxed cardboard tubs with a die-cut cow head in the top to give it a fun way to dispense the candies. The cow head was an easy reach for small hands but not too small for adult hands either.

In a May 3, 1951 article in The Archive (of Downingtown, PA) celebrating Larry’s 20th year in business, the writer detailed some of the challenges in caramel making:

Two days a week is caramel making day. Recently when he was having trouble getting the candy to the right consistency for wrapping — it was either too soft or too hard — he hit on the ide of plugging in his wife’s hair dryer. Now the caramels can be softened or hardened to the proper degree by pushing the hot or cool air button.

Larry Polite Works the Register — Larry Polite behind the scale and register with caramels on display along with Exton Dairy Grill Coffee

This photo and the other of my grandfather were most likely taken by avid photographer, Jimmy John.

Headless cow spurs a search in Chester County | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/02/2011

I meant to post and a link to the article that appeared at the beginning of June in the Philadelphia Inquirer. For those readers that aren’t local, you can read the whole thing here:

Headless cow spurs a search in Chester County | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/02/2011.

Somewhere Out There

This past weekend, The Daily Local News published an article about an ad hoc committee formed in West Whiteland Township to discuss what to do with the remnants of the The Guernsey Cow sign that was dismantled in 1985 and how best to remember The Cow (I am a member of the committee). Part of that committee’s efforts is attempting to find the head of the Cow that was stolen in the middle of the night Tuesday, July 23, 1985.

As mentioned a few years ago here, the bovine billboard that stood watch over the Exton, PA crossroads for 40 years was being removed in the summer of 1985 since The Guernsey Cow business had closed and the sign was starting to rot and fade. On Wednesday, July 17, 1985, The Daily Local News published an article (written by Michael Rellahan, the same author of Sunday’s article) about the signs impending removal.

In a quote from the article about the Cow coming down, my grandfather said, “It would be a conversation piece, though, if somebody wanted to pull it up. If you want a cow to put on your front lawn, it’s yours.” Within a week, someone took his offer litterally. At some point between dusk July 23, 1985 and dawn July 24, 1985, the head of the cow was stolen.

As the billboard was two-sided, there were actually two heads stolen that evening consisting of light but floppy and unwieldy large panels of sheet metal. As the article mentions, it’s suspected that the team was able to accomplish the mission in the wee hours when traffic was light.

Almost 30 years later, personally, the story of the theft, more than vengeance or the pursuit of justice, is what drives my desire to track down the heads and the current owner(s). I’d love to hear the story behind the scenes. Were these teenagers that, on a spur-of-the-moment challenge, dared each other to a daring middle-of-the-night raid? Were these West Chester State College kids stuck in town for the summer in need of fraternity house decorations? I’d also love to see the head and where it rests, whether in a local field, overgrown with weeds, or in some former teenager’s — now middle-ager’s — basement.

Later in 1985, my grandfather donated the remaining portions of the billboard to West Whiteland Township since they had expressed such interest in preserving it and using it in a public space. Since then, the billboard, minus its head, has sat in storage, in pieces, paint flaking while the township has occasionally talked of what to do with it but never gotten far beyond the talk.

Now they’re talking again. It would be nice to see something done for real that would be some sort of testament to what The Cow meant to the community all those decades, whether it’s small or as larges as a 35-foot-tall Guernsey Cow. It would be nice to do that with at least one of the heads or the story behind their disappearance.

—

If you know someone or heard about a guy who knows a guy who knows who took the sign, help us connect the dots. The statute of limitations is up on this incident so it’s more for the story now than anything else. Let’s solve this cold case! Email me at busboy at theguernseycow.com — your information will be treated with the utmost confidence!

Meet You At The Cow

I just passed by the pile of newspaper clippings and paper in The Guernsey Cow bin and this card caught my eye. I read it and realized it has a little more ‘story’ and ‘hype’ than an earlier version of the history of The Cow that appeared on the back of a menu.

Permit us to welcome you to “The Guernsey Cow“, at Exton, where the Lincoln Highway (U.S. 30) crosses Route 100, just three miles south of the Downingtown interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Whether you be a neighbor from a nearby town or city, or a guest from Maine, Florida or California, call again, and again.

No matter where you travel, you will never find ice cream with better flavor or cream caramels as smooth and of more healthful content than that served here, amde with dairy products from tested Guernsey Cows.

The Guernsey Cow has been under the same management since 1931, and during that time we have taken great pride in serving the finest of Foods and Dairy Products. The manufacture of our own ice cream and famous cream caramels is done right on the premises, using the finest ingredients available anywhere. A majority of the many and unusual Guernsey Cow Ice Cream flavors are originals, not to be found in any other dairy store in the country. Our cream caramels are nationally and internationally known and are regularly sent all over the world, while our ice cream is occasionally flown to Europe to satisfy customer appetites.

The store building originally was a barn, and the stones in the building, today, are part of that old structure. Through the years, since its construction, the original building has gone through many internal changes. From a produce stand, to a fluid milk dairy, through a wholesale ice cram plant, and an ice cream mix plant, The Dairy Grille finally emerged in 1931. By 1941, the original Dairy Grille was changed to The Guernsey Cow, a name which was adopted through the insistence of our customers. Anywhere you might travel today, you can usually find someone who will understand the phrase, “MEET YOU AT THE COW“.

The residence on the property is one of the oldest in this vicinity. The back part of this house was apparently built in 1685 by people who moved into this valley, following the lines of migration north from Chester on the Delaware River, the oldest settlement in Pennsylvania. About 1740, an addition was built to the original small house by a George Massey. Mr. Massey was a great friend of George Washington, and he, Mr. Washington, was a frequent visitor and guest of Mr. Massey. This information was given to us by the Historical Society of Chester County. In 1820, the front part of the house was constructed. This contains excellent examples of mantles of that period.

Well-marked roads to Valley Forge, the great shrine of American patriotism, branch to the left of Lancaster Pike as you go to Philadelphia. Near Paoli is the site of the Paoli Massacre, where the British Troops surprised Mad Anthony Wayne, whose birthplace and grave ar just beyond, near Devon.

Visitors from a distance will enjoy a rather interesting trip by taking the road to West Chester and going on to Brandywine Creek, where one of the early battles of the Revolutionary War was fought.

Visit The Guernsey Cow as often as you can. Tell your friends. Come out any time. Bring the children.

When traveling East, stop in to see us, just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Downingtown interchange.

THE GUERNSEY COW
on the Lincoln Highway
seven miles west of Paoli, at
“The crossroads of the World”
Exton, Pennsylvania
Phone: (215) 363-9796

The Philadelphia Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was completed in 1950 which would have included the Downingtown interchange. The emphasis on the proximity of The Cow to the Downingtown interchange was probably a response to traffic that the turnpike drew away from what had been the main East-West corridor: the Lincoln Highway aka Lancaster Pike aka U.S. Rte 30.

I like the phrase, “The crossroads of the world” to describe the intersection of Routes 100 & 30 in the center of Exton. I don’t know if that was something my grandfather created or whether other folks thought the same. I know we grew up thinking that’s what it was — and that the world thought the same.

Printer’s Block

Printer’s block used in printing some of The Guernsey Cow promotional material.

Famous Cream Caramels

This image is in the archives at The Chester County Historical Society in West Chester. It’s the only one they have related to The Guernsey Cow in their archives.

[They have a nice service there where you can pay them to research a topic or multiple topics and determine what information and photos they have on record. Or you can go in yourself and dig around in the library reading room. Someday I’ll spend afternoons there mining their collection for various historical tidbits.]

The Guernsey Cow was famous for its ice cream and for its hand-made cream caramels. The caramels were cooked up in huge copper kettles with big wooden paddles. The caramels were wrapped in branded wax paper and then stuffed into the tubs like those shown. The lid had a die-cut guernsey cow head in it that popped out and made a nice way of pulling caramels out as you needed.

“Famous Cream Caramels from the World’s Largest Guernsey Cow” is the slogan on the side of the tub and as referenced in a previous post they were also famous among the famous. For the long-distance traveler they were the perfect take-home product when you couldn’t take the ice cream with you.

Exton, PA through the ages from above

I was digging around on West Chester Jim’s history site recently and stumbled on a link for the Pennsylvania Geological Survey’s site for historical aerial photography of Pennsylvania.

In 1937, this is what the crossroads in Exton looked like:

Aerial Photo of Exton, PA (Chester County) in 1937

Mostly farm fields and woods. Here’s the same photo zoomed in on the crossroads of Routes 100 and 30 (the Lincoln Highway).

Next I overlayed the same shot with a shot from 1971.

The Exton Square Mall had not yet been developed but the Exton Drive-In is there (can you find it?). Plenty of housing and commercial development are starting to show their marks on the West Whiteland landscape.

Exton, PA Crossroads 1971 - Routes 100 & 30 — Exton, PA Crossroads 1971 – Routes 100 & 30

The photo below is a shot of The Guernsey Cow around 1974 or 75 after The Exton Square Mall was put in and the K-Mart and Exton Cinema were under construction. My grandfather had this in his office and my older brother has it on display in his home now.

The Guernsey Cow and Exton, PA Crossroads circa 1974

A close-up below shows The Cow property, Sleepy Hollow Hall (aka The Massey House) and The Guernsey Cow sign across Lancaster Highway.

And another overlay below using Google Maps shows the level of development in the crossroads today 30 years later.

The Guernsey Cow property below as it is today as the DNBFirst bank.

The Guernsey Cow/ DNBFirst Bank circa 2007

The Exton Dairy Grille 1940

Before The Guernsey Cow changed names and signage in 1945, it was known as The Exton Dairy Grille. This is how it appeared in 1940 on a Friday morning.

Flooded World War II Era Exton, PA

Cars and a truck navigate the Lincoln Highway during a flood in Exton, PA

At some time during World War II Exton apparently suffered a significant flood. The Valley Creek that runs along the road across from what was then The Exton Dairy Grill looks to have overflowed its banks. A Brandywine Farms truck navigates the waters along with two cars.

Our Ice Cream for Health; War Bonds for Victory

Before there was The Guernsey Cow billboard, during World War II, this sign pointed the way to The Exton Dairy Grill and proclaimed “Our Ice Cream for Health; War Bonds for Victory.”

Flooded Lincoln Highway brings out tow truck rescue