Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Here’s a little piece of my home town.
Charlie’s Corner Store - Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (Sault Ste. Marie is dearly referred to as “the Soo

As is the case with many other cities, the local corner stores have gone away. Here in the Soo many people will remember corner stores and confectioneries with names like; Ken’s, Diane’s, Franlen’s, and Lenora’s, among many others.

In my neighbourhood, the place to go was Charlie’s Confectionery. Charlie’s was a bright and busy little store that had everything you needed; a loaf of fresh Bluebird bread, a quart of milk from Soo Dairy, a cup of coffee and candy, lots of candy.

In the door you went and on the left was the shelf with the bread and the pastries and the peanut brittle boxes that I remember very well. During Christmas gift exchange at St. James School, someone was always bound to get a box of peanut brittle, and you knew it came from Charlie’s.

Straight ahead was the large glass cabinet that held the candy. 3 for a penny, sometimes 5 for a penny, you could pick from Jubes, green mint leaves, peppermints, mojos, Double Bubble gum, Black Cat gum and much more. For 10˘, you could buy a lot of stuff. Your order was filled and it was never served to you with hands wearing rubber gloves. Who would even think of such a thing!

High atop the cabinet was the mighty rack that held the chocolate bars. You had to ask for one because it was too high for an 8 year old to reach. Maybe you wanted an Oh Henry or an EatMore or maybe just a plain Jersey Milk. Sometimes it was hard to choose but no one was in a hurry so it didn’t matter.

Behind the cabinet you would find the usual grocery items lined up on shelves on the walls; canned food, sugar, salt, aspirins, everything. Again, you had to ask for what you wanted unless you were an adult. I remember thinking about how cool it must be to be a grown-up and to be able to help yourself at Charlie’s.

Then there was the coffee bar. The counter was topped with shiny chrome napkin dispensers and small glass cream bottles that held the toothpicks. At one end, you might find a cardboard pallet full of doughnuts and long johns from Bluebird Bakery. Early in the morning and at lunch time, the coffee bar would be busy. So busy, that sometimes people would stand with their coffee. The traffic outside would be hard to believe today in a small neighbourhood. City workers, policemen, milkmen, breadmen, and public utilities men would spend their breaks drinking coffee, sitting on shiny chrome stools topped with red leather. The mood was always happy and noisy, the smell of coffee and cigarettes hung pleasantly in the air. The doughnuts were really good and they NEVER tasted like smoke. After the coffee, out would come the brown leather cup with the dice in it. A city worker might take a chance and “roll for the coffee”, double or nothing and although the outcome was often “nothing”, no one left Charlie’s empty handed. Someone always bought something.

Hockey Night in Canada was a ritual at our house in the 60’s and early 70’s so Saturday night meant popcorn and pop. While my mom made the popcorn, someone would whip down to Charlies for a six pack. There were six of us at home, perfect, six people, six pop in a cardboard carton with a handle. An Orange Crush, a Wink, a Pepsi, a Canada Dry ginger ale and 2 Doran’s cream sodas. The pop was in a big old Coca Cola cooler at the front of the store right beside the rack of potato chips. You might grab a double pack of Humpty Dumpty Barbecue to go along with the popcorn.

Charlie’s was always closed on Christmas Day but if you needed an emergency item like batteries for a new toy or poultry seasoning for your stuffing, you could give a quick call down to the store and ask if you could make a purchase. The answer was always yes, so you made the trip and got what you wanted. Charlie and his family lived in the back of the store, so there was always someone there to help you.

On a hot summer day, you might have made the trip down to Charlie’s more than once. You could stand outside the store and enjoy a big ice cream cone or a Chilly Willy and even though the trash can was only a few feet away against the telephone pole, the ground was always littered with popsicle wrappers and sticks, little brown candy bags and the comics from the Double Bubble gum.

Over the years, since Charlie himself passed away, the store was operated by many others but was always called “Charlie’s”. Charlie’s is gone now. The building still stands and is occupied by the office of a local plumber. That local plumber grew up in the neighbourhood and also has many good memories of Charlie’s Confectionery.

Late at night when the store was closed, all you could see was the illumination from the “Model Dairy” clock inside. That same clock was given to me and is now in my mother’s kitchen on Campbell Avenue. It has been telling time there for over 25 years and will continue to be our little piece of Charlie’s Confectionery. The clock is still ticking but time stands still.

Frances D

Submitted: Wednesday 28th January 2004, 1:42 AM

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