The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-07-23
FAMOUS HANOVER MELONS.
Wait for th) Wagon With The Whit
Canvass and The Rustic Cicerone.
SNDGET ZEN JGSSOPTD LIyIE VINE
They VIII Soon be Here With All Their
Freshness and Sweeincss-How.
When. and Where TO Eat tho
Wonderful Fruit.

Oh, ham bone am sweet possum am
good,
'Tatcrs are very. very iine
But. gimme. oh, gimme / really visa
YOU would.
Dat waternlHon smiin from de yinel
SO runs the chorus OF Polk Miler's =
popular song, which has the merit OF
being truthful as well as melodIous in
its music. so just about this time II may
be quoted with great appropriateness. as
the season for what the darkies cai
"watermillions' draws near.
Everybody who knows good tning
when they see 10 knows that the Han
over watermelon is good thing and az
far ahead of any other melon as an
electric light distances a solitary gas jet.
Hanover Is not far from Richmond. 80
that it does not take many hours for the
juicy fruit TO Dee brought from tho patch
and vine where they grow 10 the thirsty
citizens OF Richmond.
The Hanover melon vcnder Is "A unique
character peculiar 10 this vicinity, ana
everybody knows his cart blocks away
before his cry announcing his wares IS
| heard
THE FAMILIAR CRY.
Tho cart I'm question is a twO-wheeled
affair, covered with "a canvas top spread
over hoop-poles. and generally indebted
! for its motive power 10 a mule, who
seems as natural IN front of the load OF
melons ms does the negro driver who
/ drives and sings out his business at the
same time.
And that cryl How delightful # sounds.
especially about noon on hot day Here
| IL is as nearly as cold type can set *
! forth
"W-a-t-c-r-m-i- -
! W-a-t-o-r-m-i-l-l | got
'em fresh-I got 'em hne-I got 'em Jess
I on de livin' vine
"D'ems got money. come up 'en buy.
III YOU got none. stand back en cry
Green rind red meat fun or Juice, en-
so sweet
So runs the cry. varied from time to
/ time. by different sellers Of the fruit but
! about ike that.
And out comes the people to get the
watermelons from stores. shops and res
/ licences. or wherever they are. and the
vendor Is always oblieing enough TO como
u9 close 10 the sidewalk
Ia the cart. reposing ON a bed Of straw.
/ lies the beautiful fruit. in all It's ripeness
and fresh from the patch. scarcely dry
! from the dews Of the night before.
WHEN THEY ARE RIPE
BY experience most people in Richmond
/ can tell a ripe melon by humping ~ and
/ then too il is rare that the man bringing
the melons viii make an error IN bringing
unripe fruit TO town.
] SO ono can scarcely 70 wrong in selecting
his melon and then many OF the sellers
WIFI allow the fruit 10 be plugged and
by this method showing conclusivcly It's
ripcness. so you ought not 10 be fooled.
The best way to c29 watermelon is 70
cat IL in the pate it grows, parlY
/ I'm the morning when 10 Is found cool with
/ the dew. and those who can eat It thus
need not envy those that sit at meat
| even at The Waldorf, for consuming your
| melon thus Is the acme Of delight for ia
vor and cOOlness are both delightful,
Next after this way Is ~ get your
melon from the melon cant described and
/ put 10 ln your refrigerator or Ice box ana
iet IL srow cool.
Not cold. mind you. for II II is cold
the taste IS gone. and you will miss tho
delicious hayor which Is not 10 be found
artihcialy and which goes from the
watermelon entirely with any freezing
! process.
DO not eat il alone for II anything is en-
joyahle IL Is seeing other people, your
! friends. eat watcrmelOns with you. Send
for your noighbors 10 join you and your
/ family In eating what Is perhaps the best
fruit Heaven ever sent 10 man.
n will not be long before the cry or
/ the Hanover watermelon man Will be
heard IN the city. and the rumble Of his
cart wheels will also strike the listening
ears Of citizens
WAIT FOR THE WAGON.
While it Is. of course. possible to get
! waterm0ions from Go0rgid aud fborida
long before they are ripe in virginia.
/ owing TO the fCrwardnes sof the summer
season in those States. yet the consump-
/ ton OF these imported melons h sHai
here
Most people In Richmond wait for the
| appearance of the melon man, mule, cart,
and melons from sood Old Hanover ara
therein do show good Judgment
The melons which come ncm the
! Southern states are necessarily picked
when unripe. bc.ause II ripe they would
not stand the transportation here
So that these are generally unripe, or
if they have become seemingly ripe while
on the way here. they are not for an IN
slant 90 be- compared with our native pro-
duet
High and low. rich arl poor. white and
negro will welcome the comlpg water
melon season and enjoy this healihful de-
Hghtful and fascinating fruit
The fondncss OF the negro for watermet
ons has long ago passed into proNerI
and he IS an ardent and trelNept con-
sumor Of them.
III rs not unusual 20 see groups OF dAf
/ kies. male and ffmale, seated on tht
curbstones. near 20 snd In the markets.
eating watermelQns with the greatest Iei'
/ irI and ielirIf