The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-02-09

/ vi ~
! and hot waf1es," declared a young
! Southern woman who keeps a lunch
and tea room at a winter resort.
when mother and I were left alone
we planned to take Northern tourists
as boarders. Almost every one down
there does, you know. Our house
being small we could only make room
for three, and at the end Of the sea-
son we found ourselves almost $50
behind with our grocer and owing for
four tons of hard coal. To persons
with the slender income that we nave
this debt seemed appalling, and when
the next winter came we didn't dare
to try again.
Zone Of the ladies who had boarded
with us returned the next winter and
was taken in by one of our nearest
neighbors. Every few days she would
drop in on us and try 20 prevail on
| mother to take her to board again.
She explained that she liked the
things we gave her to eat-old fash
toned Southern dishes.
"As I had read a lot about the sue
cess of tea rooms I spoke to this
woman, asking whether If mother
and I should open such a place she
would come and bring her friends.
She assured us tina: she would no.
only come for tea but would take her
lunches with US as often as we had
hot frltters or waf1es.
at didn't take much preparation.
We simply threw u parlor and din
ing room together, set out all the
small tables we had in the house, saw
that the china and silver were handy,
/ made a bowl of batter for wafies and
put a pan of biscuits in the oven when
we saw our former boarder coming
I'D the front walk with three women
friends.
"That was for lunch, and when the
four left an hour and a half later we
had taken in 81. The food consumed
was two broiled chickens, a pan CT
biscuits, ever so many hot wafles and
syrup, a small pat of butter and fou7
cups Of tea.
All Wanted to Eat.
They left US with the understand
ing that we would serve them tea,
persimmon beer, rolled waters and
fritters that afternoon from five to
six. They were there on time with
a troop of people from the golf links.
They had talked about the nice South
ern dishes we had given them for
lunch so successfully that about
everybody in earshot had come over
to see what could be had n the way
of afternoon tea.
There were ten people there that
afternoon and they drank a bottle CT
persimmon beer apiece. Now you
know persimmon beer is not a COM
mon beverage in the South and
mother is one of the few people in
our neighborhood who make it. That
year we had put up less than three
dozen bottles, so when those people
left our winters supply was much
diminished.
I'VE we're so much encouraged,
however, that I sat up late that night
writing notices, that we had opened
a lunch and tea room, to leave in the
Office of our one tourist hotel and at
the country club. We were busy the
next morning setting out and prepar-
ing everything we had in the house in
hope of having perhaps as many as
the day before, and yet we were both
so timid and uncertain that we didn't
dare to go to the expense Of buying
anything extra. When night came we
were just about eaten out of house
and home with nearly $50 in Jul
pockets.
after this experience we felt Sc
cure enough not only to replenish our
supplies but to hire a young girl to
help in the kitchen and lunch room
and two more to come in the after
noon to be called on in case Of neces-
sity during the tea hour. We had
work for them all that afternoon, and
had to send over to our neighbors to
borrow extra cups, saucers and
spoons.
THAT afternoon finished our sup
ply of persimmon beer. The next
morning 7 borrowed a horse and
buggy and drove ten or twelve miles
hunting for more of it. I succeeded
in buying four dozen bottles and two
three gallon jugs full.
Willing to Pay.
"After consulting our friend and
former boarder we decided hat the
only way to make our supply of beer
hold out was by putting up the price.
From ten cents a glass we raised it to
twenty-five cents. Can You imagine
people paying twenty-five cents for a
small glass of persimmon beer? Well,
they did it, and so many of them that
our supply vanished during the
Christmas holidays. Several Of
them bought it by the tottle to send
bacI. to their friends for Christmas
presents.
After the persimmon beer was all
gone we had to fall back on blackber-
ry cordial and Scuppernong wine.
This we served with fruit cake-the
kind we call black wedding cake.
II used to think there was nc end
to the apDetites OF u customers
when we first began to serve that