Thursday, July 18, 2013

The Competiton


My Grandpa Glyman came to the United States from Greece.  Naxos to be exact.  I don't know much about his life but after a life time of not knowing I have learned the proper spelling of his original name; Glymakopoulos.  When I was little I asked my dad why grandpa changed his name.  My dad always said, "because it was too hard to spell."  I thought he was joking.  He was a real tease.  But maybe that is the reason after all.

    As far as I know Grandpa Glyman bought properties and rented them.  He had buildings and businesses in Chicago and bought land in the country.  You know, Naperville and Barrington.  He had a good head for business and was quite good at what he did.  But to me, Grandpa was a bakery owner. He was not a baker.  He worked in a dark and smokey office that was very cold.  All of his children worked at the bakery.  It was a big factory bakery.  Trains delivered the flour.  The bags of flour were then stacked as high as the ceiling.  Too high for me to climb on.  A mountain of flour.
 
The bakery was called Golden Hearth/National Baking Co.  Golden Hearth was a commercial bakery.  Restaurants all around Chicago-land carried 'our' products.  When we went out to eat in Elmhurst, we had buns baked at grandpa's bakery.  Delicious crisp crusted kaiser rolls.  The sweets department was not like what we see nowadays, it was pretty limited.  They made eclairs and brownies and napoleons, fancy cookies with paper images on them and the most wonderful birthday cakes.

Two things I knew growing up

1. My dad wished he had gotten the McDonald's account.  This was before they were big.  This was in the 60's.  He had a hunch.

2.  Mary Ann's was the competitor.


I didn't know how much my dad made or if he got along with his father.
But for some reason, I knew Mary Ann's was the competition.

The competition

I bought these from Target on Monday.  They were the only package sitting in the empty spot on the shelf.  If you have eaten a hot dog in Chicago, you have eaten it on one of these buns.  No doubt.

I didn't hesitate. I bought them.
What a neat thing to find at Target.

A Starbucks Chai and nostalgia in one quick trip.

Good. Times.




Encourage one another,
Donna











30 comments:

  1. Love hearing family history/stories ~

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  2. Anonymous9:00 AM

    and your dad was the model of the little man on the packaging. At least that is what he and my dad told me. Course, they kidded so much, sometimes I wonder what I took and have taken for truth was a huge joke on their part
    Kris Irving Schwarz

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    1. Anonymous10:04 AM

      Aww Kris! THAT is a sweet and funny memory! Thank you for sharing!! <3

      sis' cindy :)

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    2. I never heard that story... But I like it! Oh your dad and my dad. They were the best!!

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    3. Dad friends...great memories. I love that you comment here, Kris.

      Di

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  3. Anonymous9:29 AM

    I love to hear stories about you and your family! Thank you for sharing this neat little story, Donna.

    By the way, the car you saw on my Instagram feed last night actually once belonged to Kris' dad. So, when the opportunity to buy it came along, well Kris had to take it. The license plates still say POP! : )

    Sarah P. from Iowa

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    Replies
    1. I love these family history stories too :-)

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  4. What a great post!
    My friend served burgers and brats on Mary Ann's buns at the graduation party at her house. She bought them at Costco. I thought they were the best commercial bun I've had in a long time!
    I'll have to see if the Target by me carries them. I'm not a Costco shopper.

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  5. Im strangely attracted to all thing Target this Summer. Walgreens used to put me in a trance, now its Target.....
    I love their pet aisles, their stationery aisle and their sales.....

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    Replies
    1. I know, I know ... it's become an obsession to go there at least once a week ... wandering the aisles and looking for cool clearance things. Tried to convince myself it was just the need for air conditioning ... but this start back in January .... LOL Linda

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    2. Our family motto, for several years:

      It is nigh into impossible to walk out of target without spending $100, no matter what you went in for.

      Closest target is 45 minutes away. And that's a very good thing for the state of our family budget....

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  6. Anonymous10:52 AM

    I like reading your blog so much, and I mean this in the nicest way. I do not like your new "logo" at the top. ( I know you have had it a while, I should have told you sooner) It interferes with the text and is so big to load. I liked your other pretty picture so much better.

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  7. Amy J in WI11:05 AM

    ...and your husband was a baker too. You have had an interesting life! Thanks for sharing it with us. Any interest is going to Greece, the homeland?

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  8. Anonymous12:23 PM

    You are such a gifted storyteller. Enjoy a hot dog or two on the competition's buns! :)

    Mary Z

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  9. What a beautiful story, Donna. thank you for sharing.

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  10. Really interesting story. My dad started with nothing and built up a service station business in Northfield, IL which we had for 60+ years before selling ... we serviced something like 4 or 5 generations of families on the North Shore. Do you remember Maurice Lenell cookies? The ones that were called Pinwheels? OMGoodness ... they were my favorites! I remember my brother putting Salerno Butter Cookies in a stack on his finger and eating them one by one with a quarter of milk ... as a snack ... after dinner!! We're living in Northern Michigan (retired) now ... but whenever I get back to see family in the Chicago suburbs I make it a point to have a Chicago hot dog ... NOTHING better ... sometimes I even bring back those Vienna beefs when I can. Let's not EVEN discuss which is the best Chicago style pizza ... did I hear Lou Malnotti?? LOL Linda

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    1. Anonymous3:17 PM

      LOVE Maruice Lenell cookies ! I love the almond ones!! I can't find them anymore...use to be able to find them At Dieberg's in StL.

      sis' cindy :)

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    2. Who remembers the Solerno Butter cookie song?

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    3. Mommy
      What is it dear?
      I want a Salerno Butter Cookie.

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    4. I am usually pretty good for a jingle...just don't ask me what my children's names are (-: I loved butter cookies, but I am not familiar with Salernos.

      Di

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  11. Anonymous2:52 PM

    Loved hearing your family story. You really should consider visiting Greece one day. In pictures I have seen, it is so beautiful- all those white buildings along the blue, blue water. It sounds like your grandpa was a real mover and shaker.
    Debbie Z.

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  12. Janice4:54 PM

    I loved those Butter Cookies! One on each finger! and I'd eat the edges (petals) off to try to make it round...

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  13. Janice, you took the words right out of my mouth!!! Yum, love those cookies.

    I love the way you tell stories. Especially about our parents. ❤

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  14. This is a beautiful post! Keep writing the stories of your family down!! They are beloved treasures for you all, I know, and they are delightful for us to read too! :)

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  15. Susan and JEP and Donna, I just wanted to let you know that I saw your sweet replies when I asked camera lens advice a while back, and I thank you! :)

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  16. I love reading your stories. It is amazing the things that you remember about your childhood!

    Here's an interesting tidbit...my mom lives in a building that was a bakery/factory called the Clark Biscuit Company, in North Adams, Mass. They made some sort of cookie that they called a biscuit and they were sold in tins. The building was empty for many years when someone bought it, refurbished it and made it into apartments. Each apartment has an original brick wall and really big windows. Several apartments still have the original oven doors on the walls~~big cast iron metal doors with big handles. I places with histories. :)

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  17. This is fascinating. I love your bakery ties. Every time I pass the bakery on Broad Street in Souderton, I think of you.

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