Flashback Friday

                         

These days, you don't hear too many people say they went out for ice cream - mainly because there's hardly any ice cream parlors left.  My favorite ice cream place from back in the day was Farrell's Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlour.  Farrell's were created in 1963 by Bob Farrell and Ken McCarthy.  Their goal was to recreate a segment of one of the most colorful and memorable eras in American history - the 1890s.  The waiters wore straw hats and vests, and some even wore fake sideburns and handlebar mustaches.  The menus were printed on funny psudo-newspaper pages. 

Farrell's had food, but ice cream was their drawing point. Regular sundaes were served in a big brandy snifter that was so big it took too hands to hold it. Clown sundaes were popular, as was the Pig Trough - a huge double banana split. If you ate the entire Pig Trough, they would come over to your table, ring the bell and blow the siren and give you a ribbon to wear that said "I made a pig of myself at Farrells."  The main attraction at Farrell's was The Zoo - 40 scoops of ice cream served in a big galvanized bucket.  When someone would order one, the bells would clang, the sirens would go off, and someone would start beating a big bass drum as two of the waiters would carry The Zoo out on an old fashioned stretcher. 

The only Farrell's in The 'Ville was in Oxmoor Center, a mall in the east end of town. It was on the 2nd floor of the mall, conveniently located right next to the Oxmoor Cinema movie theater.  I would go there once every few months after Sunday night church with my youth group.  Most of us would pool our money and buy a Zoo, just so we could be a part of all of the hoopla.  My friend and faithful reader SH was also a part of my church youth group, and when I asked her about Farrell's she said her favorite memory was not of the ice cream, but the real cherry Coke that they served.  Maybe she was one of the holdouts that didn't want to go in with us on the Zoo. 

Farrell's also had awesome non-ice cream stuff.  I had my first fried cheese sticks at Farrell's.  I remember that they had the best buttermilk ranch dressing for dipping the cheese sticks, too.  They also had good chili, too,  which they served in a tall ice cream soda glass, with a dollop of sour cream on top.  They also had a gigantic submarine sandwich that they served on a long plank, which was also served with the same fanfare as when someone ordered a Zoo. 

The ice cream and food was only part of the Farrell's experience - they also had a cool candy and toy store, which was located by the cash registers, just like when you pay your bill at Cracker Barrell you, have to go through their little country store.  Very good marketing move, I have to say. Farrell's had old-fashioned candy and toys - giant jawbreakers and rock candy were my favorites.  I remember buying a kazoo just about every time we went to Farrell's, and I'm sure if i looked hard enough in our basement, I could find one.