REMEMBER WHEN FROM THE PAST--MENDENHALL'S MARKET

REMEMBER WHEN....
Thursday, March 19, 2008
Kenna Holm

MENDENHALL’S MARKET

     I've had several ask me to do a story on the old Mendenhall's Market. I did touch on that once but not in detail so this week I want to wander back in time to a little store on 300 West Utah Avenue.  When I first remember it, it was Mrs. Smith store. She was the mother of Gladys Wilson (of the Gladstan Golf Course). She was a tiny little lady and seemed really old to me when I was little (She was probably at least 60). She had a little pot belly stove in the store. The store was just tiny narrow little store but she carried a lot of different grocery items. She lived in the back of the store in a little apartment. Her daughter Gladys was there to help her a lot. I don't remember her carrying a lot of penny candy like the Mendenhall's did later.
     Rex and Harriett Mendenhall lived in Orem and Rex had a couple of sisters here in Payson by the name of Thelma Taylor. (mother of the late Beverly Evans) and Gladys Clayson (mother of Clark Clayson, the school principal).
     In 1948, Rex and Harriett was on there way over to see his sister, Thelma,  and was driving West on Utah Avenue  when they noticed a 'For Rent' sign int he window of a little store on 300 West Utah Avenue.  They decided to stop and see what it was about and low and behold they decided to rent the store.
 

   They moved into the back of the store in the little apartment. They only had one child then, Jane (Tuckett) and Harriett was expecting their second child, Robert (who became known as Tuna).
      Over  a  matter  of time  they enlarged the store and added a lot more merchandise.  All the  kids loved  going there because they had such a great variety of penny candy. (yes-there used to be penny candy to buy, not like now where a .89 cent bar looks like the 5 cent ones then).
      As kids, we used to take pop bottles in and we got 3 cents for each bottle and we could buy the candy we wanted. Rex had little brown paper bags (tiny ones) that he would put your candy in.
      They always had a screen door so in the summer they could keep the door open. (no fancy
doors--just a plain front door with four little windows in it)  The store sat right up to the sidewalk and all the kids would ride their bikes there and just drop them in front and it would be hard for people who might be walking down the sidewalk to get past. The kids loved going there. Rex was so kind and patient with them. He would let them come around the counter and pick out the candy they wanted.
      His sister Thelma worked there and was a pleasant lady. I just loved her. It was so handyto have their market close by. Theycarried just about everything. You could even run up there and go in in your housecoat. (unheard of now).
      In 1952, they bought a home on North Main Street and moved their little family there and then used the apartment where they had lived as a storage area.  They later bought a home on South Main that had been owned by Ralph Wilson for many years.  It was later torn down when Park View School was remodeled and enlarged.
      My brother’s kids, who both lived in Orem,  loved to come visit their Grandpa and Grandma because my dad would give them a dime or quarter and they would make a beeline for Mendenhall's to get their little bag of candy. That's one of the memories all of them have of coming to Payson to visit my folks.
      In those days all the soda pop was in bottles and Harriett kept their cooler so cold that the drinks would just about be slushy when you popped the lid, Oh they were good ! You never saw Rex without his white apron on working at the store. Later on they opened a market in Santaquin and Rex ran it while Harriett took care of the Payson store.  Rex got cancer and passed away which left a big job for Harriett. In time she sold the businesses.
      Now asI ride downUtah Avenue and see the spot where Mendenhall's store used to be, I get this nostalgic feeling and wished it was still there. It looks beautiful with the lawn and trees but it's nice to think back and remember when....