The other day, longtime reader/1971 Staples High School graduate Fred Cantor was looking for photos to illustrate his “06880” ode to the Merritt Parkway.
He stumbled on this ad for the Red Barn restaurant — a longtime meeting spto for friends from other towns, just off Merritt Exit 41 — from the December 8, 1957 Sunday Herald:
Fred wonders: Were “maids” commonplace in Westport in the 1950s?
He was intrigued at the “air-conditioned” promotion (in December!). He writes: “I suppose AC was not so common in homes back then (and possibly not even in restaurants).”
He also asks, “What does ‘Member credit card plans’ mean?”
Fred notes that in 1957, $2.95 was the equivalent of $32.75 today. So, he says, “that dinner offer of appetizer, entrée, dessert and beverage was a pretty good deal.
Finally, he says, proprietors Harry and Dorothy Davega owned the Red Barn for many years. He wonders if any “06880” readers have memories of them.
A painting of the historic Red Barn property …
… and a photo by Lynn Untermeyer Miller.
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