For today's post, we recruited the help of Anna (who is featured 2nd from the left in the photo above), one of our long-time employees, to share a fun little story about Valentine's Day at market from year's past. Anna has been with Stoltzfus Meats since its opening day at market in 1954, so she has lots of memories to share from over the years.
Q: What can you tell us about this picture from the 1960s?
A: We had a regular customer at market that brought each of us a box of candy for Valentine’s Day. She brought us flowers and candy. The ladies in this picture are the whole crew at the market operations, plus the manager at the time.
Q: What was it like working at the market in the 1960s compared to what it's like now?
A: Totally different. It was good then with just us ladies and the manager at the time. We sold deli meats and cheeses on a much smaller scale than we do now, pies, eggs, homemade breads, and salads. The uniform was the white dresses and aprons you see in this picture. I still enjoy working at market, but it is different with having multiple departments now and trying to get to know people in other departments. Compared to back then, it’s a totally different scale. Everything was much smaller back in the 60s. Both then and now were good in their own ways. I still really enjoy it today!
Anna has such a unique perspective within Stoltzfus Meats! Not many people can say they were with a company on the opening day and are still involved 68 years later. We're very thankful that Anna is willing to take the time to share her stories and memories with all of us!
Anna has been featured in some previous blog posts, like this one about hospitality where she shared another memory with us and this one in which she is featured as a waitress in the early days of the Stoltzfus family serving guests local PA Dutch fare.
If you're interested in reading more about that first day at market or our current market operations, check out these blog posts:
History of Stoltzfus Meats
Location Tour: New Castle Farmers' Market
