I recently wrote a column about Taylor’s Maid-Rite in Marshalltown and received more feedback from this story than any I can remember.
The crux of the column was this: A well-known story had it that, a few years ago, Taylor’s didn’t put ketchup out on the counter because hobos from the railroad track wandered up and mixed ketchup with water to make a tomato drink. I checked this story out, and Taylor’s denied it. They maintained that ketchup was not out on the counter because their fresh ground beef was so delicious it didn’t need ketchup.
One of my readers disputed this denial, saying that Taylor’s put out mustard so why not ketchup? Once again, through “investigative reporting” I followed up on this possible discrepancy. Taylor’s admitted it was true, they did have mustard out but not ketchup. It was because mustard enhanced the taste of Maid-Rites, while ketchup masked it. So be it.
Taylor’s may be the only Maid-Rite that ships frozen loose-meat sandwiches anywhere in the country. One of my readers in Phoenix was elated with this information. He had grown up in Marshalltown eating Maid-Rites, then went off to the service and eventually wound up in Phoenix. If you ask for a Maid-Rite outside the Midwest, waitresses look at you and say, “Say what?” The reader couldn’t dial up Taylor’s fast enough to order up some genuine hometown cookin’.
Another reader informed me that Red Skelton and other celebrities, while performing at the Iowa State Fair, were known to have their drivers take them to Marshalltown to get Taylor’s Maid-Rites. Taylor’s confirmed this. One of their waitresses had her picture taken with Red Skelton.
Still another reader informed me that, since I liked Maid-Rites so much, I really ought to try eating at the Canteen in Ottumwa. So I did. Armed with appetite, note pad and camera, off to O-town I went.
A little background: The Canteen is a tiny cafe off an alley in downtown O-town, that serves loose-beef sandwiches called canteens. The city wanted to build a parking ramp and was going to tear down the Canteen. The people of Ottumwa were so alarmed they got up a petition to save the Canteen. The city succumbed and built the parking ramp over top of the Canteen. No kidding. Check it out. But the Canteen is hard to find. You have to walk around behind the parking ramp and into the alley to find it. People will go to any length for good eatin’.
So, I ordered me up two canteens with everything. They brought me one. Canteen protocol dictates that if you order two, they bring you one. The waitress watches closely. When you are about two bites from finished, she hollers, “Reorder!” then brings you your second. Pretty nifty. A sign on the wall reads, “Tourists treated same as home folks.”
The Canteen doesn’t have ketchup out on the counter either. I had ordered my canteens with everything, which is universal in the Midwest for ketchup, mustard, pickle and onion. (Not so in other parts of the county. If you order “everything” in California, in addition to the aforementioned condiments, you’ll get lettuce, tomato and maybe mayo.) So the preparer at the Canteen had swiped what she thought was enough ketchup on my bun. (By the way, they hand slice their buns.) However, I’m a ketchupholic, and needed more. I asked for a ketchup bottle and got a real dirty look from the preparer. The only thing she could do was scoop a glob of ketchup onto a saucer and hand it to me. There must be some disassociation between Maid-Rites and ketchup.
Maid-Rites conjure up memories of Burma Shave signs along the road, businesses that stay open on Saturday night and barber shops that rival the number of taverns in a town. Warning: don’t try to eat one while driving.
Have a good story? Call Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at (319) 217-0526, email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com or visit his website at www.empty-nest-words-photos-and-frames.com.