Usar's Store & Farm

Boy with Usar’s cows. — Many people remembered the Usar’s cows and gardens, leading some – especially kids - to refer to their place as a ‘farm.’ (Source <em>Brightside Reunion<em/>, pg. 8)

Usar’s store engulfed in flames. — This photo captures the fire that broke out at Usar’s store. (Source <em>Brightside Reunion<em/>, pg. 5)

Older generations of Brightsiders remember John Usar, who had a store, cows, and an extensive garden in his backyard on the south side of Burlington Street.

Listen: Drunken Cow On The Tracks. Click the play circle below.

Speaker 1:

And then over towards Gage was Usar’s barn.

Speaker 2:

Usar’s. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I remember that.

Speaker 2:

They had two horses and a cow.

I remember that.

And that cow got drunk.

Speaker 2:

How did that cow get drunk?

[heh heh]

Speaker 1:

When guys made wine, the pressings, you know.

They did not work at all. So, they tow them along the streetcar tracks.

And there were ditches.

They’d fell in there, with water, and this cow ate them.

He went in there [slap] and he’d eat the pressings.

And this thing got stoned and he fell on the tracks.

And the streetcar the two streetcars cause they couldn’t pass.

And they couldn’t pick up the __, oh they had a hell of a time.

He had to come out with his horses to pull the guy off the track.

[laughter]

Listen: The Butt Of A Green Pasture Story. Click the play circle below.

Speaker 1:

Because this was mostly pasture.

People had cows.

They used to bring their cows here.

There was four cows in Brightside.

Speaker 2:

That’s uh, what’s his name, who used to wash the cars…

Speaker 1:

Rocco.

Speaker 2:

Rocco Tamberelli's.

Speaker 1:

He had goats. He used to wash the cars.

Speaker 2:

This guy… They had a goat eh, and the mother, she’s kind of a stout woman, and should go to the garden and pick stuff and her bum would be sticking out and the goat would go run like hell and go boom.

Hit her down.

[laughter]

[chatter]

Speaker 1:

Gee, every year, every year.

Listen: Penny Fraud at Usar's Store. Click the play circle below.

Speaker 1:

When we were younger, you know, eight, nine I can’t remember, but we used to get a coin, a penny, and get the silver paper from a cigarette package, and work on it so that coin looked like a nickel or a dime.

[heh, heh]

I went next door to Usar’s, because we lived next door to it…

[laughter]

The older woman was in there and I went in, gave her the coin and I said, ‘I’d like one cent worth of black balls.’

She gave me the black balls and gave me four pennies back.

Speaker 2:

Ooh, major fraud, ooh.

[laughter]

[chatter]

Speaker 1:

I went home…

Speaker 2:

That’s a lot of Hail Marys!

Speaker 1:

… and my mother said, where were you?

Next door. I got some black balls.

And, of course, we were honest, I said, I gave her this and she gave me four pennies.

What!!

You go right back and give her that, give her those pennies back!

Speaker 2:

Ooh!

Speaker 3:

Wow!

Speaker 1:

That was it.

Listen: A Cheap High. Click the play circle below.

Steaker 1

The oldest, uh, older Snitz, he lived with Usar’s…

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

… and, uh, I think it was about maybe two cars on Brightside that I know of, and Snitz, he’d always walk, and he’d had a pretty nice suit, you know…

[laughter]

Speaker 3

He was always dressed nice.

Speaker 1

… and he always had a handkerchief hanging out of his back pocket.

And what he did with the handkerchief, was at night when a couple of cars were parked on Burlington Street, he’d open up the gas tank…

Speaker 4

Oh, G__.

Speaker 1

… shove his hanky in there – in the gasoline - and sniff it.

Speaker 2

Oh, my G__.

[chatter]

Speaker 1

High on gasoline fumes.

Speaker 2

Absolutely.

Speaker 1

He didn’t have to spend any money on booze.

Speaker 3What was his last name?

Listen: A Cheap High. Click the play circle below.

[chatter]

Speaker 1:

A candy story. Usar’s.

And the guy, he had a girlfriend there, he was a top ’rassler in the city. He used to come here all the time.

He had a thing going with Usar’s daughter.

And Usar, they used to buy, uh, stuff with the pigs in the back you know…

Speaker 2:

To feed them.

Speaker 1:

… and, you know, the ice cream cones, … ice cream cones…

Speaker 2:

Yep.

Speaker 1:

…well, no, he started bagging it. Sell it 3 cents for a bag of it.

Speaker 3:

Who, Usar?

Speaker 1:

And they had markers.

Listen: Horses And Cars. Click the play circle below.

Speaker 1:

In the older days people of my time, Usars - that fellow that had horses - …

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

… and what he did, was when people got stuck in their cars on Gilkison Street – or Burlington - it was mud…

Speaker 2:

Yep.

Speaker 1:

…he took the team of horses and pulled them up.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. That’s true.

Speaker 1:

Right?

Yeah. And besides they had that cow; that’s how they made milkshakes.

Usars’ had a variety store…

Speaker 4:

Oh My G__.

[chatter]

[laughter]

Usar's Store & Farm

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