Notes from the Wildwood Historical Society
Located at 3907 Pacific Ave. in Wildwood.
609-523-0277
SPRING HOURS 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Closed Sundays and National Holidays
Once upon a time on a busy tourist island called Wildwood, there was a place known as
Ganser's Bakery just yards away from the local high school. From personal experience I
can tell you they had the very best brownies. It was a moist chocolate cake with plenty of
walnuts and milk chocolate icing. It was all I could do to muster up the 15 cents for the
purchase on our way to the ball field for phys ed. Ahhh, I had found Utopia!
Obviously, I wasn't the only one who had found Utopia in Ganser's. Pauline Carlson
Prince, WHS '71, wrote that her best memories of Ganser's was that she would be able to
save part of her lunch money everyday so she could be able "to purchase either the best
orange glazed Danish in all the lands or a sugar cookie that cost two cents" on her way
home from school. It was the best walk home on a Friday afternoon according to Pauline.
She also said that during her 8th grade, she attended Phillip Baker School and was
introduced to Snuffy's Luncheonette. Pauline said "I loved Snuffy's . It was where you ate
lunch and listened to all the new music on the jukebox and danced your lunch away. It
was a fun place to giggle with your friends." She went on to mention Jackson's Drug
Store and Locke's on the corner of Rio Grande and Pacific Avenues. "Memories are
great!! I am 56 and I love remembering all the good times we had as kids. We didn't
have much but we sure had a lot of fun just doing nothing!" Pauline wrote.
Our own Larry Lillo on the Executive Board at the museum said he sold newspapers in
front of Ganser's bakery for a couple of summers; somewhere around 1959-60. He loved
their brownies, three-cent chocolate chip cookies and glazed donuts. Larry wrote "If you
went there for trick or treat during Halloween they would give you a big bag of goodies."
Bill Davenport wrote "I sold papers in front of Ganser's Bakery during the summers of 59,
60 and 61. What a great neighborhood. Ate many donuts and cookies, and during
lunchtime at WHS, ate there often." Ron Mathis of North Wildwood said his favorite
bakery was Seacrest. "We used to go in the back around midnight, just when they
finished the glazed donuts. We used to watch the bakers, and the guy who did the
lemon-filled pastries used a 'cone' made from newspapers to apply the filling," Ron said.
Chris White, who now resides in Virginia, wrote that she remembers going to Ganser's on
Sundays after attending Mass. "We had it timed so that their small hard rolls just came
out of the oven. The rolls had small round indentations on the bottom. The smell of the
hot rolls was wonderful. It was hard not to eat the rolls on the way back home," she said.
Also from Virginia is Kathy Boyer Maher who wrote that her family lived next door to the
bakery. She said, "It was close enough for the smell of baking bread to permeate the
staircase when I left for school in the morning. Like Marcel Proust remembering his
madeleines, that smell always takes me back to my childhood. I loved stopping at Ganser's
on my way home from school too. I'd often received a free treat, since it was near the end
of the day. Ganser's stimulated all the senses, not just smell and taste. There was the
sight of pastries lined up in the display case, the feeling of warm bread in my hands, and
the sounds that emanated from the family's apartment." Kathy also mentioned Snuffy's
in the Crest. She said "I don't think we spent much money there (we didn't have much), so
Snuffy was probably a saint to put up with us hanging around." Kathy's father was
George F. Boyer, the founder of our museum.
Margaret McAteer attended Phillip Baker School and everyday a group would eat lunch
and play the juke box and dance. "Sometimes 'Snuffy' would even join in and dance, too.
We all enjoyed going there, as that was our 'hang out'. We would sit at the counter and
have a fountain coke, vanilla coke or cherry coke, served in a cone-shaped cup with a
stainless steel holder. Usually we sat in our own designated booth," she wrote.
Margaret McAteer attended Phillip Baker School and everyday a group would eat lunch
and play the juke box and dance. "Sometimes 'Snuffy' would even join in and dance, too.
We all enjoyed going there, as that was our 'hang out'. We would sit at the counter and
have a fountain coke, vanilla coke or cherry coke, served in a cone-shaped cup with a
stainless steel holder. Usually we sat in our own designated booth," she wrote.
Until next time . . . . . be happy and be well!
PRESIDENT OF WILDWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
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