Canarsie's Log Cabin

And guess what !!! (three exclamation marks); Pat Doubleday, obviously related to the builder, Lloyd Doubleday Sr., finally wrote to me with the following information: She and her husband worked in the cabin from 1946 until 1954 (that was 50 years ago when I spent time there with friends and dates gobbling down a good few banana splits, that with all that whipped cream with the cherry on top). She says that before that time, her sister-in-law (Audrey) and a Mrs. Harvey, ran the cabin and it was even called "Harvey's Cabin" and this Mrs. Harvey an older lady then "and the salt of the earth". Someday, if we are both around, Pat will send me pictures of the inside of the cabin, the way it was when it was a most beautiful ice cream parlor.

She says that the cabin was started in 1936 (this all comes as a surprise to me) by the above Lloyd Doubleday and that the logs were bought from the telephone company and were hand "adzed" by him. I live and learn; let me tell you about "adzed" ... an adz is an old tool that was and is still used to scrape off blemished wood. She says I can also use the word "scraped" to remove nail marks and smooth out poles.

Anyway, everyone wanted to know what he was building, but he wouldn't tell anyone until it was finished. One of her husband's jobs, as a teenager after school, was to mix cement for the foundation. She met her husband there the day he was discharged from the Navy in March, 1946, and they took over running the cabin in September, 1946. Well, now y'all got the real story right from the horse's mouth (pardon me, Pat).

PS: I googled "adze" and found the following: "The adze is used to shape and trim timber. It is capable of removing large amounts of wood quickly. Today's common uses of the carpenter's adze (straight edge) do not differ much from its traditional purpose. It is still used for scaling bark, shaping and trimming timber and any job requiring a tool capable of rapid wood removal."

We were all around 16 years old when we watched them build this log cabin.
Certainly it was never originally built to be a real estate office.
Still we had no idea what it was going to be.

It was built to be an ice cream parlor; something we in Canarsie never saw before.
And this is where we stopped after those Saturday evening dances.
And when older, this is where we might bring our dates.
Life was delicious like their good ice cream.
It was only today and tomorrow.
Memories came later.

   

Well hello there. Pat Doubleday did keep her promise and sent these two pictures of the inside of the cabin. In fact, there she is sitting (I won't mention how many years ago) sitting in the same booth I sat in. I'm sure she was never that pale but to make everything more visible, I brightened the picture up. Strange that I would sit on the same side of the table. This was so many years ago; first when returning from out Saturday night local dance in the Glenwood Jewish Center (it was where the local boys and girls really hung out learning to socialize on a more formal basis; we all knew each other from the neighborhood), and then were I would bring a date when I got older.

I guess Pat enjoyed having her picture taken as she is looking straight at the camera, but sitting there and looking straight ahead, one would be facing the Flatlands Avenue entrance to the cabin and the windows were facing East 93rd Street. Looking at the picture, the fountain where all those delicious treats were prepared would be on the right. The picture on the right is a view towards the ceiling and you can see the strong slant of the roof. It was nice growing up with a cabin like this in the neighborhood.

Pat finally found a picture of the fountain area. You know, finding treasures of the past is not easy, and treasures from what was considered a "no place" by outsiders, is even more difficult. But of course, we Canarsians (or is it Canarsieites [Canarsie-ites?] know better; it was the best place to grow up, good healthy living.

Pat writes: "Mrs. Harvey and Lloyd Doubleday are behind the counter and Curt Hanke, Phyllis Hanke, and Pat Doubleday are in front of the counter."