Thursday 22 September 2011
Josie's Canteen in Milton, N.S.
This is my first post that I have no photo to add. Josie Mills had a small canteen/store in Milton at the entrance of where Crusher Road is now located (near Pine Grove Park). She was a short, older lady (usually with a bandanna wrapped around her head) who had operated the place for a number of years. Apparently it was a busy spot at one time but in my day (1970s) it was just a store where we went to buy candy and ice cream. Seems to me there were stools at the counter,milk shake mixer and maybe the grill was still there but I don't recall her ever cooking. I think she only opened around supper time and was open until later in the evening. She loved cats and they were everywhere. They were everywhere outside and inside the store. They were sitting on the counter, on the seats and sometimes on your lap. We always bought things that were already in a bag or container so you knew the cat hair wouldn't be in your food. However she was always so sweet you couldn't help but go to her store. She loved to chat, she loved the kids and most of all she loved her cats. I don't think Josie had any children and if she had a husband he must have already been deceased in my younger days so her cats got her love and attention. After Josie passed away, the canteen was demolished and the entrance to Crusher Road was enlarged. Today you would never know it was ever really there. I would love to locate a picture of Josie and her canteen and if anyone has one please contact me.
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Ted and I used to go to Josie`s. Ted would eat burgers there, but not me! The cats would be out back lying on the bags of buns asleep. You could see them enerytime she opened the door to go get something. She fried her hamburgers in a frying pan, not a grill! I don`t really remember what she looked like, but I do remember that she was nice.
ReplyDeleteJust for the record, Josie was married, found that out this evening. Josie was born Josephine Harriett Smith around 1905 and she was from Brooklyn and in 1925 she married Oliver Carl Mills. I think they may have divorced, and there were no children from the marriage. I also remembered tonight she loved to chat and chat more. Whenever you went to the canteen, you knew you would be there forever. She was a sweet old lady!
ReplyDeleteOne night a friend and I stopped by Josie's and before we went in I was told not to order anything because he was just going to show me around. The place was in a mess and there were cats eveywhere so he did not have to tell me again not to order anything.
ReplyDeletepoor old josie today the health dept would have surely shut her down
ReplyDeleteJosie Mills, before opening her canteen, lived in a very comfortable house on the same side as the tennis court, two house down opposite the Bishop house across the street. As she grew older, she became improvised and had to sell and move to the Crusher Road area. Other than OAS she depended on the canteen to live out her days. She was a Smith from Brooklyn, a sister to Doug Smiley's wife, Grace. The Smiley's built a small house on School Street where the Thompson Machine was located. There is more to this story, but we will leave it at this point.
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