Pittsburgh’s South Side Sally

Sam’s was located a half block from our home on the corner of Sarah and South 28 th Street. The building is still there.  I saw it on a street view on google maps.  In the front on Sarah Street was a neat soda fountain.  You could get real milkshakes, made right in front of your eyes with vanilla ice cream, milk and vanilla.  This has always been my favorite.  I guess even at 4 years old I was a purist as far as ice cream was concerned.  It is still my very favorite almost 60 years later.  Dad would take me and my bother, Ken there.  His favorite as I recall was a cherry coke.  In the back of the store was a billard room or as the locals called it the, “pool room”.  Sam’s was always a favorite of ours.  It was so close and neat to visit.

Another favorite was Bluestone’s Pharmacy .  They had neat coffee ice cream, which I acquired a taste for in my late teens.  They made homemade ice cream.  It was extremely good.  Their milk shakes could be malt.  They were good.  But I liked  the straight vanilla shake the best.  This building, I think,  is still there.  It’s located in the 2600 block of East Carson Street.  We would get many Rx there.   Little did I know when my mom sent me to buy her cigarettes that I was contributing to her lung cancer, but I was young and didn’t know any better.