About six weeks ago, Oct. 9 to be exact, I wrote what was actually a review of an excellent book named &8220;Minnesota Vacation Days.&8221; This book by the mother-daughter writing team of Kathryn Strand Koutsky and Linda Koutsky was published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press earlier this year. And as I emphasized in my Sunday Lifestyles article, there were several local and area places featured in this book.

In my article I also mentioned an earlier book by these talented women with the title of &8220;Minnesota Eats Out&8221; which was published two years ago by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. This book, incidentally, is available for checking out at the Albert Lea Public Library.

Information on the book’s jacket says it’s &8220;A lavishly illustrated tour of the state’s eateries -its soda fountains, nightclubs, hotel dining rooms and resorts -from 1850 to 1960, including nearly 70 treasured recipes from favorite restaurants.’

Those recipes were compiled by Eleanor Ostman, a food writer at the St. Paul Pioneer Press for 30 years.

Instead of a listing of chapters or sections, this book has these portions under the heading of &8220;Menu.&8221; One section is devoted to places from the past for delectable dining. Another had the title of melting pot which features eating places that once served traditional Viking vittles, Deutsch (German) delights, plus Italian, Chinese, Jewish, Tex-Mex (or Mexican), Irish and Japanese foods.

The 11th section or topic is based on movable lunch wagons (horse-drawn and vehicular), lake and river boat dining, bus station lunch counters, drive-ins, motel and gas station eating places, and earlier versions of fast food treats.

Now, are there any of the older eating establishments from this area in this book? The answer is yes.

One is Hazel’s Steak House which the authors labeled as farmhouse style dining form the 1940s

era. As an added note, this once popular rural restaurant was located several miles northeast of Albert Lea on what was once U.S. Highway 65, now County Road 45. This building on the road to Clarks Grove is still there and now a private residence.

Another local dining delight from another era was the Ideal Cafe. The information with the photo the authors used from the 1930s said. &8220;The Ideal Cafe occupied a back corner of the local Woolworth store. Shelves along the wall held restaurant dishes, confectionery supplies, and tobacco products. Swivel stools anchored to the floor gave customers little elbowroom, and overhead fans kept the air moving.&8221;

As a bonus on the same page was an early 1900s menu from B. & J. Lunch, 123 S. Washington Ave. And as I have emphasized in prior articles and columns about local cafes, prices for food and beverages were mighty low a century ago. (Also keep in mind that wages and living costs were also mighty low.) B. & J., for example, had nickel coffee, dime hot dogs, fifteen-cent hamburgers, and hot beef sandwiches for 20 cents.

Still another local eating place featured in this book was Gold’s Grill which was located at 121 N. Broadway Ave. in the 1950s. This restaurant was operated by members of the Raymond A. Gold family. The photo in the book shows Gold’s Grill as having a distinctively modern look for that era.

The fifth Albert Lea place depicted in this book was the Skyline Supp’r Club with its two outstanding neon signs and motto of &8220;Tops in Food&8221; also featured with an electrical sign.

This super-superb restaurant was created by Homer Blake as an addition to the Skyline Shopping Center (or Mall). It was located to the south of the Montgomery Ward store and was demolished when this part of the Skyline Mall was revised for the first Wal-Mart store location on the city’s

west side.

Information and photos used in this book came from the Freeborn

County Historical Museum Library archives.

There are an estimated thousand illustrations in this particular book based on old photos and postcards. And many have a sentence or two describing in some detail what’s depicted. That’s nice. Also, all parts of the state have been included in the literary survey based on where

Minnesotans used to go to eat out.

One of those nearby places where folks used to eat out was Robbys Drive-in over in Austin. Back in the 1950s this place was advertising hamburgers for 15 cents each on a very distinctive sign.

This book has two pages devoted to fast food where four famous and fairly famous names are highlighted. Of these four, one reportedly had a food specialty made just right which resembled the &8220;sloppy joe,&8221; and two are still very much a part of

local life. These places are White Castle

(home of the small square &8220;slidder&8221; burgers), Maid-Rite, McDonald’s and

Dairy Queen (DQ). Today, we have three each of the last two, fading memories of the Maid-Rite once located on East William Street near the post office, and missed out on having a White Castle.

Anyway, let’s all enjoy our present excellent choices of area places to eat out.

Just by coincidence, this column with food as its main theme is coming out just in time for Thanksgiving. And here’s hoping all the fine Tribune readers have an enjoyable day.