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This is Cape Porpoise harbor in the 1960s. You are looking south. The Square and Atlantic Hall are at the bottom right of the photo. The building in which Milton Bradbury had his museum at the head of the harbor is hidden behind a big tree. If you follow the line of moored boats you will pass the pier on the left on your way to the harbor islands. The photo belongs to Tom Bradbury, as do all but the very last photos in this chapter.
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1945- 1990
Bradbury Brothers Market Makes Headway
When the war ended Charles Milton Bradbury, known to everyone as Milton, returned from overseas to Cape Porpoise. According to his unpublished autobiography, the next part of the story goes like this:
"It was not long before the talk started of me working in the store. It was not an easy decision because the store was fighting to get on its feet and had no money to hire help. At the same time, I had to start thinking of building a home and getting started in married life with all of its expenses. Finally, we arrived at what seemed to be a solution. Upon my discharge I had been given my pay of $30 a month, plus $300 mustering out pay, plus the priviledges (sic) of the G. I. bill. One of the priviledges (sic) was the opportunity to go to school or to get on the job training.
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Bradbury's Store with the dining room and the soda fountain addition on the front. Fletcher's original store is still visible.
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My solution was to get on the job training in the store where I would learn meat cutting and store management. While working at the store I would get paid by the government. This, in effect, meant that I would be working in the store but it would not cost them any wages for a while. This seemed like a good idea, so by this one decision the rest of my life was decided upon.
I started work in the store in 1946 and worked there until I sold out in 1977. All in all, it meant thirty-one years behind the meat counter watching the generations come and go and watching the life of Cape Porpoise gradually change."
His entry into the business sent out many ripples. The first to retire was Milton's mother, Alta. In 1948 Milton was able to purchase his father's share of the business, so his father could retire. From then on Milton ran the meat end of the business, and Wilbur ran the grocery end. The store was open seven days a week. The only time off was Sunday afternoon.
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Bradbury's Store with the next addition on the front. From here on out the entire front of the building is used as store.
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"We immediately tried to enlarge on the business and worked very hard and very long hours."
In 1946 they opened a dining room and soda fountain within the store. The eating addition worked for a number of years. "We decided, however, that it was too much to handle so we rented it out to various ones. Renting didn't work out too well so eventually we took over that area again. We pushed the front of the store out so that it was even with the front of the dining room and opened the whole area as part of the store. Over the years it seems that no matter how much we enlarged we never had enough space."
In 1950 the partners joined the Independent Grocer's Association (IGA). IGA was a wholesaler dedicated to supplying member retailers. The Association helped small grocers keep competitive by giving them access to a large supplier. IGA also handled advertising for their members. That affiliation became less advantageous over the years as IGA became less responsive to such small markets as Bradbury's. When membership was dropped in the 1970s the store owners joined the Associated Grocers of Maine instead.
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Trolley passing Bradbury's
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From Alta Bradbury's autobiography:
"After retiring from the store across the street, Frank fixed over the small store and had a fruit stand in the summer. He wanted something to do and liked to meet people. I helped him when he was busy. We had a bell connected to the house and he would ring for me. He ran the fruit stand summers until he passed away in January, 1958."
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