August 23, 2015 - Alex
The Sweet Taste of Ladue
Earlier this week, I ended up with an expected two-hour gap in my schedule, and driving home was just far enough to be unreasonable. I opted to take a reminiscent stroll through my childhood and drive past some of the places that brought me joy way back in the day.
I started off at the St. Louis Riverfront, or the locals call it, “the levy.” One of my faves as a kid was to watch a tour helicopter depart from a helipad located on a barge, where the customers were treated to a flight down the Mighty Mississippi and a view of downtown St. Louis from 1,000 feet above the ground. I mention this memory often to adults who seem misguided in their attempts to sway their children into a particular career. For me, there is a powerful message to be taken away from the fact that I ended up working in the helicopter business after watching them with such amazement as a child. We will all gravitate towards those careers that interest us. You’re recommendations are not needed here, I tell them.
But the part of the day that pertains to our discussion here begins as I left the riverfront. I found myself on Clayton Road as it winds through the city of Ladue, which as it turns out was the home to three of my tastiest memories.
Ben Franklin Store. You would think that the term “kid in a candy store” originated at this store. You’re not even in the front door before you spot the seemingly endless bins of hard candy, taffy, gum and other goodies. Halloween can wait – you have everything you could possibly want right here.
Swensens Ice Cream Parlor. I remember when this store opened. It was a big deal. Our family would go there regularly, and I can remember exactly what I would order: an enormous ice cream sundae, in an oversized goblet, with one of those Pepperidge Farms crunchy tube-shaped cookies stuck on top. Ahhhh man, good times.
Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream. Funny, we didn’t think you could do much better than Swensens. Great ice cream, served by fun, upbeat servers in a family-style ice cream parlor — life was good. But then, our world was rocked when a then-new, unheard-of ice cream shop with a funny name came to town and opened up right next door to Swensens! Haagen-Dazs, as it turns out, as not just ice cream. It was the best ice cream I had ever had! Thinking back, I don’t think we ever set foot in Swensens ever again. Haagen-Dazs was just that good. In fact, years later, I would take a job in Bakersfield, California, and I had a nightly ritual of picking up a pint of Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Chocolate Chip on the way home from work. I still can’t figure out how I survived that job. There has to be a limit to the amount of ice cream a man can eat.
I’m finding it both fascinating and, frankly, pretty horrifying to think that so many of my childhood memories revolve around the consumption of sugar. The stores I just mentioned are just the ones that I passed on my tour of Ladue this week. There are countless others — (I’m talking about you, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard) — that are out there, too.
It speaks loudly to the influence that sugar has on kids and their behavior. Let’s face it, generations of parents have used sugar as a reward for good behavior for their kids, and for very understandable reasons. Kids will do just about anything if they know that a trip to their favorite dessert spot is guaranteed when the work is done. It’s really too bad when you think about it. I mean, name even one more reward that you can offer a kid that carries even half of the bargaining power of sugar?