This is the last of Anne Warner's articles on her early 1950s job in the office and kitchen at Linekin Bay Camp. Again the society thanks her for allowing us to run them in the Boothbay Register. I also thank Branch family member, Barbara Ferrante Bricker, for bringing Anne's memories to my attention. –Barbara Rumsey

I wasn’t through with all those stewing chickens either. [The last article ended with Anne gutting and cleaning about 10 stewing chicken.] After they were cooked the meat had to be picked off the bones, a chore I actually enjoyed because the grease from the chickens soothed all the little nicks and scratches I got picking lobsters.

Picking lobster, french fries from scratch

We picked lobsters for salad and stew, and always picked the meat from the bodies most guests didn’t bother with, i.e. that came back to the kitchen on their plates — something that certainly would not be allowed today. These lobsters, by the way, arrived at the dock early in the morning, and Harold and I carried them up to the kitchen in a wash-boiler. Lobster was fairly new to me, but I developed an instant passion for it. This wore thin after a couple of weeks of fetching, steaming, serving, and picking lobsters. The same thing happened with clams, served at the weekly clambakes. They usually arrived covered with sand and had to rinsed and scrubbed by the “kitchen help.”

Two or three times a week we made french fries from scratch. Now, of course, they are mass-produced and frozen, so restaurant kitchen workers merely have to deep-fry them. But this was the early 1950s and we did it the hard way. The potatoes first went into the potato peeler. This was a large drum that rotated the potatoes against an abrasive surface, removing most of the peel, but no “eyes” or indentations, so the potatoes had to be “eyed” by hand, keeping the results in cold water to prevent discoloration.

The next step was to cut them into sticks. This was done in a gadget with a sharp-edged grid. The potato was placed on the grid and forced through by pushing it with a metal plate attached to a handle. The potatoes then soaked for a period of time which depended mostly on when the fry-cook (me) had time to blanch them. Blanching was simply pre-cooking, sometimes done in water, but we did it in the Fry-o-Later, after which they were drained on absorbent paper. The final step was to finish cooking and browning the potatoes just before serving.

Seafood

The fry cook (me) also deep-fried chicken, liver, scallops, and thick chunks of a white, meaty fish called cusk. I had never heard of cusk before, and rarely since. I don’t know whether this is because it doesn’t keep well or just because it is scarce. At any rate, it was a delicious fish, a little reminiscent of scallops in texture. Of course the Branches had their long-time sources for seafood. Some came directly from the Fish Factory (or that’s what we called it) [the freezer] which was directly across from the [Catholic] church in the village. We also got ice there. Clams were usually delivered by the “diggers.” Bob drove to Damariscotta for crabmeat. Picking crabmeat was a kitchen industry in those days, long since shut down by health laws. Guests who went deep-sea fishing could opt to have their catch cooked for them, usually by the fry-cook.

As I recall we fed about 125 guests at peak season, plus food for family and help. There was a repeating menu either every 10 days or two weeks — I don’t remember which. It was a set menu with choices for breakfast, or when we served something like liver. Meals were plated in the kitchen. Popular traditions were the weekly lobster/clambake picnic, and the Sunday night buffet with lobster stew. We never had complaints about the food!

Five years at Linekin Bay Camp

I ended up working at Linekin Bay for five summers, the last after I graduated from Bates to pay off my student loan — of $400! I believe it was the second summer (1951?) when the main lodge, including the dining room was enlarged. A new office and rooms for guests were added on the second floor; the back room where dishes were washed was greatly expanded, and storage space and a small dining room for the kitchen help were added. Over the years new personnel came and went, an assortment of waitresses, cleaning help, and companions for the Branch children. The last couple of years I was unofficially promoted when Frank was hired as kitchen help to do all the time-consuming jobs like cleanup, fetching, etc. I hardly noticed the difference because we were always busy! After two years, Lucy moved on. Her replacement Jessie was cheerful, friendly, and also a phenomenal pastry cook.

A year after that, Mrs. A became ill — she came to camp as usual but it was soon apparent that she was not able to work. Bob first hired Elsie to replace her. Elsie had excellent references, but had trouble boiling eggs (literally!) and only lasted a week. Then Bob found Margaret and all was well. Margaret was a pro. She had cooked for years at Northampton School for Girls, so her summers were usually free. From the moment she stepped into the kitchen it was as though she had never left. She got along with everybody and was an interesting addition to the mix; she read palms and introduced me to astrology, some of which I half-believe to this day. Most impressive was that she took boiled potatoes out of the pot with her bare hands.

I am always grateful for my summers in Boothbay Harbor. I had grown up in a very small town, and Linekin Bay was a wonderful place to be introduced to the real world. The coast of Maine and the Branch family will always be part of my fondest memories.

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