RoadsideOnline

We interviewed Mr. Ed from Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum in Orrtanna, Pennsylvania in May 2002. We hoped to put together a longer video, and hope to still, but in the meantime, please enjoy this short clip from our talk.

We originally published this article in 2002 in issue #3 of By The Way magazine, and republish it in honor of Mr. Ed who's great, classic roadside attraction burned down yesterday. Ed vows to rebuild, but he has quite a task at hand. His museum held over 6,000 artifacts, some extremely rare. We wish Mr. Ed the best of luck. 

Sometime back in the late '60s, my mother began to collect elephant figurines. She would explain that her Republican political sentiments initially sparked the accumulation, but after a time, the collection grew mainly because others discovered she had one. Once word gets out that you collect something, you make yourself an easier target for gifts. We generally regarded Mom's odd little obsession with good humor – while always keeping an eye out for something to add to the menagerie.

Coincidentally, Mom acquired her first elephant about the same time Mr. Ed received his. While Mom's collection probably fits in a television box, Mr. Ed's has its own building on the Lincoln Highway just west of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Now numbering well over 6,000 artifacts, Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum has evolved into a classic, off-beat roadside attraction that seems to thrive in the era of the corporate theme park. Indeed, the unexpected sight of Mr. Ed's induces a slam on the brakes for any serious roadside enthusiast passing by. Greeting visitors is Miss Elly Phunt, an eight foot fiberglass mechanical elephant standing proudly in front of the museum. Break the electric eye beam, and Miss Elly talks, blinks, and waves her paddle-sized ears.

I knew I'd enjoy talking to Mr. Ed. How could anyone in the business that also sells old fashioned candies and fresh roasted peanuts not have a cheery disposition? With his white beard, portly stature, and twinkle in his eye, the guy could pass for Kris Kringle, and we'd have another "Miracle on 34th Street."

Some businesses make no business sense at all. Thank goodness for that.

Why anyone would try to make a go of a restaurant out in the middle of the farmland-nowhere of Charlton, Mass., is beyond some. The way business-experts see it, there are no new trails to blaze. Folks who want some cheap eating, they figure, will head to the same road where they buy their cheap groceries, and their cheap lumber, and their cheap electronics, and their - well, you get the picture.

The truth is, a new business today would never be placed so far from where folks typically congregate. But the Clam Box has been out of the way for years, across the street from and yet part of Dresser Farms, which explains its existence at all. You, see, the Clam Box is lauded for its ice cream as much as its out-of-place seafood. Both features make it a destination all by its lonesome self.

Roadside thanks Timothy wood for the news tip. We also thank Al Mac's for the preservation of their beautiful sign and diner. Here's looking at another hundred.

FINE DINING: Al Mac's Diner celebrates 100 tasty years

By PHIL DEVITT, Fall River Spirit Editor

When Al McDermott started peddling food in Fall River on a horse-drawn wagon in 1910, he likely had no idea that people in the city and farther afield would know his name a century later.

To be fair, it's McDermott's nickname that makes most mouths water. When it came to good food, served fast and cheap, no one had a better reputation than Al Mac.

The business has changed hands several times and the wagon was chucked long ago for a stationary Art Deco shell, but Al Mac's Diner still holds true to its founding principles, serving fresh, home-style meals at reasonable prices, seven days a week.

This year, the President Avenue landmark celebrates 100 years in business, a milestone encapsulated in red letters above the entrance: "Justly Famous Since 1910." The staff celebrated earlier this year by coming to work one day dressed in vintage clothing from their favorite decades — and that was all.

Running a diner, open 24 hours on the weekend, keeps the staff too busy for much of anything else. And in a world where powerful fast food chains pop up around every corner seemingly overnight, every day is a fight to survive.

To read more about Al Mac's, click here...