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Vintage Restaurant Meatloaf

Hale’s Restaurant, Killbuck, Ohio

Hale’s Restaurant

Hale’s Restaurant stood on the corner of Main and Front Streets–the main intersection of Killbuck Ohio– when I was in school in Killbuck, Ohio. Recently on a Facebook group for present and former residents of that village,contributor “Tootzi” Snyder, shared a special recipe. Claude Hale, the owner of Hale’s restaurant had given his meatloaf recipe to her. Thank you, Tootzi for setting me out on this research and cooking adventure.

[Note: That is not Claude Hale in the photo above, but a person from the Danville fire department. Ironic when you read the history of the restaurant, which I outline below]

Vintage Meatloaf

Hale's Restaurant Vintage Meatloaf
Hale’s Restaurant Meatloaf naked


UPDATE March 2019: Although I cheated and served French Fries instead of mashed potatoes, I did have gravy on the meatloaf I made. Somehow I knew peas and mashed potatoes and gravy had to be part of the meal. Sure enough, the husband of a high school friend of mine posted on the Killbuck group:
The first meal that I had in Hales was meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy. $.70
The side dishes were : Peas,prunes, head lettuce, Apple sauce. cottage cheese and garden salad. [presumably, pick two. And can you imagine prunes on a restaurant menu today? As a side dish?]

Recipe hand written by Claude Hale, owner of the Hale’s Restaurant in Killbuck. Courtesy of Tootzi Snyder. NOTE: “Mango” is Northern Ohio lingo for bell pepper.


And about that “mango” in the recipe–remember it is Midwestern lingo for green pepper. Here’s a good explanation of how that word usage and confusion happened.

Anderson’s Restaurant

My grandmother and grandfather Guy and Vera Anderson (on the left in the picture at the top of the page) ran a restaurant in Killbuck, too. They started serving meals in the mid-1930’s and closed around 1945 when my grandfather began to have heart trouble. So naturally, I was curious to learn whether Hale’s restaurant came along afterwards to fill a void. Or was Hale’s a competitor to the Anderson’s Restaurant just down the street on Main? After all, I’m certain that Anderson’s also served meatloaf.

Hale’s Restaurant Timeline

After some Googling and reading newspaper articles from the period, I can present this history of Claude Hale and his restaurant. Alas, no menus or ads featuring meatloaf.

  • Prior to April 1940: A restaurant called Bob and Bud’s Restaurant operates in the landmark Killbuck building at the corner of Main and Front Streets. [I have no information about Bob and Bud’s, unfortunately.]
  • April 1940: Claude Hale movs from Akron when he buys an interest
    in Bob & Bud’s Restaurant in Killbuck from Fred Teisher . Robert Teischer remains as his partner and assists in operating the restaurant, which becomes Hale’s Restaurant.
  • March, 1943: World War II calls all able-bodied men and Claude Hale signs up to fight. He announces he will close Hale’s Restaurant. [Apparently Mr. Teischer had moved on.] This threatens to leave Killbuck with no restaurant for the first time in 50 years according to the Killbuck columnist for the Coshocton Tribune. [If that is true, the first restaurant in Killbuck started in the 1890s, which definitely was earlier than the Anderson’s restaurant, So whose was it?]
  • In 1943, Mrs Mayme Burton rescues the town when she starts serving meals at her place of business on North Main Street. She also operates a gasoline station and a grocery store. (Sounds just like the combos we have now with gas pumps, shopping and a fast food restaurant under one roof.)
  • 1946: When he returns from the war, Claude reopens the restaurant. In the Killbuck Gang Facebook page, Owen Mellor recalls Hale’s was open in 1946.
  • June, 1958: The newspaper reports that Mr. and Mrs. Claude Hale have repurchased the restaurant from Norman Crandall. I was not able to find a notice of the original sale to Crandall, so don’t know when that took place. As far as I know the restaurant continued to operate as Hale’s throughout the 50s.
  • December, 1967: The Coshocton Tribune announces that Claude Hale and his wife have sold their restaurant to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dobbins. (They sold the business but retained the building, which included apartments.)
  • December 1970: A devastating fire breaks out in the middle of the night. Despite the efforts of 75 fireman and twelve trucks, the restaurant and apartments above are destroyed.

A FIRE Reveals the History of the Building

Newspaper coverage of the fire brings the story back to my own family. A few months ago, I featured a photo of my great-great grandmother, Mary Morgan’s home on the corner of Main and Front Streets. The article on the fire includes speculation that the building was built before the turn of the century. I knew that, because my great-grandfather ‘Doc’ Stout started his first medical practice there when he married Mary’s daughter, Hattie.

Even more interesting, the article says that the building previously served as a dry goods store and a post office. That is all part of my family history. Mary Mogan’s first husband, Asahel Platt operated a dry goods store. I discovered that fact through the probate papers filed after his death. After her second husband, Jesse Morgan, disappeared from her life, Mary served from time to time as postmistress for Killbuck. 

All those activities, plus her business as a seamstress, took place in the same building that later housed Hale’s restaurant. You can clearly see the similarity with the picture of Hale’s restaurant above.

Mary Morgan's house
Mary Morgan’s Killbuck house with Doc Stout office on right. Circa 1880

So much for the history of the Hale’s Restaurant. How about a slice of restaurant meatloaf? Claude Hale’s recipe obviously serves a lot more people than you might at home. In the notes on the recipe, I tell you how easy it is to convert this to 1/3 the size.

Also, this recipe is pretty basic. If you want to try one with a little more pizazz, see my own meatloaf recipe. I believe the use of tomato paste or sauce or catsup probably derives from the Anderson’s Restaurant recipe. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. (Although I may add more eggs to the Anderson Recipe next time, because I really liked the texture of Hale’s meatloaf.

Hale's Restaurant meatloaf
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Hale’s Restaurant Meatloaf

This is a vintage, mid-century restaurant recipe for a no-frills meatloaf, juicy and flavorful.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword beef, meatloaf, vintage recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 45 minutes
Servings 36 slices

Ingredients

  • 6 lbs ground beef
  • 3 1/2 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp pepper
  • 1 1/2 lb onion chopped fine
  • 3 cups cracker meal
  • 1 mango (green bell pepper) chopped fine
  • 12 eggs
  • 1 bunch celery chopped fine or 3 tbsp celery seed

Instructions

  • Beat eggs. Mix all ingredients, pack in pan and bake 3 and 1/2 hours. (temperature not given, but for such a long baking time, probably 325)

Notes

This is the full restaurant-sized recipe as written by the restaurant owner.  I made 1/3 the amount and it made an 8″ loaf pan plus a mini loaf pan. Alternatively, it would fill a 9″ loaf pan.
The recipe is easy to divided in thirds.  Just remember that 1/3 a Tablespoon is 1 teaspoon, so don’t overdo the pepper.
Several people on first seeing this recipe thought it was too many eggs, but I found the eggs and cracker meal balanced perfectly with the ground beef for a very good texture.
You can serve it with a brown gravy (mix 3 tbsp melted butter and 3 tbsp flour, and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups beef broth depending on how thick you want the gravy.)  For an authentic mid-century restaurant meal, serve with mashed potatoes and canned peas and a lettuce salad.
 

Great-Great Grandmother Isabella McCabe Anderson – Pictures

Sometimes I become confused by the intersection of the Anderson, and Allison and Lisle and McDowell families. Pictures help.

Leonard Guy Anderson was my grandfather.

His grandfather was John Anderson. John married twice–first to Emma Allison, with whom he had four children. That accounts for my grandfather having cousins named Allison.

John Anderson married second, Isabella McCabe. With Isabella, he had six children, including my grandfather’s father, Joseph. John’s children were my grandfather’s aunts and uncles (and his father). Two of the aunts in that family married a Lisle and a McDowell.

Isabella McCabe lived to a very old age (1818-1912) and is pictured in both a gathering of Andersons and a gathering of Lisles, which shows the connections between the families.

Isabella McCabe Anderson Circa 1895

Isabella McCabe Anderson Circa 1895

 

Isabella Anderson, Margaret Anderson Lisle, Carrie Lisle Butler, Daughter.

Four Generations, circa 1895: Isabella Anderson, Margaret Anderson Lisle, Carrie Lisle Butler, Daughter.

 

 

Isabella McCabe Anderson

Isabella McCabe Anderson at center of another family picture: Lisles and Andersons. 1900.

Children seated on ground: Girl, Girl, boy (?), boy, girl (Rhema Anderson?)

First row (seated): Woman holding child?–; Franklin Anderson; William Anderson; Isabella McCabe Anderson; Margaret Anderson Lisle holding Margaret Jane “Jennie” Butler, child of deceased daughter Carrie Lisle Butler); Amy Anderson Roof; Caroline Anderson Bird.

Second row (standing starting with woman with arms crossed, white blouse): Sarah Jane Brink Anderson (wife of Franklin); Martha Jane Cox, wife of William Anderson; Jennie McDowell (?); Sarah Jane Anderson McDowell(?); Woman?;  Merriman Lisle (Behind Margaret); Woman holding child (?); Thomas Roof (Behind Amy); Leonard Bird (Behind Caroline).

Third Row:  Young man?; John Clement Lisle; Young man?; John McDowell (son of Sarah Jane Anderson McDowell); Man between woman and man),

Highest place: Man with mustache. to his right, Milton Lisle (behind Roof)

I have shown the Anderson family group picture before, and the names are all identified in an earlier post, but here is Isabella with some Allisons in the picture. This picture was about 1909

Vera and Guy Anderson and families 1909
Vera and Guy Anderson and families 1909
Isabella McCabe Anderson
Isabella McCabe Anderson seated, with her grandson Guy Anderson in back with tie.

In this closeup, some of Isabella’s great grandchildren sit in front of her, and Vera Stout Anderson, directly behind Isabella, holds the youngest at the time–Guy Anderson’s son, Herbert Guy.

See Isabella’s story here.

Travel Photo Amazes

Ben and Nettie Anderson

Ben and Nettie Anderson (My grandfather Guy’s Brother)

I have featured this sweet picture before. It shows my great-uncle Ben Anderson and his bride, Nettie. Ben has an interesting life story, and you can read about him by following the link above.

Recently, I re-discovered two more pictures of Ben and his family, vacationing in St. Augustine, Florida in January 1910. They went to the photographer’s studio to capture a travel photo. I hope they enjoyed St. Augustine as much as we did when we visited it about 75 years later. Although we were definitely attracted by different things.

No wonder Ohioans flocked to Florida for vacations.  What an exotic place! Alligators! Oranges on trees!

Ben Anderson - Florida

Ben Anderson, St. Augustine Florida January 1910

Ben Anderson family, Florida 1910

Ben, Estil and Nettie Anderson, Florida 1910

If you read my story of Ben Anderson’s life, you’ll see the irony in this picture of his family picking oranges. You see, Ben was an Ohio farmer who grew apples! Making this a busman’s holiday, as it were.

These travel photos reflect a theme of photographer’s studios in the early 20th century.  The photos are printed on a light cardstock, and the back is printed with sections for a message and an address as a postcard. The photographers created elaborate scenes starring their customers.

Neither of these postcards had been mailed.  The writing on the backs of the cards include a note that could have been from Nettie giving the date and place.  Other notes with names were written by my grandmother, my mother and by me.

Sadly, Nettie died in August 1911.

See other family travel photos with Will Stout and Maude Stout at the beach.