The Long Islander

May 1 1973

Some Memories And A Reminisce Of Old Commack

By Anita Singer

    Commack - "It is nice to reminisce and to go back in memory to some of the most wonderful times we ever had...."

    This breath of nostalgia, dating back more then 60 years, came forth recently when an ex- resident of "Burr Street" read The Long Islander stories about township communities, Commack in particular. Mrs. John de la Osa, who has been living in Astoria, Queens, for many years, was prompted to tell us about the 23 acres of "fine farmland" where she and her family summered.    And sharing these thoughts may lend a dimension to understanding what the area was like before Commack's metamorphosis.

    These carefree days were detailed by the former Gertrude Lewis as times when shopping was done at home, not by driving to shopping centers that now dot the Commack landscape.

    "About once every three months a dry goods peddler used to come by foot, peddling his wares from two huge suitcases that he carried....in a few years this same peddler graduated to a horse and wagon.

    "The wagon looked just like a gypsy wagon with pots and pans, brooms, and the like, jangling on the outside, "Mrs. de la Osa said.

Weekly Bakery Wagon

    Apparently the weekly visits of the bakery wagon were popular with the Lewis children, who were permitted by their mother to choose their favorite cookie from the baker's selection, Mrs. de la Osa recalled. Besides the butcher wagon man, who delivered meat door-to-door, the fish man, she said, and his wagon created a stir with his big brass horn. People in the neighborhood, she added, "came out carrying dish pans or baskets to put the fish in." Even the grocer, Fred Otten, brought his wares around each Friday by horse and wagon.

    "He took our order for the week," reported Mrs. de la Osa. My mother always included little teats for us six small children.... Penny-a-piece clay pipes for blowing bubbles were of times on the grocery list, she said.

    Another part of the shopping adventure was that once-a summer excursion at the end of the warm days to Northport Village. The trip included a main stop at Saltz and Alters department store.

The Farming

    Mrs. de la Osa writs about all the fresh vegetables that were grown on the Lewis property, sometimes by a farmer from the next far, who divided "the bounty with our family". She tells of the special fun the children had going out for watermelon "when it got a little dark", cutting it up on the spot, and eating it right in the garden. Pickle picking time was another fun activity for the Lewis children, especially when the farmer taught them how to measure the pickles.

    "Five medium pickles would count as one hand, and so many hands were a bushel, "Mrs. de la Osa remembered. The youngsters also enjoyed riding to the pickle market with the farmer to sell "the many many bushels", she said.

Family Fare

    While Mrs. Lewis and her brood spent the summer months in Commack enjoying the large house and the out-of-doors, Joseph C. Lewis was a commuter. He would come out to his farm every Friday and return to the city on Sunday nights. Most of the times after he got off the train at East Northport station, he would take "the station wagon (a horse drawn coach with many seats)" to his home. Sometimes he would walk the distance when it was late" his daughter said. She mentioned one specific Sunday when he walked to the depot carrying a particularly heavy suitcase. It wasn't until he reached the city that he discovered what made the bag so heavy - six large jars of preserves "that my mother had put in his suitcase."

    Going on a picnic for the Lewis children back in the early 1900's meant taking "little sandwiches and a big jar of lemonade" to the end of their own property. Their mother permitted this treat, and "we would sit under the huge trees that were at the end of our land and eat our lunch," Mrs. de la Osa recalled. She also commented on the wide variety of fruit trees they had on the Commack farm, emphasizing that there were several kinds of each. Blueberries could be picked at the "iron bridge....somewhere in Northport," she surmised.

Lewis Farm sold

The Lewis farm, where so many happy times were had, was sold before Mr. Lewis died. He sold the property and the house to his youngest son, Elliot Burr Lewis, for $1, "with the prevision that he would take care of my mother and my niece who lived with them." "This he did." his sister said, "with the utmost love and and consideration." Elliot's middle name was chosen for his father's "great friend", Senator Carll S. Burr who lived on the same street.

    Those 23 acres in Commack, where the Lewis family thrived in "wonderful freedom", were sold many years after the second World War for "a pittance of $13,000." Today it is the site of homes in a mammoth housing development.

Even the "dose of nostalgia" may evaporate as the quick steps of the future are thrust upon the Commack community.