Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by Marcel Rousseau.
Some were previously published by the Orillia Museum of Art and History and in the book Postcard Memories Orillia.
“Lil Harry’s” ice cream store on Mississaga Street was purchased in 1907 by 'Archie' Carter, who changed the name to Carter’s Candy Palace.
By 1924 the ice cream store had been expanded into a full-sized restaurant and 10 years later, with a remodeled storefront, Carter’s became one of the best known restaurants north of Toronto.
Archie Carter passed away in 1933 and Archie’s two children, Aileen and Veldon, took over the business. In 1947 a new all-glass modern storefront was installed - a first for this type of storefront in Canada.
The next year it was decided to replace the soda fountain and in his book, History of the Carter Family Restaurants, A.M. 'Mac' Carter describes the new fountain area: Stainless steel fixtures were installed in the working area of the fountain, and a curved lunch counter with 23 swivel seats was put in place.
The working area contained an ice cream section, a sandwich deck, several units of refrigeration, a cooking area for grilled sandwiches and multiple shelving spaces for silver and dishware, coffee urns and other accessories.
These attractive improvements stood the test of time and were still being used when the building was destroyed by fire in 1961.
