“It’s a wonderful world, full of Friendly people”

I remember the first time I went to Friendly’s. It was a summer Friday night and after dinner, my father took us over to the new Friendly’s that was a five minute walk from our house. I was eight and “we” were may sister Kath, brother Tom, and cousin Rob.

We went to the walkup take-out window, and I ordered a chocolate cone. When the scooper handed it to me, the ball of ice cream promptly took a dive, leaping right off the cone and onto the pavement.

As a child, I definitely knew how to screw up an ice cream cone. What I liked to do was bite of the bottom tip of the cone – because the ONLY cone worth anything is the pointy-tipped sugar cone, not the flat-bottomed waffle cone – and stand their in wonder while the melting ice cream dribbled out the hole.

But the Flying Wallenda chocolate scoop was NOT my fault.

I actually don’t remember whether they replaced it or not, but I was not unused to treats that disappeared.

When my father took me, Kath and Tom to see Cinderella, he gave us three dimes to use in the soft drink machine. Kath took care of Tom, then got her own drink. My turn. Alas, when I pressed the button, no paper cup dropped down. The machine dispensed the orange drink – a nasty, uncarbonated sugary concoction: the stuff they use for snow cones – and I sadly watched it flow down the drain.

I didn’t bother to tell my father. At five, I had already incorporated the Daniel Patrick Moynihan world view - 'To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart’ – into my emotional repertoire. (Half German, to boot. Double whammy.)

Friendly’s was the first restaurant I went to with friends.

I was in fourth grade, and on a Sunday afternoon in February, I went with my friends Susan and Bernadette to that nearby Friendly’s for a sundae. I believe that a hot fudge sundae cost 35 cents. We were big shots, in our Sunday dresses and “good” coats, and we were even bigger shots because Susan’s high-school aged cousin Marcia was our waitress. I don’t remember if we tipped her, but my guess is ‘no’.

I grew up in an ice cream family. There was always ice cream in the freezer. But we didn’t go to Friendly’s all that often.

When we went out for a spin, we’d stop at the Cherry Bowl in Leicester, Verna’s in Charlton, or the Dairy Delite (soft serve) on Main Street.

And I don’t recall a repeat performance of me, Susan and Bernadette going out in our finery to Friendly’s. When we had a bit of change, we went to Carerra’s Market and bought penny candy.

But in high school, and in college during summers home, I frequented Friendly’s. It’s what kids in Worcester did. You drove around in someone’s father’s car until someone declared a stop and you went to Friendly’s and hung out for a while, nursing soft drinks..

There were Friendly’s all over the place, but for my friends, our watering hole was Tatnuck Friendly’s, or, on occasion, the more collegiate outpost on Highland Street near Worcester Tech.

In Boston, there were alternatives to Friendly’s: Brigham’s and Bailey’s, which were both pretty good, when – during my college years in Boston – I had an ice cream jones. Once, however, a bunch of us walked to the Friendly’s in Chestnut Hill, an eight mile-plus round trip. Well worth it.

When Boston became my permanent home, I was fortunate enough to live near a Friendly’s, which I ate at every once in a while. It was near a movie theater, and my husband and I would stop in for Big Beefs (hamburger on toast – completely superior to a hamburger bun) or a grilled cheese sandwich after a movie. On one such occasion – my sister Trish may have been with us – Jim broke a tooth on something or other.

That Friendly’s closed, but there was one near my brother’s in Charlestown, and I’d take my niece Caroline there.

Plus there was one just over the bridge coming off the Cape, which became the place to stop on the way home from my sister Kath’s.

Charlestown. Just over the bridge. Both are closed.

As is the original Friendly’s in my hood. And the one next to O’Connor Brothers Funeral Parlor (where my family, as we used to say, “went out of”). Tatnuck Friendly’s. Highland Street. All gone.

The only Friendly’s in Worcester is the one on Grafton Street. The only Friendly’s in Boston is at Logan Airport.

And the company has just announced that it’s closing 23 of its restaurants.

“After a months-long evaluation and careful consideration, we have decided to close 23 corporate-owned restaurants, effective immediately,” CEO George Michel said in the letter. “While this was a tough decision, we are confident it will best position the brand for a bright future.”

…Michel said in the letter that the company “has locations in geographic areas that have changed dramatically in some cases since those restaurants first opened.” (Source: Boston Globe)

Wonder what that “changed dramatically” is supposed to mean. I don’t like the sound of it.

Anyway, I’m sorry to see more Friendly’s going out of business.

For anyone who grew up in Massachusetts, it is such an iconic brand.

Those of us of a certain age grew up slurping down Awful Awful milkshakes, which later became Fribbles. Personally, I preferred Frappes, which had ice cream in them. Awful Awfuls/Fribbles were ice milk and syrup.

We at Big Beefs. And knew enough to order a “Friendly Cola” rather than a Coke.

We debated the merits of a hot fudge sundae vs. a Swiss chocolate almond, which came with a tiny little paper cup filled with roasted and heavily salted bits of almonds. Delish!

While my favorite remains the hot fudge on coffee ice cream, what I wouldn’t give for one of those Swiss chocolate almond sundaes, which I note is no longer on the menu.

I don’t know when I’ll get to a Friendly’s again, but it will be for a Big Beef and a Happy Ending (yes, that is indeed what they’re called) sundae.

Meanwhile, I can’t get the ear worm of the Friendly’s jingle – It’s a wonderful world, full of Friendly people – out of my head.

The only thing that would make it go away would be a chocolate Frappe.