I was digging around on West Chester Jim’s history site recently and stumbled on a link for the Pennsylvania Geological Survey’s site for historical aerial photography of Pennsylvania.

In 1937, this is what the crossroads in Exton looked like:

Aerial Photo of Exton, PA (Chester County) in 1937

Mostly farm fields and woods. Here’s the same photo zoomed in on the crossroads of Routes 100 and 30 (the Lincoln Highway).

Exton, PA Crossroads in 1937

Next I overlayed the same shot with a shot from 1971.

Exton, PA 1971

The Exton Square Mall had not yet been developed but the Exton Drive-In is there (can you find it?). Plenty of housing and commercial development are starting to show their marks on the West Whiteland landscape.

Exton, PA Crossroads 1971 - Routes 100 & 30

The photo below is a shot of The Guernsey Cow around 1974 or 75 after The Exton Square Mall was put in and the K-Mart and Exton Cinema were under construction. My grandfather had this in his office and my older brother has it on display in his home now.

The Guernsey Cow and Exton, PA Crossroads circa 1974

A close-up below shows The Cow property, Sleepy Hollow Hall (aka The Massey House) and The Guernsey Cow sign across Lancaster Highway.

The Guernsey Cow Property circa 1974

And another overlay below using Google Maps shows the level of development in the crossroads today 30 years later.

Exton, PA circa 2007

The Guernsey Cow property below as it is today as the DNBFirst bank.

The Guernsey Cow/ DNBFirst Bank circa 2007

The Exton Dairy Grille October 11, 1940

Before The Guernsey Cow changed names and signage in 1945, it was known as The Exton Dairy Grille. This is how it appeared in 1940 on a Friday morning.

Cars and a truck navigate the Lincoln Highway during a flood in Exton, PA

At some time during World War II Exton apparently suffered a significant flood. The Valley Creek that runs along the road across from what was then The Exton Dairy Grill looks to have overflowed its banks. A Brandywine Farms truck navigates the waters along with two cars.

Our Ice Cream for Health; War Bonds for Victory

Before there was The Guernsey Cow billboard, during World War II, this sign pointed the way to The Exton Dairy Grill and proclaimed “Our Ice Cream for Health; War Bonds for Victory.”

Flooded Lincoln Highway brings out tow truck rescue

Sleepy Hollow Hall Exton, PA

Next to The Guernsey Cow building in Exton, PA, is Sleepy Hollow Hall. Gladys and Ilario Polite bought what is also known as The Massey House a few years after they started running The Exton Dairy Grill.

The house, originally built in the early 1700s, is on the National Register of Historic Places and a detailed history can be read on the Pennsylvania Historic Resource form filled out in 1981.

From the 1930s and through the 1940s the Polites, while living in the house and raising a family, also boarded travelers. True to my grandmother’s inclination to save everything, she still has the original guest book.

The first guest signatures show up May 1, 1938: Mr. and Mrs. R. Berg of Pittsburgh PA. From May to December that year, they registered about 150 guests at Sleepy Hollow Hall from all parts of the country and even a J. Shimojo from Japan by way of New York City in September 1938.

Sleepy Hollow Hall, Exton, PA Registry

One of the guests that my grandmother speaks of the most is Hugh “Lumpy” Brannum. While Brannum probably gained most of his fame as Mr. Green Jeans on the Captain Kangaroo children’s TV show from 1955-84, he was previously known as a standup string bass player for band leader Fred Waring’s orchestra, His Pennsylvanians. In the 1940s, Brannum performed skits as Little Orley on Fred Waring’s weekly radio show.

Brannum and his wife stayed at Sleepy Hollow Hall many times through the 1940s. Even when Fred Waring bought The Shawnee Inn & Resort in 1943 and insisted his band stay there (at their own expense), Brannum, according to my grandmother, insisted on staying in Exton.

Mr.s & Mrs. H.R. Brannum in the Sleepy Hollow Hall Registry

The postcard below was from Mrs. Brannum in July 1941 from Shawnee On Delaware:

July 1941 Postcard from Mrs. Brannum to Mrs. Polite Exton PA

Dear Mrs. Polite,

Will you please send me two pounds of caramels C.O.D. to Mrs H.R. Brannum, Shawnee Lodge, Shawnee-on-Delaware, Pennsylvania. I’d like most of the dark ones with the walntus.

I expect to send the picture Mr. Brannum took of the children by next week. He has been too busy to print them.

We think of you often and hope you are having a pleasant summer.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Brannum

Postcard from Mrs. Brannum requesting caramels

Dairy cows on the loose by The Guernsey Cow billboard

Sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s a truck carrying cows either overturned or broke down along the Lincoln Highway in Exton, PA in front of The Guernsey Cow.  The cows, on the loose, were drawn to the giant Guernsey Cow billboard and milled around in its shade and that of the nearby trees. Meanwhile, serious men stood by pondering the best action to take.

Dairy cows roam around The Guernsey Cow billboard in Exton, PA

Last week, I received an email from Frank Lavin who worked for Horn & Hardart and managed The Guernsey Cow for a few years in the late 1970s.

I’ve edited the letter a bit for length:

I worked for Horn & Hardart from 1973 ( during High school ) through 1978 ( as a Restaurant Manager ).

Horn & Hardart took over the ‘Cow’ for a few years in the late seventies… I knew the ‘Cow’ was better off with the Polite’s. Horn & Hardart was in the process of closing stores (pretty much the end of the line for the once great company).

I worked at the ‘Cow’ for about 2 years when I just got out of High School in the restaurant as the night manager for H & H and later they brought me back to make the ice cream for not only the Exton restaurant but also the rest of their Philadelphia footprint of restaurants and retail stores.

I remember helping Willie move from his home inside the store to his new home in the small cottage next to the big home in the rear of the restaurant.

Willie was ‘great’ he helped me immensely.  I used to visit him ( after I left Horn & Hardart ) at least once a year until one day when I found his cottage was vacant. I spoke to someone who told me that he moved to Downingtown.

In a follow up email, Frank explained:

Yes, we used to ship the ice cream and also the caramels ( not sure who made the caramels for Horn & Hardart ) in the Guernsey Cow tubs to all the H & H stores in their Philadelphia market, such as:

• Broad & Walnut
• 12th & Market ( Reading Terminal )
• Cottman & Large
• 8th & Market
• 16th & Market
• Lansdowne
• Lawrence Park 
• Bala (City Line Ave) 

There were more, but these are some that I worked at.

I do remember both your Grandparents. Larry was a nice man. I was the afternoon manager and I spent some quality time with him. I was just out of High school ( very green behind the ears ) and he showed me around and taught me lot about managing the restaurant. 

Do you remember Mackie?  he worked at the Ship Inn and used to come in everyday?

I do remember Mackie as I’m sure many others do as well. He was some kind of character!

Thanks for writing in Frank.

Bag Pipers in front of The Guernsey Cow

The awning behind the pipers reads “The Guernsey Cow” which puts this event in the 1940s after the name was changed from The Exton Dairy Grille. There ’s no explanation for the gathering of pipers — perhaps lunch after a morning parade?

 In 1967, The Guernsey Cow added on to the existing structure to expand the dining room and kitchen area. The photo below is taken from behind the ice cram counter looking into the old dining area. Elmer Polite, brother and partner of Larry Polite and Joseph Pep Puliti (and later, owner of Mr. Sandwich in West Chester) poses on the far right.

The column in the center later became the location of the blackboards that listed the available ice cream flavors.

Elmer Polite, far right, poses before remodeling begins

Cinderblock walls form the new exterior wall in 1967.

Framing is delivered, probably from Lancaster or Gap, PA.

New framing takes shape while old dining area is torn down.

Framing near completed.

The remodel completed.

1972: The Cow Sign Moves Back

In 1972, The Lincoln Highway (Route 30) in Exton, PA was being widened and The Guernsey Cow signs needed to be moved back from the road to make room.

As described previously, when the billboard was originally erected right after the end of World War II, the highway department visited Larry Polite and informed him that, although it was a nice big cow, it needed to be moved back from the edge of the road because the cow’s head hung over the highway.

In 1968 the northern side of the highway was widened. The smaller sign shown in the post below (from 1941) would have needed to be moved or removed for that widening.

The sign above reads: “It’s The Greatest Ice Cream In The World” and it’s written over a musical staff with notes.

Anyone know the jingle or can play it for me?

Looks like: A F F F  F A F   F F F F    A F G F    F F G A C

1972: The Guernsey Cow sign rises into the air

1972: The Cow Signs Start To Settle In