World's Strictest Parents

One local family has been making a favorite fair food for almost 70 years. In my humble opinion, none of the recently developed "deep fried concoctions" sold at the fair come close to the simple fried waffle drenched in powdered sugar.

The Pearce family will not arrive at this year's fair in a modern concession trailer. However, four generations will arrive and work together to set up and then operate "their booth" under the grandstand.

Original display cases and a 1927 cash register are returned to the booth each year. The same irons have been used throughout the decades to create the uniquely shaped and perfectly crisp waffles this booth is known for.

The only "flashy" additions might be newly painted signs. There must be the sign so many look for each year: "Golly, Golly, Golly But They Are Good!" Most importantly, there will be the same guarded, "secret" waffle recipe first used by Herbert D. Pearce so there can be the same made-from-scratch waffles everyone expects.

Family members today know that Herbert D. Pearce, The Waffle Man, first opened two booths under the grandstand in the early 1940s, one selling sandwiches and regular food. The other booth featured waffles. Perhaps the waffles sold better, but for whatever the reason, only the waffle booth survived.

For many years, only Herbert knew the recipe and "measured" the ingredients by handfuls and heaping spoonfuls literally out of sight of everyone else. Eventually, Herbert's oldest son, Charles, convinced his father that if the business was to continue, the recipe needed to be written down. He stood beside his father and measured and counted all the handfuls and "guesses" before they went into the batter, and then he wrote them down. Even today, however, the Pearce family is very protective of the recipe.

Pearce waffles originally sold for 5 cents each or 6 for 25 cents. Herbert's son, Tom, remembers his father walking around the fairgrounds with a megaphone to broadcast the location of the Pearce waffle stand. Herbert's grandson Thom remembers one of his first "jobs" was to stamp tickets for the hourly drawings. Customers would receive a numbered ticket with their purchase. Once per hour, a number would be drawn, and the lucky winner received one dozen free waffles.

The Pearce family comes back each year because their customers keep coming back for the waffles that cost $1 each today. They enjoy hearing customers say, "I came back from Florida for your waffles," or "I remember these when I was a little girl." They have customers who mail waffles to family members, and customers who freeze waffles so they can share them with others during holidays.

Local histories tell us Herbert Pearce's grandfather, William Bowser Pearce, was born in Pennsylvania in 1806. From his obituary (Lancaster Gazette 1-11-1890) we learn he arrived in Fairfield County with his parents in 1811, and the family settled in Richland Township. William attended school and worked on the farm until he was 18 years old. He then learned the carpenter and joiner trade. One of the first houses he worked on was the Ewing mansion. He came into Lancaster to live about 1832, and in October 1833 purchased the east half of lot 38 in Carpenter's Addition.

The next month he married Lavina Shellenbarger and the following year built a "commodious" house on his lot. The home needed to be spacious, for the couple would have 14 children. The 1859 city directory lists William B. Pearce as a carpenter living on the south side of Walnut Street between Broad and Columbus Streets. This would eventually have the address of 118 W. Walnut St. Perhaps because they needed more room the family moved later that year out to a farm in section 17 of Berne Township.

Charles A. Pearce was born to William and Lavina in 1857, and then sadly Lavina died in 1862 when Charles would have been about 5 years of age. The next year William married again.

He married Mrs. Sarah Calkins who had two sons and two daughters. In 1878 he retired and moved back into town and his house on West Walnut Street. William served as a trustee of Berne Township, and a member of city council for six years. He was described as "a man of decided convictions and a Democrat of the strictest standard" (Centennial History, p.366). He died in his home on Jan. 8, 1890.

Charles married Mary Ann (Mame) Oatney in 1882 when he was about 25 years old. They lived at 122 W. Walnut and he worked in a grocery until he was appointed City Letter Carrier in March 1895.

Charles retired in April 1926 after 31 years. When he was asked how far he had walked in those years, he replied his lowest estimate was 150,000 miles or six times around the world. Nov. 19, 1936 Charles A. Pearce died in his home at 80 years of age.

Herbert D. Pearce was born to Charles and Mary Ann Pearce in 1883. He graduated from Lancaster High School in 1902. New Year's Day in 1903 Herbert met Florence Mae Clover at a church service at the Grace Reformed Church on W. Chestnut Street. The Rev. J. J. Leberman was the church pastor. In 1905 Leberman and his family moved to Braddock, Pa. Perhaps Leberman found a job for young Herbert, for he, too, moved to Braddock to work as an electrician for Westinghouse Electric. When Florence Mae Clover went to Braddock to visit her friend Miss Evaline Leberman, Rev. Leberman married Herbert and Florence in Braddock on Jan. 16, 1906.

The couple returned to Lancaster to live. Their first son was born in 1907, and they would have three more children. From 1907 to 1912 Herbert worked as a streetcar motorman/conductor for the Lancaster Transit Co. The 1910 Federal Census shows that Herbert and Florence were living at 124 W. Walnut St. From 1912 to 1924 Herbert operated the Pearce Electric Shop at 103 N. Broad St. (E-G Jan. 13, 1956).

Herbert also first exhibited at the fair in 1912. He demonstrated the first electric vacuum sweeper ever shown at the fair. There was no electricity in the space he shared with Charles S. Fox, a stove dealer from S. Broad St., so Herbert ran a 110-volt line from the alley south of Fair Ave. to the Art Hall (E-G Oct. 14, 1960).

Contractor Herbert Pearce was involved in many projects and provided many services to the community during the following years. He provided electrical service for the new Sherman Memorial Armory, he helped organize the first Electric & Radio Show at the Armory in 1927, he wired the auditorium and cottages at The Campground, he decorated houses at Christmas, and he put up the Christmas decorations downtown along Main Street. About 1947 he began decorating the buildings on the fairgrounds with red, white and blue bunting, and in 1948 he was in charge of decorating the fairgrounds for the movie "Green Grass of Wyoming." It was about 1942 that he began his waffle stand at the county fair.

Thomas Pearce was born to Herbert and Florence Mae in 1928. Tom's parents lived at 124 W. Walnut St., and his grandparents lived at 122 W. Walnut. Some of Tom's early memories include being able to eat dinner at home first, then go next door to his grandparent's home and eat again. He also remembers sitting on his grandfather's lap in a rocking chair while they both listened to radio programs.

Tom graduated from LHS in 1946. He had begun working on the Stuck farm in 1942, and continued after graduation. When the farm was sold in 1965, Tom went to work in the Stuck Mould Shop and stayed until 1984. He then began a second career with Claypool Electric.

Tom and his wife, Betty, married in 1954. Tom's grandparents, Charles and Mary Ann, were married almost 50 years. Tom's parents, Herbert and Florence Mae, were married more than 60 years.

When the fair opens later this month, Herbert's descendants will still be using his special secret recipe to make the famous Pearce waffles from scratch. Herbert would be proud of his family continuing this fair tradition into the fifth generation. Tom and Betty Pearce, their daughter and son, and their children as well as nephews, great-nephews and spouses will proudly take their place behind the counter that still stands under the "Golly, Golly, Golly, But They Are Good!" sign.