Can you imagine living in a neighborhood without a food market within distance? As a senior, I look back on those days, remembering that most of our vegetables came in cans. But there was one exception — when we heard the call, the musical song and the clip clop of a horse’s hoofs entering our alleyway: “Mom! The man‘s here with the pretty wagon and the fancy horse” (”Fitting horseshoes at arabbers’ stable in Baltimore,” March 16).
All of the children in the neighborhood would run into the alley and surround the horse while our moms would start their strange habit of thumping on the watermelons. What on earth was that all about? But I knew we’d be having watermelon for dessert that night.
I want to thank The Baltimore Sun for keeping those memories alive with several articles recently highlighting the unique group of our Baltimore arabbers, who for years have brightened our days as well as our dinner tables. Thanks also to farrier Sean Losee for kindly volunteering his time to shoe the horses.
When the first Atlantic and Pacific (A&P) market finally opened near our home, a new kind of food shopping gained popularity. But the magical song and the jingle of the horse’s bells will forever be welcome in our city.
Debby Hyson, Essex
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