Jeanne’s Snack Bar

Jeanne’s Snack Bar This is MY story of Jeanne & Jeanne’s Snack Bar.: From Alessano Italy to Nassau Lake.

As Jeanne is trying to run the place herself now, moving quickly..in and out..no tables..keep the ball moving game plan,...
03/30/2024

As Jeanne is trying to run the place herself now, moving quickly..in and out..no tables..keep the ball moving game plan, she did something that she couldn’t stop..her love for kids…
her love was overwelming…
Knowing this would cause bottlenecking, she did it anyways… CANDY..
She would often talk of kids with a handfull of change, staring forever at the candy trying to make a lifechanging decision which to pick.
Bubblegum or candy necklace…Candy bracelet maybe…
Afterwards, candy wrappers would fall on the ground, causing more issues, but she did it anyways and thats why the kids that knew her loved her and why Jeanne and Jeanne’s are etched forever in their memories..!!

It’s 1964 on the 4th of july. Nassau lake had 6 bars all around the lake. Passman’s down on the right and Capron’s dow...
03/21/2024

It’s 1964 on the 4th of july. Nassau lake had 6 bars all around the lake. Passman’s down on the right and Capron’s down on the left was the closest.
This story today is of Jeanne and her husband John…Two completely different people. John, born at the turn of the century and one of the toughest guys you were ever to meet. Coming from nothing, he was extremely proud of Jeannes Snack Bar and was prepared to protest it at any cost.
As he hung out here, he became something similar to a bouncer. You wouldn’t wan’t to do anything wrong as long as John was standing there…On this day someone did.
On the fourth of July on Nassau Lake, there was alot of drinkers, who would visit Jeanne’s during the day.
On this day, while John was standing there, this one customer got into his vehicle to leave and spun his tires. Crushed stone wen’t flying everywhere…
John jumped into his vehicle and wen’t looking for this man and his vehicle. When he got to Capron’s, he spotted the vehicle.
John goes inside and finds the guy who spun out sitting at the bar. He ripped him from the barstool and made him come back to Jeanne’s. After this man told Jeanne he was sorry, John made this man rake the stone parking lot.
When this was over, Jeanne said to John….”John you can’t do this… your gonna put me out of business..!!”
This was the day Jeanne’s husband stopped hanging out..only to see him in the morning to help open, a half cup of coffee with a small shot of cream and back to the house he wen’t.
This was the day Jeanne had to become good cop AND bad cop as situation like this arise..
There’s something about a 4 foot 5 inch italian woman that can get away with putting a 6 foot 250 lb biker in this place …Jeanne was that person…
John would now spend his days at the house a few miles away on Hoag’s Corners road.
Jeanne…you got this..!!

As it gets closer to April 1st, jeanne’s husband wakes the building up. With the smell of bleach and some sauce cooking...
03/16/2024

As it gets closer to April 1st, jeanne’s husband wakes the building up. With the smell of bleach and some sauce cooking in the back, Jeanne is busy with deliveries. The Freihoffer truck comes with fresh rolls, Coke comes with soda. Borden arrives with dairy and icecream.
And:
At the time First Prise in Albany had the best hotdogs, so Jeanne got them too. For burgers, Jeanne is visited by Bill & Don’s in Nassau. It was very important to note, she didn’t get hamburger..Jeanne would say “it’s ground chuck”..a 80/20 special blend.
John made Jeanne her own burger press, that we still have and use. Ginsburg comes with fries, onion rings and condiments.
Any odds and ends, was a quick trip to Delson’s in Nassau.
As all this is going on, Jeanne gets a knock on the door. It’s a tall italian man with dark hair and a thick mustash. It’s her friend Mike Thoma from Thoma tire. They have been close since Mike opened his tire store in 1955. Mike offered to put that Jeanne’s is opening on his sign on Rt 20. Jeanne thanked Mike, not knowing at the time this would be a tradition of Jeanne’s and Thoma Tire for 50 years

March 15,1960. Jeanne’s is like a camp and at the end of the season, the place gets winterized. Every mid March, Jeann...
03/07/2024

March 15,1960. Jeanne’s is like a camp and at the end of the season, the place gets winterized. Every mid March, Jeanne and her husband John can be seen at Jeannes “waking her up.” As John is putting the well and pump back together, Jeanne begins cleaning. At some point, Jeanne will grab her broom, open the door and start “sweeping” into the air towards the door. Done at home every year as well, Jeanne sweeps out all spirits, negative or otherwise.
While inside, it starts to get exiting for Jeanne to know she will be open April 1st to start another season.
Part of this exitment is her hearing cars going by beeping their horns. The rumors start to go around town…”Jeanne’s is going to open soon.!!”
As exiting as spring itself..!!

Here is something that most customers never heard of. Something Jeanne made for her husband john and a select group at ...
02/29/2024

Here is something that most customers never heard of. Something Jeanne made for her husband john and a select group at the snack bar…(Never on the menu)
This was called the Cannibal Burger.
Known elsewhere as “tiger meat” or “wildcat,” Cannibal Burger is beef coarsely ground with onions and spices and meant to be served raw on crackers or rye toasts — kind of a bare-bones steak tartare. The name might not be appealing, but the meat is so tender it pretty much melts in your mouth and is surprisingly delicate in flavor. One bite, and it’s easy to forget about the raw part (not to mention the cannibal part), and just focus on putting more meat on more crackers. At one time, raw egg yolks were used as a binder, but with the rise of egg-based salmonella, they stopped doing that.
After a while, things like this stopped due to health reasons, but was something Jeanne’s husband John loved. You could not forget that raw onion..!!

When you came to Jeanne’s, you could smell all the wonderful food cooking as you pulled into the parking lot..One of tho...
02/27/2024

When you came to Jeanne’s, you could smell all the wonderful food cooking as you pulled into the parking lot..One of those must have items was the french fry.
Always made to order and served with the wooden french fry fork.
You may of had to stab the fry 10 times or so to get a fry, but you would ask for the fork if for some reason you didn’t get one..!!

Yup you guess’d it..The Fish Fry comes to Jeanne’s. Originally from Wisconsin, there we’re small rumors about this in ...
02/25/2024

Yup you guess’d it..
The Fish Fry comes to Jeanne’s. Originally from Wisconsin, there we’re small rumors about this in the Northeast.. Catholics of Polish and German descent, and Catholic leaders called for their parishioners to abstain from eating warm-blooded meat on Fridays as a way to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday. Many European Catholics took this practice with them when they settled in America.
The typical anatomy of a fish fry? First, beer-battered and deep-fried perch, walleye, haddock, cod or bluegill — and in some areas, you can also get smelt or catfish.
When Jeanne introduced this to her customers, she didn’t like the roll cold and asked her husband John to help. John installed a hotdog steamer and used it to steam the rolls, something noone else did at that time.
She also made her own Tarter Sauce, but some customers wanted something different, maybe with some spice…Jeanne whipped up a Chili Sauce and gave it a little spice..Customers also came to call it Hot Sauce.
This was different from other places that would use a cocktail sauce.. This Chili Sauce stayed with Jeanne’s Snack Bar thru it’s entire duration and our family still makes it to this day.

It’s 1959 and a hamburger was .25 cents..Hot Dogs were .15 cents and soda Pop .10 cents. Jeanne kept her menu very limi...
02/22/2024

It’s 1959 and a hamburger was .25 cents..Hot Dogs were .15 cents and soda Pop .10 cents. Jeanne kept her menu very limited so everything could move fast. In and out was the theme. People ate sitting in or on their cars because Jeanne wouldn’t have any picnic tables. This was intentional.
As we roll into the 60’s Jeanne who is an italian/Catholic will add one menu item to cater to like minded individuals like her….Wanna guess what that item is..??
Stay tuned..!!

Today is Oct 1st 1953 and it’s Jeanne’s son Billys birthday. When Jeanne asked him what he wanted, he said he wanted to...
02/03/2024

Today is Oct 1st 1953 and it’s Jeanne’s son Billys birthday. When Jeanne asked him what he wanted, he said he wanted to sit at the table with his family at Big Mikes house, still on the south end on Madison Ave.
Jeanne is on the left, always in an apron. John Jr and Sr in the front and of course, Big Mike, now showing his age, at the head of the table.
In the italian family, these get togethers are one of the best things it means to be italian and always lives in our memories..

It’s 1951 and Jeanne’s two boys have enlisted into the Military. Just before they were deployed, Billy bought a camera ...
07/05/2023

It’s 1951 and Jeanne’s two boys have enlisted into the Military. Just before they were deployed, Billy bought a camera and shot most of these pictures at Jeannes . Billy Morris would join Naval Intelligence/NIA and was involved in Top Secret Military Operations.
In these photo’s they were kids and were acting as such. They grew up the second they were deployed.

Now we’re in 1950 & Jeanne’s Snack Bar is going strong.. Hamburgers were 25 cents and French Fries were 15 cents. Jeann...
06/02/2023

Now we’re in 1950 & Jeanne’s Snack Bar is going strong.. Hamburgers were 25 cents and French Fries were 15 cents. Jeanne also has been making her own Ice Cream. Think about that for a minute. Making ice cream then compared to now is much different.
Jeanne’s Ice cream was made by hand in a large bowl placed inside a tub filled with ice and salt. She called this the “pot-freezer method” and Jeanne mastered it.
Local kids quickly learned Jeanne was making homemade ice cream and kids used to go to the side door and Jeanne would give kids a spoon sample, which started the relationship Jeanne had with all the kids who could make it there..

As 1947 arrived and Jeanne’s officially became Jeanne’s Snack Bar, we move to 1948 just up to the corner of best road a...
05/14/2023

As 1947 arrived and Jeanne’s officially became Jeanne’s Snack Bar, we move to 1948 just up to the corner of best road and jeanne’s brother Silvio’s home on the corner and my dad Billy Morris. (Who will be 90 in october)
This story is about my father Billy@ 15 years old and his brother Richie@11 years old and a couple friends. They knew every inch of nassau lake and the surrounding area and on this day came to the corner of best road. After a rain storm they noticed a real big hole and seen something on the bottom and decided to dig. What they didn’t know at the time was there used to be a graveyard that was on that corner of best road and onto Silvio Cioffi’s lawn. When the road came in, the town asked family if they wanted their loved one’s moved..Those who said no, the stone was laid flat on the casket and reburried.
The one that my father Billy was digging for, was Zaccariah P. Smith..the oldest man who lived in Nassau. My father tells me that the plan was to open the casket, something only a 15 year old boy would think of. As they got to the casket and was brushing off the stone to read it, a neighbor called the police.
Attached is the newspaper articles Jeanne saved all these years later. Jeanne’s brother told us that all the bodies burried on his lawn(9 on his lawn and 7 under the road) explained alot, as he talked often about unexplained things he thought about his home.

Address

266 County Route 7
Nassau, NY
12123

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