Hi Courtney,
Yes its nice to chat about a fine business and some of the people who made it special. In the run up to Christmas it was all hands to the pump. In the week before I worked around a hundred hours. There was a real "team" spirit which had a lot to do with the manager Howard Shaw- he was hands on and staff saw he was out front and not in the office- if SS Pierce could have cloned him...!
Yes, my path took a different direction. As I said I owe much to the US experience- a 3.75 grade point average from a Mid West College helped!I didn't know before hand I could do it but I enjoyed the experience so much. I retired from my employment last year. Two years before that I was awarded and MBE for service to the "Crown" Now I play golf, do a bit of hill walking and visit places in Europe a couple of times a year with my wife. Retirement gives me time to do a bit of research hence this "board" Have a great Christmas and New Year.
Brian.

Susan,
I would love to know what you've heard on the S.S. Pierce Company. My wife has posted replies on this thread. We live in boston and are always on the hunt for more information on the company. My grandfather never worked for the company, but did offer some support when they were in talks to sell the company to seneca foods in the 70's. I'm no historian, but my wife and I do scour many books and online content to find more information. We have collected some small 'ephemera' as it's known now.
Regards,
Nick

Sharon,
Please reply if you are still receiving emails on this thread.
Thanks,
nick pierce

My ties to S. S. Pierce Co. go way back to the 1940s when my stepfather, Eugene Little, joined the company as an executive at the Brookline Av HQ. I’m not sure what his job was, but I think he was director of public relations and was also involved with personnel in some way at the corporate level

My mother shopped by phone in the days when customers were assigned a personal associate who would call regularly to take their orders and inform them about "specials." The goods were delivered by SSP trucks to the customers at home. As a youngster during the war years I went to the office with my "dad" frequently on Saturdays and hung out with the people who were baking sticky buns, roasting coffee and nuts, taking olives from wooden barrels and placing them carefully in bottles with the pimientos facing out, hand-dipping chocolates and bottling sherry from great wooden casks. I enjoyed my role as an unofficial taster.

As a teenager I had a job at the new Chestnut Hill store on Rte 9 (where Legal Seafood is now). I was there before it opened helping to set it up and was on the cheese counter on opening day (ca 1949?). I worked there off-and-on on weekends, vacations and in the summer for a couple of years and may have eaten more cheese than I sold.

I remember many of the people at Chestnut Hill and management people I met at HQ but, being an old-fashioned type, I hesitate to use their names in a public forum. I did meet both Wallace and Walworth Pierce who were frequent kibitzers at the noontime bridge games in the Brookline Av. cafeteria. My stepfather died suddenly in 1953 of a heart attack while still employed by SSP.

We loved the company and it got in your blood. It taught me what quality and dedication to customers are all about. To this day I enjoy cooking. I hate being called a "gourmet" but don't mind saying I'm a snob when it comes to food and drink. After all I got my training at one of the best!