Archives: Memories

I am originally from Titusville, PA . However, I have lived outside Augusta, Georgia for the past 25 years. While we were visiting family in Titusville this summer my wife discovered a jar of the barbecue sauce in a grocery store. I couldn’t believe it because after all of these years I thought Isaly’s had completely gone out of business. There used to be an Isaly’s store in Titusville until it closed probably 45 years ago. I absolutely LOVED eating the barbecue sandwiches until the store closed its doors forever so many years ago. The ladies that worked there knew just how much I loved them because I normally would eat 3 of them every time I visited the store. Anyway, after I ordered my third sandwich one day one of the counter ladies handed me a folded piece of paper and told me to give it to my mother. She said as much as I love the barbecue sandwiches she wanted my mother to have the recipe. Ever since that day so many years ago, I still eat barbecue sandwiches using the original recipe the lady gave me. As a matter of fact, my wife just finished making a batch (2 lbs of meat) for tomorrow’s lunch. By the way, I still eat 3 of them!!

I was born and raised in Titusville, PA. In the mid sixties I worked at the bank across the street from Isaly’s. Every morning before work a few of us “regulars” would meet for coffee at Isaly’s. I’ve lived in the SF Bay Area for 44 years now. I really miss my small town days and Isaly’s is a particularly good memory. Ice cream, chip chopped ham with BBQ sauce, dill pickles! I would kill for a chip chopped ham sandwich with BBQ sauce!!

On Sundays my dad would stop after church and buy a pound of Isaly’s Chipped Chopped Ham from Isaly’s. That evening he would whip up something special with it…and he always served it on toast and thought he was serving something good that night – which he was!