10-4 Magazine September 2022

Trucker Talk: By John & Kim Jaikes With all the fast food shoved at us these days, to discover a place with great food and an old-time atmosphere is an awesome find. John and I met up with our dear friend Jacob Murray one Sunday morning. We wanted to have a nice breakfast, and there was only one place in town open. It was called Flesor’s Candy Kitchen, and it was located in Tuscola, IL. And the “only” place turned out to be the best place. Walking up outside, the space was inviting, and when we walked inside, it was like taking a trip back in time. The key word was old. An old soda fountain, beautiful old woodwork, old tables, old candy cases filled with yummy looking chocolates (so many to choose from), old shelves behind the cases with assorted boxes of goodies to go, and a gorgeous old tile floor! It was nice to be waited on promptly, get our drinks, and not have to ask for refills the entire time we were there. Everything on the menu looked so good! After ordering, when we got our food, we were not disappointed. While we waited for our meal, there were so many cool things to look at. It looked like this old building that housed the Candy Kitchen had been well taken care of. There were old latches on the doors and some of the lights hanging from the ceiling did not match exactly, but they all looked like they could have been there since the building was built. The dark woodwork was a testament to how quality craftsmanship can last over a century. Our food was perfect, and we all enjoyed a breakfast that could not have been better if we made it at home. It would have been worth twice the price. We’ve become used to being overcharged for food on the road, so the bill was a pleasant surprise, as well – just $30 for three awesome breakfasts, and we each had something to drink, too. I made a comment about how busy it was that morning to the cashier, and she told me both of their rooms had been full. We found out that Devon was one of the two sisters that now owned this fine establishment. She showed us the second room, filled with tables and chairs, and the most beautiful floor to ceiling bookcase, filled to the brim with books. She said, “Take one, that’s why they are here. Anyone can take one.” I took a cookbook and Jacob took a novel. We can’t thank Devon enough for her tour and the history of this very special place she shared with us. We learned that her grandfather Gus Flesor had come here from Greece and, as I later learned, many immigrants became confectioners, and there were many shops just like this in the Midwest back in the early 1900s. In that second room there was an old popcorn machine that had sat on the sidewalk back in the day. The old cash register sitting there had probably rang up sales for purchases of sweets for many decades. The old pictures on the wall show their beloved grandfather and what it looked like there in the early days, back in 1901, when the business was first established. Then Devon took us back in the kitchen, where they make the candy, and shared memories of her grandfather and her father working there. There were big copper pots, filled with chocolate, just waiting for the caramels to be dipped. Devon had grown up here in this small town in the business of making candy, ice cream, and serving good food. In the 70s, she told us, the downtown area died like most other small town main streets around America. The malls, fast food joints, and big box stores took over, so she left her town to get an education. Eventually, she became an instructor at Eastern Illinois University. In the 70s, Devon’s father’s store, that had once been her grandfather’s, 84 10-4 Magazine / September 2022 BACK IN THE DAY