Do you have memories of Blondey’s to share with your neighbors?
The Hobart Historical Society is planning an event as part of its 2023 summer speaker series devoted to Blondey’s, the beloved - perhaps infamous - restaurant/bar that closed in the 1970s after 50 years of serving food, drink and spellbinding stories to three generations of appreciative clientele.
Born in northern Italy, owner Attillo Rivanera was nicknamed Blondey for his shock of thick, blond hair. He and his wife Liz met as children in New York City’s Greenwich Village. After moving upstate, working on the railroad, farming and raising a family, the couple opened Blondey’s Spaghetti House on Township Road and began cooking up Italian specialties including pizza before pizza became popular in America.
After the repeal of prohibition in 1933, Blondey’s obtained what is probably the oldest beer license in Delaware County.
Liz was a talented artist who painted Walt Disney characters at her tables to identify them for correct orders. She painted a name or design on a beer stein for each regular customer. The spirited artist-cook also owned a fancy white Corvette.
“Liz was the one who showed me how to dance,” Bob Clark told the Mirror Recorder in 2012. “My grandfather took me there all the time when it was okay for kids to go to a family bar. Then when I got older, I went there alone. It was the best.”
“About 70 years ago,” recalled Johnny (Foote) Wilson, “when we lived at the Montgomery Homestead, I would ride my pony, Rexy, down the hill behind Blondey’s and wait for Liz to come out with a carrot. Many times it was not Liz but someone who’d had a little too much of the malt and wanted to race back up the hill. Needless to say, clearly no contest.”
Blondey’s was said to be “as roaring as the 20s” and Liz “saved the stories you can’t print” for her lucky customers.
Back in the day there were two popular venues on Township Road just outside the village. Near Blondey’s was Rampes’ farm, where dances were held in a barn. Saturday nights on Maple Avenue in Hobart were roaring indeed, with cars racing up the road to their favorite haunts.
If anyone in the community would like to share memories, photos and/or memorabilia about Blondey’s as the series is being prepared, reach out to Peg Kenyon at 5919 County Hwy 12, East Meredith, NY 13757 or email kenyonmargaret@delhitel.net.
Any contribution is greatly appreciated.
