polly simmons williams

‘And so, this is the world I was born into.’


Above, North Bennington’s Upper Main Street in the summer of 1923. Proprietor Pete Panos stands in front of his store. Beyond the A&P, the striped barber pole marks Jack Clark’s Barber Shop. Photo from Short Berry Cake.

Polly Simmons Williams’ lively memoir of her childhood in North Bennington, Short Berry Cake, recounts family life in the village between the two wars. The chapter linked below (11 MB pdf) describes North Bennington in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Her memoir can be purchased here.


Chapter 2 of Short Berry Cake

Polly Simmons and her brothers.