Roslyn's used to be all over the city. But especially downtown, you couldn't miss the big yellow light-bulbed sign with the arrow directing you to yummy pastries and coffee.. just walk east from the Monument until you hit your first (or 2nd? nah first) cross street, and turn north so that your nose was hitting up against the plate glass of the display cases.
It's a misfortune what happened later.
http://www.commonplacebook.com/humor/jokes/roselyn.shtm
The Official Roslyn's Bakery Costume - Halloween 1999
Author Unknown
Editor's Note: For those of you who don't know, Indianapolis' Roslyn Bakeries (well-known local establishments for years) were closed because of the unsanitary conditions of their factory.
You have been chosen to wear the official Roslyn's Bakery costume for Halloween 1999. As an Ex-employee your costume will consist of the following dress code - if you should take on this job, you will be paid minimum wage with all the pies and cookies you can eat free. Thank-you for your interest with Roslyn Bakery.
Sincerely, Jeff Clark
the official costume:
the following items need to be worn daily:
1. (1) white waitress style dress or lab coat.
2.(1) hair net or pill hat with logo.
3. (1) box of roslyn pastries tied up in a white/pink box with attached strings.
4. (1) name tag with employee name and ss# on company logo.
5. (20) rubber toy cockroaches to be clipped on all over entire costume -may substitute rodents if needed.
6. (1) box of rat poison if desired prop is needed.
Thank-you again for shopping at Roslyn's Bakery!
If you'd like more information on becoming an ex-employee of Roslyn's bakery...let's talk. You supply the beverage - I'll bring the yummy pie and droppings!
Equal opportunity employment-includes rodents and bugs.
They had a next-day shop on the east side (black section, not white section) amid all the nicely kept lawns and brick houses of the older black church-going folk. Is the church still there, with the blinding white steeple and red brick?
The next-day bakery (not the proper name) was where you could pick up armloads of cookies and boxed cakes and (the Big One, for me) cheese danishes.
I still haven't come across a bakery that did cheese danishes like Roslyn's did cheese danishes. And you can forget rum cakes. You need thumbprint cookies? don't bother looking elsewhere. wedding cookies? same. Chocolate chip? welcome to nirvana.
with a side of a half pint of chocolate milk (or D, or 2%, skim, whatever you wanted, just open the waist level fridge) to wash it all down with... life was good.
That was the 70s, the 80s, and the very early 90s.
Whatever happened where things deteriorated to the point they did, someone needed to be shot. And if it was always like that, someone needs to be flayed alive.
The one I remember, most, even more than the 2nd day bakery and the historic building (well, at least historic sign), was the one next to Arlington High School, off 38th and Arlington, next to where the Haag's used to be
(which became Hook's, which is probably People's or CVS or Walgreen's.. a shame, if only because of the Hook's fountain area at the Indiana State Fairgrounds off 38th and Fall Creek... but even the Snowbird (which was right next to the Fairgrounds, outside of the fencing but beside the train tracks (?) on the west. a great place to watch the rides light up the sky in August, if you couldn't afford to get in.. and that was a lot of times and a lot of people.. and you could find a space. but that was the 70s, way after the segregation days caused that shit in the first place) and the Tee Pee (inside of the Fairgrounds, couldn't miss it.... huge ass Tee Pee on top of the building, east side) both finally succumbed to 'we no longer have a use for you') and Krogers.
They finally turned Haag's/Hook's/People's into some workforce development center. I have no idea what it is now.
But the Roslyn's made a lot of trips that way worthwhile.
Who wanted a cheap ass Kroger's whipped cream cake ( :roll: ) when you could have
Roslyn's. Even their icing was different. A lot of people call their icings buttercream, but it just tastes bland.
And now it's gone. Cuz someone fucked up, and couldn't bother to keep it clean.
I'll admit, I thought they made all that stuff in the back of each store, not at some plant. But what do i know.
It's kinda like Subway's saying they make their bread fresh, when all they really do is take frozen dough, spray water over the top, dump some toppings on, and stuff it in the oven.
I miss Roslyn's. the good one. not what it became. It was the White Castle of bakeries.