World's Largest Shore Dinner...To Go!
I'm sure that these bags were used for many things at Rocky Point Park over the years. Maybe someone ran a box of them over to the gift shop when they ran out of their own bags. Maybe a thrifty employee wrote on the back of one to inform park guests that the snack bar was out of popcorn or that the soda machine was out of order. Maybe the operator of the Tilt-a-Whirl had the forethought to hand these out to riders as they boarded the egg-shaped carts, hoping they would catch as much vomit as possible.
If you are a true Rhode Islander (even if you never went to Rocky Point), you know what these bags were actually made for. They held that delicious, savory, golden brown, fried Rhode Island delicacy that is a must-have at least once every summer. Yes, I am talking about clam cakes. The perfect accessory for dipping into chowder, their sponge-like structure soaking up every bit of briny goodness. To Rhode Islanders, “clam cakes and chowder” is religion, and the Shore Dinner Hall at Rocky Point was its cathedral.
Unfortunately, Rocky Point is long gone, and the Shore Dinners have left with it. All that's left are recollections and relics like this clam cake bag. It's a piece of waxy paper — trash to most. But for just under a million people nestled in between Connecticut and Massachusetts, this waxy paper is the remembrance of a summer job, or a summer fling. It conjures up memories of warm nights by the ocean and the smells of fried dough, quahogs, lobster and salt air. It brings back thoughts of the long tables in the Shore Dinner Hall, covered in white paper, that seemed to go on forever. Someone bought a box of these on auction day back in the mid ‘90s after the park had closed for good. They knew that over 100 years of memories were contained in each and every bag. I was lucky enough to get my hands on my very own bag of memories.