Lack of change was key to Breading's longevity

Breading's Cigar Store hasn't changed much since the 1950s.

And that's the way the regulars like it.

When the business closes its doors Saturday for the last time, men who have been going into Breading's for a cup of coffee and a good time for 30 to 60 years will have to look elsewhere.

Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins said he hates to see the passing of a great historical institution. He's been going in to Breading's since grade school. Wiggins said his uncle took him to Breading's "at a tender age" for lunch and after school when Wiggins was in junior high. He'd have a coke and a hamburger there. After Wiggins returned from college, he'd go to Breading's for coffee and the camaraderie.

With Breading's closing, Wiggins said, it will definitely alter his mornings.

"Like everything else," said Wiggins, "times change. A lot of us are going to miss it."

It's a great place to have coffee and find out what is truly going on in town, Wiggins said. The men there don't hold back.

Wiggins said he will be there on the last day, but isn't going to wait tables and wash dishes like Dan Woods will do.

"I'm coming out of retirement," said Woods.

Thirty-seven years ago, Woods cooked, waited tables and washed dishes at Breading's for three years while he was a junior high and freshman student. He said he decided that if Breading's was going to close, he wanted to work there one more time.

"I learned a lot working there for three years," said Woods. "It was quite an education."

"But I had to quit when I got in high school because Coach Boag Johnson said I couldn't play basketball and work at Breading's," Woods remembers. "Boag always said there were just too many coaches at Breading's," Woods recalled with a laugh.

Alan Robinson said he's been a Breading's regular in the current building since 1950. "It just seemed like it was the place to be." High school kids also went in to Breading's at the old building in the 1940s. "It was just the place where all high school kids came."

Of the key to Breading's longevity, Robinson said, "That's the key, no change. When Burleigh died, it started falling off."

Tom Robinson started going to Breading's in 1968, when he was taken to Breading's for its famous potato soup. That's all of the story he wanted to tell, but he's been a regular since.

"Burleigh was the life when I started coming," said Tom.

"There's always been a character behind the counter," said Alan.

"Burleigh would roast anyone," said Wiggins. "He didn't care whether he knew you or not."

Asked what they will do when Breading's closes, Alan said, "We don't know."

Richard Goshert said he's been going to Breading's since 1954 when he stopped in during the county tourney. "This was the place for the best chocolates shakes, malts."

Kevin Zachary said he's been a Breading's regular since the 1950s, "as long as I can remember. I've been coming in a long time."

When Breading's closes, there won't be a place to replace it. "You can't take the atmosphere with you," Zachary said.

"The decline is because of a generation gap," said Alan. "You don't see the younger generation coming in, they're too busy."

Zachary said if Breading's remained open, there would be fewer and fewer people. He said when men used to bring their sons in, Burleigh Burgh would make sure the boys left with something.

"Burleigh used to make Mickey Mouse pancakes," said Ernie.

Dick Woods started dropping in at Breading's 35 to 40 years ago. He used to come in after the shows at the theater and have malts. He kept coming because of the people.

"It stayed pretty much the same with Burleigh around. They didn't paint, they didn't clean."

The Christmas parties were a highlight for Dick Woods. "They always donated to different groups, they helped people. Mean old guys, but they helped people."

For the past 30 to 35 years, John Conley said he's been going to Breading's "to find out what's going on in the community. You also get advanced notification of what's going to happen. They call it Breading's, but it's like a psychic reading. Rumors you hear at Breading's are 95 percent accurate."

Stan Phillips, 61, said Friday when he was about 10 or 11 years old, he delivered the Times-Union. The news carriers waited at Breading's for their papers. Phillips said he would have chocolate malts there and play the pinball machine.

"The potato soup was always good," said Phillips. "Anything they fixed was really good."

Phillips hasn't been to Breading's in about 25 years, but his memories of going there as a young boy were "very good. It kind of introduced you to life."

He said he was disappointed Breading's is closing because he looked forward to hanging out there and having fun when he retires.

Phillips said, "Now it's going to be lost."