A Touch Of Local Color

By WENDY DOMAINGUE
Ledger Staff Writer

One of those first electric lanterns of another century burns constantly near the entry as a sign of welcome. The door handles, made of rough wood, are large enough to grasp easily.

Entering Carl Allen's Fish and Hushpuppies restaurant in Auburndale is similar to entering a time machine that transports man back in history to an era almost lost in time, yet within those walls the era still lives.

The walls of the two room restaurant are covered with items dating back to the early 1800s. If not too young, a person is, apt to be familiar with a large number of these restored reminders of the past. No doubt, Grandma or Grandpa used many of them. Then again, if closer to Carl Allen's age, one might remember his father or the local blacksmith pumping away at a bellows to heat a fire for making horseshoes.

Allen loves law (he used to be a "lawman") and loves history and spends a great deal of his time reading and reading and reading. So does his wife, Jewell Dean. They both love to read about history, to collect artifacts of a fading century. And people love to bring the Allens antiques they have found.

On the walls are bed pans holding flowers, mules harnesses with an unusual touch - Allen has placed a mirror in the center of each harness - and there are car jacks made of wood, rug beaters like Grandma may have used, vacuum cleaners you pumped instead of plugging in, wanted posters for villains of the old west (including a wanted poster for Carl Allen), guns, bootjacks, grandfather clocks, leather whips and much much more.

But the items only glow with life when Allen begins explaining their history and their use. If he isn't sure of the history of a new item brought in by one, of his friends, then he finds out from books or from an antique appraiser.

He shows his collection is priceless (the Allens also have more in their apartment in back of the restaurant) but they will never sell any of it. "Some day I will probably give it to Auburndale since most of the collection comes from around Auburndale," he says, "and some of it comes from the Lakeland area too."

Allen was born and raised in Auburndale and has watched it grow from a tiny hamlet to Polk's sixth largest city. He has witnessed history in the making.

After talking to Allen for a while, it is plain to see he is a highly educated and empathetic man yet he claims to be "uneducated," proving in his claim a degree in education is just a piece of paper.

Then there is his collection of arrowheads and artifacts from pre-Columbian days, remnants of the Calusa tribe of Indians that lives in this area.

Allen and his wife have found, or have been given, approximately 500 arrowheads or stone fish hooks, medicinal stones, stone balls (perfectly round) and a very unique piece of stone - it is shaped exactly like a man's right foot with a bunion near the big toe. These he will probably give away some day too.

After touring the eight walls of history, we sat down to a real southern meal of Okeechobee sharpies, hushpuppies, Florida softshell turtle, oysters and ice tea.

"You can tell anyone our motto," Allen says. "The fish you eat today slept in the lake last night." Allen gets all his sharpies from Okeechobee fishermen and gets a fresh supply each day.

The early hours of the day are spent gutting, skinning and removing the heads of the fish, getting supplies from a warehouse and making general preparations for the evening. They're open from 5 p.m. -until closing time, which varies from 10 p.m. and later.

To eat the fish and other sea foods, a customer is supplied. with a fork and applies his fingers to the food. It's the only way to get the sweet, white meat off the bones.

The fried oysters, turtle and hushpuppies are without a trace of grease. 'Whoever does the cooking uses a special type of oil.

And oh those hushpuppies! Allen used his grandmother's recipe which is, of course. - secret. Even their ice lea involves perfection. It is made from tea leaves and sweetened while still hot. "Absolutely no instant tea," he says emphatically.

Allen then called his wife to join us. "Isn't she pretty!," he said for the second time as she approached the table. They made all the tables and chairs themselves, so they would properly match the antiques.

The restaurant was opened about six years ago. "I love fish and you just can't get good fish in most restaurants in this area,'' he says, adding, we opened this place for all those people who love fish and seafood. Everything is prepared in front of the customer, just as if we were cooking for ourselves."

He has another favorite recipe too . Sourdough bread. "Lawton (Chiles) taught me how to make it. He and I are bread bakers." U.S. Senator-elect Chiles and Allen are close friends. Allen spent many hours doing his thing to help elect Chiles by going door to door to talk with the people. Chiles was unaware of Allen's activities until late in the campaign.

"I had something to sell," Allen says, "'that's why I worked to get him elected."

All this time, Jewell Dean was sitting quietly beside her husband, Yes, Carl Allen. She is pretty, with her slightly faded red hair and clear eyes of a light blue-green color sparkling like a sunlit lake.

I tell her, at least once a day, that I love her," Allen said smiling in the direction of Jewell Dean, then expounding on his philosophy of what marriages should be like.

One of the most remarkable items in Allen's antiques collection is part of a catfish's head.

He had this tale to tell.

He said fishermen especially know there is a God and have seen the sign many times. On the roof of a catfish's mouth, in white, is a crucifix with a tiny angel hovering above. It takes no stretching of the imagination to see this. It's there. Look some time.

Trying to leave the Allens and the Fish and Hushpuppies restaurant was not altogether easy. Allen has more stories to tell, more to say about life and he adds several times, "Be sure to come back now, ya hear?"

 

Carl and Jewell Dean Allen bring the past and present together at the dinner table at their fish and hushpuppies restaurant in Auburndale. They have decorated the building with items dating back to the 1800s, much from the Polk County area. Their food is classic too, made according to top secret recipes that have been in Allen's family for years.