The Story of Sycamore Store

before supermarkets, stores like this served the community for groceries - the delivery truck is at left
early photo, courtesy of the Rogers family
(source: Sherry Pettie in Sycamore Islander, October 1999)
no copyright infringement intended

(click here for the Romanian version)

7025 Mac Arthur Boulevard in Montgomery County, Maryland, not far from Glen Echo Park. A house of balanced allure, always empty. A sign over the front window: Sycamore Store. Down is the Potomac, with the Sycamore Island, situated a bit up Little Falls.  A path of less than ten minutes walk links Sycamore Store and Sycamore Island.

So a country store on the roadside, closed for many years. I didn't know anything about the place, while I was fascinated by what looked to be a very rewarding mystery. I passed by many times, on my weekends' hiking. It was one of my favorites, to go along Mac Arthur Boulevard, the old Conduit Road, up to Glenn Echo Park, sometimes even further, to Cabin John Bridge. There are a lot of places on this road that I would love to talk about, and one of them is this Sycamore Store.

I found detailed information about it in a column by Sherry Pettie, that was published in the Sycamore Islander, in 1999. The store started operation in 1919. His first owner, Hugh Boots Johnston by name, was also a member of the nautical club from Sycamore Island (even carrying the title of captain of the island for some time). In 1953 the business passed to George H. Rogers, who had been an employee there since 1935. And Sycamore Store went on, living its life fully. People were finding here everything they needed, fresh fruits and vegetables, custom-butchered meat, and generally all you should expect to find in a grocery. A delivery service was provided, and I imagine you could also have a drink or two and stay for a chat: roadside store and family saloon, I would say. Parties were organized on Saturday evenings and a friend of mine living nearby told me once that he used to go there when he was young, for strong drinks and nice girls; I observed that this was a very dangerous mix; he replied that he managed to survive. Now he is in his late forties, married and sober (like me, I'd say, except that I'm in my late sixties, but I also enjoyed such parties in my young years).

the front window seasonally decorated (that was once upon a time)
(source: Sherry Pettie in Sycamore Islander, October 1999)
no copyright infringement intended

By early 1970's the business started to shrink and the main activity remained making sandwiches for lunchtime. It went on this way up to mid 1990's when the store was closed for good.

About ten years ago the house was bought, it seems, by two architects with nice plans of reviving the place as an old style saloon or something. Once I even saw inside some workers. That was only once, I was passing by with a friend who was driving his car in a hurry. I was shy to ask my friend to stop, as I would have liked to enter and to change a couple of words with the people there, to understand what was happening. I never saw people inside after that, only once the storage near the house was open, there was a small truck there, and no one around.

Eventually the two architects gave up, it would have been too costly. So Sycamore Store is again on sale.

I tried once to shot a video, walking around the house. I could see inside the row of freezers in the front room, the stairs in the room behind, leading to the bedrooms up, the elegant fireplace, in all it was very cozy, while strange, due to the absolute emptiness. A perfect place to unfold a story of Hitchcock.

(Looking for the Old Trolley)

(Filmofilia)

Povestea lui Sycamore Store

before supermarkets, stores like this served the community for groceries - the delivery truck is at left
early photo, courtesy of the Rogers family
(source: Sherry Pettie in Sycamore Islander, October 1999)
no copyright infringement intended

(click here for the English version)

Un magazin satesc care este inchis de multi ani. Se gaseste pe Bulevardul MacArthur (care incepe in Washington, undeva in spatele Universitatii Georgetown, continua in cartierul Palisades, si apoi iese din Washington, si isi urmeaza drumul de-a lungul Potomacului, sat dupa sat, pana hat departe). Bulevardul se numea pe vreumri Conduit Road (Drumul Conductei), si am mers pe el de multe ori, interesat sa gasesc urmele unei linii de tramvai desfiintate de mult, care mergea paralel cu bulevardul - din loc in loc au ramas viaducte peste care trecea tramvaiul, iar ici si colo apare prin padure o alee, pe unde erau sinele.

Toata zona m-a fascinat si sunt multe locuri de-a lungul acestui drum despre care as vrea sa vorbesc.

Bulevardul este paralel cu Potomacul, insa la inaltime: malul din Maryland al fluviului se termina intr-o linie continua de dealuri (de aici si numele cartierului washingtonian, Palisades).

Dar sa ma intorc la povestea lui Sycamore Store. Este asezat chiar pe bulevard, iar jos pe Potomac se gaseste o insula, se numeste Ostrovul Sicomorului, si de aici si numele magazinului.

Zona a fost dezvoltata cam incepand cu sfarsitul veacului al nouasprezecelea, din cate am mai citit, era gandita ca o zona de vile pentru oameni bogati. Si cam asa a ramas.

Despre magazin am gasit amanunte interesante intr-un articol din Sycamore Islander. De acolo am aflat ca Sycamore Store a inceput sa opereze in 1919. Primul sau proprietar, un anume Hugh Boots Johnston, era un membru foarte activ, se pare al clubului sportiv dela Ostrovul Sicomorului.  Magazinul era in acelasi timp bacanie, carciuma, se mai organizau si petreceri sambata seara, treburile mergeau din plin.  In 1953 afacerea a fost preluata de George H. Rogers, care fusese angajat al magazinului inca din 1935. Iar Sycamore Store si-a continuat viata din plin. Localnicii gaseau aici tot ce le trebuia, legume si fructe proaspete, carne, se putea bea un pahar de vin sau o bere si sta la taclale, petrecerile se organizau in continuare, iar un om pe care l-am cunoscut in Brookmont (un sat nu foarte departe - posesorul unui camion Ford antediluvian, dar in stare perfecta), mi-a zis odata ca ii placea in tinerete sa mearga la Sycamore Store, caci vinul era ieftin si fetele teribil de dragute si fara fasoane.

fereastra decorata de sezon - o poveste cu a fost odata
(source: Sherry Pettie in Sycamore Islander, October 1999)
no copyright infringement intended

Prin 1970 afacerea a inceput sa se restranga, activitatea principala devenise prepararea de sanvisuri pentru orele pranzului. Si a continuat asa pana prin 1995, cand magazinul s-a inchis.

Acum vreo zece ani casa a fost cumparata de doi arhitecti care aveau planuri mari, sa amenajeze acolo un soi de han cu restaurant, sau cam asa ceva, si chiar am vazut muncitori care incepusera sa lucreze. I-am vazut o singura data, si eram in masina unui prieten care a trecut in goana. M-am jenat sa il rog sa opreasca, as fi vrut sa intru sa schimb doua vorbe cu muncitorii si sa ma lamuresc ce si cum. Altfel, niciodata nu am mai vazut usa deschisa, doar o singura data a vazut magazia de langa cladire deschisa, si un tractor in ea. Insa nu era nimeni acolo.

Pana la urma m-am lamurit ca arhitectii au trebuit sa renunte, ar fi costat prea mult. Asa incat Sycamore Store era din nou de vanzare.

Am facut odata un filmulet invartindu-ma in jurul cladirii. De pe unul din geamuri se vedeau dulapurile racitoare, si ma gandeam la sticlele de vin si bere tinute acolo la gheata. In alta parte se zarea scara interioara, si semineul, era de fapt o casa foarte eleganta, si ma gandeam la petrecerile care se mai organizau.

Insa nici tipenie de om, si mi-am zis ca locul ar fi fost foarte potrivit pentru un film de Hitchcock. In orice caz, ca sa fiu in ton cu filmele maestrului, apar si eu de cateva ori in imagine, reflectat de vreo fereastra.

Revisiting Vertigo - a Project of Deconstruction

I found recently on youTube a video that revisits the places where the story of Vertigo took place: first the Mission San Juan Bautista (founded 1797; the 1906 bell at the entrance, telling the name of the road up to it, El Camino Real; the carriage in the stable, a Corning Top Buggy manufactured by Studebaker); then the apartment building where the Elsters were living, on the Sacramento Street; an aerial view leading toward Fort Point at the foot of Golden Gate Bridge - birds flying over the bridge, probably just to remind us of another masterpiece of Hitchcock; the façade of the Empire Hotel (with a long history of its own, during the Prohibition - meantime it changed its name into York Hotel) - a close up on the windows of Judy's room; again an aerial view, leading to the entrance of Scottie's townhouse on 900 Lombard Street; then Mission Dolores (façade, inside, the cemetery, with the camera leading to what is suggested to be an open tomb); and finally the Legion of Honor Palace.




Let's watch again the video: you'll note at the beginning, as the car is advancing along El Camino Real, the eye that is reflected in the windshield. Is it the eye of Madeleine?

Just a word about the actors: James Stewart plays an anti-hero, Kim Novak pictures an unforgettable character wrapped in uncertainties, Barbara Bel Geddes (who would be after many years the splendid Miss Ellie from Dallas) is very convincing in the supporting role.

Wong Kar-Wai ranges Vertigo in his top of five best movies ever, and the reason he gives is its sensuality.

You'd say. wait a minute, Vertigo is a thriller, well, a psychological thriller (you get the tension of what's happening there, you are led to some conclusions, you discover suddenly that you were wrong, you start to guess the outcome, bit by bit): no sex at all, why then to praise it for sensuality? Vertigo is not Kama Sutra, c'mon!

But the movie does not give you only the tension of constructing and then deconstructing some logical hypothesis: as you watch the thriller you become more and more identified yourself with the detective, prisoner of some kind of a strange fascination; and a sensation of guilt - you feel that your unclear fascination is somehow wrong, very wrong, and you cannot escape from it.



So, in order to understand, let's keep cool and try to deconstruct Hitchcock's construction. Here are some suggestions.

It is true that Vertigo does not contain explicit (or even presumed) sex scenes at all - actually a sensual movie should not contain such scenes: it is all about desire. Here comes Wong Kar-Wai in our discussion again: think at two of his masterpieces, In the Mood for Love and The Hand (his episode from the tryptic Eros).

Vertigo is a thriller, of course, and it communicates tension, only we should observe that the tension in this movie is of erotic nature: the detective story is the support for developing an unbearable desire.

I would not characterize it as a love story, because I want to avoid any perception here of a possible happy outcome (that could have happened or not): there is not such a thing as optimist possibilities in Vertigo, everything is tragic from the beginning. The detective falls for the wife of his friend. The more he discovers her madness and further her crime the more he's losing control.

Actually there is a love story in Vertigo, only it is not between the two protagonists: the detective is loved by a woman who has lots of treasures of delicacy, and good nature, and warmth, while he is following his descent into hell. The love story is yet another support to emphasize the development of the other story, the main one.

And I should add that there is also a second love story: we should follow the movie not only through the eyes of the detective, but also through the eyes of his target! Hitchcock shows here a great subtlety in telling us what happens in the heart of the targeted woman, possible mad, possible criminal, the way she falls in love for the detective while realizing that each step toward him leads to her destruction.

I found on the web another video, showing the moment when everything comes together: the detective has the proof of the crime, he realizes the love of the criminal for him, he realizes that there is no escape for his soul any more. He will desire that woman for ever, his desire will not be fulfilled ever. Soon will come the words of the nun, God, Have Mercy of Our Souls.



And I come again to the image at the beginning of the first video, with the eye reflected by the windshield. Eye of God or eye of devil? Mystic and sensuous come always together.


(Filmofilia)