(Courtesy photo) Today's version of Jeannotte's market, which opened at this location as "Jeannotte's Branch" market in 1941. The store, by far Nashua's oldest, is the subject of a Facebook Live event on Sept. 12.

Henry Jeannotte was born in 1872 and died 84 years ago this month, so finding someone who remembers meeting the affable grocer would certainly be a monumental undertaking.

But the legacy of Henry Jeannotte – well, that’s a whole different story.

You don’t have to live in the neighborhood known as the “Four Corners,” defined roughly by the pleasant residental homes and apartments between North Common, Mount Pleasant School, Concord Street and St. Christopher Church, to have some kind of connection to, or one or two personal stories about, the iconic neighborhood store that was one of several dozen in Nashua – some estimates put it close to 100 – that were known back in Henry Jeannotte’s heyday simply as the “corner market” or “corner grocery.”

Today, at a spry 122 years old, Jeannotte’s is by far the oldest operating grocery store in Nashua, steeped in history that often crosses over into folklore, especially when North End Nashuans of a certain age get into “I remember when …” conversations.

Now, a documentary of sorts tracing the history of Jeannotte’s, specifically the Henry Jeannotte era, is coming, as they say, to a Facebook Live presentation near you – indeed, as near as the screen of your chosen social media device.

Researched and organized by Mary Louise Bingham, whose brother, Glynn Bingham, is Jeannotte’s current owner, the roughly one-hour presentation will go live on Facebook from 7 – 8 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 12.

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A history of Jeannotte’s market

Mary Louise Bingham will host a Facebook Live presentation titled “Henry Jeannotte: The Founding of Nashua’s Oldest Grocery Store” next month.

WHEN: Monday, Sept. 12, from 7 – 8 p.m.

WHERE: Via Facebook Live. Search “Henry Jeannotte” in Facebook, choose “going,” follow prompts.

MORE: See posts from Bingham and many others; add a post if desired.

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Titled “Henry Jeannotte: The Founding of Nashua’s Oldest Grocery Store,” the event can be viewed simply by going to Facebook and entering that title, then clicking on “going.” You’ll get the usual updates, and then reminders when the date draws near.

Bingham, who likes to call herself “a grateful employee” of her brother’s store, has posted a whole bunch of information she researched on the store, which Henry founded in 1900 as “Cold Blast Market” in a large, multi-use building at 15 Chestnut St.

(That building and a bunch of others between Factory and Central streets are long gone, razed en masse in the 1960s as part of the sweeping federal land-clear known as Urban Renewal).

Henry was quite familiar with the store – he’d worked there for a number of years, as an apprentice to then-owner Ned Rogers. When Rogers had to sell the store and relocate due to health issues, an ambitious Henry, at age 28, stepped up and bought it.

How did the name Cold Blast Market come about? It was Henry’s clever way of getting the word out that he was the first grocer in town to install an icebox, an appliance for which there was a growing need at a time when grocers were beginning to carry fresh meat to be sliced or chopped or whatever to customers’ specifications.

That Henry was a prominent Nashuan is reflected in his frequent mentions in the then-Nashua Telegraph, which relayed to readers the ups and downs – mostly ups – he faced over the years.

Like the time in March 1938 – just five months before Henry died – when he called police to report his store had been broken into overnight.

“Thieves raid Henry Jeannotte Meat Market,” the Telegraph headline blared. Indeed, it was quite a haul: some 65 pennies, and “about three dollars worth of cake” were missing.

“The break is believed to have been the work of boys,” the Telegraph reported. Ya think?

We of the baby boomer era are most familiar with the store under the ownership of Norman Jeannotte, Henry’s third child who, along with Henry’s second wife, Rose, decided in 1941 to open “Jeannotte’s Branch,” a small grocery store in a tiny building at the corner of Manchester and Courtland streets.

They signed a lease in March 1941 with the Griffiths, who had operated a variety store there. The two-year lease set Norman and Rose Jeannotte back $25 per month.

With the jolly, roly-poly Norman in charge, “the Branch” was at least as popular as Cold Blast was in its heyday. Ice cream would soon become its most sought-after product, leading one to speculate that ice cream’s popularity prompted Norman to set up an ice cream counter and hire a family friend to run it.

If you’re from Nashua and an ice-cream loving baby boomer, you knew Gertrude, the “ice cream lady” equal parts colorful and cantankerous with an uncanny ability to go from smiling at a cute toddler to biting the head off a “rude” teenager – whether or not he or she was being rude.

Many “Gertrude stories” populate the Facebook page already; more are expected, interspersed no doubt with countless other memories of Nashua’s oldest grocery store.

Dean Shalhoup’s column appears weekly in The Sunday Telegraph. He may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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