The Little Red Wagon

Local photographer Charles Jackson shared the following to Twitter recently and set a flood of my childhood memories in motion.

The EC Pops car on the move on Main Street.

Photo credit Charles Jackson

Jackson describes himself as a weekend amateur photographer. He posts quite a few nature photos of the local area to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

This particular photo stands out for me, not just because it isn’t the typical nature shot, but because of its subject: a popcorn wagon.

I don’t know the origin of this story, but, all through my childhood my parents would tell anyone who asked that their goal in retirement was to own and operate a popcorn wagon. I have no idea why. I can’t imagine them doing such a thing. They must have had a transformative experience back in their courting years that had to do with a popcorn wagon. Or perhaps it seemed appealing and restful compared to the life they were leading at the time. Maybe, just maybe, it was a secret joke between the two of them that they never revealed to their offspring.

They certainly both liked popcorn. Perhaps they just wanted to be close to an endless supply.

I don’t know what they would have thought about the EC Pops Popcorn Car. It certainly wasn’t what they would have envisioned. I suspect this is more what they had in mind:

Image from Used Vending.com

My parents had some specific lifelong dreams that were never fulfilled. My father wanted to own a house with a sunken bathtub. My mother wanted to visit San Francisco. They both yearned to travel around in a “motor home” - - now they are called RVs. Every so often we’d spend a weekend afternoon touring unit after unit, imagining life on the road.

It never happened.

Nor did they share picturesque golden retirement years traveling around with a popcorn wagon. My father died of COPD long before retirement age.

Seeing the photo of EC Pops Popcorn car reminded me of that sadness, of my parents’ dreams that never came true. But it also made me smile. Someone out there in this world wanted a popcorn wagon and, by golly, they have one.

Living the dream, I guess.

You can visit EC Pops in Old Ellicott City where they sell a variety of Maryland-themed gift items in addition to their famous popcorn. (They also have two other locations in Fells Point and Cockeysville.)

Do you have any quirky dreams like this? How are they coming along?

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