Through the years more than one person has told me I belong in the Nut House. So today I thought that’s exactly where we’d go! Get ready for a nutty, nutty post!
Last Saturday while doing my Saturday Night Cheeseburger duties at Richard's on Main, I happened to walk past neighboring business The Nut House. This place has been in business for over 100 years in various locations in downtown Peoria and it brought back sweet memories of my youth going in to this store and getting a tasty treat.
I love the neon in the window.
This sign had me concerned though. The place is for sale! My fear is that someone is going to buy the space and not keep this nutty tradition alive. When I saw this, I knew I had to come and document the store just in case someone turns it into a 7-Eleven.
It's a small store, but as I'll show you, it's jam-packed with delicious and fun items!
Current owner, Debbie Jackson, points to a picture of the Nut House in a different location from the past. Debbie's a third generation owner, her aunt and great aunt ran it before she took it over.
Here's two other photos of The Nut House in different downtown Peoria locations. Debbie told me that she's selling it because her husband's retired and she wants to join him. She's hoping whoever buys the business keeps this nutty theme intact. Whoever buys it gets to keep the name for the business. You'd have to be nuts to pass that deal up! Okay, let's take a look around in here.
There's colorful candies in the case at the front of the store.
Bags and boxes of popcorn hover above the aforementioned candy case.
If you want to hang out in the store and eat your sweet and salty goodies inside, there's soft drinks and iced tea to wash them down with. I love that vintage Coke clock!
Jelly beans, gummy treats and all sorts of candy line the walls in vintage apothecary glass candy jars. Looking at them really takes you back in time and makes you feel like a six-year-old back at the five and dime store waiting to order ten cents worth of malted milk balls.
Holy Toledo, check out the vintage scale in here! Debbie's not sure, but she thinks this may go all the way back to the original owners. It's been with the store as long as she can remember.
And there's another antique Toledo scale on the other side of the store with colorful swirley Whirley Pops in front of it.
The Nut House got some national publicity in this feature article published in Midwest Living.
There's tins, coffee cups and gift items up on the shelves above the candy and treats.
All the candy in this case is homemade, sweet treats made in The Nut House!
Silly squirrel, bubblegum is for kids, nuts are for squirrels! Hey, speaking of nuts, this place is called The Nut House and we've yet to see a single, solitary nut in here!
And then suddenly, like a talk show roster on the Fox News Network, nuts appear!
And more nuts in vintage glass bottles line the cases above. The Glazed Macadamia's look pretty tasty!
All the nuts in here are freshly roasted on the premises. Okay, I'm in the mood for some nuts!
I put Debbie to work and ordered up some cashews.
I thought the Toledo scale was just an antique on display, but it still works!
And as Debbie hands me my bag of salty goodness, this nutty tale comes to an end. See you all tomorrow, and hey...let's be careful out there.
The Nut House
311 Main Street
Peoria
309-673-4622
Further Reading: Peoria Journal Star, Peoria Foodie and facecrack.
