43 www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM “People rode the streetcars. You’d pick up your date in Wilmington, get on the streetcar, come down, you’d have about a 35-40 minute chat, you know, a cool breeze blowing, get out and dance until mid-night, get back on the car and go back to town. Ah yes, how sweet it is!” came to the beach every day to sell cakes and bread for Fox’s Royal Bakery. His cart had huge, wide wheels, which he pushed from Lumina to the north end and back on the boardwalk. But the most legendary and beloved peddler was James, the soft-shell crabmeat man. “I got ’em! I got ’em!” he’d sing out. “James the soft-shell crabmeat man! Little neck clams on the half shell! I got ’em!” went the familiar call. Every day, James would work his way down the beach strand carrying two wicker bushel baskets meticulously packed with little neck clams on the half shell, soft-shell crabs, dainty packages of cooked shrimp, fresh uncooked shrimp and fresh-picked crab over ice. In later
2014-9
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