In 2020 and early 2021, the Peale participated in the Lexington Market Public History Initiative in an effort to collect stories and memories about the world-famous Lexington Market as the market itself prepared for a redesign and reopening. The initiative’s core partners were Baltimore Heritage, Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, Lexington Market, Inc., Market Center Community Development Corporation, Seawall, and the Peale, and the work was partially enabled by a Pathways Grant from the Maryland Center for History and Culture. This project was financed in part by the Maryland Center for History and Culture’s Thomas V. “Mike” Miller History Fund. This story was recorded by Adam Droneburg, Dan Goodrich, Nicole King and others of the Baltimore Sound Society for an earlier project.

Elliot Bodner (00:05): My name is Elliot Bodner. I'm the owner proprietor of Mary Mervis Delicatessen in Lexington Market since 1913. How did I come to ownership? But it's silly, luck. That's what I can tell you. Saw an ad in the paper, Baltimore Sun three lines, deli, downtown, and a phone number. I made a phone call. Now I'm proud to say I'm the third owner of Mary Mervis in 104 years. Back in 1913, Mary Mervis and her husband, her husband owned the very first commercially operated mayonnaise factory in America, around the corner on green street, across from what is now the University of Maryland Medical School. But in 1913, Mr. Mervis passed away. I left Mary with three young daughters to take care of. Mary was 21 years old then. So she came to Lexington Market. They set up a stand and she started selling mayonnaise and salad dressings. With her second husband, they started selling smoked fish and Delicatessen products.

Elliot Bodner: A few years later, Jimmy Hardesty who was started working for Mary when he was 18 years old, bought the business from Mary and from the Mervis family. Mary, at that time, had her three daughters helping her, helping run the business. She was already older. She was probably 1967, she had to be around 80 plus years old then. Jimmy Hardesty, he eventually bought the business from the Mervis family. I'd say here, for 40 years and he became ill. He put the stand up for sale and that's when I came and bought the stand. We had about five or six other people bidding on the stand. But we, he and I met, Jimmy Hardesty that is. He and I met, we noted that we had a lot of things in common. The way we ran our business, the type of business was how we bought food and everything that was involved.

Elliot Bodner: So he felt he had a really good in with me that would take care of the business and keep it, keep it prosperous and keep it going, which I'm now here 14 years. So I've done a good job. Our biggest selling item is corned beef. That's number one. We've been voted best corned beef in the city, best roast beef, best shrimp south for many, many years. But the people of Baltimore City need the public markets and they came here and I'm very happy to say I have fourth and fifth generation clients coming back to me. So, I had one lady was 82 years old. Her grandmother brought her here as a child. I met another woman one day in a wheelchair, 102 years old, her grandmother. She was 102, her grandmother shopped here before and during the Civil War, but it's a great, it's a great place to have a business. What else can I tell you?

Speaker 2(03:38): Our next stop on the tour is Garden Produce, a fresh fruit and vegetable stand catty corner to Mary Mervis. If you're facing Mary Mervis turn around and look across the aisle and just to your left.

Asset ID: 9113

Photo of Lexington Market, ca. 1903, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print