Belfast, Maine: Perry's Nut House

Growing up in Mid-Coast Maine (Thomaston, about 45 minutes south of Belfast) Perry's was a common treat for us kids. When we heard it was closing in '97 my friends and I organized a convoy to attend the grand auction and get one last glimpse. Needless to say three cars full of twenty-somethings, very obviously penniless, were not well received and before we were all finally ejected from the building several of us had, thankfully managed to steal several pockets-full of Perry's Nut House postcards and stickers. After all, we justified to ourselves. Perry's had belonged to us, the children of the area, not these creepy old men in RV's from Minnesota. Who cares if they actually have the money.

The famous elephants now belong to the movie theater in Belfast. The rest of the artifacts? Who knows, but the re-opened Perry's is a far cry, since the owner only managed to aquire the building and one or two of the crappier stuffed animals. I don't think he even has any of the nuts. Perry's is no longer the monument to very large nuts and stuffed albatross and wooden indians. That Perry's exists only in memory.

I'm Dave Sleeper, new owner of Perry's Nut House in Belfast. I hope you can come and visit Perry's and see what a lot of $ in renovations has done for the place. I'll grant we don't have all the old dead animals and nut collection, but we do have a motorcycle collection and have acquired some new dead animals plus some neat large wood sculptures out front. We had a fantastic selling season this summer and fall. We opened June 12, 1998, and will close at Christmas, then will reopen about April 15. Oh, we also have a 1946 Buick Taxi parked out front and which we use for limo service. So, some of the stuff has changed, but we are trying to maintain the "nuts" atmosphere; and from the majority of the comments, we have a lot of satisfied customers who are really glad the old landmark is back operating.

Perry's Nut House, is open again, under new ownership. We were there last week and, although similar to the previous store, the new owners still have a ways to go. Most of the old displays are gone, but new ones are being brought in to replace them. Overall, it's still an interesting place to visit.

I grew up in the Belfast, Maine area, and the legendary Perry's Nut House was a big part of my childhood -- our source for rancid brazil nuts and fake dog poop -- and I was heartbroken to see it close.

But it's back!

The property has been purchased, and is in the process of reopening -- the new owners are starting from scratch, trying to assemble a new collection of bizarre novelties. Last I heard they were especially interested in rebuilding the collection of moth-eaten preserved animals.

And of course, Polly Esther the Giant Elephant still lives -- in a new location. She stands today on the roof of the Colonial Theatre in downtown Belfast.

Little-Known Perry's Fact: During the 1960s, the figure of a bearded Hindu sat atop the Big Elephant out front -- until it was stolen by a vanload of prankish hippies and abandoned in the ladies' room of a Texaco station in the neighboring town of Searsport. That station was owned by my grandfather -- who nearly had a coronary upon discovering the figure seated on the ladies' toilet!

The contents and properties of Perry's Nut House, the well-known roadside stop along Route 1 in Belfast, Maine, will be put up for auction on June 4, 1997. John and Diana Bailey, who have owned the landmark for the past 24 years, decided to auction the property and contents after failing to find a buyer for the business.