For over 65 years, the King family has delighted Cambridge with Honey Glazed Donuts, Apple Raisin Fritters, Bismarks, Jelly Donuts, Snow Flake Rolls, and more. Besides being great bakers, the Kings are wonderful people who brighten our community.
Jim King was born on 22-Nov-1932 in Dorset, VT. He grew up in the Shaftsbury-Arlington area and graduated from the Old Benn High School in 1951.
Jim and his high school sweetheart, Sally Crawford, were married at East Arlington Federated Church on 25-Jul-1952; he 19 and she 17. They were married on Friday and Jim shipped out on Monday for one of his two tours in Korea.
While Jim was away, Sally sewed shirts for servicemen at a factory in Bennington. Sally got a loan to buy a kitchen stove and proudly had it all paid for by the time Jim came home.
When Jim returned from the Navy, he worked for a year for Karl Buffin, a baker in Manchester. In 1957, the Kings bought their first bakery in Cambridge at 83 East Main in the Estramonte building across the street from where The Bog is in 2024. Jim (23) and Sally (21) had two children at the time, Skip (2) and Tim (1).
In 1959, the Kings moved to 10 East Main. The original bakery ended where the steps are in the middle of the photo. When LeGrys drug store (75 East Main) closed, the Kings bought the soda fountain. They extended the bakery back (southward) and added tables in the front (north). Jim King is walking down the stairs.
One day Jim came out from the kitchen and someone shouted, “There he is, the King himself”. Shortly after, Sally came out and Jim exclaimed, “There she is, the Queen herself”.
Jim passed away in 2000 at the age of 67. In 2004 “the Queen Herself” celebrated her 90th birthday this year.