Marilyn Monroe… And Me
Canfield Corner Pharmacy, Woodbury
I had some grand romantic idea to visit all the authentic soda fountain pharmacies left in Connecticut. I figure there can only be a few left, but I’m left with the problem of finding them. I knew about this one in Woodbury from some book I’d read, but beyond that… I have no idea. Eh, CTMQ is a lifelong pursuit.
So really, what can I possibly write about this place? For one, it’s an impossibly quaint little store in the impossibly quaint antiquing hotspot Woodbury. Once inside, the floors creak, telling of its old age.
Aside from the usual sundries, there is a huge collection of milk bottles and old pharmaceutical bottles high up on the walls. I’m sure they’re worth some real money, but I’m also sure the owners won’t be parting with them any time soon. They really give the place a Mayberry and Norman Rockwell atmosphere.
The women working there were smiley and pleasant. Whoa? Where was I? Certainly not in any of the ten CVS’s or Walgreens near my house.
The soda counter is not functional, but it is intact and I’m sure old-timers like to come in here and reminisce about the dates they took to have a malted here.
And perhaps – just perhaps – one of those old timers tells the story of how they came in for some ointments and ran into Marilyn Monroe. She used to live nearby with Arthur Miller and apparently had some prescriptions filled from this very store.
I know, I know… Marilyn Monroe enjoyed a billion prescriptions from a million pharmacies, but here’s one of her bottles to prove it, from an online auction site I found:
Marilyn Monroe personal prescription medication bottle measuring 2 1/2 in. tall from the Canfield Corner Pharmacy, North Woodbury, Connecticut. There is no date or doctor listed on the label.
So that’s pretty cool. I guess.
Dianne Martiny Strong says
January 23, 2012 at 7:51 pmMy family bought the 1867 Canfield building in 1950. After my pharmacist father died in 1954, my mother, Vera Taylor Martiny, became a licensed pharmacist. Arthur Miller lived in nearly Roxbury and had been a customer in our store since we took it over. In June 1956 when he married his 2nd wife, Marilyn Monroe, she also became our customer (Roux hair bleach and the New York Times). Phenobarbitol was regularly prescribed by doctors in the 1950’s as a sleeping pill. As a barbiturate, it is a controlled drug. My mother wrote the label: 1/2 grain. She had beautiful handwriting. Vera was adamant that when Marilyn died in California of an overdose of Nembutal on Aug. 6, 1962, she did NOT die using prescriptions drugs from Canfields. We have many fond memories of Marilyn, having visited the Roxbury farmhouse. One of the red stools in front of the soda fountain has been christened “The Marilyn Monroe Stool.” Vera’s other 2 daughters, Mary and Ruth, are now the “pharma-sisters” who will fill your prescription. Marilyn changed Mary’s diaper in the store one day.
Daniel G. says
October 20, 2012 at 1:02 amWell, that’s about as good a comment as you’ll ever find.
Jim Conway says
December 18, 2012 at 3:33 pmI’m looking forward to picking up a persciption there on Thursday. I live about 200 strides away from there. I’ll have to ask Mary if they saved that diaper!
George Vreeland Hill says
February 13, 2016 at 1:59 amI want my picture taken in this place.
I love it.
George Vreeland Hill
J says
December 27, 2021 at 4:37 pmMy grandpa, who was the candy salesmen back in the day for Canfields told me about talking to Marilyn many times while having something to eat/drink at the counter. A beauty inside and out, he would say!
Virginia Eckert says
November 2, 2023 at 12:53 pmI was a pharmacy student starting in 1963 and worked for Vera summers and school vacations. My first day there, Vera said “ Tomorrow come to work in your old clothes. You are going to learn being a pharmacist from the bottom up.” That was literally true, as I had the job of oiling those old wood floors! I have many wonderful memories of working there, the famous and not-so-famous customers, taking little Mary and Ruth to the swim club after work, learning about being a pharmacist, not by just oiling the floors and eating lunch at the soda fountain. My funniest, most embarrassing moment was when a man approached me as a 16 year old clerk and asked for prophylactics, but was so embarrassed asking me that, he mumbled it and I hand d him a pack of Luckies and asked if he wanted matches with that!
William Jensen, Jr. says
September 5, 2024 at 1:26 pmI would like to know if you have a supply for Flu Block Vaccine. My husband has an allergy to egg. If yo7 have the Flu Block Vaccine, could you contact me. I would appreciate it very much
We check with all Pharmacy, they do not have Flu Block Vaccine.
We are coming from Sandy Hook,Conn 06482
Thank You Mr.& Mrs. Jensen
Steve says
September 5, 2024 at 2:42 pmLet me think… the writer of this page and owner of this website visited this pharmacy once 15 years before you asked this question. I was there maybe 5 minutes but didn’t think to ask your question.
Ask yourself, would you trust a vaccine from a place called ctmq.org? From a guy who only visited this place for 5 minutes 15 years ago?
If you think that makes sense, I have a Nigerian Prince friend to introduce you to…