Family has the juice to make watermelon business thrive for decades.

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Saturday, May 15, 2021
Family has the juice to make watermelon business thrive for decades.
Carter's Melons is run by Elijah, with help from some of his brothers including Joshua, and Aaron and any combination of their children and grandchildren, depending on the day.The Carter family has run the watermelon stand on the same corner in Philadelphia for over 35 years.

Philadelphia, PA -- At the farthest southwestern tip of Philadelphia, you can find a family of gentlemen running a watermelon stand -- on the same corner for over 35 years. May through October, you will see a van parked at 84th & Lindbergh surrounded by watermelons. Carter's Melons is run by Elijah Carter, with help from some of his brothers - including Joshua, and Aaron - and any combination of their children and grandchildren, depending on the day. The Carter brothers grew up in the business, with their father Dover Carter starting it in the late 1940s in the Mantua section of Philadelphia. Their father had been an activist in Georgia, but after being told to stop helping other Black people register to vote, he continued, and as a result was beaten almost to death. Soon after, he fled to Philadelphia with his wife and their ten children. The brothers are now all in their eighties, and bringing up the next generation to continue the family business. They do not grow the melons, but rather they continue to 'specialize' in them, and have varieties for sale not found in grocery stores.

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