Cromer's peanut man

Juicy, meaty and slightly salty, Cromer's boiled peanuts never seem to change.

Ever wondered why?

Wade Lann.

Lann has been boiling up this Southern delicacy from the iconic Columbia store for the past 40 years. He learned the trade from his uncle, M.L. "Buck" Sewell, who started working there when Cromer's was in an open-air shed on Assembly Street some 70 years ago.

Even regular customers might not recognize the man behind the peanut, though. Lann, 59, is a quiet West Columbia native who likes to be left to his boiling and bagging, tucked in a back corner of the warehouse.

"I come here and work by myself and nobody bothers me too much," Lann said.

Sometimes, he gets help from other employees - or even the owner herself.

"I'm back there to help him, he's the one leading the show," said Carolette Cromer Turner, current owner and granddaughter of the business' founding father. "I take my cues from him."

Every once in a while, he'll bring her a bag of freshly boiled green peanuts if she asks for it. But most days, she doesn't hear a peep from him.

"He just kind of does his own thing," she said. "It's just him and his radio."

Cromer's P-Nuts got its start in 1935 when farmer Julian D. Cromer took peanuts and vegetables from his Lexington County farm to sell at the farmers market on Assembly Street.

A rival peanut boiler started a rumor that Cromer's peanuts were no good. Cromer capitalized on the slur, slapping up a cardboard sign proclaiming his goods "the worst in town" as a joke. Seventy-five years later, the slogan and the story behind it are on every bag of peanuts Lann boils.

The store evolved over the years to carry popcorn, other concessions and novelty items. But peanuts remain the most popular seller - even though it wasn't always so.

"When I started, I seriously doubt there were three to four bushels of peanuts a day," said Sewell, who started at Cromer's in 1940.

He served in the Navy for three years during World War II and when he came back to Cromer's, the peanuts were more popular than ever.

Today, Lann boils 24 bushels a day during the peak summer season. Fewer in the winter when only dried peanuts are available.

Lann puts the peanuts in gas-heated vats. Until 10 years ago, he was still boiling over an open flame. It takes about an hour and a half to bring them to a boil. Over the next five hours, he keeps watch over the peanuts.

"We just keep adding water in them, keep them boiling," Lann said.

When they're finished, he dips them by hand into bushel boxes and puts them in the cooler.

That's key to keeping them fresh and tasty.

The next morning, he runs them through a machine to weigh them and then bags them by hand, stapling each paper bag shut with an electronic stapler.

From there, the peanuts are put up in the cooler to fill orders and carted out to a cooler on the sales floor for customers looking for a snack to take to the football game or share with a neighbor.

"(Customers) come in the door and go straight to the cooler for boiled peanuts," said Lonnie Heuer, who has been working at Cromer's for 30 years.

Heuer said he's tasted others - just to compare.

"Wade does the best," he said.

"No comparison," said Marie Crowell, who has worked at Cromer's for 24 years.

Crowell said she didn't get to know Lann until the store moved four years ago to its Huger Street location and he started coming out on the sales floor a little bit more.

"He's just a really nice guy," she said.

Until about four years ago, Lann would get a hand with his boiling and bagging from Sewell, who is now 84 and lives on family land in Lexington County. Sewell, who doesn't drive as much as he used to, gets by Cromer's a couple of times a year now for boiled peanuts or popcorn.

And Sewell's name still graces the 4-pound bag: "Buck's Boiled P-Nuts."

"We need one with Wade's name on it now, don't we?" Heuer said.

This story was originally published October 11, 2009 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Cromer's peanut man ."