Ceal’s Clam Stand turns 75: Four generations of women behind Seabrook Beach staple

SEABROOK — The 75-year legend of Ceal’s Clam Stand isn’t merely the story of a restaurant that defied the odds and thrived for decades. It’s the tale of generations of women who own and run it, each drawing strength from those who came before them.

“My Nana Ceal instilled in all of us that it doesn’t matter that you’re a woman, you can do anything,” said Debbie Henderson-Bembury, granddaughter of the restaurant’s founder. “I know my daughter, Alison, believes that.” 

The story of Ceal’s Clam Stand goes back beyond feminism, beyond the women’s liberation movement or the breaking of the “glass ceiling.” It began in 1948, according to Florence Henderson, when her grandfather, Russell Littlefield, decided his daughter and Henderson’s mother, Cecelia (Ceal), needed the financial independence her own business would provide.

“My grandfather was a lobsterman and fisherman,” Henderson said. “He’d set his four sons up in businesses and thought my mother should be able to take care of herself and not be dependent on a man.”

Henderson was 10 years old, and the family lived in Newburyport, Massachusetts, at the time, before moving to Seabrook. She remembers when Littlefield bought and moved the building that is now Ceal’s Clam Stand to Ocean Boulevard.

“I have the receipt; the building cost $450,” Henderson said. “The deposit was $50, with the balance of $400 due in two weeks.”

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Ceal's becomes a staple at Seabrook Beach  

Born in 1912, in 1948 Ceal began running a seafood restaurant, one of the most demanding businesses there is. With a husband often away in the Coast Guard, she was there daily, personally creating the recipes and making the standards that made Ceal’s an institution in the region, including the secret breading formula that coats clams and other seafood before frying.

“My grandmother often would say that men would come to the clam stand and ask for the man in charge,” Henderson-Bembury said. “She’d tell them, ‘You’re looking at her.’ She loved telling us that story.”

“My great-grandmother used to say if the business was going to be open, she was going to be there,” said Alison Tirone. “And she was until she became ill.”

Ceal remained a fixture at the restaurant until a stroke sidelined her in 1997, according to Henderson, who worked with her late mother from the age of 10. The family business model continued with following generations who started young, performing behind the scene jobs like filling the tartar sauce and ketchup cups until they grew in knowledge and responsibility.

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And no matter where they were, each spring they returned to Seabrook to open and run the stand until Labor Day.

“My father was in the Navy and we were stationed in Japan from when I was in second grade to sophomore year in high school,” Henderson-Bembury said. “But every summer my mother and I flew here to run Ceal’s, then flew back to Japan.”

Daughter, granddaughter follow Ceal’s footsteps 

Following in her mother Ceal’s footsteps, Henderson didn’t leave when she hit retirement age. She remains a pivotal part of Ceal’s every summer, every day.

“My mother will be 85 in October, and she still fillets the haddock every day,” said Henderson-Bembury, “She still makes chowder, by hand, from scratch. She still tells us every night how many pounds of fresh clams to order for the next day, how many pounds of fish.”

And though Henderson tweaked Ceal’s special breading recipe to make it her own, she personally prepares it daily, Henderson-Bembury said. She has to; Henderson has yet to share it with her daughter or granddaughter.

Another important duty Florence Henderson performs is greeting their customers and taking their food orders at the window. 

“She loves the people,” Henderson-Bembury said of her mother. “And people light up when they see her. If I’m working at the window, they ask for her.”

Henderson-Bembury and daughter, Tirone, perform other vital functions at the restaurant to get the food out the window hot and flavorful. Taking over from her mom, Tirone orders the non-seafood products, does the hiring and scheduling of staff members who sometimes come back year after year, keeping the place running six days a week, starting June 28, through Labor Day.

“Children of former staff members now work for us,” Henderson-Bembury said. “Many of the former staff come back every year to eat here and say hello. We have wonderful people with us. It’s like a family.”

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Henderson-Bembury and her daughter both cook, but Henderson-Bembury is often the person at the stove, frying the fish, hand-cut French fries and onion rings.

“Sometimes I’m astounded at the number of loyal customers we have and the amount of food we go through,” Henderson-Bembury said.

At Ceal’s, using pre-prepared food is not an option, never has been, Henderson-Bembury said, which is likely what keeps many people coming back.

“Sometimes it can become a cost issue with some who don’t understand we buy and use only fresh clams and fresh seafood,” Henderson-Bembury said. “All of our food is fresh and made from scratch, our chowder, our coleslaw. We never use pre-made frozen fish, French fries or onion rings. We even make our own tartar sauce.”

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75 years and counting 

Through all the hard work, hot and hectic summer days, after 75 years of summers, feeding hundreds of thousands, all of Ceal’s descendants don’t wish they led more traditional lives.

“I appreciate that I grew up among strong women,” Tirone said. “I have no problem speaking my mind and I don’t shy away. Just because I’m a woman it doesn’t mean I can’t do anything I put my mind to.”

“I often think of Nana Ceal,” Henderson-Bembury said. “I know she’s looking down at us. She’s proud, and I know she’s smiling.”

Located in Seabrook on Ocean Blvd. (Route 1A), Ceal’s is open from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, Saturday and Sunday until June 28, when they’ll be open Tuesdays through Sundays each week, plus July 4 and Labor Day.