Perry's Nut House On The Rebound

Perry's attracted generations of tourists and travelers to its odd mix of taxidermy animals, toys, candy, novelty items and, yes, nuts. It featured a large collection of nuts from all over the world, including some from extinct species.

That all changed in 1997, when the then-owner of the property auctioned off the contents of the Nut House and closed the business. Now Kim O'Brien is working to restore Perry's to its former glory.

O'Brien, who worked in retail in he native Chicago, moved to Belfast six years ago after her parents bought the building.

She has been gradually bringing back various elements of the old Perry's, including a large fudge counter, unusual toys, funny T-shirts and other things. But it's the decorations that really made Perry's famous, and those have been coming back, too.

She polished the wooden Indians that were always there, and cleaned up some of the remaining taxidermy animals

This summer has been the payoff. The gorilla has returned. A large gorilla greeted customers at the front door for more than 40 years, but was sold off at the auction. But one day, O'Brien got a call from a woman in Searsmont, offering to give the gorilla back.

She also brought back the 30-foot python skin, the 13-foot alligator hide and even the stuffed mountain lion. All are now proudly on display.

Another man brought in a second large mural he bought at the auction, saying it needed to be back at Perry's.

Kim O'Brien says the customers have been thrilled to see the old familiar items back again. And new customers, including children, seem as fascinated as those regulars were decades ago.