I drove past the simple brown building just a handful of weeks ago, it was the first time I had seen the place since I was “knee high to a grass hopper.”
Its windows had been boarded up and the roof was showing signs of sagging — another decade or two and I imagine the structure will be no more. The pitiful sight was a not so subtle reminder that the world I knew as a child is but a distant memory in 2019 America. Years worth of wintry winds have blown hard against the building and in the process have swept in unimaginable changes.
So much of what were common components of every day life in rural America, perhaps not sacred but certainly special, are gone. Leaving in their wake crumbling and vacant buildings dotted across the mountainscape. Sadly, the old country store I remember as a child is but another victim.
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Yannow, if things really go pear-shaped, stores like these could make a BIG come-back. (At least, out where the real people live...)
ReplyDeleteI remember the smell. A great smell only country stores had. Remember the cereals on the top shelf and they had a long pair of pincher type pliers to get em down. A can with a dent ya got a discount. A huge wheel of store cheese and cloth bologna. Huge knives and meat saws hanging. The candy counter was a dream come true. Big ol roll a wrapping paper fer meats. I could go on and on.
ReplyDeleteWe had a little store in my hometown that lasted til around 1981. Long rectangular building with hardwood floor and a big ass Franklin stove in the middle of the floor. The family that ran it were direct descendants of one of the settling families of Plano, Texas. I really liked going in there and listening to the "old timers" talk and tell stories of how it used to be in town. If they could see our country now.....
ReplyDeleteYeah, like my whole damn home town's downtown.
ReplyDeleteThe article was about relationships, community, friendships, honor, and the loss of these through the March of time, greed, convenience and globalization.
ReplyDeleteI too have memories of just these kinds of stores. I think I miss the smell of the place and the smile on old man Birches face most of all.
I can remember the old country stores growing up in Sou Indiana. Our nearest one, in Ramsay, had a long counter and you would give the person your shopping list, they would fill it, bag it in brown paper bags, total it up and you would be on your way. I still remember my first trip to a "supermarket" which was the "JayC" store in Corydon that had just opened. I remember that was the first time I ever saw florescent lights and could see them "pulsing".
ReplyDeleteuntil late 70s we had a store that had every kind screw bolt, nail, wire, rope, gasket, plug, you name it. Old hard wood floor that talked to you when you walked over it. Best yet there were helpers that knew what you were asking for and how to fix what you were working on. In the back there were old farts playing dominos, laughing, and cussing. A great place to visit.
ReplyDeleteAlong the road between St. Luke and Jerome, Va. there used to be a store with a sign that read "Rodney and Theresa's Store". Everyone knew it it as Richard's because, well, that's why. Back in the '80s and early '90s when we still went up to Jerome for Opening Day, we'd always have to hit Richard's for beer, bread, and bologna. We'd whing about the prices, but the alternative was Larkin's, another 6 miles up the road.
ReplyDeleteLast time I was through there, (about 4 years ago), the store was tumbling down, but I could still read the sign. I stopped out in front just to sit there for a minute or two. It was kind of sad to see the end of an era.
J. W. Green Merchantile in Buffalo, Colorado has evolved over the years but is still operated by the Green family. They no longer cut meat, pump gas, sell coal, or tires for that matter. But, if you forgot some groceries for your weekend in the hills or need to buy some stamps you can still get them there-all after 120 years in business.
ReplyDeletePictures here:
https://mather.photoshelter.com/gallery/J-W-Green-Mercantile-Buffalo-Creek-CO/G0000SCotIomqo4c/C0000pVkLOBbJPCE
In 1970 I worked for a grocery warehouse in NE Texas. As a "driver's helper," I went all over NW Louisiana, SE Oklahoma and NE Texas. There were several country stores we delivered to. One I remember, the feed shed was separate from the store, and I carried 100-pound bags of shorts to a wooden dolly in the shed and then wheeled the shorts to the proper location. Another was in Fannin County Texas, a small unpainted wooden building with an uneven floor. There wasn't another building in miles. An old man and an old woman ran the store. The old man wore a white shirt and had a long beard and had chewing tobacco stains on both. In the late 1990s, working for the newspaper in Paris, Teas, I decided to do stories on country stores. I did a bunch in Red River, Delta and Lamar counties. Most people like the stories, but one day I walked into a store a few miles from Paris. I introduced myself. One of the two women at the store said, "You write all those stories about country stores. I wish you'd find something else to write about."
ReplyDeleteI am still mesmerized by this story. FYI if you played baseball little league or old time professional the pop fly phrase "can of corn" came from these stores. The grabber that was mentioned was used to snare the can of corn on the top shelf to slide it off falling into the apron of the catcher. I still use that phrase today watching baseball. Not pro of course.
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