In the 1940s there was a general store in the farming village of Morrison. The proprietors were the Falck family. That general store was one of a half dozen businesses in that small farming village -- less than 300 inhabitants.
As a small child in the 1940's, I have flashes of remembrance at each of those businesses. The general store had most everything from hardware to clothing to groceries. If the store didn't have it, you probably didn't need it.
Farmers brought in excess eggs to sell to the store for resale. To make sure those eggs were good, the store had a "candling nook" where one of the store employees viewed each egg in front of a bright light. This was to ensure that it was a good egg -- no embryo or had blood spots.
There were always chickens on the home farm. Most likely my folks also sold excess eggs to the store. No doubt we couldn't consume all the egg production even though we had eggs for every breakfast and frequent custard for dessert. Sometimes those old laying hens became a meal or chicken soup.
With the prosperity following World War II, the country general store was in decline. De Pere was about a twelve mile trip where there was greater selection in a variety of specialty stores.
Fast forward many decades. There is no general store in Morrison in 2014. Today the general store is fifteen miles distant. The general store is Walmart.
The photo of Falck's store dates to 1906. I was unable to locate anything more recent.
I like the 1906 photo very much. Thank you for showing us.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo. You have some nice memories of your younger years. When I lived in Camino, CA I had 5 or 6 black australops, supposed to be one of the best egg-laying hens. They produced the best eggs! Then I got some of those fancy little chickens, bantams, and my dog ate them all. :( Some day I'd love to have chickens again.
ReplyDeleteLloyd, I have very similar memories of Arcola, Indiana back in the mid- to late 40's. A gas station where you had to work a long vertical handle to pump the gas up into a large glass container at the top, which container was marked off in gallons and parts thereof. And the Baumgartner General Store had all you mentioned, plus the all-important freezer lockers for rent.
ReplyDeleteNow all gone. Good memories from hard times.
The gravity gas feed pump was at the Morrison cheese factory. The Morrison garage also had gas, but I don't recall the type of pump.
DeleteI remember the General Store, and also the 5 & 10 cent stores, and the milk man delivering to your door step, and the ice man too.
ReplyDeleteThey still have general stores up in the small towns in Newfoundland. I remember when we used to go up to visit it was the place to go to get Christmas gifts even. Most folks go to "town" for that now but still do some shopping local, or if they're like me they do a lot of shopping at Amazon. Hard to find any kind of store anymore that doesn't reek of the scented candles.
ReplyDelete