A Trip Down Memory Lane (Somewhat O.T.)

[GROVER]

Many years ago when I lived in northern New Jersey, and before the advent of the big box home improvement centers there were independently owned hardware stores ( which have been discussed previously on this NG ). They generally had creaky wooden floors, gray haired clerks who knew the location and names of a lot of arcane hardware, and a lot of bins which housed bulk items, not much blister packaging.They had a scale and weighed out nails by the pound.

One of these had a sign hung behind the counter informing all that this was the store of "two wonders". First you wonder if we have it, then we wonder if we can find it.

Another shop of that era sold antiques. Its sign proclaimed it was the shop of the three "don'ts". Don't bring in your children, don't bring in your dog and don't tell us your grandmother threw this thing out. I don't know if many years into the future people will have any fond memories of the current crop of home centers.

Joe G

[Leon]

These stores still exist in Texas, all over the place. I wish the glass Coke bottle would come back as a normal way of distribution.

[Lew Hodgett]

As a high school kid, I was one of those clerks.

Had some Amish customers which resulted in having some very interesting inventory.

Got to assemble all the lawn mowers, wheel barrows, kid's wagons, etc.

Got to cut the glass, repair broken windows, repair broken window screens, etc, etc.

Got to drive the truck after school to make all the deliveries which also included picking up kegs of nails from the local lumber yard, bringing them back to the store, opening them and putting the nails in bins.

Got pretty good at weighing out a pound of nails on the first try.

Every Saturday morning you could depend on some guy walking into the store with some pipe fittings in his hand and saying, "Moving this morning and I've gotta hook up the gas stove", or words to that effect.

Want to talk about paint?

How about firearms?

A trip to the town dump with a .22 rifle was a Sunday ritual in the summer.

All in all, a great experience for a pimple faced, snot nosed kid, in a small town.

No, those days will not return; however, my grandson has learned to be quite the cook while working at a restaurant after school.

The opportunities change, but they are still there.

Lew

[Keith nuttle]

Its back. I saw some glass 8oz. semi traditionally shaped bottles at Kroger's in Indianapolis

[Olebiker]

I recall my wife dragging me into a curio shop in Gatlinburg years ago. The shop was going out of business and it was easy to see why. Every space on the shelves that didn't contain merchandise had a sign telling what you couldn't do in the store. I never felt so unwelcomed in all my life.

[Frank Boettcher]

Still got one in Tupelo, MS. Tupelo Hardware. Four stories of downtown building crammed full of whatever you want. Recently a sales clerk took me up to the top floor to look for a bearing. first time I had ever been upstairs. What a marvelous experience.

In an earlier time, when there was nothing else, they acted as somewhat of a general store, would order whatever you needed, but specialized in hardware. It is the store where Elvis Presley bought his first guitar.

Frank

[Swingman]

The summer I turned nine ('51) I got my first .22 and spent almost a month "living off the land" in my own "camp" on my grandparents farm in S. Louisiana ... with the occasional trip into the farmhouse at night time to avail myself of any goodies my grandmother made sure were left out for me to "find", even though I had assured her that I was tough enough to eat squirrel for the rest of my life.

... smart lady, that dear grandmother of mine!

[Leon]

Yeah, you have always been able to get the glass bottles in Houston, FOR A PRICE. I would like to see them come back main stream with the 3 cent deposit and all. There is nothing quite like drinking a soft drink out of a glass bottle and especially when it is frozen.

[Lew Hodgett]

My father grew up in Southern Indiana along the Ohio river.

Even gained a nickname that is on his tombstone, after one of those river towns.

Back then it was poor country, and if you didn't produce, you didn't eat.

My father told me that when he was about 6-7, they gave him a single shot .22, one cartridge, and was told to "Go get breakfast".

Don't have a clue if it was a tall tale or not, but my father used a single shot .22 to hunt squirrels, and was still able to "Bark a squirrel" until he was about 40 and his eyes began to show his age.

Still have that rifle someplace.

Used it to learn to shoot, and while never as good as the old man, became a pretty decent shot, learning to pick off rabbits with it while they were still setting.

Lew

[CW]

People would think it tastes funny without the aluminum.

[Puckdropper]

"CW" wrote in news:%KlJh.12168$ [e-mail]:

*trim: Soda-pop's containers*

They're apparently not missing the aluminum much drinking out of plastic bottles.

Puckdropper

[nailshooter41]

SNIP

Wow... now there's memory. I remember pulling out iced sodas from a metal chest that had the kids beverages on one side, and the old fashioned squatty beer bottles on the other.

Cokes in those days were made with sugar, and they had a sharper bite to them. Now (and for quite some time) they have been made with corn syrup (or one of its relatives) and the tasted isn't near as sharp.

However, down south here, we can still get the bottled-in- Mexico- Cokes, in the tall green bottle with the tin cap, made with sugar. I can't tell you how many people I have bought those for to help them remember what Coke tasted like 20-25 years ago.

Robert

[Leon]

IIRC Falstaff and Schlitz were in those "Snuff" style bottles. LOL

Do you remember or did you ever pierce the bottle cap with an ice pick and let the drink jet spray into your mouth?

[Markem]

Being a city boy I had to Google that and found this.

nice read.

Mark

[Swingman]

Wonder how many folks who, without using Google, actually knew what it meant to "bark" a squirrel?

Then again, knowing, even without Google, and doing, are another thing entirely.

[Larry Blanchard]

I did, because I had a friend who could do it. I never could. Bad eyesight.

[J T]

Mon, Mar 12, 2007, 3:04am (EDT-3) [e-mail] (GROVER) doth admit: Many years ago when I lived in northern New Jersey,

Were you being punished?

JOAT It was too early in the morning for it to be early in the morning. That was the only thing that he currently knew for sure.

- Clodpool

[J T]

Tue, Mar 13, 2007, 1:26am (EDT-3) [e-mail] doth sayeth: the old fashioned squatty beer bottles on the other.

The long necked bottles had better tasting beer. There's a song about that too, "Red Necks, Long Necks, And Lone Star Beer".

JOAT It was too early in the morning for it to be early in the morning. That was the only thing that he currently knew for sure.

- Clodpool

[J T]

Tue, Mar 13, 2007, 2:12pm (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Leon) dith writeth: Do you remember or did you ever pierce the bottle cap with an ice pick and let the drink jet spray into your mouth?

Neither. But I remember buying beer by the case, and asking for a church key to go with it. And on occassion opening bottles on a car bumper or door hings. Or, if out in a boat, prying the tops off with pliers. That's all before screw off caps. Or cans needing an opener. Used a knife if no opener available, on occassion an ax or hatchet.

JOAT It was too early in the morning for it to be early in the morning. That was the only thing that he currently knew for sure.

- Clodpool

[J T]

Tue, Mar 13, 2007, 8:36am (EDT-2) [e-mail] (Swingman) doth query. Wonder how many folks who, without using Google, actually knew what it meant to "bark" a squirrel? Then again, knowing, even without Google, and doing, are another thing entirely.

I barked exactly one. And that was only because I missed the squirrel. If I'd had a .22 instead of a 30-06 I'd have nailed it.

JOAT It was too early in the morning for it to be early in the morning. That was the only thing that he currently knew for sure.

- Clodpool