Monday Memories: Grandma’s Store

Gypsy and Coco have graciously allowed me to have today for a Monday Memories post.  Since Gypsy penned last week’s Monday Morning Mews, Coco is already working on her post for next week.

Last week, Mike, a local photographer whom I follow on Facebook, shared photos of an antique shop that he and his wife visited recently. It’s in the Richmond area, and is about an hour and a half from where we live.  As soon as I saw the photos that Mike shared, I knew it was somewhere I wanted to see in person.

So that was Motor Man’s and my day trip yesterday. The name of the shop is The Pickled Past.

When my family and friends see that picture, they probably will know immediately why I wanted to visit this shop.  But, for the rest of you, here’s a photo of my grandmother’s little country store, which sadly, was purchased by the highway department and demolished a few years ago for highway ‘improvements’.

Beginning in the 1940’s, my grandparents owned and operated that little store and lived in the back. Granddaddy died in 1952, and Grandma decided to close the store in 1966, when Virginia sales tax went into effect. By that time, she was nearly eighty, and just wasn’t interested in learning to compute, report and pay sales tax.

But, I have SO many fond memories of times spent in that building.  My mom and I lived less than a quarter mile away, so there was rarely a time that we didn’t spend part of the day at Grandma’s.

Much of that time was spent in the store itself, where Grandma sold (among other things) canned goods, candy, individual ginger snaps from a huge jar, and “June” cheese and stick bologna that she sliced and sold by the pound. Those were wrapped in butcher paper and tied with twine. There were also ice cold Cokes from an old-timey drink ‘machine’, and most of the time, salted peanuts were added to those Cokes by local folks and family when they stopped by for a visit.

I’ve shared this photo before:  l-r, my sister, Rose, Aunt Doris, her husband, my Uncle Benny, holding their daughter, Lona. Those are some of the grocery items on the shelves behind them, and just to Rose’s right, the rack of butcher paper. To the right of Uncle Benny’s feet, you can just barely see the edge of the old stove that Grandma used to heat the store.

Many of Grandma’s twelve children lived nearby, so evenings were spent with family in that store.  As you can see, seating was limited, so we perched wherever we could. It didn’t matter too much whether you were comfortable: you were with family, sharing stories and laughter, and that was the important part.

When we arrived at The Pickled Past yesterday, I realized that the front part of the store wasn’t quite as ‘deep’ as Grandma’s, but the back portion, which I assumed was living quarters at one time, was larger.

I took this of the front of The Pickled Past:

The windows and doors reminded me of Grandma’s store.  Her windows had wooden shutters, and there were screen doors that had the logo of a local bread company on them.

I bought a couple of little things at The Pickled Past, but the fun was imagining what life must have been like in her heyday, and remembering those special times spent at Grandma’s store.

~These Days Of Mine~