In the heart of
most small towns and villages there is a little
country store. Our little town was no exception
and many
transactions took place there. Like any small
mercantile, there
was a small selection of almost everything one
could want or need
The nearest "big" town was five mile away and
since this was mostly
farming areas, the visits to the big chain
stores were limited.
The area was full of children, stay-at-home Moms
and folks that
had lived most of their lives there. Senior
citizens came to make a
small purchase such as a Cola which was called a
soft drink or bottle
of pop. This store was often used for a meeting
place for folks to
exchange the time of day as well as gather news
of any new births or
deaths, of who was planting what and how many
acres.
My folks moved to that little village when I was
five years old and
that store and the Miller's were sort of like my
second family. I
played jump rope & board games, hide and go seek
and all the games a
typical child would play. Having the Miller's
children for playmates
was a wonderful thing.
My Step-Mom would send me for items that she
needed and I can still
hear the sound of their screen door as it
slammed shut when a customer
went inside and I can hear the clicking sound
that was made when the
heavy latch on the door was opened during the
Winter time. The shutting
of the door and the smell of the heavily oiled
wooden floor made for a
comforting feeling as one shopped for the
necessities in that little village.
The floor had some familiar squeaks in places as
you walked over it's
surface and in the summer time, there was a
small window in the back
of the store that was opened for fresh air. The
screen door was left
open all day in the heat of summer and this
provided cross ventilation.
Mr. Miller had a tall standing fan that blew air
outward toward the
door and incoming folks were greeted with a
blast of fan cooled air
as they entered the store. Ladies with long hair
tried to get past the
fan quickly because there was no such thing as
hair spray in those days.
Ahhh, memories, sweet memories of an era where
everyone was
known and greeted warmly with a smile by the
owners upon entering
and a good-bye greeting upon leaving. It was
indeed a lovely time to be
living in a tiny village in Central
Pennsylvania.
