Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Back In The Day (Old Country Store)

Speaking of Army/Navy stores we had an Army Surplus store back when I was growing up. Man I loved that place. Shelves of bayonets (dad wouldn't let me have one for some reason). real military clothing, military rifles still half coated with grease, all kinds of good stuff. My buddies and I all had real stuff to play army with-helmet liners, cartridge belts, shovels with khaki holders that clipped on the belts, you name it.
Last time I was in one it was all cheap imitation stuff and tactical gear. Lots of cheap knives. Kinda sad.
I finally got dad to give me an M3 trench knive he picked up somewhere. Sadly, I decided to sharpen it with a grinder which ticked dad off somethin fierce.
A little side story about old stores. Years ago there was a shoe store in the top floor of a building downtown. Had to walk up a flight of stairs to get to it. As you entered the store there was a big poster of a guy aiming at some elk. I always liked that poster.
Anyway, the store closed and some time later that poster appeared in my uncle's garage. He pinned notes to it. When he passed I got the poster (the uncle who was executor of the will said "take the dumb thing."
I brought it home and did some investigating on the net. It is the work of Philip Goodwin (one "l"), a famous illustrator from the early 20th century. It measures probably four feet by five feet. I made a nice walnut frame for it and it rests in our rec room. I haven't found one that large and have no idea of what it's worth, but it's mine.

Highlandville....looks like they fancied it up and raised/blacktopped the lot.

Had steps last time I was there...





I delivered a few batteries up that cursed step.

Neater place on the inside...

Its right next to this place in the same dead town...

Can anyone recall paying for a purchase where one of these was positioned next to a giant gold cash register under a large ball of twine. The clerk would ask if you would like your purchase wrapped. Only used brown paper bags for very small items.

I was always in too big a hurry and stuck the .22 shells or fishing tackle in my pocket. Which reminds me, the sinkers bobbers etc were in little glass partitioned bins with individual prices in a metal clip on the front.

In fact, I can't think of a retail store, when I was a kid, that didn't have a large ball of twine hanging over the cash register.

When I was a kid, Dad was the partsman for the IH dealer in town. The owner also had a hardware store. Mom kept books for both places at that time and Dad would help out in the hardware as needed. One Saturday night, I was amusing myself by walking quickly along and running my hand over the tops of the front glass on those shelves that you were talking about. (The sections were held together by metal clips.) As I tooled along with my mind elsewhere, I came to a piece of glass that had a semicircle broken out of its top edge. Fortunately, blood cleans up quite nicely from glass and wooden floors.