In an era not long ago, cities and towns across America and for that matter worldwide had neighborhood convenience stores. The concept of the large superstore hadn't yet been brought to the masses and most of us relied on these oftentimes, family owned businesses to be there for the basic food emergencies. My experience was just that with a little twist. Allow me to explain.
The neighborhood store was there as a lifeline for my friends and me when it was too far to walk home to fetch a snack. The oasis in the "hood" provided the perfect blend of needs and wants for a child. What young kid could make it through the day without a few treats to survive to dinner? Well, all I can say is thanks to the many people who provided this critical service at a time when the neighborhood was an extension of the back yard play ground.
In my home town, I could name dozens of such establishments. The businesses survived on the daily foot traffic from the locals and in those days, most of the patrons came on foot, as not all families even had a car or cars. I remember such places as Ted's, MacNevin's, Cote's, Antelle's, Liberty Market, Belanger's, Rallis' , The Elm Street Cash Market, and even a place called Dowdy's. They served as cornerstones of the local commerce.
Back in the day however, soda bottles had a 2 cent return and all of these places would gladly take in the bottles. We'd line our pockets with the cold hard cash for only a moment ,however; this windfall afforded us purchasing power and we wasted little time spending it. This behavior really served 2 purposes, the bottles got returned and we had "piggy banks" that looked more like trash barrels! If you recall, there was an old Cracker Jacks commercial that demonstrated this vey point. The young boy traded in in his jacks and a few pennies to pay for his box of CJ! Those were the days.
On saturday afternoons in the fall, the high school would play their home football games just down the street in a WPA era built stadium. I wasn't much for watching the games in those days but if it was a warm, sunny afternoon, my friends and I would wander down to the stadium to catch the second half of the game. By that time, we were permitted to enter without paying. Something we could "afford" on our budgets. After the patrons departed, my friends and I cashed in by starting to collect the empty soda bottles, and the pennies were adding up. The challenge was hauling our loot to the store, but we managed for the rewards were sweet! Depending on how much we actually collected, we could get an ice cream, a bottle of tonic, and some penny candy. We were living the dream; it was free money and we could do with it as we pleased. After the owner of Belanger's filled our small brown bags full, we'd go out to sit on the stone wall and bask in the Sun with smiles of our faces. Heaven on earth, or at least for awhile.
This scenario repeated itself as long as the warm weather was on our side. We'd pick up bottles at the town park too and head to Ted's, different store, same outcome. We were financial wizards of sorts. I remember pointing to the candy through the glass case and muttering, "I'll have one of those and two of those, until we had spent our net worth. As they say, another day another handful of pennies for us!
As I reflect on this little part of my youth, I now realize just how fortunate I was to have this whole experience. Kids today likely don't get this kind of opportunity. We were outside for hours roaming the streets, without a care in the world. If hunger struck and we could find some returnables, the neighborhood stores were open for business. More importantly, however, we were resourceful, had enough when we needed it, and the store owners welcomed their patrons, both young and old. It was oh so sweet!
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