ARE GENERAL STORES THINGS OF THE PAST? BY JIM RICHARD

ARE GENERAL STORES THINGS OF THE PAST? BY JIM RICHARD ARE GENERAL STORES THINGS OF THE PAST? BY JIM RICHARD ARE GENERAL STORES THINGS OF THE PAST? BY JIM RICHARD

ARE GENERAL STORES THINGS OF THE PAST? Jim Richard English II H Oral History Project

CHESANING HIGH SCHOOL 850 N. FOURTH CHESANING, MICHIGAN 48616 Phone: 517-845-2040 Principal Cheryl A. Hahnenberg Asst. Principal Thomas M. Schlachter Asst. Principal Jeffrey A. Murdoch I have been asked to participate in.the Chesaning Sophomore English Oral History Project. I have agreed to a tape recording between a high school student and myself. I take this opportunity to assure you that these recordings are the property of the school and its historical collection, for use as the school sees fit, and I agree that no monetary consideration need be paid me.

Are General Stores Things Of The Past? Can you imagine for a minute doing all your shopping at one store? Cloths, shoes, hardware, groceries, everthing. Now could you picture yourself owning a general store, getting each customer everything they need off high shelves? Visiting The General Store In The Past As you enter you notice the counter on one wall with high shelves all-around the rest of the store, and above, attached to the designed metal ceiling, a fan which has been working since before 1910. You ask the owner for whatever it is that you want and he walks to it and reaches for it, sometimes using a long stick with a clamp or maybe a ladder that slides back and forth along the shelves. You could buy eggs that a neighbor had just brought in fresh that morning or choose from large bulk barrels filled with vinegar, or nails, or even crackers that cost 12^2 cents a pound. During the 1920's you could have even visited the general store to get your mail since the Post Office was often located in the store. You could also buy clothes and shoes at the general store. Goldmans sold Wolverine shoes and cloths by Pioneer. The prices would be drastically lower than they are today. A pound of butter would cost you 49 cents, while you could get a whole quart of milk for a quarter. Bread used to cost as low as 25 cents a loaf in the 1940's and a box of fresh salmon would only cost 49 cents. Mary Goldman, who owns the Chapin General Store along with her husband, said this about the meats at the general store around 1945, "Our meats were very cheap,

our bologna was 39 cents a pound and wienies were about the J same price." You could also choose a soda from a water filled pop cooler that still works today (it is over 50 years old.)x In the center of the store you could usually find a woodstove or furnace with locals gathered around it talking and gossiping. Mary remembers her furnace which they had before they bought a gas heater. "...we did have a furnace with one hole (floor register), in the center of the store and people would sit around the register and talk and visit. We had chairs so they could come visit...they don't come around and sit like 4. they used to [before the furnace was removed]." ' The Realities Of Owning A General Store When Carl and Mary Goldman bought the Chapin General Store in 1945 there was not much in it, and all the shelves were on the walls with the counter on the East wall. They had to rearrange everything, that included putting the counter in the center and converting some shelf area into aisles and leaving some shelves on the walls. Miniature shopping carts were used for a few years but the aisles were too small and they were eventually packed away into the up stairs storage area. Other merchandise on the second floor; which also was used for dances and social gatherings, includes shovels, screen windows, and glass. The half basement below the store is used for the motors that run the meat case, and the pop and milk coolers. Owning and running a general store would mean you have to live close by and that is exactly what the Goldmans did. In fact, they lived in the back of the store for 20 years. Burglary is not a terrible problem although in the forty-three years the Goldmans have had the store they have had six or seven break ins.

Mary says, "...As far as theft, people stealing, I think that generally, in all stores, a little bit is taken." Although, instead of stealing, if a person didn't have any money they could start an account. Mary says she has had some real good accounts that the people kept paid up, but she also has some that she still hasn't collected. Most of Goldman's merchandise used to be trucked to the store. A salesperson would come and get their order and then ship them their merchandise in two or three days. "Lee and Katy's, from Bay City used to deliver groceries to Chapin's store while produce was bought from Michigan Produce in Carson City. Peet Packing Company always shipped all the meats to the store. During the 1950"s Mr. Vincent from Elsie brought milk to the Chapin Store in glass bottles. But times have changed and a lot of things have to be picked up. Carl and Mary have to go get their own meats from the packing company. The groceries also have to picked up. Hardware, whicft used to be hauled in by truck is now delivered by U.P.S. But some things stay the same, like the breadman who brings fresh bread once a week and pop and cigarettes are still delivered. So general stores do still exist although they are run a little differently than they were in the first half of the 20th century. A lot of them have closed and given way to supermarkets and chain stores. A visit to a general store could bring back a lot of memories as you see the tall ceiling, the room full of everything from groceries to hardware, to the Moose head on the North wall that Carl shot years ago.

NOTES 1. Interview with Mary Goldman, Chapin's General Store, Chapin Michigan. Interview, May 14, 1988. 2. Darlene Jaye "Chapin General Store Keeps the Faith." The Argus Press Owosso, Michigan, June 1, 1978. Sec. 1, P. 13.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Goldman, Mary. Chapin's General Store, Chapin, Michigan. Interview, May 14, 1988. Jaye D., "Chapin General Store Keeps the Faith." Argus Press, (June 1, 1978) Sec. 1, P. 13. The Wigginton, Eliot, FoxFire 9, Garden City, New York Anchor Press/Double Day,1986. Ireland, Mark Lorin, Irma Thompson Ireland, Place of the Big Rock, Chesaning Michigan, Maryland: Price Printing Inc., 1966. Langdon, W.C. Everyday Things in American Life. Charles Scribner's, 1941. New York: