North Mountain Historical Society

March, 2004, Meeting

Subect: General Stores

Speaker: Bob Webster

Bob Webster was the speaker at the March 15 meeting of the North Mountain Historical Society at the Brass Pelican restaurant, Elk Grove. Bob is a retired teacher who loves speaking on America's Heritage, and still keeps his fingers in the educational pot by serving on the school board of East Lycoming. His talk was on "The Old Country General Store," how they operated and what became of them. The talk on the subject of general stores prompted this section.

The general store was the focal point of a community. crammed with everything from axe handles to zippers, a place neighbors could drop by to share the gossip of the town and do a bit of shopping. Most general stores had a few things in common; i.e., a porch out front, where people could talk and load and unload goods; large windows for display; pillars supporting an upper balcony at the front of a second story where the merchant often lived; a large undivided merchandise area for the store, and the stores usually had long, wonderfully built oak cabinets that extended to the ceiling. The employees were local people, and everyone was called by their first names. Often the store served double duty as the local post office. Barter was common, and credit was often extended until farmers got paid for their crops. Many eventually sold gasoline from pumps installed in front of the stores as automobiles arrived in the communities.

It is hard to forget, for those of us old enough to remember this sort of thing, the crowded shelves, the glass showcases and all of the things that hung from the ceiling. The long counters were always piled high with inventory and heavy brown paper and cast-iron string holders and chocolate bars and gum and candy and butter, cheese, meat and vegetables. We remember the smell of fresh ground coffee, sharp cheddar cheese, dried fruit, and kerosene. The items that were kept "under the counter were asked for in a whisper and then pre-wrapped in brown paper. Young boys on one leg and then the other asking delicate questions were always surprised when the clerk anticipated the question and fielded the question with ease. In the case of the Pennington Store in Benton, we certainly remember Doyle Pennington with his constant cigar and plastic cigar holder. As Archie Bunker would say, "Those were the days."

Click here for an extended discussion of general stores in this part of Pennsylvania.

The speaker for March, 2004, was a superb Hughsville story teller and filled the restaurant with stores of the origin and the economics of the country store.

While others were finishing their breakfast, we sat chatting with Bob and got thinking about various buckwheat cakes and how long the "starter" has been around. Monica Diltz of the Brass Pelican has kept her starter going since the restaurant opened and we always enjoy seeing Monica get a wry smile on her face when someone asks about her cakes. We won't spoil Monica's fun by telling how long the starter has been going, but when you see her ask her in person.

We remembered the story that Dennis Threlkeld told us recently about the sour buckwheat cakes that Zell Seward used to throw on the griddle. Dennis had stopped at Zell's Red Rock country store for buckwheat cakes on a spring Saturday after trout fishing, a favorite fish-related ritual.

Dennis was eating his cakes and Jug Albertson's Pappy came in the restaurant to talk about just about anything. He asked Dennis how he liked the cakes and asked how old Dennis thought the starter was. It turns out that Zell made the original starter in 1928, but actually was older than that. Seems she was given the original starter by her Mom or some other such relative in 1922, but it froze one winter. Fortunately, they had more, so she resurrected the batter with more of the original starter, which was a distant ancestor of what Dennis had on his plate.

Phillip Shultz told of his grandfather, Phillip Giddeon Shultz, a former owner of the Benton Store Company. Phillip and Anna Pennington, both related to local store owners, brought in objects from the original stores, as did Monica Diltz. Gwen Swisher Hall from Swisher's Store on the Beech Glen Highway was introduced. Gwen with her husband and sister run Swisher's Store, now in its 125th year of operation.

Bob Webster took command of the room, and the 53 years of experience in the public schools became very obvious. Without consulting notes and although severely limited in his visual skills, he was a dynamic and interesting speaker. From the determination of locations for the country store, through the introduction of canning jars and glass bottles, tin cans and paper bags and cardboard boxes, Bob walked the 70 in the capacity crowd through the concept of the country store. He ended with country-store credit, and recited a poem to illustrate the point. It went something like this...

To trust is bust!
To bust is hell!
No trust, no bust, No hell.

Picture courtesy of Richard Shoemaker

Bob Webster, Hughsville.