Thursday, July 10, 2008

Take Me Back To The Five And Dime..

I miss the good old five and dime stores. We had a great Ben Franklin Store in Placerville when we were growing up. I loved shopping in there. I was delighted when we visited family in Wisconsin in 2001, and got to go a BF in Hayward, WI. Twain Harte Pharmacy, up the hill from us is also a BF, but I don't get up there very often, and while it's a nice store, it isn't quite the same. I found this local newspaper ad from 1954 for a dime store that used to be in this area. Sorry the scan didn't come out real well. I love how you can see all of the assorted merchandise, stacked high!
I imagine you could find almost anything - I see some frames on those shelves. Maybe there was one that had this inside. I love simple vintage graphics like this little housewife, here:
And you could probably find these corners, too. How cute is that little guy? "I protect what you collect"! Thanks, buddy!
This is a great book. It's full of pictures of all kinds of neat vintage stuff. Written by Lester Glassner and Brownie Harris, published in 1981 by Penguin Books.
And this one is terrific, too. A Schiffer Book for Collectors, published in 2000. Tons of pictures inside of great vintage stuff.
(You can find either of these books on Amazon.) I've already got 'em!

1 comment:

Tina Dawn said...

There was also the Cornet 5 and 10 store in Placerville. It had several tables in the center with old Placerville souvenir collectible items like little pitchers, tiny gold panners, etc. I was always fascinated by them, but didn't buy any because I wasn't a tourist! Now I wish I had one of everything. I still do miss Ben Franklin. What a great store. I got my Brownie Uniform and my 4H Uniform in there. The picture you have of the store in Sonora really reminds me of BF. Great post. Love T