The General Store
It is a slow news day and we are all under quarantine. We are not supposed to go shopping, so I will just remind you of the good old days when we could. Back then there were General Stores scattered along back roads and in small communities. On hot summer days one could hop off a bike and get a cold drink and wander under the ceiling fans among all kinds of merchandise. They are mostly gone now, along with the ceiling fans, but I can assure you that they were much better than the corner "Variety Stores" which are also rapidly disappearing. They were typically family-owned and attached to the family house and not at all like your 7-Eleven.
At this point you are probably looking for a Dorfläden which, I gather, means something like 'village store.' I ran across the reference in some of the notes I have kept and exhumed it here because I can't go shopping. You will be surprised to learn that apparently they are making a comeback in Germany. You will be even more surprised that I learned this from an article in The Christian Science Monitor, which still exits and is still a good paper. It is really surprising that a guy who does not read German and is not a Christian can continue to find such amazing stuff for you.
I grew up in the United States and thought I should look around up here to see if the General Store existed since we still can't go outside. They did. Here is the Table of Contents from the book pictured above:
The General Store Then and Now
The General Store in the Past
The General Store Today [c1977]
The Stores
Stores That Have Endured
Stores That Are Vacant
Stores That Are Museums
Stores That Are Converted
Index of Store Locations
The author writes:
"Over a period of two years, I travelled throughout Ontario, researching, photographing and writing about these mostly rural country stores and their keepers. This book is filled with photographs of overstuffed interiors and amiable store owners and visitors, as well as an historical background about the growth of the general store in early settlement and its transition to the department stores of today." That was written in the 1970s. Most such stores now exist only as replicas in Pioneer Villages such as the one out at Fanshawe and at the Doon Heritage Village.
Unsurprisingly there is an entry for the "General Store" in Wikipedia and the Canadian section includes this:
"The oldest continually run general store in Canada is Trousdale's, located in Sydenham, Ontario, which has been operated by the Trousdale family since 1836. Socialbility has always been a feature, as locals come to chat as well as buy. Gray Creek Store in Gray Creek, Kootenay Bay, Canada is the largest and oldest general dealer in the Kootenay Lake region. Enniskillen General Store in Clarington, Ontario has been in operation since 1840 and still continues today. Robinson's General Store in Dorset, Ontario, voted "Canada's Best Country Store", has been owned and operated by the same family since 1921."
Now that I think about it, there are stores that resemble general ones up in cottage country. Some that cater to the Muskoka Crowd around Port Carling ("Porsche Carling") are like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. There is one in Rousseau and here is what the book above says about the Rousseau General Store (c. 1977. It's still there):
“This store was built about 1870 and has been restored by its present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Tassie. It is an exceptionally large store with the rear addition and includes a butcher shop. The family’s living quarters are in the house adjacent to the right side of the store. The customers are largely tourists and local folk.
A wide variety of goods can be found in this general store. Items are displayed on shelves, in old cases, on counters, and hanging from hooks and ropes. As well as carrying groceries and hardware, unusual items such as handmade mittens can be purchased here. Every bit of space is utilized to full advantage."
[There are three pictures - of Mr. Tassie, the outside and the inside of the store on pp. 44-45.]
Sources:
For more about the Dorfläden see: Village Store Revival? German Towns Opt for Community Over Big-box Retailers," By Isabelle de Pommereau Correspondent, Christian Science Monitor, July 25, 2019 "When local shops close, it’s not just a loss of convenience for townspeople, but also a loss of community. Some Germans are trying to reverse that by bringing back “dorfläden,” or village stores."
The literature relating to the invasion of the big boxes is extensive. See, for example: "The Anti-Chain Store Movement and the Politics of Consumption, American Quarterly, Vol.6, No.4, 2008.
The battle was even fought locally and fairly recently: "Ten-Year Saga Ends With Wal-Mart's Arrival in Stratford," Brian Shypula, Stratford Beacon Herald, Nov. 28, 2013.
General Stores of Canada, R.B. Fleming
“A fascinating new book [c.2002] on all aspects of the thousands of general stores that existed across Canada has just been published, and will bring back memories to many who used them. There are a few general stores still around today, but they do not have the significance of those from the past.
The new book General Stores of Canada: Merchants and Memories is by R.B. Fleming, whose family ran a general store at Argyle, near Lindsay, for years. He visited, photographed and interviewed people across Canada and has produced a definitive profile of the store. The book does not profile individual stores, but looks at themes from architecture through the role of the store, and the role of the owner in the community, etc., all done with a sense of nostalgia.”
Bonus Information (information found along the way)
KATE AITKEN
As I mentioned, I did not grow up here and knew nothing about Kate Aitken (pictured above) who wrote a book about Beeton, Ontario and the general store there: Never a Day So Bright.
“A relaxed view of life in Canada (Beeton, Ont.) during the author's childhood is filled with domestic and community details of the seasons where her home was a store, at times a boarding house and always a busy center for gatherings."
Some additional information about Aitken:
"Parents Kept a General Store at Beeton." Toronto Globe & Mail, November 3, 1956, p. 21.
This is from the article above which is a review of Never a Day…
It is called a nostalgic and entertaining book. It notes that Beeton got its name from A.D. Jones who was “one of the foremost beekeepers of his time, whose honey was of such rare quality that the name of the settlement was changed from Clarkesville to Beeton.”
“She records little that is unpleasant, but preserves the beautiful fragrance of long-dead flowers, along the well-remembered path we all once walked.”
[She had a radio show and was a columnist]
"While most of her fans were women, among the many people who wrote to get her advice, 18% of the letters came from men. Throughout much of her radio career, Aitken was heard three times during the day; in 1950, an estimated 32 per cent of Canadians listening to the radio were tuned into her show whenever she was on the air;[24] estimated to be up to three million listeners.
Beginning in the late 1950s, and continuing until 1962, she was a columnist for the Globe & Mail, offering her opinions about fashion, food, raising children, and current trends in society that affected the home. She also gave advice to homemakers about etiquette, such as a column on using the telephone: taking calls during dinner was always to be avoided, she wrote. Additionally, she continued to write cookbooks: by some accounts, she wrote or contributed to more than fifty of them, several of which became Canadian best-sellers."
There is an obit in the G&M on Dec. 14, 1971 and it begins:
“If any contemporary crusader in the cause of women’s emancipation ever needs an example of a self-liberated woman, the abundant career of Kate Aitken would be hard to beat.” [talks about her interviewing Mussolini and having tea with Churchill."]
"Kate Aitken died in Mississauga in 1971, at age 81, having lived for many years on property that she ran briefly as a spa, on a bend of Mississauga Road, south of Streetsville. She is buried in Beeton United Church Cemetery."
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If you are ever in Port Carling and need some really good meat, go to Stephen's Butcher Shop. It is not a true "General Store" but Morley (the owner) is referred to as the "Butcher for the Stars" (in reference to his often famous clientele.)
Post Script:
Although it has taken me a while to put this together, I still can't go shopping. If I could, I wouldn't be able to buy booze at a Variety Store and it is only grudgingly sold at a few places, even in ordinary times. Owners of Variety Stores are attempting to have the laws about alcohol consumption made more liberal. Until that happens, they could try this solution:
Anna Jameson, offered this description of General Stores in London in 1837[ - pp.21-22 in the Priamo book.]
“Besides the seven taverns there is a number of little grocery stores which are, in fact, drinking houses. And though a law exists, which forbids the sale of spiritous liquors in small quantities by any but licensed publicans, they easily contrive to elude the law; as thus:- a customer enters the shop, and asks for two or three penny-worth of nuts, or cakes, and he receives a few nuts, and a large glass of whiskey. The whiskey, you observe, is given, not sold, and no one can swear to the contrary.”
