Many years ago when I lived in northern New Jersey, and before the
advent of the big box home improvement centers there were
independently owned hardware stores ( which have been discussed
previously on this NG ). They generally had creaky wooden floors,
gray haired clerks who knew the location and names of a lot of arcane
hardware, and a lot of bins which housed bulk items, not much blister
packaging.They had a scale and weighed out nails by the pound.

One of these had a sign hung behind the counter informing all that
this was the store of "two wonders". First you wonder if we have it,
then we wonder if we can find it.

Another shop of that era sold antiques. Its sign proclaimed it was
the shop of the three "don'ts". Don't bring in your children, don't
bring in your dog and don't tell us your grandmother threw this thing
out.
I don't know if many years into the future people will have any fond
memories of the current crop of home centers.

Joe G

"GROVER" wrote in message
oups.com...
Many years ago when I lived in northern New Jersey, and before the
advent of the big box home improvement centers there were
independently owned hardware stores ( which have been discussed
previously on this NG ). They generally had creaky wooden floors,
gray haired clerks who knew the location and names of a lot of arcane
hardware, and a lot of bins which housed bulk items, not much blister
packaging.They had a scale and weighed out nails by the pound.

One of these had a sign hung behind the counter informing all that
this was the store of "two wonders". First you wonder if we have it,
then we wonder if we can find it.

Another shop of that era sold antiques. Its sign proclaimed it was
the shop of the three "don'ts". Don't bring in your children, don't
bring in your dog and don't tell us your grandmother threw this thing
out.
I don't know if many years into the future people will have any fond
memories of the current crop of home centers.

Joe G

These stores still exist in Texas, all over the place. I wish the glass
Coke bottle would come back as a normal way of distribution.

Leon wrote:
"GROVER" wrote in message
oups.com...

Many years ago when I lived in northern New Jersey, and before the
advent of the big box home improvement centers there were
independently owned hardware stores ( which have been discussed
previously on this NG ). They generally had creaky wooden floors,
gray haired clerks who knew the location and names of a lot of arcane
hardware, and a lot of bins which housed bulk items, not much blister
packaging.They had a scale and weighed out nails by the pound.

One of these had a sign hung behind the counter informing all that
this was the store of "two wonders". First you wonder if we have it,
then we wonder if we can find it.

Another shop of that era sold antiques. Its sign proclaimed it was
the shop of the three "don'ts". Don't bring in your children, don't
bring in your dog and don't tell us your grandmother threw this thing
out.
I don't know if many years into the future people will have any fond
memories of the current crop of home centers.

Joe G


These stores still exist in Texas, all over the place. I wish the glass
Coke bottle would come back as a normal way of distribution.


Its back. I saw some glass 8oz. semi traditionally shaped bottles at
Kroger's in Indianapolis

--
Keith Nuttle
3110 Marquette Court
Indianapolis, IN 46268
317-802-0699

"Keith nuttle" wrote in message
.. .


Its back. I saw some glass 8oz. semi traditionally shaped bottles at
Kroger's in Indianapolis


Yeah, you have always been able to get the glass bottles in Houston, FOR A
PRICE. I would like to see them come back main stream with the 3 cent
deposit and all. There is nothing quite like drinking a soft drink out of a
glass bottle and especially when it is frozen.

People would think it tastes funny without the aluminum.

"Leon" wrote in message
et...
Yeah, you have always been able to get the glass bottles in Houston, FOR A
PRICE. I would like to see them come back main stream with the 3 cent
deposit and all. There is nothing quite like drinking a soft drink out of
a
glass bottle and especially when it is frozen.

"CW" wrote in
ink.net:

*trim: Soda-pop's containers*

People would think it tastes funny without the aluminum.


They're apparently not missing the aluminum much drinking out of plastic
bottles.

Puckdropper
--
Wise is the man who attempts to answer his question before asking it.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

On Mar 12, 12:23 pm, "Leon" wrote:

SNIP

There is nothing quite like drinking a soft drink out of a
glass bottle and especially when it is frozen.

Wow... now there's memory. I remember pulling out iced sodas from a
metal chest that had the kids beverages on one side, and the old
fashioned squatty beer bottles on the other.

Cokes in those days were made with sugar, and they had a sharper bite
to them. Now (and for quite some time) they have been made with corn
syrup (or one of its relatives) and the tasted isn't near as sharp.

However, down south here, we can still get the bottled-in- Mexico-
Cokes, in the tall green bottle with the tin cap, made with sugar. I
can't tell you how many people I have bought those for to help them
remember what Coke tasted like 20-25 years ago.

Robert

wrote in message
ps.com...
On Mar 12, 12:23 pm, "Leon" wrote:

SNIP

There is nothing quite like drinking a soft drink out of a
glass bottle and especially when it is frozen.

Wow... now there's memory. I remember pulling out iced sodas from a
metal chest that had the kids beverages on one side, and the old
fashioned squatty beer bottles on the other.


IIRC Falstaff and Schlitz were in those "Snuff" style bottles. LOL

Do you remember or did you ever pierce the bottle cap with an ice pick and
let the drink jet spray into your mouth?

Tue, Mar 13, 2007, 1:26am (EDT-3) doth sayeth:
snip the old fashioned squatty beer bottles on the other. snip

The long necked bottles had better tasting beer. There's a song
about that too, "Red Necks, Long Necks, And Lone Star Beer".



JOAT
It was too early in the morning for it to be early in the morning. That
was the only thing that he currently knew for sure.
- Clodpool

GROVER wrote:

Many years ago when I lived in northern New Jersey, and before the
advent of the big box home improvement centers there were
independently owned hardware stores ( which have been discussed
previously on this NG ). They generally had creaky wooden floors,
gray haired clerks who knew the location and names of a lot of arcane
hardware, and a lot of bins which housed bulk items, not much blister
packaging.They had a scale and weighed out nails by the pound.

As a high school kid, I was one of those clerks.

Had some Amish customers which resulted in having some very interesting
inventory.

Got to assemble all the lawn mowers, wheel barrows, kid's wagons, etc.

Got to cut the glass, repair broken windows, repair broken window
screens, etc, etc.

Got to drive the truck after school to make all the deliveries which
also included picking up kegs of nails from the local lumber yard,
bringing them back to the store, opening them and putting the nails in bins.

Got pretty good at weighing out a pound of nails on the first try.

Every Saturday morning you could depend on some guy walking into the
store with some pipe fittings in his hand and saying, "Moving this
morning and I've gotta hook up the gas stove", or words to that effect.

Want to talk about paint?

How about firearms?

A trip to the town dump with a .22 rifle was a Sunday ritual in the summer.

All in all, a great experience for a pimple faced, snot nosed kid, in a
small town.

No, those days will not return; however, my grandson has learned to be
quite the cook while working at a restaurant after school.

The opportunities change, but they are still there.

Lew

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message

How about firearms?

A trip to the town dump with a .22 rifle was a Sunday ritual in the
summer.

The summer I turned nine ('51) I got my first .22 and spent almost a month
"living off the land" in my own "camp" on my grandparents farm in S.
Louisiana ... with the occasional trip into the farmhouse at night time to
avail myself of any goodies my grandmother made sure were left out for me to
"find", even though I had assured her that I was tough enough to eat
squirrel for the rest of my life.

.... smart lady, that dear grandmother of mine!

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 2/20/07

Swingman wrote:



The summer I turned nine ('51) I got my first .22 and spent almost a
month
"living off the land" in my own "camp" on my grandparents farm in S.
Louisiana ... with the occasional trip into the farmhouse at night
time to
avail myself of any goodies my grandmother made sure were left out
for me to
"find", even though I had assured her that I was tough enough to eat
squirrel for the rest of my life.

... smart lady, that dear grandmother of mine!

My father grew up in Southern Indiana along the Ohio river.

Even gained a nickname that is on his tombstone, after one of those
river towns.

Back then it was poor country, and if you didn't produce, you didn't eat.

My father told me that when he was about 6-7, they gave him a single
shot .22, one cartridge, and was told to "Go get breakfast".

Don't have a clue if it was a tall tale or not, but my father used a
single shot .22 to hunt squirrels, and was still able to "Bark a
squirrel" until he was about 40 and his eyes began to show his age.

Still have that rifle someplace.

Used it to learn to shoot, and while never as good as the old man,
became a pretty decent shot, learning to pick off rabbits with it while
they were still setting.

Lew

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message

Don't have a clue if it was a tall tale or not, but my father used a
single shot .22 to hunt squirrels, and was still able to "Bark a
squirrel" until he was about 40 and his eyes began to show his age.

Wonder how many folks who, without using Google, actually knew what it meant
to "bark" a squirrel?

Then again, knowing, even without Google, and doing, are another thing
entirely.


--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 2/20/07

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 08:36:08 -0600, "Swingman" wrote:

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message

Don't have a clue if it was a tall tale or not, but my father used a
single shot .22 to hunt squirrels, and was still able to "Bark a
squirrel" until he was about 40 and his eyes began to show his age.

Wonder how many folks who, without using Google, actually knew what it meant
to "bark" a squirrel?

Then again, knowing, even without Google, and doing, are another thing
entirely.

Being a city boy I had to Google that and found this.

http://www.nrvoutdoors.com/FOXSQUIRREL/FOXSQUIRREL.htm

A nice read.

Mark

Swingman wrote:


Wonder how many folks who, without using Google, actually knew what it meant
to "bark" a squirrel?


I did, because I had a friend who could do it. I never could. Bad eyesight.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

Tue, Mar 13, 2007, 8:36am (EDT-2) (Swingman) doth query.
Wonder how many folks who, without using Google, actually knew what it
meant to "bark" a squirrel?
Then again, knowing, even without Google, and doing, are another thing
entirely.

I barked exactly one. And that was only because I missed the
squirrel. If I'd had a .22 instead of a 30-06 I'd have nailed it.



JOAT
It was too early in the morning for it to be early in the morning. That
was the only thing that he currently knew for sure.
- Clodpool

On Mar 13, 8:36 am, "Swingman" wrote:

Wonder how many folks who, without using Google, actually knew what it meant to "bark" a squirrel?

Then again, knowing, even without Google, and doing, are another thing entirely.

--www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 2/20/07

Ahhhh, yes. Or to gig a frog or ten. I remember gigging on the shore
of the creek, and it was tough going as a kid. I gave it up in lieu
of bank fishing under the low hanging trees for perch. Better return.

Then I worked on a ranch for a while and they had a 5-7 acre man made
tank that took care of most of the ranch water needs. The frogs and
catfish that were in it were enormous as the folks that owned the
place liked neither.

We brought a small canoe out one evening, a flashlight and an old
cooler. We paddled around that tank in the dull moonlight, night
after night absolutely having a blast gigging - it was easy and the
cooler was full every night of the biggest frogs I had ever seen. I
didn't even know frogs got that big.

I was so focused on the gigging one night that I almost gigged a
coon. He was being still since like many night animals they are
blinded by bright light. Just when I was getting ready to gig him
(think of the tornado that would have unleashed!) I thought *crap!*
wrong color of eyes!

The catfish that came out of that tank tasted like an old drain pipe.
No amount of red sauce or lemon could kill that flavor. But the frog
legs.... marvelous. Dipped in egg wash, rolled in flour with a little
cornmeal and salt and pepper, then deep fried. We felt like kings
after wiping out about 6-8 pairs apiece.

What great memories. And I hadn't thought of that in years.

Robert

On Mar 12, 5:04 am, "GROVER" wrote:
Another shop of that era sold antiques. Its sign proclaimed it was
the shop of the three "don'ts". Don't bring in your children, don't
bring in your dog and don't tell us your grandmother threw this thing
out.

I recall my wife dragging me into a curio shop in Gatlinburg years
ago. The shop was going out of business and it was easy to see why.
Every space on the shelves that didn't contain merchandise had a sign
telling what you couldn't do in the store. I never felt so unwelcomed
in all my life.

On 12 Mar 2007 03:04:10 -0700, "GROVER"
wrote:

Many years ago when I lived in northern New Jersey, and before the
advent of the big box home improvement centers there were
independently owned hardware stores ( which have been discussed
previously on this NG ). They generally had creaky wooden floors,
gray haired clerks who knew the location and names of a lot of arcane
hardware, and a lot of bins which housed bulk items, not much blister
packaging.They had a scale and weighed out nails by the pound.

One of these had a sign hung behind the counter informing all that
this was the store of "two wonders". First you wonder if we have it,
then we wonder if we can find it.

Another shop of that era sold antiques. Its sign proclaimed it was
the shop of the three "don'ts". Don't bring in your children, don't
bring in your dog and don't tell us your grandmother threw this thing
out.
I don't know if many years into the future people will have any fond
memories of the current crop of home centers.

Joe G


Still got one in Tupelo, MS. Tupelo Hardware. Four stories of
downtown building crammed full of whatever you want. Recently a sales
clerk took me up to the top floor to look for a bearing. first time I
had ever been upstairs. What a marvelous experience.

In an earlier time, when there was nothing else, they acted as
somewhat of a general store, would order whatever you needed, but
specialized in hardware. It is the store where Elvis Presley bought
his first guitar.

Frank

On Mar 12, 2:04 pm, Frank Boettcher wrote:
It is the store where Elvis Presley bought
his first guitar.

Frank

Wow, that's pretty cool...

r----- who's justa beaming reading all these stories.

Mon, Mar 12, 2007, 3:04am (EDT-3) (GROVER) doth
admit:
Many years ago when I lived in northern New Jersey, snip

Were you being punished?



JOAT
It was too early in the morning for it to be early in the morning. That
was the only thing that he currently knew for sure.
- Clodpool