When Mr. Buck Moser decided to close up the hardware store everybody
around here felt like they were about to lose a family member. Six
generations of the Moser family had stood behind that counter and Mr.
Buck had done it for about the longest of them all, spending
seventy-some of his eighty-five years working at and then running the
store.

The "new building" had been built in the 1920's and was new only in
relation to the "old building" which was really little more than a
barn that had been erected about the same time that George Washington
had walked his troops on up the road to Valley Forge.

It was a funny sort of place if you weren't used to its ways. For
instance, Moser's didn't sell "nipples"; they sold "short lengths of
threaded pipe". There were no "sex bolts' to be had but you could buy
"binder bolts", which are pretty much the same thing. "Male" and
"Female" fittings were called "Inside" and "Outside" fittings.

Lest you think that the proprietors were without humor, there was a
sign in there claiming that "Left-Handed Smokeshifters Are Available
Upon Request" and another one that said, "Real Wood Stoves Available -
Made From Real Wood - No Warranty".

There were no checks or credit cards accepted at the Moser
establishment but it wasn't hard to get a thirty-day account there.
There were no forms to fill out. Mr. Buck would look at you and ask
your name. Then he'd say something like "Ain't your Uncle Steve
Watchamacallit from over to Longwood?" Mr. Buck either knew everybody
who was local or knew somebody else who knew them. That was it. The
accounts were kept on three by five index cards that his wife Bessie
would grab up at the end of the month and turn into bills that were
expected to be paid the next time you came in. They didn't hold with
the mail service, finding it to be both expensive and unreliable.

When I was starting out as a carpenter I would go to Moser's to buy my
tools. When I bought my first number five plane Mr. Buck looked at me
and asked me a question, "Are you serious about this carpentry,
Tommy?" "Yes Sir, Mr. Buck, I believe I'm serious about it." Mr.
Buck studied me for a long moment and said, "Wait here for a bit and
I'll be back." Now, Moser's carried all the Stanley line and the
planes were sitting right there in front, so I didn't know why old Mr.
Buck was wanting to go in the back. While I waited I ran my hands
over the shiny planes that sat on the shelf.

When Mr. Buck came back he had a brand new number five plane in his
hand but the box he was carrying in his other hand looked older than
dirt. "Let me show you something about planes, Tommy."

Mr. Buck grabbed up one of the newish planes and sat it next to the
equally newish looking plane he had brought from the back. "See how
the mouth is all cut up on this new Stanley?" "See how rough the
castings is?" Mr. Buck then took the iron out of both planes, hanging
them both from the same looped string. "Listen to the sound when I
tap these irons, Tommy." "You hear that clear bell ring from this
one?" "Now listen to this other one."

Mr. Buck spent a lot of time showing me the differences between the
new Stanley and the one he'd got from the back. "How much does that
good plane cost, Mr. Buck?" "What does it say on that new plane's
box, Tommy?" "Twenty dollars." (There was no $19.95 in Moser's, they
wouldn't hold with it.)

"Well, this plane is also twenty dollars but it's not to be sold to
any but trades people."

Had me a sweetheart of a plane and didn't even really know what that
meant.

When it came time for me to buy some decent handsaws Mr. Buck would go
through the same thing. He'd look at me for a bit and then go in the
back for a while.

There were a bunch of new Disston saws out front but Mr. Buck would go
back and bring out a brand new looking saw with a box that was older
looking than dirt and explain the difference to me. I have two sway
back Disstons that I bought in the late 1960's that were actually made
around 1900. Only to be sold to tradesmen.

I bought a set of black handled Stanley chisels from Mr. Buck and paid
the same price as the yellow handled ones would have cost. Mr. Buck
explained the differences to me. I still use them. They are the best
chisels I have ever used.

I got plenty of tools from Mr. Buck over the years but the best thing
that I got there was free - an education.

When Servistar and True Value started taking over the hardware
business it hurt Moser's pretty bad. The only thing that kept new
people coming in was that the other folks couldn't help them with
anything. Mostly the sales people were not really hardware people and
Mr. Buck could figure out what you wanted by you telling him what you
wanted to do. The True Value and Servistar people just couldn't do
that.

Mr. Buck's children had no interest in the business and neither did
his grandchildren, although most of us believe that he held on for as
long as he did just to see if one of the grandkids would want to come
in on the business.

When the new Home Depot opened up Mr. Buck went walking through it.
Wasn't too long after that he decided to close up. The "new building"
needed a new roof. People were getting ****ed off that Mr. Buck
didn't hold with credit cards. The township wanted Mr. Buck to
install a real expensive sprinkler system. Mr. Buck figured that he'd
be better off just going fishing.

I'll miss Moser's Hardware Store.

I just wish that my children had been old enough to appreciate it
before it went away.







Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret)
Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
Website: http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1