the general store

What would a love of the old west be without a fascination with the general store? For some inexplicable reason, the general store is something I ponder quite often. I wonder if it's the dormant 'set designer' in me that loves the thought of such simple, basic display. Or maybe it's the draw of the sense of community that must have been fostered in these hubs of activity. Men gathering and discussing cattle and ranching. Women congregating to gossip and visit. Children sneaking peppermint sticks from their glass jars.

(photo here)

I find myself attracted to old-fashioned display pieces: glass jars, cast iron paper dispensers, scales...all accouterments necessary in the days of the general store. Heck, even walking into Cracker Barrel makes my heart race a bit (I adore the display behind the cash registers).

Families coming in to town from their spreads out in the country to stock up on supplies they weren't growing and raising at home. (I confess, every time I see a general store I think of the scene in Anne of Green Gables where Matthew buys Anne the dress for the ball at the local mercantile..."Twenty pounds of brown sugar.")

Obviously, I'm not the only one enchanted by the general store allure. This image from Pottery Barn provides a modern take on what could easily be a display in an old west mercantile (with label holders- yay).

Unfortunately the quaint general store of days gone by has been replaced with the institutional, commerical mass chain stores of today, where personalized service is unheard of and the items sold are mass produced in foreign countries. Part of me will always long for the simplicity, durability and enduring charm of the old west general stores.