by Erin Eddins, Source Publications
Childhood memories have an amazing ability to disappear as time goes on. It seems that each year I know less and less about who I was. But some memories are so deeply rooted that centuries could not fade them.
I cannot remember what my Kindergarten teacher looked like. Nor can I call to mind my seventh birthday party. Where do there memories go? Some say that all of your memories are always in your mind just misfiled until something triggers it. Others tell me that you can only remember so much and as time passes and more memories are accumulated old ones that are tattered and frayed get tossed out. If that’s the case I want to enforce a policy that I get to sort through and decide which ones must go.
For instance I would like to forget the fender bender I was in three days after my sixteenth birthday in exchange for remembering my great-grandmothers voice. I have pictures of her but no way to hear her voice because that detail of memory is either misfiled or has been tossed out.by Erin Eddins, Source Publications
In my career I have spent a lot of time with older people (I dare not use the “E” word…elderly. I preferred a different “E” word…experienced). And there is one time of year I get to hear more about each person’s childhood than any other. Christmas.More…
I guess those resonate strongly enough that they don’t fade. Or maybe it’s because they are revisited annually and that keeps them close to the front of the file cabinet. What ever the case, everyone has cherished Christmas memories. Whether it was the midnight service the whole family attended or watching Dad put the star atop the tree only to tip the entire pine on its side, a lot of the general memories of Christmas are reflected in most families. A key example of this is the big Christmas shopping, before it was brutalized to the point of deserving the term “Black Friday.”
St. Joseph is not my original home (though you are stuck with me now) but even in my childhood in rural Nebraska I had great times going Christmas shopping.
My favorite of which was the year my great-uncle Jerry took me into town for a top secret shopping trip. We rode down the narrow highway in his sixty-something Datsun pick-up with one destination in mind…Gamble’s. Now, some of you are smiling fondly remembering your own local Gamble’s store while others are left clueless.
With five dollars in hand I wanted to purchase a spectacular gift for each of my two dozen relatives. Jerry allowed me to save some hope but still offered a voice of caution that I may not be able to find twenty-plus gifts under the grand total of my less than grand budget. But oh the joy I felt when I found a rack of coffee mugs each for twenty cents. There were so many choices: brown, blue, red, orange, blue with white, brown with cream…the list went on and on.
You may be wondering what my Christmas shopping at Gamble’s has to do with Old Joe. Well, all of my reminiscing got me to thinking, “what was St. Joseph’s equivalent to my Gamble’s?” And as I spoke with more and more people one resounding answer was offered…Downtown.
People told me of walking the sidewalk peering into the decorated windows and stepping inside shop after shop. Now, I have heard and read a lot about Downtown in her glory days and I do my best to image it. So I am thrilled to add this to my mental rolodex of hijacked memories (memories which belonged to others that I know lay claim on as well.)
One such set of memories was that of Bev Martinmaas. She was kind enough to say the following detailed description of her shopping memories of Downtown in the 1940’s
Bev wrote:
Long before parking meters, K-Mart and East Hills Shopping Center, there was a Downtown shopping experience unmatched today by outdoor malls.
Three dime-stores, Kresgee’s, Woolworth’s and Mattingly’s offered 10¢ sheet music demonstrated by someone playing the piano. United Department Store had three floors of clothing and household goods of every kind. If you needed a unique kitchen implement, that was where you’d go shopping.
Townsend and Wall had furniture, clothing and an elevator which stopped at the mezzanine where you could use the restroom or sit in chairs lining the balcony wall and watch the other shoppers.
Hersh’s had salesladies in navy blue dresses who carried your clothing selections into the dressing rooms and helped you try them on. When you bought something, the ticket and the money traveled by a vacuum tube to the office, much like banks now use for their drive-thru business.
Eshelmann’s Music Store sold 78 RPMs, sheet music, pianos and gave music lessons. Katz Drug Stores at 6th & Edmond and then at 6th & Francis was the place for teenagers with booths where you could play music for a nickel and east an ice cream sundae for 15¢.
A hat shop offered hats by color each for only $2.99; brown, navy or black were the most popular. A shoe shop where all shoes were $2.99 was at 6th & Felix. One store Downtown even had a doorman.
Grants & Montgomery Wards had value clothing. Plymouth had above average clothing. The Paris offered credit cards to teenagers…my parent’s worried about that.
St. Joe Trunk & Luggage…
Weiner’s Shoe Shop…
Rainey’s Shoes where an x-ray type machine showed you if your shoes fit correctly.
Joe Optican’s Jewelry Store where everyone bought their engagement and wedding rings.
The Federal Bakery had the best breakfast rolls. Woolworth’s had hot turkey sandwiches with yellow gravy for 50¢.
VFW had a buffet with homemade pies. The Maple Tea Room offered elegant lunches. Sanitary Lunch had fast service and a good chocolate cake for 15¢. There were diners and cafés on every block. Eating out was always a delight.
People drove from Kansas City to shop at Einbenders’ at 5th & Felix for high fashion and personal service. You could overhear Mrs. Einbender say, “This dress was just made for you!”
After shopping you’d carry your packages to the bus stop and ride home with your neighbors. Everyone was someone you knew or saw regularly from shopping Downtown. The bus stopped almost every block letting people off. Very few people had cars in the 1940’s.
Thank you, Bev. I, and a great many others, needed to hear that. St. Joseph is a great city. And despite what seems to be the current case Downtown was, and one day will again, be the heart of the city.
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