Watch any old movie or television show about rural, small-town life and there's sure to be a scene in the general store.
While developing the setting for my series, Brides of New Hope, the general store was integral to the plot. The fictitious store, Pennington's Mercantile and its proprietors, Abner and Maude Pennington are quite the couple, and often play up their secondary character status with amusing candor. It was here that Dr. Eli MacKenzie discovered he had a wife he didn't remember marrying, met the sheriff who once wanted to court his wife, and ultimately, where he set up his medical practice in a storage room.
After the Civil War, the country--and the South, in particular--had greater need of the general store due to the devastation of cities and rail and telegraph lines that made commerce nearly impossible, thus creating the establishment of a general store. Before general stores, and after, came the tinkers, the traveling salesmen, the carnival barkers. These men traveled from town to town, and even from farm to farm, drumming up business (thus, the nicknamed "drummers"). For the most part, their salesmanship was a kind of show, and their goods were often real necessities for people who lived far from any trading post.
The proprietor would be required to keep items in stock whether it was in season or not. There were no "clearance" sales. Long johns were available in summer and plows in winter. When peaches, tomatoes, corn were gone, apples, potatoes or some other crops, or even medicine, farm tools or cloth was substituted.
According to a man who once ran a general store or "mercantile", folks would bring in everything from eggs to live chickens, butter or produce, and sell or barter with the merchant. Though, in general, it was strictly a cash only business. Credit was only extended to reliable customers. As a result of this restocking and moving merchandise, a crowded, homey atmosphere developed.
The homey atmosphere was enhanced by the need to keep the large, often drafty building warm. So, a woodstove was installed right in the middle of the room. Gradually, chairs were added, and customers (usually men!) were encouraged to "sit a spell" while the women shopped. Topics ranged from races, tobacco, cotton prices, women, politics and religion...no topic was barred. Rather than be annoyed, the proprietor would often join the idlers in conversation. Come night fall. he would light the big kerosene hanging lamp and draw up a chair. If so inclined, the men would while away the time playing a game on a well-worn board using sliced corn cobs as checkers.
During the warm weather, folks would meet and greet on the porch or wooden boardwalk and have a "chaw and a jaw" before loading up and going home.
An important function of the general store was as a communications center both before and after the invention of the telephone. In addition, it often became the unofficial and then official post office. It served as the community Lost and Found, with notes on the wall posted by seekers and finders. Merchants, noted for their ability to actually read and write served as regional letter-writers. From the post-Civil War era up until the 1940s, the general store might have offered such services as banking and credit, money orders, community meetings, and political rallies. Since schoolhouses came into existence the same time as mercantiles, proprietors stocked paper, pencils and bolts of sturdy cloth for children's clothing. By the 1920s, catalogs and newspapers were showing ready-made clothing, so they had to keep up by ordering factory-made trousers, underwear, overalls, and wide variety of hats. By the turn of the century, there were store-bought bottles of medicines to replace home and herbal remedies.
General store proprietors often employed an errand boy to deliver orders to families in the town who made large purchases and were accustomed to having goods sent to their homes. General purpose flour came to the store in paper bags of 24 1/2 to 48 1/2 pounds, as packed by the nearby mill. Smaller quantities were not bothered with since every household did a great deal of baking pies, cakes and bread. The store also sold what was then politely termed "spiritous liquors".
Granulated white sugar was delivered in 100-pound sacks and was dumped into a covered metal box to be dipped out as need with a tin scoop. Fine salt came in 100-pound bags; molasses and vinegar were stocked by the barrel, and kerosene, the universal light fluid of the times, came in drums. The customer brought a pouring can of one, two, or five-gallon size. If there was no cap on the pouring spout, a potato or cork was stuck on keeping it from leaking. Coffee beans were packed in a large sack. When a customer wanted a pound or two the clerk weighed them out, then ground them with a big-wheeled red mill siting on the counter.
Today you can pick up all your necessities at a one-stop convenient supermarket. However, by seeking out an independent general store can lead you to all manner of gourmet treasures. These versatile shops have been on village main streets and rural roadsides for generations.
Here in North Carolina, general stores still abound in rural areas. At the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, started in the 1880s, you can buy coffee for a nickel and mail a letter from the store post office.
Do some research. You'll probably discover a general store somewhere within a day's drive from where you live. Step inside...the smell alone will entice you...a mixture of herbs, candies, wooden barrels, local pickles, honey, freshly baked bread, and fresh produce.
