THAT SWEATER COULD NOT BE WORN by Marisa Masterson

 JC Penney, Sears, even Old Navy. They are the end result of the changing face of a dry goods store. I wonder if a person from 1875 would recognize what, for her, would have been a fabric shop?

Why do I go to Hobby Lobby for fabric instead of JC Penney? Ready-made clothing. The availability of garments purchased off the rack by the 1930s changed what stores carried. And before that? Keep
reading to learn about the sweater.

Women especially needed to be aware of fabric names. They would watch the local paper for advertisements highlighting what new shipments had arrived in either the mercantile (in a rural area) or the dry goods store.

In my Uncertain Sweethearts series, a small town grows over the five years spanning the series. The Transcontinental Railroad, in part, makes that happen. As new residents arrive, they increase the demand for goods in the area. 

In the last addition to the series, I've added a dry goods store. Rather than be in competition with O'Hanlon's Mercantile, the owner focuses on fabrics and notions. 

Can he sell ready-made dresses? Probably not. A local seamstress could be hired to sew a dress if a woman could not sew. Bachelors would go to her for a shirt, if they needed one.

In Aggie Ambushes the Rancher, my main female character dreams of being the seamstress for the small Kansas town. From the book:

With a twist of her head, she cast a longing glance at the open doorway. It represented freedom, a chance at something new. She would go with Aggie, and she would not return to Topeka.

Alice Mackenzie would help her stay in Fox Creek. She could set up a business there, repairing garments and sewing new ones. After all, women could not go to the dry goods store and simply buy a dress. They needed her to create those for them, as Fox Creek had neither a seamstress nor a dress shop.

And she had saved her wages. It would be enough to get her business started. Probably Paul O’Hanlon, the mercantile owner, would give her a discount on fabrics or at least extend her credit to buy what she needed. He understood the importance of a fresh start. After all, he had been a drunk and womanizer until he came face to face with God’s grace and forgiveness.

“Yes,” Ida whispered. “I’ll travel with her to Fox Creek.”

How would this be different in a city? This is where the sweater becomes important.

https://victorianweb.org/painting/
holl/paintings/4.html

 Females known as needle women worked at home, sewing loose-fitting garments and being paid pennies for each piece at the start of the ready-made clothing demand. The sweater assigned them the work and gave them the fabric. Basically, he was a contractor. No doubt, the name came from the root word 'sweat'. The man made the needle women sweat for very little pay, thus his moniker. The pay was so poor that many hardworking families still relied on charity or starved, no matter how hard the adults worked.

No wonder people were willing to escape to the unknown and little in soddies on the prairie. There, they could at least grow their own food. 

 

A woman has a chance at a new life—one she did not know she wanted.

Ida Parton never expects to fall in love with the man she intends to protect her charge from marrying. As a chaperone, it is her duty to save Aggie from marrying the notorious drinker, Clint Evans. But upon returning to Fox Creek, Ida discovers Clint is not the man she remembers. He is a rancher with a heart that speaks to her own, making it impossible for her to fulfill her duty. But with Aggie set on marrying Clint, Ida show her that marrying Clint would be a terrible match.

As the tension between them grows, so does the risk of losing Clint to Aggie. But when Clint's prized horses disappear, Ida realizes she may need more than just her love to save him. Can their secret love overcome the obstacles in their way? And what will happen to Aggie if she doesn't marry Clint?

With the help of the tough rancher, Ida must navigate a twisted path to protect her heart and the man she loves. Fans of western romance will be swept away by this tale of love, duty, and danger. Buy now!

• Strong Heroine
• Rugged Cowboy Hero
• Secret Love
• Unexpected Twists
• Small-Town Setting
  

Petticoats, Perfume, Pots and Pans - The General Store by Jo-Ann Verlik

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.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/americas-historic-general-stores-you-can-still-visit

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