Window displays, another lost art from the past. Shopkeepers used to decorate their store windows to attract customers into their shops.
Bob's Five & Dime always had a few mechanical figures decorating a Christmas tree in the window. Santa and Mrs. Claus, and an elf, always making the same motions, but real magic in the eyes of a small child.
More about Bob's Five & Dime.
Leidig's Bakery filled their windows with mock wedding cakes from Spring to Summer, and replaced them with Gingerbread houses for the Christmas season.
More about Leidig's Bakery.
The Patapsco Pharmacy displayed large glass amphoras filled with colored water. An amphora is a container that cannot stand up without a separate stand. As I recall, it was used in ancient Greece to assure the return of containers to be refilled with olive oil or wine.
More about The Patapsco Pharmacy.
I am sure there were others examples that I have forgotten, perhaps a reader will remind me of them.
To add to your list:
ReplyDeleteYate's Grocery Store. Kids from the area would collect empty soda bottles and turn them into the store for 2 cents a bottle. Yate's had a water filled soda cooler that had the coldest drinks in town. My family always bought their breakfast sausage from here. They swore it was the best.
Paul's Market: Many of the residents of Ellicott City shopped there. They had fresh butchered meats and all the flavor of a local community store. They offered credit to residents for food purchases. Fresh fruits and vegetables were always on display outside the building. Everybody knew everybody there!
Caplan's Clothing Store: Rumor had it that Mr. Caplan owned half the town. This may have been exaggerated but many of the residents rented apartments and homes from him. He and his wife lived above the store in a beautiful apartment. The main floor had everything from work gloves to suits. Children and ladies clothing as well.
Taylor’s Furniture and Appliance store: They had everything for the home and resided in a large section of Ellicott City. They owned property from Main Street to Tongue Row. Note: The furniture Taylors and Caplan were somehow related to the owner of the medical facility just outside town known as Taylor Manor.
Yate’s and Clark’s hardware were the two hardware stores on opposite ends of the town. Yate’s was known for furniture refinishing and seat caning. Clark’s was the do it yourself store. They had everything from lumber to wood screws.
F&N Restaurant: (F&N stands for Frank and Nick) Everybody ate at the restaurant. Great food at great prices. This restaurant was an institution in the sixties. It was later sold to one of their employees who was a local resident. Her name was Dee and the name was changed to Dee’s Kitchen in the 70’s. The restaurant was a gathering place for many of the workers from the flour mill.
I could go on and on. There were so many places. All locally owned and each with a unique story.