In an earlier post, I showed a picture of the little village of Rome, Illinois, and in it was E. A. Lawson's General Merchandise which was the only store in town at that time - not many houses, either. Some years later, in the 1930's, Lawson's Grocery was still there, and here is a picture of the interior and of Elmer himself, and Lizzie, his wife. In the background are "Junior" and Edna Lawson, two of the couple's four children. The little fellow in front is my brother, Bud - now how he got in the picture is a puzzlement but there the little bugger is. Note the cans on the shelves. This was no "supermarket" where you picked things for yourself. The grocer was informed what you wanted and he would get it, place it on the counter, write it on the bill and eventually add it up, take the money and bag your groceries. You can see the meat counter at the back of the store. How about those 5 cent candy bars sitting on the glass case. A fellow can be seen leaning on the meat counter in the back and am not sure who he is, but I think Bud said something about it may have been a Rome resident named Walt Hedrick. I love this picture!! It is probably from about 65 years ago. (Click to enlarge)
This is a wonderful photo! Really wonderful! I so want to be able to step back into the place with the wooden floors beneath my shoes. Probably had a nice creaking sound when you walked on certain boards. And natural light. Funny how we forget about natural light in stores. Thanks Carol so much for pointing me to this one!
ReplyDeleteOh my word! Thank you for putting me on to this one, as I am hooked on old advertising art. There's a ton of it in this photo! PECAN PETE? Never heard of him. Of course, lot's of folks have never heard of the Idaho Spud either, but that's to be expected. Quaker Wheat SPARKIES? Have you ever heard of them? LOL. GREAT PHOTO!
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