In my local neighbourhood shops was once an establishment called STANLEY'S STORES. It was a hardware store and contained a Post Office section, as well as selling a variety of household items. At the time of this trivial, self-indulgent reminiscence, it wasn't my local neighbourhood, but the one next to it. It had previously been the area in which I lived, but we'd moved in 1965 and weren't to return 'til '72, though that's neither here nor there, I suppose.
In this shop, tacked to the wall was a sign - the one you see above, in fact. I recognized the LAUREL & HARDY figures as being in the style of the LARRY HARMON cartoon show of the famous comedy duo, which was then on TV. It seemed likely that the sign's artist had copied them from the strip in TV COMIC, or the cover of the 45 rpm single of the theme tune (which I also had at the time, and now do again since first publishing this post).
Anyway, having noticed the sign on numerous occasions when accompanying my mother, I one day ventured to enquire whether I might have it. Much to my surprise, I was informed that I could, and that's how it came to be in my possession. I've owned it, at a guess, since around 1971 (perhaps even late '70 or early '72) and because the shop is long, long-gone, it's a nice reminder of a place that was once a familiar part of my young life.
I bought my WADE porcelain YOGI BEAR (which I still have) from the same shop, perhaps even on the exact same day, so that's two items which conjure up images of a long-vanished era on which I look back with some fondness. Do you have a similar link to your youth? Then tell your fellow Criv-ites all about it, why don'tcha? Go on!
(Originally posted Monday 2nd November 2015.)
Incidentally, regarding the wording on the sign, I've seen printed versions in shops, saying 'Nice to handle, nice to hold, but if you break them, consider them sold.'
In my home town there are a couple of arcades, one modern, one Victorian. In the Victorian one, there was a shop called Sherwood Miller's that ran from front to back on the left hand side as you went in. I remember it was in three sections and the windows at the side I would browse regularly. I would also walk in the front entrance and walk all the way through the shop looking at the various items for sale. It was essentially a toy shop and it was where I bought my set of Batmobile, Batcopter and Batboat. In January 1983 I went in armed with my birthday money and bought one of those sticky octopuses that you threw at a window and it trickled down the pane. On the same day I bought Men at Work, Down Under, I believe from Boots, who stocked albums and singles at the time. Boots is still there but Sherwood Miller's has long gone, replaced by The Works. On another occasion I believe I bought my Silly Putty from Sherwood Miller's as well.
ReplyDeleteOut of that list of goodies, M, are there any you still have today, or do they survive only in your memory? I still miss many shops that were around when I was young and that's one of the sad things about growing old - not just friends and relatives dying, but places ceasing to exist that once provided so much enjoyment to one's life. I've done quite well in replacing loads of comics and toys I used to have, but there's one thing I can't do, and that's replace shops and buildings that were once part of my everyday life, but are, alas, no longer.
DeleteI don't have any of the items mentioned except for the Men at Work single. I sold the Bat trio, the octopus ended up a sticky mess of fluff, cat and dog hair and the Silly Putty went rock hard. There was an independent record shop a couple of doors up from Sherwood Miller's that I frequently visited in the 90s, sadly that has gone as well. I couldn't remember the shop in-between but looking at online photos it was a shoe shop then a double-glazing shop! Over the road was a newsagents which was the only shop in town that sold UFO Universe magazine, so I used that shop as well, also now gone. In the early 90s I bought a great cassette from The Works called 'World's Greatest UFO Stories (or Mysteries)' which was an audiobook starring Ed Bishop. I still have it up the loft somewhere and I intend to convert it to MP3 when I can find it. I can't find it anywhere on the internet. Most bizarre. It really is a great listen.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could walk around all the long-gone shops of my childhood and teenage years, M - they were the stuff that dreams are made of. (Which is a paraphrase of a line from Shakespeare's The Tempest, uttered in The Maltese Falcon.) Talking about 45rpm singles, I still have most of the originals I had as a teenager, with only a few replacements.
DeleteI've kept all my vinyl singles and albums. I didn't have a huge collection because CDs came along and I started collecting those. I had around 900 CD singles which I sold before I got married, mainly for space reasons but also because I could see that mp3s and streaming would make them virtually obsolete. I kept my CD albums but I never play them as I have digital copies. I could waffle on all day about shops that I used to visit but that's for another time. They were great days but comic day was the best when the new comics were out.
ReplyDeleteOver the years I've bought CDs of vinyl LPs I've already got, but I didn't discard my original albums as they have specific memories the CDs don't have, M. CDs are better (no snap, crackle and pop, and you can skip to whichever track you like), but there's something about removing a record from its outer and inner sleeves and placing it over the spindle, then watching it revolve as it plays which is quite appealing.
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