Bridgeway Christian Church

Things I Miss…

As I get older I find that I am nostalgic for the “good old days”.  I remember people, places and things that I miss.
    
I miss 5 and 10 cent stores.  Woolworth’s, Ben Franklin, Grants, Kressge, Newberrys….  It was Christmas time and I was trying to find a place where I could purchase a camel for our 35 year old Nativity Scene.  If the Dime store was still around, they would have one.  There used to be one in Roseville Square and another at Country Club Center.  They had a lunch counter and the best banana splits.  When I was a kid there was one near my home in New Jersey and you could order a split, pop a balloon hanging overhead, and pay whatever was on a scrap of paper inside the balloon.  It might be anything from one cent to a penny less than the regular price, which I think was 99 cents.

When I was small I would do most all my Christmas shopping at Woolworth’s.  I had all my shopping done in October and wrapped and under the bed.  

There aren’t any stores around today like the 5 & 10 of old.  Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart… they all try but they just are not the same.  

This brings me to another thing I miss.  The individual Mom and Pop type restaurants one used to find all across this great Land.  Used to be, you could enjoy the ambiance of each establishment reflecting the owners personal tastes.  When I was a youngster, my home town of Dumont, New Jersey had several restaurants like I am describing. We had Kelly’s where you could get a sandwich or ice cream run by Mom and Pop Kelly.  There was Schuten’s, also run by an older couple.  Then we had Gus and Mikes just down the street and Rause’s where you could by groceries or get a sandwich.  They knew their customers and we knew them.  The food was good and the places were not cookie-cutter copies of each other.

I miss Robert Hall clothes.  When I was a kid, we did nearly all the shopping for boys and men’s clothes at Robert Hall’s.  I still remember the jingle, “We’re doing our Christmas shopping at Robert Hall’s this year, we’re saving on clothes for Christmas at Robert Hall’s…”.  I remember that they always had men with tape measures around their neck and they could measure you, mark the pants with a chalk, and alter them all while you waited.  They had an awesome selection of pants, coats and suits as well as dress shirts and ties.  I continued shopping there even while in college.  I think they are gone now.  Too bad.

I miss the old, comfortable, fat-tired bikes we had.  Only one gear and big wide seats but neat!  They were the “army tanks” of bicycles.  If they make them now, I don’t see them and they probably cost a fortune.

I really miss front porches and fence-less back yards.  Growing up back East, people had front porches even on apartment buildings and nobody had a fenced in yard unless they had a big, mean dog.  Even then, it was a chain-link so you could see through it.  We could run from yard to yard, play baseball or football and nobody seemed to mind.  All the yards just ran together.  My family often sat out on the porch of our apartment and later our house, visiting with the neighbors.

Another thing I miss is the specialty grocery store.  Now don’t get me wrong, I like Trader Joe’s and Raley’s does a good job with their selection.  But it is not the same.  When I was growing up Mom sent me up town for groceries.  I went to the deli owned by my friend Johnny’s parents, and bought potato salad, cold-cuts and pickles from a barrel.  Then I went two doors over to the bakery and purchased hard seeded rolls or a coffee cake.  The rolls were crisp and hard on the outside with poppy seeds on top.  They were flattened out and round in shape and very soft and chewy on the inside.  The coffee cakes were delicious and we usually bought a pecan coffee ring ‘cause that’s what my Mom preferred.  I would go to the A & P for the rest of the groceries.  My Grandma and Aunt worked in the meat department and I knew where everything in the store was.  

Some of the items we used weren’t from a store at all but were delivered and that’s another thing I miss.  The milk man used to bring our milk and leave it in the milk box on the front porch.  At first the box was wooden with a hinged lid and the bottles were glass.  We would put the empties in the box and he would pick them up and replace them with whatever our normal delivery was.  Sometimes, on cold mornings the milk would freeze and the cream would rise above the top of the bottle and lift the cardboard cap right off.  It would be standing on top of the ice an inch or two above the mouth of the bottle.  Later on the box was metal and insulated and the containers were waxed cardboard much like we have today.

Another thing delivered was ice cream.  We had several ice cream vendors drive their trucks up and down the street all through the Spring and Summer.  There was Good Humor, Frosty Maid and Mr. Softee.  We also could purchase baked goods from a bakery truck that came around.  I don’t remember the name of the bakery but he would bring a large metal basket in the house with bread, cakes, muffins and cookies.  One time my brother leaned over too far, fell into the basket and slid all the way down the stairs to our landing at the front door.  He was fine and so were the cakes as far as I can remember.

Something else I really miss is complimentary gift wrapping.  It was Christmas Eve and I was thinking as I was wrapping some gifts…”I remember when stores like Macy’s, J.C.Penney’s and lots of smaller stores had a gift wrap department and would wrap your gift purchases for you at no charge.  Customer service sure isn’t what it used to be.  The last time I asked if Penney’s had gift wrapping, the clerk told me to go out in the mall to a wrapping kiosk and I paid $5.00 for a small box to be elegantly wrapped.  Just not the same.

I also miss an afternoon newspaper.  Growing up we had a paper that always came in the mid afternoon.  Today, not only do we not have afternoon papers, but many of the papers we do have are hardly worth reading and the only parts I really like to read are local sports and local news.  

I miss football and baseball on natural grass without a roof and I miss all pitchers having to bat.  I guess that’s one reason why I don’t like the American League in baseball.

The other day I stopped for gas and the water to wash the car windows was gross!  I miss the days when a service guy would come out, pump your gas, check under the hood and wash your windows.  Those were the days.

Every time we take down our Christmas tree and put away all the decorations I remember the tinsel we used to have when I was a kid.  It was made from aluminum foil and crinkled like it had been in a waffle iron.  It was heavy and hung straight down.  Dad used to hang it one strand at a time and that is how I always did it too until we stopped putting tinsel on the tree.

Another thing I miss is the songs we used to be able to sing even in public school.  I was just thinking about the song; “Come Ye Thankful People, Come”.  I sang that in Glee Club and Thanksgiving programs in grade school.  I learned to sing “O Holy Night” in French and “Silent Night” in German in the fourth grade in public school.  Not now, I’m sure!

I miss knowing our neighbors.  Now I know that this is at least partly my fault but people just don’t mingle like they used to.  When I was a kid we would play in the evening while our parents sat outside together and visited.  Everyone knew who lived nearby and we all were willing to share if someone needed a cup of sugar or whatever.

On perhaps a more important note, I miss faithfulness.  I miss seeing men lead their families in church attendance and worship.  I miss folks keeping their word no matter what.  I miss loyalty and commitment to one another in all areas of life.

Too often we read of broken promises in marriage, business, sports contracts, government leaders and unfortunately even in our churches.

Some of the things I miss are not very important or even feasible today, but we all can try to bring back the character traits that make our marriages, our families, our communities and our churches stronger and more pleasing to our Lord.
    
By the way, if you happen to know where I can find a real “dime store”, let me know.


Phil Parsons
June 24, 2009