‘The old country store’

LEESBURG — Those of us around as youngsters in the 1960s and 1970s in south Georgia remember the corner grocery store.

These stores were normally one-room buildings and were quite frequently owned and operated by a nearby family. Nestled between one or more roads, these stores were the hub of country life. Often there were a few old chairs situated in front of the business, where, mostly men, would sit and talk about the day’s affairs.

Since everybody knew everybody in the area, most of the topics were about who did what or what happened to whom. Who was sick was often a topic as well as, in the 1960s, whose boy got drafted and sent to Vietnam.

Any car that drove by was greeted with a wave if it was recognized, or a suspicious stare if it was of unknown origin.

These small stores carried whatever goods the people needed in that part of the country. If one or more particular patron smoked Lucky Strikes or chewed Bull of the Woods tobacco, those were sure to be stocked on the shelves. Various cans of food and bags of grain, fresh eggs and produce were always in the store. Coffee, flour and sugar were sold in bags and weighed to order. Some had a single gasoline pump outside – ethyl only — and racks of motor oil for customers in need of that product.

Treats for the kids were candy cigarettes, gum drops, taffy and other assorted sweets, usually in large glass canisters.

Things we don’t think about today that were often in the stores were dynamite and liquor.

Most of us around today as kids were often sent back then to the store with a “grocery list” for our parents or grandparents up the road.

The list would b signed by the person who ordered it and usually started “Please give Johnny … It did not matter if Johnny was 5 or 25. A typical list could include, cigarettes, beer, liquor, chewing tobacco, sugar, coffee, even sticks of dynamite. The proprietor would take out the cash from the note and fill the order. Typically, there was a nickel in it for Johnny for a cold Co-cola or piece of candy.

Little Johnny would dutifully head up the hill to the house carrying all the purchased items, with nary a thought about drinking, smoking, or chewing the would-be contraband.

Most of the old stores are now closed and sit forlornly abandoned next to the highways. They only serve now as good memories of by-gone days.

Staff Photo: David Dixon