Well, today is March 1st and I have been laid off from my job for four months. I had thought that for this first year that I would post something every day of what I have been doing, and I have done that so far. But, after four months, things have settled down to a routine that I think I have successfully blogged!
So...I'm going to add a little something new. Every Tuesday I am going to blog a story about something that has happened since Paul and I have been married. I have lots of stories; we have been married for 41 1/2 years! On Thursdays, I am going to blog a story from before we were married. So, expect something different at least twice a week. I still want to document every day life, so on those days, if I feel something needs to be told, I'll add a blurb at the end of the post. Sound good? I'm excited about this new little project.
So, today is Thursday, and today's story will be of something that happened before we were married. Here we go.
The picture above is of downtown Springfield. I am not sure of the year, but by the looks of the cars and trolleys, it is probably sometime in the late 1920's.
My friend Leslee, from my former job, and I used to talk about downtown. We have a lot in common. We were both raised by our grandmothers and we used to compare notes about that. She and her grandmother lived in Springfield not too far from Mercy Hospital. She used to go downtown with her grandmother when she was young, and then as she got older, with her friends. I used to go shopping downtown with my aunt Dot on Thursday nights. Some of her favorite stores were Steigers, Forbes and Wallace, and Peerless. She would pick a few things out, we would go into the dressing rooms and usually I would be sent out to get a different size or color. Most of the time she didn't buy anything. As a child, I could never understand how she could spend so much time shopping and not buy anything. I sure know why now!
She also took me downtown to see Santa Claus every year when I was young. We used to park in a parking lot quite a ways from downtown and then walk. It was probably free there, LOL. I think that parking lot is under the highway now. We probably went to Johnson's Bookstore to see Santa. I have pictures up until age 7 or 8; I wish the name of the store was on the pictures.
Leslee always talked about going with her grandmother to Poole's Dry Goods, which is the store on the right of the picture above. Leslee remembers so much more about downtown than I do. I always wanted us to take a walk down Main St. so that she could point out where certain stores were. Maybe we can still do that.
One day I was "Googling" the history of downtown Springfield and I came across this picture and printed it for Leslee. She was so excited to get it.
I really miss seeing Leslee every day.
1 comment:
OH WOW !!!! I have childhood memories of "Downtown" also. I was in AWE of Steigers and Forbes and Wallace. I always wondered what that bell was that rang every so often. I remember going in the elevator and there was a man that ran it. And the smell !!!! There was a unique smell in those stores. I am sure it was a combination of all the perfumes. To this day when I walk into Bon Ton I always think of those stores. Another familiar "downtown" memory was when I worked at Valley Bank after graduation. I would stand in front of Seigers after work to wait for the bus. I loved to watch people walking by. Also a clock would ring the time every hour. In the winter near Christmas all the windows and lamp posts were decorated and sometimes Christmas music would be playing.There was always a smell of deisel fuel with all the busses driving down the street and stopping at all the bus stops. Gee, a lot of my memories focus around smells, don't they? lol
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