Howdy's Store - Thu Jun 30 2016 12:24 AM
When I was a kid I would visit my Grandparent's house. They lived in a small town. We would on occasion go to a small store to get a soda or a candy bar. It was a very odd country store. It was not well lit inside, and there were stacks of cardboard and soda crates all over the place. Technically it was Chapin's store, but we all called the place Howdys because Mr. Chapin would always greet us with a loud "Howdy". Later on he seemed to change it to "Howdy Doody". Eventually Mr. Chapin passed away and the store got real run down. I bought my Grandparents house a few years before the store got torn down. Back then I attempted to buy the Chapin's Grocery sign that was mounted on the roof. I was unsuccessful. The store got tore down and the sign was gone forever. Or so I thought. This was around 1999 or 2000.
In 2001 I was at a craft fair in town with my wife. We saw a painting of Chapin's store. I asked the artist about it and she said she lived next door to the store and had known Mr. Chapin well. I told her how my brothers and I had a lot of memories of going in that weird store. She told me Chapin gave her and her husband one of his Coke machines from the store. I asked her if they would sell it to me. They declined.
Fast forward to 2014. I run into the town historian. I asked her if she had any pictures of Chapin's store from the 1950's or 1960's. I also told her about how I had tried to buy the store sign but that the store got knocked down before I could procure it. I was shocked when she told me that the Church across the street that ended up buying the property still had the sign in their possession. I quickly got in touch with the Church leader. It took a year to get the purchase made, but I got my sign last summer. Today I was able to buy the Coke machine that was originally used in the store from the fine folks that live next door to the former store site. I'm happy. I apologize for the long drawn out post. I spent about an hour cleaning and polishing the machine. It's a beauty. The first photo is how the store looked toward the end of it's existence. Then a photo from today in the same spot.
In 2001 I was at a craft fair in town with my wife. We saw a painting of Chapin's store. I asked the artist about it and she said she lived next door to the store and had known Mr. Chapin well. I told her how my brothers and I had a lot of memories of going in that weird store. She told me Chapin gave her and her husband one of his Coke machines from the store. I asked her if they would sell it to me. They declined.
Fast forward to 2014. I run into the town historian. I asked her if she had any pictures of Chapin's store from the 1950's or 1960's. I also told her about how I had tried to buy the store sign but that the store got knocked down before I could procure it. I was shocked when she told me that the Church across the street that ended up buying the property still had the sign in their possession. I quickly got in touch with the Church leader. It took a year to get the purchase made, but I got my sign last summer. Today I was able to buy the Coke machine that was originally used in the store from the fine folks that live next door to the former store site. I'm happy. I apologize for the long drawn out post. I spent about an hour cleaning and polishing the machine. It's a beauty. The first photo is how the store looked toward the end of it's existence. Then a photo from today in the same spot.
